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."

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[payn]

Weird Al also always seeks permission so that the artist is in on the joke. The one time I know of that he wasn't given permission by the artist but went ahead was due to a communication snafu. Fortunately, Coolio mellowed on the idea and apologized for the misunderstanding to Al. He's a pretty respectful and thoughtful guy, that Weird Al.

My favorite story is when Weird Al reached out to Mark Knopfler about doing a parody of Money for Nothing. Knopfler told him the only condition is that he play the solo cause anybody else would f it up.

 

[Catulle]

People certainly shouldn't judge entire races/ethnicities/nationalities based on the actions of parts of those groups. Going by history, do a lot of people who go through enough atrocity, oppression, or war often have that pain further compounded by PTSD, depression, and other horrible difficulties? What's the way to tell those people they aren't targeting their pain induced rage appropriately? Just not having it passed to the next generation almost feels like a big victory compared to what has happened historically in many places.

I mean, appropriate mental health reconciliation would seem like a good idea, if perpetually underfunded...

 

[Zardnaar]

People certainly shouldn't judge entire races/ethnicities/nationalities based on the actions of parts of those groups. Going by history, do a lot of people who go through enough atrocity, oppression, or war often have that pain further compounded by PTSD, depression, and other horrible difficulties? What's the way to tell those people they aren't targeting their pain induced rage appropriately? Just not having it passed to the next generation almost feels like a big victory compared to what has happened historically in many places.

This. My grandmother was a terrible human being on multiple levels. She was casually racist in today's terms by American standards almost a liberal (think 1940's or 50's).

I'll try a bit more context. I went to a family reunion in 2002. My branch of the family tree was very small I think across 3 or 4 families there was a grand total of 5 males, adding in my sister and mother we had seven descendants.

The largest branch had over 100.

The difference? Industrial accidents and WW1 and 2.

The smallest branch had one representative an elderly widow no kids.

That was the background my grandmother was raised in. One of my great uncle's got deep fried alive,others are still in France and won't be coming home ever.

 

[the Jester]

The complaint is more around "why is it all the dark skinned races are evil, and all the light skinned ones are good?" Orcs? Drow? Those aren't necessarily individual things. It's when you look at things as a whole and see trends.

I mean.... yeah, but I don't think the "dark skins = evil" motif is as prevalent as some do in D&D, or at least in old school D&D. Drow, absolutely- but... orcs started off green and piggy. I think that's less problematic than their later depiction- it's farther from human so it's harder to see them as a pastiche of any given ethnicity. And at least in their original depiction, goblins are red and hobgoblins yellow. Duergar are pale compared to other dwarves, derro are sallow-skinned, etc.

I think some of the problem has been with the artists just going with white looking demihumans even if that didn't match the lore. IIRC the 1e Monster Manual describes dwarves as generally darker than they are actually shown in the art.

Which isn't to say that what you're talking about isn't a problem. Perception matters, and since Drow have become one of the most iconic bad guy races in D&D, putting them up front in a lot of the art and the like, it's easy to see how that can paint the wrong picture.

 

[the Jester]

But, again, the depiction in the classical D&D drow society isn't La Llorona or Ereshkigal or any other individual female figure; the matriarchy is one more way that the drow are the evil antithesis (dark instead of light, below ground instead of above, worshipping demons instead of good gods, etc. etc.) The worship of mate-eating female spiders isn't a particularly subtle flag for how their matriarchy is evil and a dangerous inversion.

Haven't elven societies of all stripes often been described as matriarchal? I know I tend to see them that way.

 

[mythago]

But we didn't live through those years and there's a very big difference between living it and reading about it.

My father-in-law lived through those years. He was born in Germany and came to America with his family, as a toddler, between the World Wars. He enlisted in WWII to serve his country, but was only permitted to serve in the Merchant Marine because of concerns that he would be an 'enemy alien'. He and his siblings were beaten up and spit on and called names because of their ancestry.

Giving racists a pass because they had "good reason" for their racism is nonsense.

 

[mythago]

Haven't elven societies of all stripes often been described as matriarchal? I know I tend to see them that way.

I don't know, have they? 'Been described' by whom? Not in classic D&D, at any rate, and certainly not in a way that hit you over the head with matriarchy being all about dominating and subjugating men, cue extremely subtle spider themes.

 

[OblivionDrive]

I think there are some automated protections in place to prevent someone from immediately swooping up and stealing an account name, but that may just be for the dreaded blue checkmark folks.

Yeah if you nuke your own account you have either 30 or 60 days (I forget which - maybe 90?) to reactivate it before it’s gone gone and the name is opened up.

But yeah, these were self-deletions. If Twitter had Banhammer’d them it would say Account Suspended rather than This Account Doesn’t Exist.

Also, man, that escalated quickly while I was gone this afternoon for sure. Woof.

 

[the Jester]

I don't know, have they? 'Been described' by whom? Not in classic D&D, at any rate, and certainly not in a way that hit you over the head with matriarchy being all about dominating and subjugating men, cue extremely subtle spider themes.

Hmm.

Thinking about it- I'm pretty sure that both the Complete Book of Elves and Elves of Evermeet mentioned matriarchy as a thing that was pretty common among elves, but I wouldn't swear to it and don't have either of those handy.

Greyhawk had Celene, an elven realm ruled by a queen; but I'm not sure that it's technically a matriarchy so much as a realm with a female ruler right now.

So, maybe it was just a matter of my having seen it referenced here or there and seizing on it. I'm honestly not certain at this point- I don't have my 1e MM to look at either (I'm at my girlfriend's house).

 

[Yaarel]

I agree. I said that the decaying patriarchy was still resisting (but not winning) so that parity is finally achieved, However, as I noted in another post, the underlying system does not promote parity as it was set up in ancient times and carried forward to now. In my view for the stability and equality of peoples of this planet, that system has to be undone (i.e., not amended as is currently being suggested by those who created it, but ended).

It seems to me, same sex orientation and trans gender identity are instincts that quickly disassemble the ancient "every male must be above every female" structure.