Artificial Influence

I am glad there was no such thing as "influencers" when I entered this hobby, because if there were, I would have probably dismissed it as puerile. There was a time when it was assumed—rightly or wrongly—that role-playing gamers had above average intelligence, but the tone of these influencers (and their willingness to shill for certain companies) makes it clear that they, and certain companies, believe their audience is composed of gullible dullards. Every video they make has a clickbait title and seems like a commercial or an infomercial. The influencer has, at this point, become a product whose goal is to promote official products released by companies that, in some cases, are actively pursuing a strategy of transforming the hobby into a mass of passive consumers dependent on their products rather than a community of creative individuals who sometimes like to do it themselves and share what they create.

I have learned to distrust these companies and their influencers. I ignore their videos. I'm just glad my generation wasn't subjected to this particular form of commercialization when the hobby was young.

Glitch, Sabotage, or Self-Sabotage?

I just noticed that when one clicks the icon of a follower of one's blog (of the blogspot variety), the pop-up still shows the list of other blogs followed by that person, but it no longer displays that follower's own blogs. I cannot fathom a reason for this, but it certainly doesn't benefit anyone. It would be nice if one could be allowed to follow a follower's blog in return. It's one way to help keep blogging alive... I consider that a good thing...

The Burden of Adventuring: Addendum

In "The Burden of Adventuring," I presented a modified version of "Save vs. Encumbrance" from Aeons & Auguries by JDJarvis. It occurred to me there is one matter I failed to address, which I shall address below.

Encumbrance checks may be required if a character attempts to do something that is made more difficult by being encumbered even if that task would not ordinarily require a check. If a task already requires a check and being encumbered is a significant hindrance, two checks must be made: the initial check and the Encumbrance check. If the initial check is successful and the Encumbrance check is not, the character succeeds, but at a cost: −1 fatigue penalty or loss of (or damage to) the item corresponding to the number rolled for the Encumbrance check.