Justin LaNasa shares his opinion of EN World

[Hatmatter]

They've been asked time and time and time again. They ignore the questions, or block those asking them. Hey, let me try yet again!

@TSR-Hobbies, I know you're on here -- your good friend Justin LaNasa claims in the above video that I have "made things up" about your company. As you represent TSR3.5 here on EN World, would you kindly point out the specific part of this article I have made up:

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

Hell, I didn't even offer an opinion. But please, do, tell me which part is made up.

As a followup, and I know you guys have been asked this time and time again and ignored it or insulted those asking, but I'll ask once more, for the record:

What is the stance of your company on trans rights?

Let's hope they answer! It all seems like people shadowboxing at phantoms (not you, Morrus). I think I must be disconnected from some of the trends that this TSR group does not like and is shadowboxing against. I think Wizards of the Coast has done such a marvelous job shepherding the legacy of D&D.

Now, bring on Spelljammer!

 

[Hatmatter]

That is one reason that Jim Caviezel gave for playing Jesus in the Last Temptation movie- we had the same initials.

Well, if the anecdote is correct, he managed to get hit by lightning when on the cross for the production and did not die...so I am glad it worked out for him!

 

[R_J_K75]

I think Wizards of the Coast has done such a marvelous job shepherding the legacy of D&D.

I loved the part where they ask what would they do if the ever acquired the D&D license. Never happen. But they immediately proceed to say re-develop/continue with 1E & 2E completely disregarding the last 22-23 years of D&Ds evolution.

 

[Hatmatter]

How do you pronounce 'EN World'?

I actually heard EN World mentioned in my local gaming shop today. While that was cool, what surprised me was that the person in question pronounced it differently to the way it's supposed to be pronounced. It hadn't occured to me that anyone might read the name of the site differently. So...

www.enworld.org

Yes.

That said, I pronounce it "N-world" because I'm difficult. Or lazy.

Six of one, half-dozen of the other.

Thank you for posting that link, Snarf! I am still a bit surprised. After saying and thinking one pronunciation for so long (I think fourteen years), it is surprising. It's good to know the correct way, though.

Kind of like hearing some people from Wizards pronounce Asmodeus AZ-moe-DAY-us (rhymes with Amadeus, as in the Wolfgang A. Mozart) when all of my friends and I have only pronounced it AZ-moe-dee-us for like 35 years! Or, hearing how President Obama pronounced "divisive," which I first thought, "hmmm, I have been pronouncing it wrong all along?!? Then I learned he has his own unique pronunciation of it!" Takes some getting used.

Cheers, all!

 

[Hatmatter]

I loved the part where they ask what would they do if the ever acquired the D&D license. Never happen. But they immediately proceed to say re-develop/continue with 1E & 2E completely disregarding the last 22-23 years of D&Ds evolution.

Yikes! Right? Now there is the anti-notion of shepherding the legacy in-action.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Now I wonder what the people of RPG.net, Dragonsfoot, and (the various sub) Reddits think about the new TSR???

 

[Umbran]

I was hoping for something more exciting. But he does call EN World a “very big company”, which is funny. I might put that quote in the site header.
“A very big company” - Justin LaNasa, TSR 9.651(c)

Oh, that's rich. I expect nuTSR has more actual employees than you do. It is more than a bit ironic that they didn't determine the truth before speaking that tidbit. We can only hope that they look at the mismatch there, and learn something.

Maybe Mr. Hovermale will wander in and look at this thread - we can lay out several honest questions:

For Ernie Gygax:
1) Does Ernie Gygax recognize that he said harmful things?
1a) Can he state how those statements were harmful (to demonstrate his understanding of the issues)?
2) Can Ernie say he's genuinely sorry for causing that harm?
3) What concrete actions, going forward, does Ernie plan to do take make it right?

Appropriate answers to the above questions comprise a real apology, and might be a great first step in repairing the damage done.

We can add for Mr. LaNasa:
4) Does Mr. LaNasa understand that EN World is not, in fact, a large business?
5) Does Mr. LaNasa recognize that there's public knowledge of a stack of statements and actions in his past that look inappropriate, in either a business partner, or a custodian of a beloved brand?
5a) What concrete actions, if any, does Mr. LaNasa intend to take to improve this perception among folks who are skeptical of his leadership and intentions?

And, for Michael himself:
6) Do you realize that the statement that TSR social media accounts were compromised, without supporting evidence, is difficult to trust?
7) Do you realize that Ernie's failure to offer a real apology works against people accepting this otherwise unsupported statement?


There are no traps intended in those questions. I, personally, would much prefer to have a positive image of TSR. But their own actions and responses to criticism make that difficult.

 

[Mercurius]

I might say the same for the point between the difference between a player and a character. I do not understand what they are speaking against. Around the 1:17 remark, one of the speakers (the one on the left with the goatee) goes into detail about how the character might knife somebody between the ribs, but the player is not doing that. That distinction seems like role-playing 101 to me. I think I might be out-of-touch from the demographic with whom they are attempting to have a conversation. Interesting that at around 1:18:30, Justin LaNasa (if that is the person in the middle) then seems to contradict this point by (if I am following correctly) saying that he was ruing that he was not able to kill another player's character at GaryCon because of his feelings about the player. I may have not followed that conversation strand correctly.

I don't know specifically what they are referring to, but there have been conversations here and probably elsewhere around whether or not fantasy worlds should reflect real-world values, to what degree (and which values). Some feel that fantasy is fantasy, and "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Others feel that the fantasy worlds should better reflect certain values in the real world. And, of course, there is "orcgate" and "drowgate" and other variations around to what degree they are representative of real-world peoples, whether consciously intended or not.

 

[Hatmatter]

I don't know specifically what they are referring to, but there have been conversations here and probably elsewhere around whether or not fantasy worlds should reflect real-world values, to what degree (and which values). Some feel that fantasy is fantasy, and "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Others feel that the fantasy worlds should better reflect certain values in the real world. And, of course, there is "orcgate" and "drowgate" and other variations around to what degree they are representative of real-world peoples, whether consciously intended or not.

Thank you very much Mercurius. I have noticed some of those conversations; I guess I did not understand what they were talking about in this video in such a context. I appreciate you clearing it up for me.

 

[thirdkingdom]

Well, if the anecdote is correct, he managed to get hit by lightning when on the cross for the production and did not die...so I am glad it worked out for him!

There's a pretty brutal episode of QAnon Anonymous discussing Jim C.

 

[Umbran]

There's a pretty brutal episode of QAnon Anonymous discussing Jim C.

This is kind of off topic folks. Please bring it back around to gaming. Thanks.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Always interesting to hear from a failed politician like LaNasa with a record of having female employees don swimsuits and wrestle in a kiddie-pool full of grits in exchange for promotions.
Definitely the sort of mover-and-shaker whose opinion matters!

I didn't know about that part of his biography!

His political career has made me more certain that some or all of these guys are plugged into the American conservative media echo chamber, as has the the fact that these guys seem to use every publicity opportunity to talk greavance against a scary, undefined mob that wants to bring them down, much in the vein of Fox News' primetime editorial content and the like. I'm now more certain of my hypothesis from the trainwreck last Summer that, probably more unconsciously than purposefully, they are trying to build their whole RPG company on the American news media model of picking one political tribe to be their audience and catering to what they want to hear.

And... it actually might kind of work in theory if they ever manage to produce some actual products the people their muted bigotries and loud tirades appeal to could actually buy and if they pursued the course with more savvy. To really cash in they would have to have more discipline in recognizing that if you don't like them its because you aren't their target audience, and every demand you make of them to appologize or whatever is just giving them another opportunity to not do so and sell to their target demo of people who don't want them to apologize.

But I don't think they have the discipline to succeed on such a model. That would require accepting that some people don't like them and actually reveling in that fact, exploiting it to gain attention and win over others, and that doesn't really come natural to most people. Instead I think they ape American conservative media grievance culture without really understanding how to turn that into profit and with the hopeless dream that their critics will eventually let up on them.

I'm sorry to everyone to for whatever degree I've injected politics into the discussion. My interest in the matter is less political than anthropological.

 

[darjr]

LeNasa DOES have “products” to get money from thier targets. Or at least did.

Repackaged dollar store dice for one. Chotskeys of barely changed IP they don’t own or didn’t create. An upcoming convention. And a museum.

 

[Sacrosanct]

LeNasa DOES have “products” to get money from thier targets. Or at least did.

Repackaged dollar store dice for one. Chotskeys of barely changed IP they don’t own or didn’t create. An upcoming convention. And a museum.

I think their biggest money maker is "come play with Ernie for a few hundred dollars an hour!" And people are willing to pay that from what I can tell

 

[darjr]

I think their biggest money maker is "come play with Ernie for a few hundred dollars an hour!" And people are willing to pay that from what I can tell

Have they actually had anyone do that?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Have they actually had anyone do that?

Apparently, judging by some of the feedback I've seen from people saying how fun it was to game with Ernie. Disposable income I guess..

 

[Umbran]

LeNasa DOES have “products” to get money from thier targets. Or at least did.

So, I may be misrembering, but I think the Museum is technically a different business from nuTSR. Still involves him, but not actually part of the (still theoretical) publishing concern.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Apparently, judging by some of the feedback I've seen from people saying how fun it was to game with Ernie. Disposable income I guess..

Yikes. I wouldn’t pay that much to play with a celebrity dream team of my choosing!

Okay, maybe if I could get them to play my game and post it online if it turns out good lol

But just for fun!?

 

[thirdkingdom]

On the subject of gaming, I had listened to a lot of the Evil DM's early OSR podcasts (Save or Die, Roll for Initiative) and enjoyed them. The turn to the alt-right that I see him take online saddens me. He did a lot in the early to mid 2010s to promote OSR gaming.

 

[Dire Bare]

I was hoping for something more exciting. But he does call EN World a “very big company”, which is funny. I might put that quote in the site header.

“A very big company” - Justin LaNasa, TSR 9.651(c)

You guys should unionize.