There’s a discussion of the New Crobuzon announcement over on RPGNet.
Let’s see….slagging off my company? Check. Message 2. “adamant doesn’t set my world on fire.”
Pseudo-threatening posturing? Check. Message 4. “they had better not fuck it up. ”
Poseur political commentary? Check. Message 6. “Great…Now someone can take a setting designed to deconstruct the conventions of the fantasy genre and put fantasy on a less reactionary footing and run dungeons in it.”
Same poster, for Teh Win: “ it’s a stupid idea and that what’s nice about the books will be crushed under the jack-booted heel of knuckle-headed gamers.” — and this finally earns him action from the Moderators.
Aside from that, though, it’s a fairly positive thread (well, for RPGNet, anyway), and so far no real invoking of the “GMS” Boogieman, or threats of boycott, which I have to admit I expected.
I’d love to respond over there, but of course, I’ve been permabanned over there for about 5 years now, for “making non-specific personal attacks” (yes, that’s right — attacking hypothetical people. No, I don’t get it, either.)
So, if you’re an RPGNet poster, feel free to quote me over there:
I appreciate the level of interest shown towards the announcement of TALES OF NEW CROBUZON. I can assure fans that, given the fact that I’ve known China for about a decade, and we’ve spoken many times about our approaches to gaming, I’m not about to water-down his brilliant setting in order to fit a traditional gaming paradigm. I’ve been hoping for this chance for years, and now that China has given his OK, I’m not going to let him down by producing anything less than my company’s best work.
Anyone interested in discussing the project is welcome over at our forums. Hope to see you there.
And this sort of thing would be one of the many reasons I rarely frequent RPG.net any longer.
Not that you need me to tell you (of all people) this, but don’t let it get to you. For every shrieking, feces-flinging howler monkey, there’s quite a few people keeping silent who actually like the idea.
Personally, I’m one of about 23 fantasy fans who haven’t yet sat down to read the book (though my wife has). But I’ve always been interested in what I’ve heard about the setting itself, and seeing it as an RPG may actually get me to take the time to read the novel.
The only thing that gets to me, honestly, is the fact that I can’t post my quotable response myself.
I mean, the original reasons for my ban were largely bullshit, but even given that — it’s been almost 5 years. Let it go, already, and let me speak for myself, ya know?
Yeah, I can definitely understand that frustration.
OTOH, given precisely the sort of screaming you’re quoting, part of me can’t help but view being banned from RPG.net as something akin to being banned from a landfill. One might occasionally have reason to regret it, but for the most part, it’s not exactly a punishment. ;-)
Hey, RPGnet is still more pleasurable than a tire iron to the crotch!
Barely just, some days, I’ll admit, but still…
Regarding “finally earns him action from the Moderators” – his posts WERE within the first ten posts of the thread; I’m sure it takes the mods a leeetle while to check each thread. :)
To be fair, the screaming was mainly coming from one idiot, who then got booted out of the thread. After that, the comments were all neutral-to-positive; a few “I’m not a big fan of Adamant, but I think they’ll turn out a good solid product” posts were probably the worst that came out.
Oh whee, more people talking out of their hats. Aside from that — glad it got taken care of — congratulations! I’ve really liked the New Crobuzon setting, from Perdido Street Station to The Scar and The Iron Council. (The Scar is my favorite thus far. Then again: vampire pirate! How awesome is that?) Looking forward to seeing the final product. :)
Don’t listen to the haters :) You already have 2 Frenchies (one in Québec) and a Swiss dude drooling over this, and I just called dibs on the LARP. OK, I can’t really call dibs, let’s say I’ll be one of the first to run a non-official Bas-Lag LARP once Tales of New Crobuzon comes out.
As long as I can kill things, take their stuff and level up, I’m sure I’ll love it.
I’d love to be involved in this if you are using freelancers at all as I was trying to get something going on this before, as you may have heard from one source or another.
Didn’t China hook you up back in Underworld days when Perdido Street Station hadn’t come out yet and he wasn’t very well-known outside the UK? I remember (having just come back from Britain) being surprised that people over here knew who he was.
I found the New Crobuzon setting to be overwrought, stereotypical, and a bad pastiche of a certain style of art regarding Hell. Learning that China Mieville is a virulent anti-semite didn’t help matters any. I should only hope Adamant’s version improves on the original.
Is it that people don’t notice the virulent misanthropy blazing through the books, or that they agree with it?
You’ve got a history of attracting this kind of love from forum trolls, Gareth. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t surprise you. When it happens to me, I only get upset because I have to waste time dealing with it in order to get to the juicy goodness beneath – all those gamers who are really excited about the game. Chin up, chap. It’s China!
Que? I don’t think I’m out of line demanding a source on that…
Go the fuck away.
You’ve always skirted pretty damned close to being a fucktard in your comments on this journal, but now you’ve crossed the line. I’ve known the man for close to a decade, and I don’t appreciate your slander.
I suspect he is, in his staggering ignorance, misrepresenting this interview, where, toward the end, China talks about the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
To draw that into “he’s a virulent anti-semite”…..or to charge him with “virulent (there’s that word again… I wonder why he’s fixated on it) misanthropy” is bizarre… not to mention intensely offensive to me.
Hrm…
You know, even as someone who was raised Jewish, and who supports the existence (but not in any way, shape, or form, many of the modern actions or policies) of Israel…
It astounds me how many people still equate anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Sure, they can go hand-in-hand, but they’re not even remotely the same thing.
The critical and commercial response to Perdido Street Station and The Scar don’t seem to agree with your criticism of the books.
The anti-semite comment, if based on that interview Gareth quoted, is complete manipulative, political bullshit.
The fact that someone would come here just to bash China Mieville in some weird passive aggressive jab at Gareth is fucked up beyond words. I think I remember why I don’t post at rpg.net any more either.
I’m disappointed that there’s not more discussion about the game over at EnWorld. This is a HUGE license. D20 or not, I’m hoping more people at EnWorld take notice.
All I can say to you is:
a) I agree
and
b) “Be the change you seek…” :) Start the conversation….PLEASE!
It goes back to the beginning of the millennium and Mieville’s original version of Lenin’s Tomb. In one post he said that Arab lands never forced their Jewish population to leave in the period after World War II, and that nobody could convince him otherwise.
I remember it because it was quite out of keeping with China’s writing, which struck me as very much anti-bigotry and small mindedness. With this blatantly anti-semitic claim China Mieville disappointed me greatly.
But ask him if he ever made that claim or not. If he has changed his tune, good. If not…
who needs luck?
I know you’ll do your usual excellent job. I look forward to writing about it.
Congrats on the license. I have to admit that I don’t know much about New Crobuzon, but I’ll be sure to check it out.
Over at rpg.net, someone brought up Far West. Have you made any decisions on that yet or is it still on the back burner?
Since you’re a classless twat, still insisting on insulting a friend of mine, not being socially aware enough to apologize or at least shut the fuck up….and ignorant enough to mistake anti-Zionism for anti-Semitism…
I’m more than happy to ban your dumb ass from this journal, since you’re obviously not smart enough to leave when you’re told to.
Buh-bye, fuckwit.
I’m currently writing a Far West novel. There’s been no further movement on the game design.