Revisiting Wisdom

I posted these thoughts from two imperfect but wise men just over a year ago.  I was posting more regularly prior to that.  It seems that while I really love some of the creative work done by the indie game community, so much of what comes out on their social media feeds is trite, tiresome, and discouraging.  I am not part of the echo chamber that informs the worldview of so many of the designers who make games I really like.  And I have found that civil discourse respecting the person but questioning or, heaven forbid disputing their worldviews and politics is tantamount to sin.  If gaming is such a hotbed of oppression and privilege as claimed by so many in the community, then it is largely because they create dispute and dissension with many who just want to play games.

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“ Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but followed by a sense of futility.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

It is unfortunate that so many who are otherwise thoughtful and creative can be so blatantly closed-minded, intolerant, and malicious toward anyone who does not agree with them, and feed them the warm hate they want. Ironic, when so many of these are the ones who claim righteousness against the very things they practice, but somehow find themselves excused of...

Some timeless thoughts from G.K. Chesterton:

"What embitters the world is not an excess of criticism, but an absence of self-criticism."

"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."

"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable."

"To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it."

Story Before vs. Story Now

HERE is a (now long in the tooth) essay by Ron Edwards that came from much discussion from active days of The Forge.

Alas... those years of my life were days when I really didn't have time for gaming, and so missed the exciting ferment that led to the indie renaissance.  *sigh*.  It is not fun being behind the curve as a wanna-be designer.

Short version: "Story Before" is plot first and then roll in characters that fit the plot.  "Story Now" is the characters acting as protagonists create the plot.