TSR TSR3.5 Launches IndieGogo Campaign to "Stop" WotC

The latest in the TSR3 saga, which has gone quiet for a while, is a new IndieGoGo campaign launched to "stop Wizards of the Coast". They cite wrongful bullying of TSR, and refusal to answer requests that WotC show TSR "proof of their claims" (although the campaign page doesn't mention what those claims are).

The IndieGoGo campaign was launched yesterday and has so far raised $675 (at the time of writing).

The action TSR seeks is a "Trademark Declaratory Judgement of Ownership" which is a court declaration about the status of something in dispute.

TSR has launched a campaign to stop Wizards of the Coast

Become a Champion of TSR and Support TSR’s campaign against Wizards of the Coast!

TSR is taking a stand against Wizards of the Coast (“WOTC”) and its wrongful bullying of TSR, our trademarks, and its public libeling and slander of all those who helped create TSR based Dungeons & Dragons and products.

Wizards of the Coast has continually bullied TSR regarding TSR’s legally owned Trademarks. Wizards of the Coast has refused to answer all of TSR's repeated requests that they show any proof of their claims. Wizards of the Coast has the vast resources behind them and is implying to bring them to bear down on TSR.

The new TSR suffered widespread pushback when it launched, which they blamed on WotC, claiming that they were under a "coordinated assault across various channels being mounted.... by [WotC]" The company announced itself earlier this year, having acquired the TSR trademark after the previous holder accidentally let it lapse. It was run by Ernie Gygax, Justin LaNasa, and Stephen Dinehart. After several weeks of controversy, the company split into two -- Wonderfilled (Stephen Dinehart), and TSR (Ernie Gygax and Justin LaNasa).

TSR - TSR3 Blames Widespread Pushback On WotC

In an unexpected turn of events, the primary individuals behind TSR3 have claimed the pushback they've received on social media and elsewhere was orchestrated by .... D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast (a company which has thus far remained completely silent on recent events). TSR3 is run by...

www.enworld.org

The page also indicates an intention to "fight to have WotC's legacy product disclaimer removed" from older products (that's the disclaimer on the older books available on DMs Guild which indicates that those books are products of their time) by claiming that the disclaimer portrays the creators of those older products as "as supporting those alleged prejudices, stereotypes and bigotry, wrongfully claimed to be part of those products".

TSR will also Fight to Have the WOTC Legacy Disclaimer Removed

TSR is suing WOTC for Trademark Declaratory Judgement of Ownership . TSR will also pursue in the near future having WOTC remove the legacy content disclaimer placed on TSR based Dungeons & Dragons and other products, and retractions of any other libel and slander which alleges that racism and other heinous beliefs are incorporated into those products.

This disclaimer attempts to make a statement of fact argument, and therefore paints all of the writers, editors, artists and consumers of those products as supporting those alleged prejudices, stereotypes and bigotry, wrongfully claimed to be part of those products. This statement by Wizards of the Coast opens the possibility for the producers and players of these "Legacy Products" to face ridicule, and face the labeling as "bigots", "racists", "misogynists", and worse Cyber & Physical Attacks!

Wizards of the Coast legacy content disclaimer.

"We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end".

TSR3's Justin LaNasa spoke about the campaign in a YouTube video.

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...

www.enworld.org

 

[Cadence]

There are nearly an infinite number of ways that you can communicate with other people. And the vast majority of them do not have the manifold and manifest problems of facebook.

Did I read right that FB make $36 per user per year on advertising? Or was that not per year.

I wonder how many people would switch to a no-add, no-recommendation, no-tracking subscription to it for $3/month.

 

[Ancalagon]

Facebook advertising is the best ads platform on the planet. Hey yeah I need Facebook!

and yet I've never, ever seen an add on Facebook for this site/product... :/

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

And get COVID, are you nuts? We're in a pandemic

In all seriousness, many, if not most of the friends I have and use FB for do not live close. I don't have the time nor the money to fly out and visit all these people all over the world all the time. And I don't want to wait a week for a letter like in the old days, and it's really hard to have a flowing conversation via email.

Like I said, FB has a lot of value if you know your own limitations, and use it the way you want to use it. I fully agree that the company is shady and does some bad stuff, but it is a tool. If you know how to use it and use the tools available to you, it's more of a benefit than a hindrance.

But I need you to think on the following- that's a great analogy, when you understand how a tool works, right? Do you know, I mean ... do you really really know how facebook works? Not even the stuff that they're hiding- just the stuff that you probably aren't even thinking about? Let's run down a few things-

1. You understand that what you see on FB is different than what everyone else see, right? And you have no idea the ways in which it is different, because it's generated algorithmically? And that this portrayal of how the world "really is" will have subtle effects on you that you aren't even aware of?

2. Did you know that FB not only creates full profiles of you and everyone that uses FB in order to model your behavior, but also "shadow profiles" of people not on facebook? That's right- they are constantly scouring your posts and your photos to try and glean information about people (like me) that aren't on facebook; quite literally, your existence on facebook is selling out people that deliberately avoid it.

3. Facebook gives you a distorted view of the world; not just the recent well-publicized issues of causing body dysmorphia for teen girls (instagram), but causing depression in general since you are generally presented with peoples' posts that attempt to portray idealized versions of themselves, and not the reality as you would see it if you were actually present. Umbran talks about the connection of other people ... but it's actually the opposite. Just the dopamine rush of checking facebook, and the worry that your life isn't as great as what other people present.

4. Do you use facebook messenger? You're aware, right, that all of that is being checked and then used by facebook? Including photos and links? Imagine if someone said, "Hey, all your phone calls are going to be recorded and monetized by a private company. Oh, you can trust them!"

5. And all that data- it's not just the Facebooks, and the advertising, and the Cambridge Analyticas of the world that know everything about you. Facebook has acknowledged selling off that data to all sorts of shady places ... and if you think it hasn't been hacked ... well, it has been.

6. How about the genocide? Social media is great for organizing people ... especially if you want them to feel angry about minorities in the county. Like the Rohingya. That's surprising, except ...

7. Facebook has known that its algorithms promote divisive and false content, but because it drives engagement and profits, it decided to go hard into that. In other words, facebook literally prioritized the worst of the worst.

So yes, it is a tool! But most people are discounting not just how bad it is for the world, and how much damage it does ... but they also don't realize how much it influences them in ways that they don't know.

Let me put it like this. I grew up in a rural area. 99% of gamers were white males. If it weren't for FB or other social media and I still kept to those local groups, I wouldn't have the exposure to nearly as much diversity as I have been. And that exposure has helped me grow not only as a gamer and indie publisher, but as a person as well.

I think that's great- but I also think that this would have been the case without Facebook. I have seen too many people radicalized ... and trust me, I don't think any of them started by saying, "Hey, I'd like to look at some cute cat videos and keep up with some friends, and also? I'd like to totally believe in crazy conspiracies and drive my in-real-life friends away!"

If people knew how it was influencing them ... then it wouldn't work. That's the beauty of it. It's just giving people more and more of what they think they want.

...and the thing to reflect on is not the obvious ways other people have been changed, but rather- what has this done to me? Would I even know?


To me, what's crazy is the people that continue to defend facebook. All of this ... all of this is out there, but people can't quit it. Almost like that's exactly by design. Weird, huh?

 

[Bolares]

this thread took a weird turn...

 

[David Howery]

this thread took a weird turn...

yeah, sure did. Has anyone else here who's on FB signed up with the assorted gaming groups there? I'm on 5 D&D groups, 2 miniature groups, and an Avalon Hill group. That's about 80% of what I do on FB anymore....

 

[Gradine]

this thread took a weird turn...

To be fair, 'twas weird from the start

 

[Mort]

yeah, sure did. Has anyone else here who's on FB signed up with the assorted gaming groups there? I'm on 5 D&D groups, 2 miniature groups, and an Avalon Hill group. That's about 80% of what I do on FB anymore....

Yeah, the only reason I even check facebook anymore is for a few gaming related groups and a savage RIFTS group discussion.

 

[Bolares]

Let me put it like this. I grew up in a rural area. 99% of gamers were white males. If it weren't for FB or other social media and I still kept to those local groups, I wouldn't have the exposure to nearly as much diversity as I have been. And that exposure has helped me grow not only as a gamer and indie publisher, but as a person as well.

Same here, I live in a small town in a state that was colonized after slavery ended in Brazil, so there is much less diversity in here. Facebook really helped me connect with a diverse set of people, in and out of the RPG space. Nowadays I have little patience for it, but it was important for the formation of a lot of important relationships I have now.

 

[Mort]

My wife forwarded this lawsuit (and related Twitter analysis) to her firms copyright/trademark litigation team.


No substantive comments yet, but one of them has already responded that reading through the lawsuit (and the twitter commentary) has made their day.

 

[Bolares]

My wife forwarded this lawsuit (and related Twitter analysis) to her firms copyright/trademark litigation team.


No substantive comments yet, but one of them has already responded that reading through the lawsuit (and the twitter commentary) has made their day.

Even having completelly different judicial systems from the one I work on, this is very entertaining