Saying "Exhibit A" is the same as a multi-paragraph rant which includes telling me and Malcolm, personally, to "go die in a fire"???
I see from your profile that you're from Finland. I'm guessing that perhaps we might have a cultural/language disconnect here, because seriously -- as Jules said in "Pulp Fiction" -- "It ain't the same ball park, it's not even the same damn sport."
I have a pretty good command of the language (my output may be lacking at times, but I am capable of understanding idioms, metaphors, and heck, think in English, I no longer translate things back and forth in my mind; I read way better than I write), and I see from the comments posted by others that you're rubbing them the wrong way as well, I am not the only one.
Either the problem is in the way you communicate, or about dozen others are also interpreting you the wrong way. What are the odds here?
I
said it was a result of toxic accumulation, and that just cinched it, no matter the tone of the post which lead to it. You know how you can have a porcelain object which is cracked, but which still holds together, except then there's that tiny sharp ting when you put it on top of the metallic kitchen sink and the whole thing goes to pieces? Like that.
Want me to go back and look for other things you've said, in very dismissive tones, and with what I regard as open hostility and true toxicity?
In the article which started this whole thing, you said:
No, the problem is that a group of *consumers* somehow got it into their heads that they’re “artists.”
It’s self-aggrandizing delusional [redacted] like this that lead to the wider media community, even in areas where you’d think RPGers would be valued, walking away as fast as they can.
Gamers aren’t artists. A gamer is a consumer who purchases and uses a category of products, specifically GAMES. That’s all.
That’s no more “cuckoo” than golfers purchasing and using golf gear…. Which certainly doesn’t make golfers “artists.”
Get over yourself.
I would like to note that JDCorley was using the words artist, paint and canvas as a way of illustrating his point of view to the situation:
I have a deep suspicion that the reason all of this is true is because the hobby has set itself up with designers/producers and consumers, when the actual experience of the hobby is more like a small group of artists buying and using paint and canvases.
You, however, pounced on
literal implication of it, instead of focusing on what he meant.
These are the tools. These are the tools we use together. We share the experience together. I could try to make the same point, except since I'm a computer nerd, I'd use a comparison to a coding language.
You, however, blundered in with
extremely toxic and hostile attitude. Dismissive. But even worse...
You reduce the players and DMs alike to the role of
consumer, and I don't think I am misreading your diatribe here: you're "telling us how it is", rather than relying on metaphorical speech, yes?
We
consume. You do know that the word "consumer" started with bad connotations, until somehow it became a virtue? It is, after all, derived from the word
"consume". And even in its modern-day virtue, it is something which strips you of your uniqueness.
Buy. Buy our stuff. BUY! WHY AREN'T YOU BUYING ALREADY? I don't need sunglasses a la
They Live to see the message. I, consumer.
But you know what? If we're consumers, then it is our right to get even louder and complain about inferior services and product we're getting. While I do not subscribe to the thought where a customer is always right without a question (they're not), wouldn't it be even more understandable that a
consumer is going to be loud when it looks like someone put a turd into their burger?
If we're
consumers, this makes you both
producer and
marketer. And right now I, this consumer unit, deem that you've failed to market your product to me in a suitable and appropriate manner, even if I find ICONS to be a system which satisfies my need for supers-based gaming.
Skarka,
you failed your Marketing roll. And I'm saying this as someone who has managed to buy stuff from
Terry bleedin' Austin of Usenet fame.
