Post by Shelby on Feb 13, 2020 16:55:36 GMT -8
So this week has been revelatory. Years ago I stumbled on some Facebook posts from Bob Bledsaw II and III. As a result, I resolved not to give Judges Guild any more of my money. I wrote a blog post about voting with your wallet, but I didn't call the Bledsaws out. However, this week some well-known figures in the game industry DID call them out, and as a result the foundering Judges Guild just lost a few business partners, as well as alienating a good number of consumers.
What's this? You don't know what I'm talking about? Judges Guild is a company founded by Bob Bledsaw (senior) and Bill Owen way back when D&D was still three little paper pamphlets in a cardboard box, way back in the 70s. Bill eventually left the company. JG had a license to make supplements for D&D, and churned along for a while. Eventually, their production petered out.
Years and years later, they experienced something of a renaissance, mostly with a few partnerships, mostly re-issuing classic material along with a few unpublished pieces. After that, they ran a Kickstarter that never produced anything, just took a lot of people's money. So, not so successful anymore, more of a sideline for Bob Sr's son and grandson.
However, Bobs II and III have been making a habit of posting racist, misogynist and anti-Semitic comments online. Publicly. There was even a post from one of the old Judges Guild writers stating that Bob Sr used to routinely use the word Jew as a verb: "to Jew" someone. And he used the phrase in front of two of his Jewish employees.
All of the comments I've seen online have been from people resolving to have nothing further to do with Judges Guild any longer. But, I've seen a couple of posts stating that there have been people online who are publicly defending the Bledsaw's stance. Ya know, basically saying that hate speech can be OK, you should still buy their products. Again, I haven't seen those posts, but maybe they're on Facebook. And I deleted my Facebook account back in 2018, so there you go.
In any case, I'm quite gratified to see this movement of people shunning the Bledsaws as a result of their hate speech. Normally I don't like the outrage mob, but in this case it's pretty cut and dried.
I happen to love the old Judges Guild material, which I played in and ran for decades beginning back in the 70's. I certainly hope that the Bledsaws don't make any more money selling them. I've got to say that I feel a little funny about actually using any of it again. I mean, if I do the Bledsaws won't see any profit, but it's almost like an endorsement. Honestly I'm a bit conflicted here.
I have quite a bit of materials that I've never used, that are non-Judges Guild, so it's no hardship to put off any decision. But I wonder what I'll eventually decide?
What will YOU do?
What's this? You don't know what I'm talking about? Judges Guild is a company founded by Bob Bledsaw (senior) and Bill Owen way back when D&D was still three little paper pamphlets in a cardboard box, way back in the 70s. Bill eventually left the company. JG had a license to make supplements for D&D, and churned along for a while. Eventually, their production petered out.
Years and years later, they experienced something of a renaissance, mostly with a few partnerships, mostly re-issuing classic material along with a few unpublished pieces. After that, they ran a Kickstarter that never produced anything, just took a lot of people's money. So, not so successful anymore, more of a sideline for Bob Sr's son and grandson.
However, Bobs II and III have been making a habit of posting racist, misogynist and anti-Semitic comments online. Publicly. There was even a post from one of the old Judges Guild writers stating that Bob Sr used to routinely use the word Jew as a verb: "to Jew" someone. And he used the phrase in front of two of his Jewish employees.
All of the comments I've seen online have been from people resolving to have nothing further to do with Judges Guild any longer. But, I've seen a couple of posts stating that there have been people online who are publicly defending the Bledsaw's stance. Ya know, basically saying that hate speech can be OK, you should still buy their products. Again, I haven't seen those posts, but maybe they're on Facebook. And I deleted my Facebook account back in 2018, so there you go.
In any case, I'm quite gratified to see this movement of people shunning the Bledsaws as a result of their hate speech. Normally I don't like the outrage mob, but in this case it's pretty cut and dried.
I happen to love the old Judges Guild material, which I played in and ran for decades beginning back in the 70's. I certainly hope that the Bledsaws don't make any more money selling them. I've got to say that I feel a little funny about actually using any of it again. I mean, if I do the Bledsaws won't see any profit, but it's almost like an endorsement. Honestly I'm a bit conflicted here.
I have quite a bit of materials that I've never used, that are non-Judges Guild, so it's no hardship to put off any decision. But I wonder what I'll eventually decide?
What will YOU do?