Respect

First off, thanks to everyone who commented to show their support for this idea, and everybody who joined as a follower! Thirty-two followers in one day is pretty impressive, as far as I'm concerned.

EDIT:
CAUTION! EDITORIALIZING AND CRITICISM AHEAD! HIGH-FIVES AND GOOD-TIMES CONTINUE IN NEXT POST! CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN PERIL!
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It's come to my attention, as I have done some more reading of the various on-going discussions about Your Dungeon is Suck, that there are some things that blog actually does well every once in a while, like pointing out certain bits of BS within the community. I don't agree with the style that this is done; hell, I couldn't stomach the incessant butt-licking jokes enough to even find anything of any substance on the site.

My biggest thing, I guess, is this: the quality of our community is directly represented by the manner in which we poke fun at our leaders. I have long considered John Stewart of The Daily Show to be a national treasure for America, for precisely this reason. America is great in part because it has a satirist like John Stewart to call bullshit on the top dogs in government, business, and media.

Seriously, D&D Community, is "Your Dungeon Is Suck" the best we can do? Butt-licking jokes? We can do better than that. Hell, I can do better than that.

So, in addition to pointing out the little-guy, blue collar blogs that are chugging along in relative obscurity and doing some great work (something I will actually do a post on tomorrow) I may also occasionally have a few sarcastic points to make about some things when people in our community take themselves too seriously.

There was actually a great example of this today. Over at "The Tao of D&D", Alexis has set his comments to "moderate" and is demanding respect. Now, I had a lot of respect for Alexis. I think he's earned it for the work he's done with the Same World Wiki and the way he conducts himself on his blog. This post, however, reeks of the worst kind of self-righteous, acrimonious, ivory-tower bullshit. Poor guy was too smart for his own good, got picked on throughout his formative educational years and spent a lot of time reading.

Join the club. I imagine that most of the people who enjoy blogging about their D&D games have had similar experiences. If you think that makes you special in some way, take a number and get in line. I had a similar experience. Maybe if I had listened to my teachers and followed instructions, I wouldn't be working construction, outside, in the 110 degree heat these days. Maybe, just maybe, a couple of them might have been just a little bit right.

Alexis is now also demanding respect from the denizens of the internet. He gets a ton of comments on his blog and sees only conspiracy in the compliments and disrespect from anyone who is clearly not as intelligent as himself.

Alexis, the work that you have done clearly demands respect. There are always going to be people who are not quite so intelligent as you, who haven't done the voluminous research that you have accumulated in your mighty brain, and who have no idea they are making an ass of themselves in the comments on your blog. I haven't read every comment on your blog, nor do I care to. I had a lot of respect for you, until you gushed your sob story on us today and demanded respect from all the denizens of the internet.

Alexis, your dungeon is most definitely Rock. But respect is earned. When it is demanded, it is squandered. Stop whining about being popular and having to put up with people who are not as smart as you. Don't tell us we have to respect you. Keep showing us why we should.