GiantLands Steven Wolfe Twitter Review

[infinityman]

Oh! Tenkar had a playthrough, at least a session zero.
There is a ton of preamble but I think it really starts here.

Also wonderfilled has been linking to unboxing/review videos.

You mean like official reviews? Haven't seen those.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Is that high? I just paid $90 for Battlefield: 2042 and now they want $9.99 a month.

Ummm, what?

 

[Morrus]

Sounds like a good start, most of the reviews of the game seem pretty positive. Big Ward/GW fan and it's giving me Gamma World vibes, however with some Dark Sun. Anyone else pick one up?

Hi Stephen. Nice to see you here!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Yes

So, I am not a big fan of all that stuff that went down with nuTSR and Dinehart. And I'm not inclined to give this product the time of day for all sorts of reasons. But I will say the following two things in order to be fair-

1. They have a product. That they provided to people. And it has actual work and actual art that they paid for. And AFAIK, they aren't just stealing other people's IP. In addition, I'm not going to begrudge people like Elmore and Ward getting paid.

2. How many threads have we had about how terrible & low-paid the TTRPG industry is? Yeah, I think it's too much money. But more power to them if they can sell it for that. Assuming creatives are getting paid.


(I would note that I recall there might be some inclusivity issues with this product? I can't keep things straight between this and all the garbage from nuTSR, but if that's the case, that's an issue.)

 

[darjr]

So, I am not a big fan of all that stuff that went down with nuTSR and Dinehart. And I'm not inclined to give this product the time of day for all sorts of reasons. But I will say the following two things in order to be fair-

1. They have a product. That they provided to people. And it has actual work and actual art that they paid for. And AFAIK, they aren't just stealing other people's IP. In addition, while I'm not going to begrudge people like Elmore and Ward getting paid.

2. How many threads have we had about how terrible & low-paid the TTRPG industry is? Yeah, I think it's too much money. But more power to them if they can sell it for that. Assuming creatives are getting paid.


(I would note that I recall there might be some inclusivity issues with this product? I can't keep things straight between this and all the garbage from nuTSR, but if that's the case, that's an issue.)

I would add that it has made some folks very happy outside of all the non-game drama.

And I do think ttrpgs creators are generally not getting their worth.

 

[Mannahnin]

Was there, really?

Because I think folks generally still retain some respect for Jim Ward's professionalism. He's a guy who's written and had published lots of stuff in the past. Giantlands has come in for some shade based on apparently old ideas and some terrible choices by the main guy behind the company, Stephen Dinehart, but he paid real old school creators, Ward and Elmore, to create real stuff.

All the doubts about the existence of products I've seen have been in regards to TSR3, from which Dinehart and Giantlands have disassociated, and which does seem to have a business model of selling a logo and a name on t-shirts, dice, and games written by other people, and has so far created nothing. Most notably publicizing multiple obvious frauds/fakes of a new Star Frontiers.

 

[darjr]

It’s too bad Stephen decided to be deceptive. If he or his operative had come here honestly and dealt honestly it might have gone some distance towards mending their reputation. At least with me. If it included an apology for their transgender hate post.

I’m just sad that James Ward is still involved.

@infinityman Stephen, James is working very hard for you and this baloney dishonors him and his efforts. You could have spent your time championing his event at GaryCon and the premier of his new Giantlands adventure.

 

[infinityman]

It’s too bad Stephen decided to be deceptive. If he or his operative had come here honestly and dealt honestly it might have gone some distance towards mending their reputation. At least with me. If it included an apology for their transgender hate post.

I’m just sad that James Ward is still involved.

@infinityman Stephen, James is working very hard for you and this baloney dishonors him and his efforts. You could have spent your time championing his event at GaryCon and the premier of his new Giantlands adventure.

What's really sad is how you are acting actually. Aren't you also a game designer? Or at least, don't you at least attempt game design? Why do you spend so much time dogging this game?

Ummm, what?

Yeah. You can't play without the extra service.

 

[Dire Bare]

What's really sad is how you are acting actually. Aren't you also a game designer? Or at least, don't you at least attempt game design? Why do you spend so much time dogging this game?

Sooo . . . . @Morrus and @darjr seem to think you, @infinityman, are Stephen Dinehart, the owner of Wonderfilled and publisher and lead writer of Giantlands. If you are Mr. Dinehart . . . . your initial post in this thread is highly deceptive in tone, as @darjr pointed out. If you are not, you're being picked on for being suspiciously and overly positive on a game that has a highly problematic publishing history, despite barely being published.

Assuming you are unaware . . . Giantlands was associated with TSR (the "new" TSR) which turns out to be a small company of very toxic individuals. Stephen Dinehart is on record with toxic comments on various social media forums as well. Dinehart split from TSR in the resulting fracas, but hasn't demonstrated much better behavior himself. The switch of Giantlands from TSR to Wonderfilled was also handled very confusingly for a time.

The game is very expensive . . . which isn't a problem in-and-of-itself, but doesn't seem to have the production values to earn the price. The ideas behind the game and setting seem . . . okay.

If you aren't Stephen Dinehart, I'm sorry you're getting picked on a bit here. I hope you continue buying, playing, and promoting games you enjoy, even if those games are not well received by others.

If you are Stephen Dinehart . . . . you need to behave better if you ever want to be taken seriously on this forum, or in the gaming community at large. Still, I hope your game is a good one, and finds its audience.

 

[Sacrosanct]

What's really sad is how you are acting actually. Aren't you also a game designer? Or at least, don't you at least attempt game design? Why do you spend so much time dogging this game?



Yeah. You can't play without the extra service.

I can't speak for him, but I'm a game designer. Actually won awards at it. And I use editors. Might want to try that. That's why this game is "getting dogged". That, and the very high price you're charging.

Look, if you don't want people on your case, how about not lying all the time? Between this and your recent tweet about a wannabe OSR reviewer you totally made up for whatever reason, people can't trust you.

It's as simple as that. Oh, and not calling people disgusting for being trans might help too.