Monday 7 October 2013

Wolf tickets and pack tactics, and man's best friend




A fairly well-known blogger who withdrew from the online community after a problematic Kickstarter has started posting again. Not everyone seems to have noticed yet. Those that have noticed seem divided, and some seem to think it inappropriate he's back at all.

I'm not going to defend what happened, partly because I don't know all the details - and who does? - partly because a solution was found to move the project forward regardless.

But precisely because none of us do know all about it, and because rumour can take on a life of its own, and because the herd mentalities are still a factor in human behaviour, even ours, I would say we should slow down. I'd guess most of us agree that legitimate criticism is reasonable, even healthy, but witch hunts aren't. In our hobby, we know that.

It's not just a bit of harmless fun either. Gaming seems to be a big part of the life of this person and has been a source of income in the past, possibly a major source. If we do stigmatise now, we may even prevent him earning a living in the only way he readily can.

Gaming is no totalitarian system. Ever heard of the wolf ticket? We don't have the right to judge who eats. If you're not ready to forgive yet, or just won't give a second chance full stop, don't read his posts or buy any of his products. Just step back: live and let live.

The same with Mike Nystul. He's not a punchbag. Maybe he messed up, but he could well be homeless now. How long should he suffer? And who decides? If we don't know the whole story, we can't be sure it won't one day happen to us, despite best intentions.
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6 comments:

Tallgeese said...

Thanks for saying this. It's how I feel about the entire situation too.

Jens D. said...

Well put, Porky! We are not yet beyond the monkeys throwing shit at each other, but we should try every now and then to be better than that :) I mean, who profits from all that poison? In the end, no one.

Minitrol said...

I knew nothing about this until I Googled it and while filling ears with poison may not be very noble to be fair if he started another project or co-founded one I would want to know this info.

So I am glad it is out there as by my reckoning $75,212.00+ is still unaccounted for.

That's pretty poor however it's spun.

Ka kite ano

PS nice to see you blogging again I hope you're looking after yourself

Porky said...

I think doing a quick check of the names behind a project is good practice, and may become standard practice.

The worry in both of these cases is the stage we're at now. We already have the store of information for future reference: the number of people who'll make the same mistake, assuming they even have the chance, is already reduced.

Also, as far as I can tell, neither of the situations is a complete loss yet - in both cases work is late, but one project is making progress, and while a near end to the other process looks unlikely, the creator still seems to want to get there at some point.

So what next? There's naturally some frustration that may only find release in complaining online, among people in the same boat or with the same reference points. This is especially true when the situation is still an open one. But the danger then is that it feels too good, crosses a line or two and turns into something more destructive.

Someone made a mistake, a big one - the question is, do we compound that mistake? How far is too far?

Or better yet, how does everyone involved and interested - by our individual decisions - ensure the best outcome all round, maybe even make a success of a failure?

Jason said...

I've been out of the loop on these things, so who's back?

Porky said...

That would be giving a bit too much away. Maybe a riddle: words await at a Black Gate.