11-27-2018, 05:27 PM
I think this topic has two layers: The general one, and the one specific to Havard and his efforts.
Generally, factioneering and tinfoil hat craziness is what you get in D&D; as I observe it, this has mainly to do with the kind of people that look for beer money. Opinions, to many, have become brands or opportunities to sell, the same way that homemade adventures, maps, and art have become "micro-publications". And so, what should be a form of constructive exchange has, in large parts of the oldschool community, morphed into a fairly mean-spirited competition for breadcrumbs. "Breadcrumbs", as, in the words of my favorite poet, Croaker the Annalist: "Take people's bread away, and they will fight you to the death. Take people's bread away, and leave them some breadcrumbs, as you do it, and they will fight themselves to the death." - Because why should everyone have nice things if one dude believes he can sell five bucks worth of PDFs, or add another new follower to the three other people that read his blog? - I don't think this overbearing mentality will change any time soon; so, what we have been experiencing with Blackmoor is simply part of the zeitgeist. (Not intended as a pun.) But I DO believe that the silent majority of people that visit even the darker corners of the web - like our little community here admittedly is - come here simply because they enjoy the game. And it's that silent majority that counts, in this case.
Specifically, concerning Havard's efforts, I am now going to do what people really only rarely have seen me do: To praise my old colleague for the hero he is. (Now, now, contain your tears of love-filled emotion, everyone.)
So, I have worked with Havard in the past, and, in the backhanded way that I shall now go on to write this, what I can say is that his most distinguishing feature is the absence of some features: Namely, hysteria, greed, and malice. - As in, do any of you see a goddamn PayPal button on the bottom of this page? Or, on the Archives?! Or, has anybody (but me, in Admin, while we were fighting the good fight
) ever gotten anything else from Havard, but a friendly, and low-fi answer to any question or plea? NO. And even so, that's not something most people tend to think of as a quality. Yet, it is the very highest kind of quality.
- I've known Havard for roughly 15 years now, and the one thing I can say from practical experience, and without reservation, is that he is and remains a true "knight of the realm". He serves the community. Other people come and go - hell, *I* came and went :wink: - but Havard stays with Blackmoor. Without any aspirations to monetize, without any of his operations centering on his person, or selling himself as sort of a character. That's why we all have stuck with him, through good times and through bad. Because we've not come here "just" because of we enjoy the game, any more, in a long time. We come here because Havard has managed tp create a community that transcends the game. He has done so selflessly; yet without him, this wouldn't possibly work. - And that, again, is the worst, and the best thing to say about a community such as ours.
*Tips his hat.*
Generally, factioneering and tinfoil hat craziness is what you get in D&D; as I observe it, this has mainly to do with the kind of people that look for beer money. Opinions, to many, have become brands or opportunities to sell, the same way that homemade adventures, maps, and art have become "micro-publications". And so, what should be a form of constructive exchange has, in large parts of the oldschool community, morphed into a fairly mean-spirited competition for breadcrumbs. "Breadcrumbs", as, in the words of my favorite poet, Croaker the Annalist: "Take people's bread away, and they will fight you to the death. Take people's bread away, and leave them some breadcrumbs, as you do it, and they will fight themselves to the death." - Because why should everyone have nice things if one dude believes he can sell five bucks worth of PDFs, or add another new follower to the three other people that read his blog? - I don't think this overbearing mentality will change any time soon; so, what we have been experiencing with Blackmoor is simply part of the zeitgeist. (Not intended as a pun.) But I DO believe that the silent majority of people that visit even the darker corners of the web - like our little community here admittedly is - come here simply because they enjoy the game. And it's that silent majority that counts, in this case.
Specifically, concerning Havard's efforts, I am now going to do what people really only rarely have seen me do: To praise my old colleague for the hero he is. (Now, now, contain your tears of love-filled emotion, everyone.)
So, I have worked with Havard in the past, and, in the backhanded way that I shall now go on to write this, what I can say is that his most distinguishing feature is the absence of some features: Namely, hysteria, greed, and malice. - As in, do any of you see a goddamn PayPal button on the bottom of this page? Or, on the Archives?! Or, has anybody (but me, in Admin, while we were fighting the good fight
) ever gotten anything else from Havard, but a friendly, and low-fi answer to any question or plea? NO. And even so, that's not something most people tend to think of as a quality. Yet, it is the very highest kind of quality. - I've known Havard for roughly 15 years now, and the one thing I can say from practical experience, and without reservation, is that he is and remains a true "knight of the realm". He serves the community. Other people come and go - hell, *I* came and went :wink: - but Havard stays with Blackmoor. Without any aspirations to monetize, without any of his operations centering on his person, or selling himself as sort of a character. That's why we all have stuck with him, through good times and through bad. Because we've not come here "just" because of we enjoy the game, any more, in a long time. We come here because Havard has managed tp create a community that transcends the game. He has done so selflessly; yet without him, this wouldn't possibly work. - And that, again, is the worst, and the best thing to say about a community such as ours.
*Tips his hat.*