Zak Smith is suing his accusers

[aramis erak]

Dude, there are "satan worshippers" (real people who are a member of a "church" of skeptical atheists that don't actually believe in the devil) and there are "satan worshippers" (fictional boogeymen that congregate to drink the blood of virgins at midnight). Real life members of the satanic church have nothing to do with secret blood orgies or human sacrifice—kinda like how real life people with socialist leanings are not secret agents of the Soviet Union. You're drawing a false equivalence here.

Considering that one is doing life for rape (over 100 counts he wont even be eligible for parole until he's 130...). Have your nice (but probably delusional) view that no real evil folks played D&D.

And while the American Church of Satan is pretty much a hedonist agnosticism with shock factor ritual, I've never met any of them (to my knowledge).

And there are even murderous gang-bangers who play D&D.

D&D draws (and has since inception) a lot more minority/outlier types than is representative of the overall population.

In the 90's Mike Stackpole wrote an excellent essay.... which has an interesting quote from a murderous satanist (who was not a member of the ACS) (Michael A. Stackpole: The Pulling Report )

When I was playing D&D I was not a satanist, and in fact would probably have punched any Satanist I met right in the mouth. I was interested in witchcraft and Zen however. In doing some research at the library for a D&D adventure I was leading I happened upon the other books that led to my study of occultism.

...to be fair to TSR [the manufacturer of D&D] and in the spirit of honesty I must concede that D&D contributed to my involvement in Satanism like an interest in electronics can contribute to building a bomb. Like the decision to build a bomb, I had already made decisions of a destructive nature before I incorporated D&D materials into my coven projects, and it was Satanism not D&D that had a decisive role in my crimes.

Very real, murderous, satan-worshiping, former D&D player.
See also Sean Richard Sellers #512

 

[CleverNickName]

I don't know what I expected from 11 pages of Internet discourse on this subject, but it wasn't this.
Good day.

 

[Gradine]

Deflect and distract. 60% of the time it works every time.

 

[generic]

Justice will be done.

I've refrained from commenting here too much, but, I feel that I should say something.

My personal bias is that I think that Zak was a good designer with serious and glaring character flaws and a... somewhat twisted sense of morality.

Okay, he seemed like kind of a jerk, to be honest.

What we must remember is that it's not wrong to fund an effort for a citizen to defend themselves against what are pretty petty reasons to sue, I daresay it's the right thing to do.

If Zack did in fact commit the acts he stands accused of (which I have no doubt he did), then he should be punished for them.

Why blame the potential victim? All she's trying to due is raise funds to defend herself.

 

[aramis erak]

With respect - McCarthy's investigations found nobody guilty of anything.

You claimed there were no communist spies, not that the HUAC (House Unamerican Affairs Committee) convicted people. Which they could not, and still cannot. They can, however, refer for prosecution, and such a referral is equivalent to an indictment.

And, for reference, they did refer several for prosecution - more than 10 convicts.. Their investigation was low value, but the threat was real, and as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg prove, a real threat.

The HUAC did more damage than good, but it was fighting a real issue... in a very inept way. Same for the later senate investigations by Sen. McCarthy.

Alger Hiss, by the way, was convicted of Perjury in re his testimony before the HUAC.

Oh, and you should probably be aware that the SCOTUS upheld 10 convictions based upon HUAC hearings referrals for prosecution. (Dennis v. US, 1951)

 

[Ancalagon]

Yeah, I appreciate it too. Good to be reminded just how much a lowlife ZakS is.

Well, the real intent is not to poo poo Zak but to bring assistance to his victims.

 

[billd91]

Well, the real intent is not to poo poo Zak but to bring assistance to his victims.

They go hand in hand like pork chops and applesauce, like peanut butter and Nutella, like Canadian bacon and pineapple on pizza...

 

[pemerton]

there is basically zero chance that Zak does not land on his feet very shortly after all this blows over. Even if it never actually does blow over (which would be nice, but is a pipe dream at this point) there are more than enough people who would more willing to support Zak by buying his products over this that he isn't going to have to worry about it.

This is why I can't really take seriously some posters' concerns about "career-ending false allegations".

 

[Ancalagon]

This is why I can't really take seriously some posters' concerns about "career-ending false allegations".

I can tell you that in the OSR circle I run in, he is not well regarded anymore.

 

[dragoner]

If Zack did in fact commit the acts he stands accused of (which I have no doubt he did), then he should be punished for them.

I've know him for years, we were friends on G+, and even then I couldn't stand his ... whatever you want to call this, being a giant douche nozzle. I blocked him then, just not wanting to hear it anymore. He won't be punished by us, RPG's are just a social thing for him, iirc, he comes from money, and is a six figure a year artist with works hanging in major art museums.

Edit: Pretty sure he is guilty of everything Mandy said he did, I think he even admitted it at one point before doing a 180.