TSR Giantlands

[Ruin Explorer]

Ok so I've been through a lot of pages of this thread WAITING for one of you, any of you, to explain much about Giantlands, and why it's boring/dumb. But we're all going over Ward and that idiot commentator and so on, yeah, like bigots gonna bigot, but I want the "Bigot with bad ideas" details.

But no-one has given out those juicy details! And I'm not finding them easily on the internet!

So far all I know is:

Entirely unimpressed, yes.

The Landshark is dull as dishwater, changing the names of classes, races, and DMs is just needlessly fussy, making Ley Power the new "Magic that is expressly Not Magic" carries no weight, and a Percentile based system with your percentage to succeed modified by a percentage to failure that you roll under? Boring.

Top it off with static damage values... At least combat will be fairly quick, I guess?

That's it!

"Ley power isn't magic" sounds like the most hilariously 1990 thing ever btw. Not even 1990s - 1990 specifically. More on this please. "Dark Sun is sci-fi" is a spectacularly awful idea so there that I guess.

 

[Steampunkette]

Ok so I've been through a lot of pages of this thread WAITING for one of you, any of you, to explain much about Giantlands, and why it's boring/dumb. But we're all going over Ward and that idiot commentator and so on, yeah, like bigots gonna bigot, but I want the "Bigot with bad ideas" details.

But no-one has given out those juicy details! And I'm not finding them easily on the internet!

So far all I know is:

That's it!

"Ley power isn't magic" sounds like the most hilariously 1990 thing ever btw. Not even 1990s - 1990 specifically. More on this please. "Dark Sun is sci-fi" is a spectacularly awful idea so there that I guess.

Professions, Species, Spirit-Keeper. The renames for Class/Race/DM.

Also it's a game system which apparently relies on Masks and physical Amulets that you hold and display and wear to do stuff in game. Though that might just be Larpy Bits that are not mandatory.

 

[Yora]

I was really only a wannabe groupie and never a real insider, and the guy was always really dodgy and had controversies around him that were public enough for even me to notice as someone with no connections to any of the published creatives. I might be getting my timeline wrong, but I think it was even way back in the playtest phase of 5th edition that there was complaining about some of the people contacted by WotC as consultants, and he was at the top of that list. And that was back in 2014. The public exile came only in 2019.
Of course most people who played RPGs would never have heard of any accusations around him, but I think most such people weren't even aware of him other than as the name that appears on the cover of some highly praised books.
I'm really going entirely by very fuzzy mememory with this, but I believe there was even frequent public conversation (that is forums and comment sections) about people maliciously slandering him. He wasn't even shy about that. For a good period of time, he would always end announcements for new products and such with a facebook screenshot of someone calling him the worst person in RPGs. Everyone who read his site would have known that there was something really shifty going on, but it seems that overwhelmingly people bought his version that it's all baseless slander from people jealous of his success.

Now Pundit on the other hand is just spewing his poison wherever he goes with no attempts to appear as anything else.

And there's at least two more people I can think of who feel very suspicious to me as having detestable views, but since they never were the target of serious accusations and mostly quietly slipped from the stage in recent years, I won't be putting them in the stocks. But when you have four such people thriving in an artistic community, you have to wonder how many more there are with a smaller profile, or who approve of them in the audience.

(Addendum: Five people. Forgot about the whole ACKS drama for a moment.)

 

[Sir Brennen]

Ok so I've been through a lot of pages of this thread WAITING for one of you, any of you, to explain much about Giantlands, and why it's boring/dumb. But we're all going over Ward and that idiot commentator and so on, yeah, like bigots gonna bigot, but I want the "Bigot with bad ideas" details.

But no-one has given out those juicy details! And I'm not finding them easily on the internet!

So far all I know is:

That's it!

"Ley power isn't magic" sounds like the most hilariously 1990 thing ever btw. Not even 1990s - 1990 specifically. More on this please. "Dark Sun is sci-fi" is a spectacularly awful idea so there that I guess.

See my post upthread. There simply isn't much else. The game isn't out yet, and beyond a brief description of how you hit in combat, there's very little to discuss/analyze. If you go to giantlands.com and then click on some of their social media links, there's a few pictures and hype. Their Instagram account has a screenshot of a couple monsters with stats, but you have to have an Instagram account to actually view them in a readable form (I do not).

They're still claiming this game is "a new sub-genre of science-fantasy" in a tweet/FB post from yesterday.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

See my post upthread. There simply isn't much else. The game isn't out yet, and beyond a brief description of how you hit in combat, there's very little to discuss/analyze. If you go to giantlands.com and then click on some of their social media links, there's a few pictures and hype. Their Instagram account has a screenshot of a couple monsters with stats, but you have to have an Instagram account to actually view them in a readable form (I do not).

They're still claiming this game is "a new sub-genre of science-fantasy" in a tweet/FB post from yesterday.

Ahh gotcha re: premature. From what I've heard so far the whole thing, even the LARP aspects, seems profoundly "30 years after it would have been cool".

It's like someone re-inventing prog rock in 2003 or something, and claim it's totally new and original.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Ok so I've been through a lot of pages of this thread WAITING for one of you, any of you, to explain much about Giantlands, and why it's boring/dumb. But we're all going over Ward and that idiot commentator and so on, yeah, like bigots gonna bigot, but I want the "Bigot with bad ideas" details.

But no-one has given out those juicy details! And I'm not finding them easily on the internet!

So far all I know is:

That's it!

"Ley power isn't magic" sounds like the most hilariously 1990 thing ever btw. Not even 1990s - 1990 specifically. More on this please. "Dark Sun is sci-fi" is a spectacularly awful idea so there that I guess.

I think this tweet followed by the preview of the “never before seen in any type of monster manual” landshark preview, have made people expect the worst. None of the previews that’s I’ve seen have seemed to show any of the innovations that the above tweet is implying is in the game.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I think this tweet followed by the preview of the “never before seen in any type of monster manual” landshark preview, have made people expect the worst. None of the previews that’s I’ve seen have seemed to show any of the innovations that the above tweet is implying is in the game.

Thaumaturge.

Yeah, but this LandShark is different.

This one .... says it's a dolphin.

 

[lingual]

Yeah.

May we all be treated with the same respect that we deserve based upon our shared humanity- not upon our sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, race, creed, color, age, national origin, religion (or lack thereof) or ... as you put it, "dude" status.

I guess that's what I get for trying to engage. Lesson learned.

That's the point of Gradine's post actually. That "old white dudes" are granted more leeway and respect because they are "old white dudes". I do think there is a difference between ignorance and intolerance. Ignorance can be overcome with some education, empathy, discussion, and good faith. Outright intolerance is something else. Maybe some of us are putting JW in the ignorance category here. I can't read his mind so I have no idea.

I have to admit I was transphobic, etc. when I was a kid and growing up. I would hope in the ignorant category. I just didn't know any better and believed what was taught to me. Going through college, growing up, meeting people, etc. has hopefully reduced that ignorance

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

That's the point of Gradine's post actually. That "old white dudes" are granted more leeway and respect because they are "old white dudes". I do think there is a difference between ignorance and intolerance. Ignorance can be overcome with some education, empathy, discussion, and good faith. Outright intolerance is something else. Maybe some of us are putting JW in the ignorance category here. I can't read his mind so I have no idea.

I have to admit I was transphobic, etc. when I was a kid and growing up. I would hope in the ignorant category. I just didn't know any better and believed what was taught to me. Going through college, growing up, meeting people, etc. has hopefully reduced that ignorance

I perfectly understood the point of Gradine's post. Did you read the very lengthy post that they were referring to? The one in which I went into depth on the topic, and stated, in the second paragraph-

I say that not to excuse Jim Ward, or anyone else, or to minimize your individual hurt; I am painfully aware that I am saying, to you of all people, "Hey, don't forget that this old white guy is a person too, who contains multitudes, and should not be reduced to a few traits." Instead, I am pausing to observe that I have seen a number of things, especially recently, that give me pause.

No?

Or the ending, after explaining why I thought their position was not well-thought out?

Eh, this is a long and winding setup to the point I am getting to. I don't know if Jim Ward is a good person going through a bad patch, or a bad person who did good things in the past, or just a flawed person like the rest of us who is making some bad choice right now. I do know I am probably more likely to extend some benefit of the doubt to him (even if it is wishcasting) because he really did bring so much joy to so many people for so many years, including me, through his work. I am particularly grateful to him because Jim Ward created/introduced Corellon Larethian to D&D, who was important to many LGBTQA+ players in the early years of D&D- no, I don't think he did it on purpose, but even unintentionally, he made the world a lot better for a lot of LGBTQA+ players.

Other than making jokes, I try not to get to in the weeds in these threads, because it is profoundly sad to me to see these things happen. I see the good work of people like Sacrosanct, making inclusive OSR-style games, and that makes me inordinately happy. I hope that Jim Ward is being used for his name, and is not fully aware of the company he keeps; in the meantime, I will try and remember his good works, and not whatever dumpsterfire he is attached to.

So yeah, that's why I don't get involved in these threads. I don't give Jim Ward any more leeway because he just happens to be an old white dude; rather, and as I wrote, I really hope that this is a rough patch, and I am trying to extend empathy, because I know on a personal basis that his good works, even unintentionally, helped a lot of people like me, and I remember that he also was rendered desitute by a neurological condition a decade ago- and required crowdfunded healthcare. I do not extend Jim Ward empathy because he is an old white guy, but because he's a person, and I treat him as I would want to be treated.

I don't like Gradine's casual dismissal of thoughtful posts, and find it unhelpful. But I understand the anger, but that's why I didn't engage further. I explained, and I'm done.

But hey- thanks for explaining things to me! Really appreciate it!

 

[CleverNickName]

"Ley power isn't magic" sounds like the most hilariously 1990 thing ever btw. Not even 1990s - 1990 specifically. More on this please. "Dark Sun is sci-fi" is a spectacularly awful idea so there that I guess.

You laugh, but there's been more than one debate on these boards about how psionics is/isn't "magic" and people could get hot around the collar about the distinction. Things have cooled down a bit in the past couple of years, but I remember when it was a Big Deal.

But I don't know where they are coming from, with that whole "Dark Sun is science fiction" angle. Words mean things, and I don't think they read up on what sci-fi means.