"Sam Mustafa Leaving TMP" Topic

I'm uncertain whether Sam will stay gone or simply take a long break from the forum. Sam's rules are written in ways many traditional gamers can't stand because they're not overly complicated enough (i.e. you can't micromanage everything). Sam tries to put the player in the position of the commander, no matter what the tactical level is.

People tend to object to it because things are abstracted or melded together with something else. There are good reasons why so many games never really take off and Sam has tried to find new ways to represent functions.

He does give common responses like to not use that rule or play with that card. It took me some time to fully appreciate Sam's various works and to break the conditioning I had come into after years of micromanagement rules. Someone who plays Age of Eagles and then goes to play their first game of Grande Armee is likely going to feel empty.

There are some dicussions that are unproductive and one must come to some understanding that you can either continue talking about the same issues or move on. Sam has his own forums and doesn't need TMP unless he's just looking for an unnecessary debate. There's always someone convinced they can do a better job than you but rarely do they make any effort to demonstrate it.

What I don't understand is if you are leaving TMP, why bother to announce it? Just leave. Announcing your exit sounds like the pontifications of a drama queen.

I've only known him from his posts here but it's always struck me that he is very thin skinned and doesn't take any questioning of his ideas well at all and is quick to take offense. He also seemed to have a rather low opinion of all wargamers

Thin skin, can't take criticism. Takes offense too easily. I thought I was the only one who thought that.

However if you work so hard on something and it becomes your "baby" then I can understand getting a little defensive about.

If you are thin skinned or sensitive like that, then don't talk about your "baby" on TMP because this is a really tough crowd.

If you feel that, even once, you have contributed to knowledge on this subject (here, Napoleonic Warfare) and helped even one person, like me, who asks a seemingly naïve question, that Goggle cannot address……..why quit now?

Look in every so often. If something is of interest open it. If it is clearly the usual nutters ignore it.

This forum might just be like JFK's thing. Ask not what TMP can do for you…you know the rest.

Contribute…..keep out of the abusive stuff. I do have to say also (and apologies here) grow up. Ignore the flak (if that is what this is all about). Sticks and stones…….help the rest of us!

What I don't understand is if you are leaving TMP, why bother to announce it? Just leave. Announcing your exit sounds like the pontifications of a drama queen.

Yeah, I tend to agree. Whenever someone breathlessly announces that he will deprive us all of his august presence because one person has displeased him, I'm tempted to quote Curly Bill from Tombstone and reply "well…bye"

YouTube link

And when that person could easily stifle the offending party, well, it gets harder not to do that.

There's also a certain pettiness to doing this. It's hard not to interpret such statements as really meaning something like "I will deny all of you the benefit of my presence because you have allowed someone to offend me…"

Also, if you're a game designer who publicly announces this fact to a forum, then you are an idiot if you don't expect some disagreement with your design decisions. And I do agree that some designers are far more thin-skinned than others. Thin skinned designers might consider NOT announcing their status to public forums, since criticism comes with the turf.

In other words, if you want the fame (such as it is), you should be prepared for the criticism…

Full disclosure -- I'm co-designer of A Fistful of TOWs 3 and designer of the earlier versions. We have a very active forum and we (the designers) actively engage with players and disclose and debate our design decisions. We have NEVER taken offense merely because someone disagrees with us. We explain and discuss instead. That process -- for 12 years now -- has led to improvements in the game and has made us more thoughtful as designers. I strongly urge other game designers to do this. Some do, of course, but all of us should in my opinion.

Just my $0.02 USD US.

What do you suggest should be done?

Should designers be shielded from their critics?

Was the critic too strident? If so, why didn't anyone request a moderator to intervene on the grounds of harassment?

Sam had the tools to avoid his nemesis, but chose not to use them.

Bill:

I think those are good questions. However, as far as Sam is concerned, I want to point out a few things:

1. I have criticized his games or game designs once on TMP in all the time we have been here, and in a very mild form compared to many other critics.

2. I have not followed his threads around, hijacking them. He has come in behind my comments [or threads like this last one] over the last few years.

3. I have started few threads and they haven't been aimed at him or his games.

4. My comment was a response to a direct question from another poster, one who asked why I didn't like Sam's game designs [Which I will admit annoyed me because any differences Sam and I have had, it hasn't been about his game designs]

5. I didn't say anything new with my comments that he hasn't read or heard before.

5. I have more than once said I enjoyed playing Grande Armee, the one design of his I have played.

So, what exactly drove Sam to leave? What does he need protecting from? What would you moderate in this situation?
Or simply dog house someone at the designer's request? Some sort of rules against what?

And as I said before. I am sorry Sam has left. He certainly has been persistent and articulate with his point of view.

No one really leaves … except me.