thread: 2005-12-03 : Closing GNS and RPG Theory is Good
On 2005-12-06, anon. wrote:
Agreed to all of the above, I think.
I was taken aback by the closing myself, even though we knew it was coming, but I think that all the rambling theoretical discussions would do much better if disciplined by engagement with specific instances of Actual Play or specific proposals for Indie Design—better for teaching the novices, better for refining the state of the art.
But you know what? Honestly? That's all secondary rationalization, for me. The thing that went through my head after Ron closed those forums is the same thing that goes through my head every time Ron comes down like a hammer on some poster for what seems like a minor breach of protocol:
1) "Holy shit! Ron did whaaaat? Was that really called for?"
2) "Well, Ron's kept an online, open-to-all forum functioning, productive, and reasonably civil for more than four years (on the internet! Civility! Holy shit!), and I've benefited from it a lot, so he probably knows what he's doing."
3) "Yeah. I guess I trust Ron."
This entire 3-step process takes about 3 seconds, mind.
I trust Ron. Not because he is The Guru, not because he's The Founder, not because he has bullied me into submission, but because he has a track record. The intellectual arguments for WHY what Ron is doing is going to work come second, frankly, for me; the gut-check comes first:
I trust Ron. He's earned it.
(anonymous for now 'cause I'm one of the 30-40 people whose Ronnies submission is awaiting Ron's judgment and this is not about sucking up)
This makes ecb go "excellent use of anonymous."
This makes anon. go "I'll self-ID later"
I hatehatehate HATE it when people hide behind online anonymity, so I'll pop up marginalia taking responsibility for this as soon as the Ronnies thing is out of the way.
This makes SF go "Okay, that was me"
Me being Sydney Freedberg.
