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Post by tdenmark on Aug 12, 2020 22:05:04 GMT -6
What a surprise when my RSS feed delivered a new post from Grognardia. A review of Mörk Borg. I've seen a few reviews of this bizarre game and briefly considered ordering it, but I doubt I'd ever play it. Is Mörk Borg worth Grognardia coming out of retirement for? Does this mean James is daring to come out in public again? Time will tell. grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/08/review-mork-borg.html |
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Post by Zenopus on Aug 13, 2020 0:02:36 GMT -6
Woah, didn't expect that! I hope it's a new beginning.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2020 2:53:20 GMT -6
Not speaking as a mod here, but, urrgh. "Dwimmermount" killed Grognardia for me. I wish the guy all good things in life, but of all things he could do, for him to return to the the old "business model", maybe not the best choice. Where does he want to go from here? - Even if he manages to fully resurrect the blog, he'll never silence the doubters. My advice to him would be to focus on writing actual books and supplements. Sure, that's a new beginning, but it's better than continuing to be associated with that ONE mistake you made for ANOTHER decade to come. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Aug 13, 2020 4:42:16 GMT -6
Not speaking as a mod here, but, urrgh. "Dwimmermount" killed Grognardia for me. I wish the guy all good things in life, but of all things he could do, for him to return to the the old "business model", maybe not the best choice. Where does he want to go from here? - Even if he manages to fully resurrect the blog, he'll never silence the doubters. My advice to him would be to focus on writing actual books and supplements. Sure, that's a new beginning, but it's better than continuing to be associated with that ONE mistake you made for ANOTHER decade to come. I'd actually say he should go the OTHER direction. DON'T write books and product--that's what got him in trouble in the first place. Just stick to being a once (and maybe future?) respected voice in the old school community, blogging about OSR issues, new games, reviewing product, putting out thoughts and scholarship, etc. He'd likely rebuild his following doing that. I don't see him ever becoming respected as a publisher/designer again, especially since the Dwimmermount debacle is a BIG part of the reason Kickstarter started to suffer burnout and skepticism from fans whenever someone tries to launch something new on there. It highlighted that potential, "take the money and run" issue of the platform, causing many people to hit the pause button before funding a project from someone that isn't proven. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 13, 2020 4:59:31 GMT -6
I have to agree with Jason on this. Grognardia was an awesome thing, and it makes sense to me for James to go back to what he did best. We all miss that little corner of the web. Now, Mörk Borg? What little I've seen of it makes me not want to see more. I guess I will have to go see what James has to say.  |
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Post by jeffb on Aug 13, 2020 5:41:00 GMT -6
Me three.
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Post by simrion on Aug 13, 2020 6:11:35 GMT -6
Grognardia is James Maliszewski right? Appears he's been somewhat active supporting Goodman Games as they publish their "Original Adventures Reincarnated" line of giant hardcovers. He's credited as providing additional writing and providing some introductory essays for these tomes. Reprints of classic B/X and 1E modules so far along with 5E conversions. KoTB, Isle of Dread, Barrier Peaks and The Lost City.
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Post by cadriel on Aug 13, 2020 6:24:45 GMT -6
"New comments are not allowed."
That makes me sad - the appeal of Grognardia for me was always in the depth of the comment threads, which is where frequently a lot of the insight would come out, both from James and from the commenters.
But never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, it's good that James is writing again. Dwimmermount was a very difficult project; as a backer, I was deeply disappointed in it, and it clearly happened at a bad time for James and in a way that upset the apple-cart of his blog and caused a lot of harm. In retrospect we (myself included) were too hard on him, even though I remain unsatisfied with the result. I appreciate his blog and I'm happy he feels that he can have a public voice again.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Aug 13, 2020 6:35:27 GMT -6
Comments are rarely a good idea on blogs - unfiltered creator streams are better IMO. Comments tend to be either annoying or so good they eclipse the blogger in my experience.
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Post by Zenopus on Aug 13, 2020 8:50:49 GMT -6
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 13, 2020 9:49:01 GMT -6
I have to agree with Jason, Finarvyn, Zenopus, and others. James was a terrific blogger, and should stay away from publishing, other than freelance writing where someone else is handling the business end and providing the production and schedule.
As for no comments, of course he has to turn them off. We can have the comments happen here.
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 13, 2020 9:52:13 GMT -6
Comments are rarely a good idea on blogs - unfiltered creator streams are better IMO. Comments tend to be either annoying or so good they eclipse the blogger in my experience. Comments on blogs are a mixed bag, and are a pain in the ass, mostly a target of spam that has to be constantly policed. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2020 15:09:03 GMT -6
This is a strange bit of synchronicity for me. I discovered his blog the other day via a link of suggested OSR blogs at the OSR subreddit and pondered that a featured blog hadn't had a new entry in years. And then this happens.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2020 22:11:24 GMT -6
I'd actually say he should go the OTHER direction. DON'T write books and product--that's what got him in trouble in the first place. Just stick to being a once (and maybe future?) respected voice in the old school community, blogging about OSR issues, new games, reviewing product, putting out thoughts and scholarship, etc. He'd likely rebuild his following doing that. I don't see him ever becoming respected as a publisher/designer again, especially since the Dwimmermount debacle is a BIG part of the reason Kickstarter started to suffer burnout and skepticism from fans whenever someone tries to launch something new on there. It highlighted that potential, "take the money and run" issue of the platform, causing many people to hit the pause button before funding a project from someone that isn't proven. Happy to be proven wrong about this, don't get me wrong. That said, as you yourself mentioned, this seems bound to become a dead end. To make a very bad comparison - there's a reason why "The Wolf of Wall Street" doesn't work as a stockbroker, any more: People might appreciate his knowledge and experience, but people will also doubt his practical competence. Nothing wrong with doing what you love, but as soon as Maliszewski gets ambitious again, he will start having problems. (Mind you that I'm thinking about the, whatever, morality of him getting back in business. I'm only judging the practicality of it.) Now, I mean what I say: I'm happy to be wrong about this, and if Maliszewski legitimately creates a second chance for himself, that's certainly better for the hobby as a whole, than if he is not. (Now, this is a moral judgement, on my part.  ) |
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Post by scalydemon on Aug 13, 2020 22:44:33 GMT -6
I have enjoyed what I read of his blog.
Not a big blog reader overall.
Pay less attention to the 'scene' these days overall.
Wasn't a backer of his KS and didn't follow the drama closely.
Think he is from eastern Canada.
I wish him and the blog if it moves forward success.
Never heard of Mork besides the TV show.
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Post by doublejig2 on Aug 13, 2020 23:44:11 GMT -6
Pour salt in his wounds!  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2020 0:19:22 GMT -6
Never heard of Mork besides the TV show. You, Sir, are a hero!  |
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Post by DungeonDevil on Aug 14, 2020 4:28:37 GMT -6
"Dark Fortress", I'm guessing? (It's not often I see Swedish in a Anglophone-dominant hobby.) I looked at their webpage and it didn't excite me. If a new game doesn't viserally enthuse me (like AS&SH, of late), then I won't invest in it.
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 14, 2020 6:14:03 GMT -6
Now, I mean what I say: I'm happy to be wrong about this, and if Maliszewski legitimately creates a second chance for himself, There is another aspect; times have changed a lot since 2012. Social Media has taken over the discussions, blogs have dropped drastically in popularity. When Grognardia was started blogs were somewhat new and exciting. Now yelling at and cancelling someone for having a differing political view on Twitter is the norm. Even forums have diminished in popularity with the rise of places like Reddit. There is now more of a headwind to getting traction with a blog. |
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Post by jeffb on Aug 14, 2020 7:33:22 GMT -6
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Post by peelseel2 on Aug 14, 2020 10:47:49 GMT -6
Glad he is (might be) back. I hated to see him leave. I always looked forward to reading his blog. The Kickstarter was a fiasco. Just like investing, never bet what you cannot afford to lose, and leave your feelings out of it. Every Kickstarter I have ever backed I have said to myself, "Well, I'll never get that money back.". Sometimes I haven't. Sometimes I kinda have. Sometimes it has come back beyond my expectations. Mea culpa.
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Post by delta on Aug 15, 2020 7:41:06 GMT -6
I should mention that if you're interested, we have James scheduled to appear on our Wandering DMs D&D talk show in about a month, on Sunday September 20 (1 PM EDT). We simulcast on YouTube and Twitch, and usually take some questions from the live chat. www.youtube.com/WanderingDMs |
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Post by Starbeard on Aug 17, 2020 12:03:00 GMT -6
I heard him interviewed a few months ago on some podcast I don't usually listen to. Okay, here it is: hobbsnfriends.com/2019/12/03/57-james-maliszewski/Having never really gotten sucked into Grognardia back when it was a thing, and so having only learned about the Kickstarter fiasco after it had already gone down, I was still surprised to hear him sound so level-headed about it all. He came across like a pretty genuine guy who had accepted his own limitations. I'm glad the blog is back up. I've already glanced at Mork Borg before and knew it was 0% for me (I mean, what OSR stuff is, these days), but I do hope he keeps coming back with more reviews and posts. His only fatal flaw in my mind is that he tends to be even more verbose than I am, and I already bore myself before I'm done. |
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Post by derv on Aug 17, 2020 18:16:00 GMT -6
He must have a line up of articles scheduled to get the ball rolling. He already has a second post up.
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 17, 2020 18:47:41 GMT -6
Coincidentally Questing Beast just posted a video review of Mörk Borg.
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 18, 2020 23:37:02 GMT -6
So far a new post each day. What if this whole time James was continuing to write daily articles so he has a huge 8 year backlog, but is only now posting them.  |
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Post by skars on Aug 23, 2020 20:43:16 GMT -6
I ran Mork Borg at DunDraCon this past year and had a hoot playing. For anyone into the genre of music it is a must have
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Post by doublejig2 on Aug 23, 2020 20:46:21 GMT -6
Pour salt in his wounds! I posted this not to be ruthless or disagreeable but rather because he's always had a Chaucer quote on his webpage. Don't want to go up against Chaucer, eh?  |
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Post by paleologos on Aug 28, 2020 20:46:22 GMT -6
I'm glad he's back - have really enjoyed his posts. He's firing them out like crazy. Hasn't lost any of his eminently readable style. It was and is a high quality blog.
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 28, 2020 22:16:02 GMT -6
Pour salt in his wounds! I posted this not to be ruthless or disagreeable but rather because he's always had a Chaucer quote on his webpage. Don't want to go up against Chaucer, eh? You rottah. |
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