More Drama in the OSR (And How I Avoid It)

I pulled my head up from working on the next edition of The Microlite20 RPG Collection (which looks to be about 2000 pages this time, that about 500 more than the 2012 edition) last night and hit Tenkar's Tavern to see what was going on in the rest of the OSR world. I discovered that there apparently has been another big blowup on social media (G+ this time) -- see "Guest Post by Greg C re: The Current Drama on G Plus in the OSR - A Must Read IMHO" if you are as in the dark as I was.

I'll be honest, all the drama is one of the reasons I'm not as active posting as I used to be, except about my various gaming projects. I have never had much interest in mixing discussions of real world politics, real world religion, real world current affairs, or the like in my gaming discussions. In fact, I banned such discussions from my gaming tables and game group mailing lists and game group get-togethers many years ago (in the 1980s). When I get together to game or to discuss gaming, that's what I want to do. I don't want to discuss divisive issues like politics or religion. That way, I can game with you even if our positions on such issues are 180 degrees apart. People don't have to agree to work or play together, but sometimes it helps to just not discuss off-topic things that are likely to cause discord and strife. The world will not end because you played in the same game or were quietly discussing gaming over coffee with someone whose political, religious, and/or philosophical opinions are opposed to yours. So I avoid the drama by being just refusing to allow off-topic discussions that are most likely to lead to drama when I'm in charge and by refusing to participate in them (by leaving if necessary) if I'm not in charge. Some people say this makes me just another asshole. Perhaps it does, but I haven't had fights over real world religion, politics or philosophy tear any of my gaming groups apart or turn game sessions sour. That's a big win in my book.

Now, I'm going to start my real-world-drama free Sunday game. Actually, I expect lots of drama today, but all of it will be the exciting and fun in-game adventure type of drama. I wish the same to all of my readers.