TSR Just when you thought it was all over.... now there’s a fourth TSR!

In the story that will never end, after having this week turned itself into Wonderfilled, Inc, and deleted its Twitter account, TSR is BACK AGAIN! Like again, again, again, again. Complete with old-school logo! And Michael appears to actually exist!

Michael K. Hovermale says in a press release that an unnamed individual (I’m guessing Stephen Dinehart) apparently ran all the social media accounts for TSR, Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum, Ernie Gygax, Justin LaNasa, and Giantlands. He goes on to say that this person has been replaced, and that all posts on those social media accounts are "invalid". There's no mention of Stephen Dinehart's social media accounts though.

Dinehart has left TSR3, taking Giantlands with him. Given that Star Frontiers mentions have been quietly removed a week or so ago, that would leave TSR3.5 without any roleplaying game products, as far as I can tell.

The existing (TSR3} website still says it's WONDERFILED (sic), Inc. However there’s now a NEW one at TSR Hobbies. We’ll call that TSR3.5 for now. I’m struggling to distinguish TSRs from tribbles at this point. They just keep on coming!

TSR - TSR3 Throws In Towel, Rebrands Wonderfilled

In the news story that never ends, after reversing its position earlier and admitting that it was NOT the original TSR reincarnated, the new TSR company, embroiled in acrimony for the last two weeks, and having blamed the widespread criticism it has received on Wizards of the Coast, has deleted...

www.enworld.org

I don't really know what to say anymore, but my job is to report the news. So here's the news.

TSR Appoints New Public Relations Officer; Responds to Social Media Mismanagement - PR.com

TSR has replaced the individual that was serving as both social media manager and information technology manager for TSR and The Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum.

www.pr.com

TSR Appoints New Public Relations Officer; Responds to Social Media Mismanagement​

Lake Geneva, WI, July 09, 2021 --(PR.com)-- TSR has replaced the individual that was serving as both social media manager and information technology manager for TSR and The Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum. This individual was also the social media manager for Giantlands, Justin LaNasa, and Ernie Gygax.

All posts on all social media accounts for TSR and Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum should be considered invalid.

All posts on all social media accounts of Justin LaNasa and Ernie Gygax should be considered invalid.

TSR is in the process of recovering the social media accounts of TSR, The Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum, and the personal Twitter accounts of Justin LaNasa and Ernie Gygax.

Michael K. Hovermale
Public Relations Officer
TSR

Ernie Gygax:
“I wish to speak directly to the transgender community regarding this incident. The individual who was speaking to you on Twitter does not represent me or TSR in any way. Trans people are always welcome to play with us. Everyone is welcome at our table.”
Contact
TSR LLC
Michael K. Hovermale PR Officer
(209) 819-7504

 

[Dire Bare]

The video in question in case anyone wants to take a look.

Sigh. Well, that's all I can take on Jim Ward. Couldn't get past the first few minutes of his remarkably clueless defense of Giantlands and TSR.

Neither Jim Ward nor Ernie Gygax seem maliciously racist or transphobic (like Dinehart and LaNasa most certainly are), but they both are so selfishly wrapped up in their own privilege that they unapologetically cling to systemic racist and transphobic viewpoints and refuse to acknowledge the pain and hurt their words have caused. Their age and health issues garner some sympathy from me, but does not excuse their actions and words.

I don't wish either man any harm, but I certainly as hell won't be purchasing Giantlands or anything else with their names associated with it. Nor contributing to any future healthcare gofundme campaigns. Of course, on it's own merits as a game, Giantlands looks like crap anyway . . .

 

[Stephen Shomo]

The video in question in case anyone wants to take a look.

"...the older I get the better I was..."

 

[JohnF]

"Anyone over 40 that played back then and enjoyed it, they want it back! They are hoping this TSR becomes something that mirrors the old company!"

I played back then.

My age: 53
My desire to have "it" (and its current baggage) back: 0

 

[LordEntrails]

Before anyone asks, this guy is a real dude: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-k-hovermale-74976237/

So they hired someone who already has 2 other jobs and no experience in PR to be their PR. Good move, just what we would expect. Thanks for the link by the way

I say we hang it right on the homepage here as a trophy then. Some people have antlers on the wall, we have the TSR logo we swiped!

Do be aware though, we actually understand that the trademark is not the right to use the logo or any other IP (artwork, names, etc). So we would have to come up with our own logo, Maybe a a smoking dumpster in a grave with something like the TSR logo half burnt and buried in dirt at the bottom?

If Michael is the PR guy and he hasn't locked down the TSR(3 or whether iteration we are on) social media so that there is a clearly recognized channel of information, then he is incompetent at his nemero uno job representing the company he works for.

It might be his #1 job for TSR, but TSR is the third company he works for at the moment. I suspect his FEMA job is actually full-time, and not sure how their aren't conflicts of interests with his second job at Mueller, but hey, he's probably a friend of a friend of one of the principals so yea, it's all good, he's qualified!

 

[Maxperson]

After 4 years I was hoping I was past train wrecks like this.

 

[JonM]

The video in question in case anyone wants to take a look.

I'm going to say the same thing that I said on YouTube, when I saw the vid:

I think Jim may be missing the point. Nobody is saying Giantlands is "evil" - most people have no opinion about it, at all, since there is so little information available (you might want to work on that). It's TSR they are having trouble with, due to some of the hurtful comments they have made. As someone who rode out the Satanic Panic and was writing for Dragon during that time, I can say that comparing the current situation with that is just absurd. This interview feels... poorly informed, at best.

 

[OblivionDrive]

I’m not sure if it was discussed before. It was an interview that came out Thursday on the “Warcampaign” channel. That channel is full of cringe and problematic sentiment, and not something I would normally choose to watch, but I wanted to hear what Jim had to say.

Yeah Warcampaign is very much a ComicsGate-adjacent regressive dumpster fire. Him choosing to go on their platform tells me either a) he’s even more utterly clueless than we thought or b) he supports - or at least is willing to totally ignore for a platform - their harassment campaigns and being horrible people in general.

Neither one is an especially great option :/

 

[darjr]

Yea this is bad. He talks about good vs evil yet when a company he’s associated with, even after he disavows them, chooses to further hate and bigotry as a marketing platform (!!!!!) he decides to ally with their sympathizers.

That’s not choosing to do good.

 

[Radaceus]

Urgent Message:
Calling all agents;
it is believed that the TSRn has caused a temporal spike anomaly, this timeline, that will destroy the continuity. We are currently working hard to catch this Variant, it is possible this Variant is a god of mischief (albeit an otherwise impotent one) sometimes known as Michael, whose absurd decision making defies logic and thus can be difficult to spot.

Any and all help is appreciated,
sincerely
TVA

 

[hunter1828]

"Anyone over 40 that played back then and enjoyed it, they want it back!"

Speak for yourself, Jim.

 

[hunter1828]

The video in question in case anyone wants to take a look.

 

[Dyson Logos]

"Anyone over 40 that played back then and enjoyed it, they want it back!"

Speak for yourself, Jim.

He knows this isn't true, but he pretends he doesn't because he never replies to anyone who says so, so he can feign ignorance.

 

[Kravenjest]

"Anyone over 40 that played back then and enjoyed it, they want it back!"

Speak for yourself, Jim.

The fact that he perceives this huge demographic as being pro-him just shows how small of a bubble he’s living in. This whole TSR debacle has been about protecting that little bubble and resenting the rest of the world.

 

[David Flor]

I call dibs on TSR 4 to TSR infinity. I won't do anything with them; I'm just stopping any future bad actors from using them. [Yes, I know that "call dibs" is not a recognized legal concept in this area, I'm being sarcastic.]

This reminds me of when Quake III came out, some guy registered and parked every Quake domain up to like Quake 20, then did the same thing for every Unreal Tournament domain from 2001 to 2030.

 

[Stormonu]

Also important, Jim Ward has previously said that leyline power is not magic. But in the above-link video he repeatedly refers to it as magic with spells and the whole nine yards.

What even?

Best I can describe it, he's using Ley lines as magnetic power lines, like high-tension electrical power lines. The ley lines themselves aren't magic, but those who "plug into them" can use them to power magic. It's kind of like the electricity to your house. The raw electricity won't cool your food, but if you plug a refrigerator into it, the refrigerator now has the power to chill and freeze food. Likewise, the raw Ley power can't create a VR enviroment, but you can plug/power a VR headset with the electricity to run a VR game.

However, I do agree it sounds like he's avoided/dismissed the whole contraversy and because he hasn't been keeping up with what's going on, he's equating it the Satanic Panic of the 80's. I don't blame him for not wanting to step into that whole mess and comment on it, but since his company is caught up in the bad PR, he needs to get himself informed on what the root of the original issue was.

 

[monsmord]

Best I can describe it, he's using Ley lines as magnetic power lines, like high-tension electrical power lines. The ley lines themselves aren't magic, but those who "plug into them" can use them to power magic. It's kind of like the electricity to your house. The raw electricity won't cool your food, but if you plug a refrigerator into it, the refrigerator now has the power to chill and freeze food. Likewise, the raw Ley power can't create a VR enviroment, but you can plug/power a VR headset with the electricity to run a VR game.

So he read Robert Lynn Asprin? And those books, you know, had issues and have not aged very well, but he probably wouldn't see it that way. I apologize if anyone has already pointed this out elsewhere.

 

[RFB Dan]

"Anyone over 40 that played back then and enjoyed it, they want it back! They are hoping this TSR becomes something that mirrors the old company!"

I'm 45. I live in Wisconsin, so I have some home-state pride when it comes to TSR from back in the day. I still have warm memories of that TSR, and the AD&D games I loved through the 90s. Hell, I don't even think Lorraine Williams was the Satan that some here think! (I have read several articles & books regarding TSR under the Blumes, and the collapse in 1997 was pretty much inevitable considering; much of their business issues were based in decisions made in the 70s and 80s.). The only think I'd want is for D&D to still be here in Cheeseland for state pride purposes only. I do not want TSR back, especially if it's even remotely like this hot mess is trying to be.

This whole thing saddens me, which is why I've been cracking wise about it; it's a coping mechanism.

 

[Dioltach]

This reminds me of when Quake III came out, some guy registered and parked every Quake domain up to like Quake 20, then did the same thing for every Unreal Tournament domain from 2001 to 2030.

Back in the late 1990s, there were rumours that the EU had to change the intended name for the European currency unit from "ecu" to "euro" because someone had trademarked "ecu" while they weren't paying attention.

 

[General_Tangent]

Back in the late 1990s, there were rumours that the EU had to change the intended name for the European currency unit from "ecu" to "euro" because someone had trademarked "ecu" while they weren't paying attention.

The ecu was an artificial composite currency and was replaced by the euro which is a real currency.

More information can be found here :

European Currency Unit (ECU) Definition

The European Currency Unit was the official monetary unit of the European Monetary System before it was replaced by the euro.

www.investopedia.com

 

[Stormonu]

So he read Robert Lynn Asprin? And those books, you know, had issues and have not aged very well, but he probably wouldn't see it that way. I apologize if anyone has already pointed this out elsewhere.

Couldn't say. Though, I listen to Michael Jackson's music and like it, but couldn't defend anything he was ever accused of.