TSR Companies & Freelancers Distance Themselves From The New TSR

The new TSR (which I refer to as TSR3 to avoid confusion) has doubled down on its stance--which has been widely condemned online--via an ongoing series of tweets and replies from its TSR Games, Giantlands, and Dungeon Hobby Museum social media accounts (possibly operated by Justin LaNasa) in an astonishing PR campaign which makes the original interview which sparked off the controversy look mild in comparison. Various entities are moving to distance themselves from the company and its activities, including TSR2, the company founded in 2011 by Jayson Elliot, which has now declared that it will not be using the name TSR any longer. Other companies including Gen Con and freelancers such as Jeff Dee have also made statements.

For reference -- TSR1 is the (no longer existing) company which launched D&D in 1974, TSR2 is the company founded by Jayson Elliot in 2011 to create Gygax Magazine and which currently publishes the Top Secret RPG, and TSR3 is the newly launched company.

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Catch up on my previous coverage of this story:

TSR - Ernie Gygax on New TSR, WotC Beefs, Trademarks, Licensees, 5E, & More

A YouTube channel, 'Live From the Bunker', interviewed Ernie Gygax about the new TSR. I've watched and decided to try to transcribe the most relevant parts of it, but the full hour-long video is below if you want to see the whole interview and full context. Ernie Gygax is one of D&D...

www.enworld.org

TSR - TSR (2) Confirms TSR (3)'s Acquisition of Trademark (Updated!)

Jayson Elliot registered the TSR trademark back in 2011 and used it to launch Gygax Magazine along with Ernie and Luke Gygax. The two Gygax's left the company a few years later after Gary Gygax's (co-founder of TSR (1) back in the 1970s) widow, Gail Gygax, forced the closure of Gygax Magazine...

www.enworld.org

A TSR Announces a Star Frontiers Reboot

One of the new TSRs (yes there are now two TSRs!) has announced a reboot of Star Frontiers, the sci-fi game made by the original TSR back in the 1980s. Star Frontiers was a percentile dice roleplaying game set in a galaxy with four races (Human, Dralasite, Vrusk, and Yazirian) which were re-used...

www.enworld.org

TSR - TSR Is Back.... Again!

TSR is back... again! A new company, using the name and logo of the original publisher of Dungeons & Dragons has just been launched, along with a limited edition new game called Giantlands, and a theme park! But first, some history! Because this isn't the first time TSR has been resurrected...

www.enworld.org

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TSR3's social media accounts initially sought to distance the company from Ernie Gygax's statements, but within a few hours had reversed course and doubled down on his stance. Note that there have been dozens of social media posts from the company over the last few days, and still continuing as I type this, and I don't intend to share them all here.

(Thanks to Daniel Fox for sharing screenshots below via Twitter).

TSR2 -- "Update to our earlier tweet - we will NOT be licensing anything from the new company claiming rights to the TSR logos. We are not working with them in any fashion."

Gen Con -- "Gen Con is not associated with TSR Games and we don't support their recent statements. While the foundation of Gen Con is tied with the history of TTRPGs, our goal is to build off the good, acknowledge the bad, and work toward a present free from racism, misogyny, and homophobia."

Gen Con has also indicated that they do not intend to allow TSR3 at the convention.

GAMA (the Game Manufacturers Association) -- "We’re aware of the appalling statements published by TSR Games and their founder - GAMA does not condone nor agree with any part of it. We pride ourselves on supporting and promoting inclusivity always. Our motto is “A game at every table, a table for everyone”. Transphobia, racism, and sexism will not be tolerated. That means that TSR is not welcome at Origins Game Fair, GAMA Expo or any event affiliated with our organization."

Jeff Dee -- "There is a rumor going around that I am part of this new TSR company. That is not accurate. I have done some work for them as a freelance artist. That’s how I make my living, and spreading the misinformation that I’m now employed full-time by one particular client could stop other clients from approaching me and hurt my business. So, please do not spread that rumor. If I ever become a full-time employee anywhere again, I will announce that myself. Thanks. UPDATE: After investigating reports about statements made by representatives of this new TSR, I have determined that I can no longer do business with them in good conscience. I've returned their downpayment on the next piece of art I was scheduled to do for them. And yeah, I could sure use some new commissions to make up for this big hit on my cashflow"

Jim Ward, an original TSR alumnus and who wrote Giantlands, TSR3's flagship product -- "At the present time I know little or nothing about the relaunch of TSR. Right now I don't see how anyone could pick up where the old company left off. Yes it's a name with some logos, that is all I know."

Luke Gygax -- "FYI- I am not involved with any TSR company nor is Gary Con nor anyone else in my family outside of Ernie. Full stop. That is all ... I have reasons for distancing myself. The way TSR treats people online in their public exchanges is rude. The museum is a for profit business and was asking for donations. Using names of people to promote without their knowledge. Going out of the way to talk gender/woke stuff ... Also basically jacking the TSR logo from Jayson Elliot. The bombastic press releases and claims to old IP. Making a quick nostalgia money grab based on my fathers name and not much else. So I’m making it clear I don’t like this style and I have ZERO to do with TSR"

TSR3 responds to Luke Gygax​

Tim Kask, an original TSR alumnus who worked at the company until 1980, spoke at length on this topic in a YouTube video (below). I've transcribed some bits, but he says a whole load more (ellipses represent sections I have not included, for reasons of brevity), so check out the video for the whole thing.

"There has been bandied about in social media over the last several days several claims about what's going on in Lake Geneva right now. Ernie Gygax made a most egregious mistake in an interview he did on a podcast. He basically waved his bare ass in front of everybody that's concerned about pronouns, and woke, and all that right now in the industry and thumbed his nose at them. The transcript of his podcasts are there for everyone to read. That they were men, and they didn't give a sh*t, and la la la.

But right there they alienated three quarters of the gaming industry. Probably more than that, I don't believe that there's a quarter of the gaming industry that still are the neanderthals that he would make us out to be.

That's another thing. This whole thing has brought the OSR (the old school revival) into serious disrepute. Now there are some little Karens going on some of the social media and painting with the same brush all of us that were there back then based on the stupid ass sh*t that Ernie just said. No. We weren't all like that. And we aren't all like that now. He's a troll, a troglodyte, a neanderthal, if he really means that. It's a foolish person that doesn't wet his finger once in a while and feel the wind shift.

Now there've been claims in a couple of posts, one of which is by Ernie, about how the stalwarts, the old TSR are flocking to the banner. Bullsh*t....

... There is no one of the creative side of TSR from the early days involved with the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum. No one. Not one creative person. No matter who might be claiming what, they simply do not have the credentials. Being named DiMaggio does not mean you can hit a lot of home runs. Or that you even hit any home runs ....

... Just because you say you're TSR doesn't mean you are."

​

 

[DammitVictor]

Wizards of the Coast Hasbro has absolutely no need to take any legal action at this point, and it's not in their best interests.

TSR is currently technically violating some of WotC's copyrights by using old TSR logos that are still owned by WotC, still used by WotC at DriveThruRPG and DMs Guild, and would not have been included in registering the TSR trademark with the State of Wisconsin. They're WotC property, you can't buy someone else's property from the government, normally, and the exceptions which I cannot discuss here do not apply to intellectual property.

They're violating WotC's copyrights, but there's no legal obligation to defend your copyright.

WotC is still using the TSR trademarks, so they still own the TSR trademarks regardless of what some out-of-state upstart thinks. Registration is not technically a requirement. If they don't take immediate action via appropriate legal means to enforce their trademarks, those trademarks will legally be declared abandoned. This means... they'll lose the legal standing to demand that other people stop using them, which they weren't exercising anyway, and they'll still own the copyrights to the artwork in the logos that TSR is using.

Public Relations Wise: Wizards of the Coast enjoys tremendous goodwill from being the company that makes the game Matt Mercer runs on TV, all of the celebrities that keep saying how much they love D&D, their recent efforts to make the game more inclusive, the fact they put almost their entire back catalog on DTRPG/DMG for people who want to explore D&D's history or (more likely) don't like what WotC is publishing now.

Right now, the story is OLD MAN YELLING AT CLOUD ACCIDENTALLY A HATE CRIME. It's not a good story for WotC, and they want it to go away as quickly as possible, but if they lift a finger the story in the mainstream news becomes BILLION DOLLAR MULTINATIONAL CRUSHES SON OF BELOVED CREATOR and the news in places that support the things Ernie said becomes REAL LIFE D&D HERO SILENCED BY RAINBOW CONSPIRACY. This is the best possible outcome for everyone at TSR that is not Ernie Gygax.

Wizards of the Coast wants TSR to stop embarassing everyone and make some games, preferably that don't infringe upon intellectual property that WotC owns. Trying to use their lawyers to make this go away, as tempting as it must seem, does the exact opposite of both objectives.

Likewise, anyone saying that WotC is somehow behind either TSR's comments or people's angry responses... needs to go lay down and then they need to go outside. Of all of the companies that have a stake in this little melodrama, Hasbro is the only one that does not have a single possible strategy for gaining from it. This new TSR never stood a chance of competing with them, the entire OSR movement is good for them and they know it, and their only moves since Gygax gave that stupid interview were to sit back and watch this tiny little company damaging their most valuable property, or set themselves on fire to get rid of them.

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You know, I had some things I wanted to say about the whole incel revenge fantasy thing... but they're pretty obvious to anyone who isn't already in that trap, and they're better suited for orhwe venues. Done for now, going back to the last thirteen pages that appeared while I was typing.

 

[darjr]

Jennell Jaquays is a good bean. Probably one of the best of us. She also happens to be the VERY IDEAL of an old school designer that is a creative force and even worked for TSR.
She is one of the pillars of the entire hobby if not of all of modern gaming.

Jennell Jaquays - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://twitter.com/JennellAllyn?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

[darjr]

Jolly Blackburn is a good OSR bean.

 

[Dragonsbane]

They're doing damage to older players. When the face of the older generation is a cartoonishly out-of-touch, hidebound grognard, it hurts the game as a whole by creating a generational rift.

There's only so much crapping on 5e by old fogeys that anyone wants to hear. And the more old fogeys that shoot their mouth off about how 5e is too woke, the more it reinforces a stereotype of older players being against progress.

.

 

[DammitVictor]

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I do see Ernie associating with a bad actor who is following VV, and I have informed Ernie about this as he espouses Christian principals still.

I follow a lot of people on Twitter. It isn't an endorsement of anything, and it isn't even really an act of assocation. All Ernie's saying by following Varg Vikernes on Twitter is that he wants to hear what Varg has to say. I'm following Ernie and TSR on Twitter now. I follow political parties whose leaders I believe should be in prison, and the feeling is mutual. (Or, at least I used to, before I started trying to limit my Twitter usage to professional purposes.) If I thought Varg were a better game designer, I'd be following him. If I liked his style of heavy metal better than I do, I'd follow him. If I thought he were a more dangerous influence within our shared religion, I'd follow him.

The only reason to worry about Ernie's "association" with men like Varg Vikernes is because he's shouting their lines.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

Danke. I have a passionate hobby interest in D&D history, and have devoted a perhaps excessive number of hours to reading and discussing the details of this story over the last several days, including your comments, Ernie's, Luke's and Tim's. Almost exclusively public stuff; I have just one friend who's worked with Ernie a little in recent years, and he hasn't breached any confidences. But that's the picture I've put together from the pieces.

Well, You're a good researcher and writer. If you need anything answered and I can help just PM me. Keep on researching and writing!

 

[Morrus]

{shrugs}
Hating them because they're different (skin color, eyes, whatever) = that's wrong.

Hating them because of their actions (or in the case of the complicit civilians, their lack of actions in reigning in their Govts.) that F* up the world, kill 70-85+million people, cause injury & suffering to hundreds millions more, the heinous atrocities they committed along the way, & a slew of resulting problems that still echo into the present?
Sorry, our Grandparents weren't wrong.

This is simply racism. In no way is it acceptable to talk about hating Asians (or any other group) on this forum. Do not post again in this thread.

 

[embee]

Wow! After being scolded by mods in all red text for comments about younger people, I do hope such a terribly offensive comment to my generation is equally reprimanded! I take great offense to being called cartoonishly out of touch and an old fogey. Ageism! Bigotry! MODS! MODS!

While I note the humorous nature of your reply, as a matter of clarification, I'm not calling all old-school gamers out-of-touch grognards.

I'm saying that grognardism on display by Ernie (and many of the older guard) reinforces a stereotype which, like it or not, some older gamers need to work at overcoming. Such as 3WD. They're three ordinary schmoes out of Pennsylvania who grew up on D&D and Van Halen. And what makes them a good listen is that you can tell that they are trying to adapt, both to 5e and societally as well.

And I think THAT is what is needed.

More older players willing to adapt and evolve. Because older players have a tremendous wealth of experience that shouldn't be allowed to go to waste just because there are folk out there complaining that the worlds of D&D and this world ain't the way they used to be.

The Ernies of the gaming world running around spouting dog-whistle prejudice by saying things like "I'm old-fashioned and am anti modern" hurt the reputation of old school gamers.

Now will someone please kindly tell all these 5e kids to get offa my lawn while a shake my fist at a cloud....

 

[FrozenNorth]

It somehow makes wotc look like excellent stewards of the game, inclusive and diverse by contrast. In actuality, wotc and the 5e community has many of the same problems.

I was thinking this more generally. Whenever an entity does an epic fail and self-own of this proportion, people exercising the bare minimum of competence (and sometimes not even that) look a lot better.*

*I’m not suggesting that WotC is only exercising the bare minimum of competence, just that they could do absolutely nothing and still look like prudent stewards by comparison.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

Yeah...the "roots" are Dave, Gary, and you. No one in nu TSR had anything to do with the roots of D&D to my knowledge.

Well, yes, everyone who has followed the seminal history of TSR/D&D would know that, but the ignorant/uninformed would not. Therein lies the ability for bad actors to conflate two different contextual histories for their own purposes. I foresaw this out of the gate as it was being promulgated by TSR3 and also by those revisionists or extremists on the other end who would like to paint over the past with a broad brush. Neither of these two anterior/revisionist axis points are truth, though both would like them to be, this for their own specific agendas.

This is part of a greater whole that will be covered in the upcoming public announcement, which I assume is right around the corner.