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Evacuate? In Our Moment of Triumph?

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Evacuate? In Our Moment of Triumph?

It's Been an Interesting Couple Weeks Here at Autarch...

Nov 6, 2023
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Evacuate? In Our Moment of Triumph?

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On October 24th I launched my Kickstarter for Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint (ACKS II). The day before it launched, I prayed that it would hit $50,000 in the first day and $100,000 before it ended. To my great delight, it hit $50,000 in the first few minutes and has soared to over $280,000 in just ten days.

This is, for Autarch, a triumph of the greatest magnitude. I am profoundly grateful to all of the backers who have supported and continue to support my magnum opus. Thank you, truly.

Thanks for reading Arbiter of Worlds! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Of course, the success of ACKS II attracted the attention of some of the more unattractive denizens of the /r/rpg and /r/osr subreddits, who promptly began to defame and slander me with their usual half-truths, falsehoods, and slurs. When some of the ACKS community refused to allow the disparagement to go unrebutted, it led to a flame war the likes of which has not been seen since the days of the Usenet. Ultimately, the moderators decided it was best to simply ban discussion of both the game and designer, citing “brigading.”

To be clear, I reject the moderator’s baseless contention that I organized “brigading.” I did not. Anyone who has been in the ACKS community has seen me repeatedly tell people over and over that I’m not interested in other people defending my life choices or fighting flame wars on my behalf. (And at some point I will myself make a post rebutting each and every one of the lies about me, but at this point I am too busy celebrating my unprecedented success to want to delve into such negativity.)

Leaving aside the pretextual basis for the ban, however, I have little issue with the moderators over the substance of their decisions. Having run a large game community for many years, there are sometimes topics that are so contentious that they preclude the possibility of mutual co-existence. There is no choice in such circumstances but to ban that topic, because otherwise the community will fracture. In such cases, moderators must gatekeep the topic.

I know many ACKS fans are deeply disappointed by the moderators’ decisions. I am reminded of Grand Moff Tarkin being asked to flee the Death Star moments before blowing up the Rebel Base.

But let’s not forget that Tarkin was, well, brewed up. If you want to talk about my games, just go elsewhere — the Internet is a vast place. There are several apolitical alternatives to both subreddits, plus venues such as Discord, The RPG Site, and more. (If there’s interest, perhaps I could compile a list.)

There are communities for everybody and every topic. But not every community is or needs to be for everybody or every topic. Gatekeeping is a necessary evil, and that doesn’t change whether one is inside or outside any given gate.

The ACKS II Promo Tour

The ACKS online promotional tour continues.

  • Completed: Interviewed by ZSum716

  • Completed: Stream with Nerdcognito

  • Completed: Stream with Howard_RyanGreg

  • Completed: Stream with DunderMoose

  • Completed: Stream with thetshirtedone

  • Completed: Podcast with Roleplay Rescue #OSR #RPG #DnD

  • Completed: Stream with legionofmyth

  • Completed: Stream with MrMaxBoivin_RPG

  • Completed: Stream with MildraTheMonk

  • Completed: Stream with WeeWheaton

  • Completed: Stream with UandURPGReview

  • Completed: Stream with Tenkar's Tavern

  • Nov 6 (4 PM ET): Stream with @Neckbeardia

  • Nov 6 (10 PM ET): Stream with Geek Gab

  • Nov 7 (7:30PM ET): Discord Chat with Randomworlds

  • Nov 13 (3PM ET): Stream with Iconic Production

  • Nov 17 (7 PM ET): Stream with legionofmyth again!

I may have one more huge guest appearance but I’m still waiting on confirmation. And, of course, if you have a podcast, stream, or show that covers RPG topics and you’d like to have me on as part of my ACKS II promo tour, please reach out via email or Twitter (@archon).

The Grey Brotherhood

In lieu of an episode of Arbiter of Worlds, today I have uploaded an episode of The Grey Brotherhood. Check it out below! We’ll be releasing several more episodes of The Grey Brotherhood in the next three weeks as nothing demonstrates the greatness of ACKS II better than Actual Play.

Actual Play of ACKS

There are more people playing ACKS today than at any point in the game’s 12-year history. It’s incredibly gratifying to me as a designer and it gives me hope that ACKS II will reach an even broader base.

With the help of the Autarch Discordians, I compiled some links to some other ACKS campaigns:

  • Acksen Vul

  • Brigadungeon

  • BDubs and Dragons

  • Long Florida

  • The Phoenix Tome

And here’s our flourishing Substack community:

Harrowed’s Substack

My personal Substack

Annals of the North

Adventures in the Frozen North, legends of ages past, experiments in old-school RPGs
By Arbrethil

Primeval Patterns

Delving deep into the forces that drive the design of tabletop games.
By RuleOfThule

The Last Redoubt

Culture, tech, games, society, and philosophy. Without the pointing and shrieking.

Bears and Barrows

Ground zero for the Digital Bohemian. Musings of tabletop games and fiction for the sensitive young man.
By Kodiak

In Search of the Unknown

My personal Substack as I learn to DM in a lesser known tradition of D&D. Wargaming
By North-Scorpion

The Scholomance

The School of Swords & Sorcery
By The Scholarch Sorcerous

Flooded Realms Substack

My personal Substack

If you have a blog or third-party product that supports ACKS or Ascendant, please let me know and I’ll be happy to include you in my next round-up.

Support the Community

Once you’ve pledged for the Discord, head on over to these community links:

  • Autarch Discord with one of the smartest, nicest gamer communities around

  • Autarch Reddit with a sub-set of the aforementioned smartest, nicest gamers

  • ACKS Patreon with sneak previews of ACKS II every month

  • Ascendant Patreon with a new character and story hook every month

  • Autarch Facebook page with news and updates about our projects

  • Autarch Twitter channel with brief comments and witty quirks

  • Ascendant Comics Facebook page with sneak previews of the upcoming comics

  • Ascendant Comics Instagram page with tons of art and cosplay

  • Ascendant Comics Twitter channel with short messages and quirky wit

  • ACKS Forums with discussion for the game

  • Ascendant Forums with FAQ and Errata for the game

Thanks for reading Arbiter of Worlds! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

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Evacuate? In Our Moment of Triumph?

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Evacuate? In Our Moment of Triumph?

arbiterofworlds.substack.com
JD Sauvage
Writes The Sauvage Pen
Nov 7Liked by Alexander Macris

When you asked Our Lord to make your enemies ridiculous, do you think maybe you laid it on a bit thick?

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1 reply by Alexander Macris
Last Redoubt
Writes The Last Redoubt
Nov 7

Reddit is cancer.

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