Bad Attitudes

Begin Rant #3 of 2012...

I've met a lot of people who like role-playing games.  I've played in games with quite a few of them.  Some of them had good attitudes, and of course some of them had bad attitudes.  I see the same thing with bloggers of the role-playing game genre.  What do I mean by bad attitude?  It's their general outlook on just about everything in the hobby.  Sometimes I wonder why they are even participating in the hobby with all the negativity they have?

Sometimes it's about the edition wars, sometimes it's about WotC/Hasbro haters, sometimes it's just about nitpicking about the little things *cough* ascending/descending armor class *cough*, minis or no minis... I could go on for a while...  The thing is, it's all getting a little old.  You're free to write what you want, and I'm free to ignore it.

I've had a bad attitude about certain things in the hobby, but guess what?  I matured as a person, and realized there's enough room in the hobby for everyone.  You don't like WotC/Hasbro?  There are people that do, and guess what?  Chances are you aren't going to change their mind.  EVER.

Okay, sometimes I understand their bad attitudes, they enjoy the hobby, and don't like the way they think it's going.  That's fine.  Many bloggers, and I know a couple or three that have mentioned this, want to make their living in the "hobby".  Here's what I have to say about that... GO FOR IT!  You only live once, ( I guess ), and why not shoot for the moon?  I don't know the history of the Pathfinder, but they started small, and grew from there.  It can be done.

If you don't think you can make a living in the business of writing and designing games, then just enjoy it as a hobby.  If you can make a little extra money publishing what you can, then be happy!  It's easier than ever to be a small publisher.  Don't blame someone else for all your woes.

Also, I've read blogs, ( not that many mind you ), that the blogger's of the opinion that their way is the best way, and all gamers should emulate them.  HAH.  Their arrogance feeds their negativity, and because not every single gamer is jumping on their bad wagon, and buying their "stuff', they just get more negative.

The thing that bothers me the most is that, some of the negative, arrogant bloggers occasionally write some good stuff.  However, I don't want to read it, or participate in any discussion that may occur.  Why?  Lets say there's an ice cream store and they sell the best fracking ice cream in the world.  However, to get to the store you have to walk across a field chocked full of broken glass and sharp metal, and the footings uneven.  And it's the only way for you to get there.  ( Hey it's an analogy okay? )  Even wearing shoes, would you want to cross the field?  I don't.  You would think bloggers would want readers?  I don't know, I guess some people like the negativity, the bad attitude.  I don't.

So to review: bad attitudes/negativity/arrogance = BAD.  Good attitudes/being positive = GOOD.

Do what makes you happy, but don't assume what makes you happy makes anyone else happy.  Some people only play D&D, and in it's latest iteration.  Some people like to play a multitude of games, and enjoy them all.  Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but don't be upset when not everyone agrees with you. It's going to happen.  I, in fact enjoy reading different opinions, but sometimes not in the way they're presented.  Negativity and arrogance are deal breakers for me.  I move on quickly.  I've got better things to do.

Of course all of this is my opinion, but I think it's a good one.  Live and let live.  You like the OSR and the DIY aspect, then concentrate on that.  You like D&D in any iteration?  That's great!  Play on!  You blog about any of this?  Wonderful!  However, maybe we should all try to be a bit more positive in our endeavors?  I know I can work on this as well.  Support all aspects of the hobby, however we can.  Sink or swim, it's all we have.