tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post5796025273421744976..comments2023-07-02T08:01:38.043-07:00Comments on The Battletech Reader: Contact is made, the art rolls in… and a free bonus Rant!Steven Satakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03621308678106707775noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-69628779982027134402009-11-28T10:22:56.690-08:002009-11-28T10:22:56.690-08:00"People should disagree from time to time, an..."People should disagree from time to time, and if they are sincere they will be able to resolve why they disagree and come to a better answer."<br /><br />Yes, I totally agree with that... as long as the two are genuinely interested in the common goal. I've misread that so many times at work I could cry. You walk in, sit down, go to work and sooner or later express something during the course of the business at hand and the next thing you know, you're involved in a 'discussion'. Which is fine, as I only want answers sufficient to continue my work. But it keeps going, on and on, even after I've stopped talking, and sometimes explodes into something quite different. That's when I find myself in the boss's office, quietly explaining my side of a situation I apparently badly misread.<br /><br />What I mistakenly took for an honest request for information was an attempt to feed another's ego. What they took from my honest request for information was, again, an attempt to feed my ego - to prove myself 'better', or to prove them wrong. Either way, the motivation and goals have nearly nothing to do with the job at hand and everything to do with egos.<br /><br />These workplace experiences have seasoned my feeling for that sort of 'discussion'; there are warning signs, you see. And I find the same sorts of bells going off on the BT forums as well. There is more than an honest, open dialogue (as the liberal might phrase it), there is a vested interest in the status quo, an investment of the ego and when two people disagree, most times it's a polite discussion. But sometimes it's most assuredly not. When passions are easily aroused (and they are quite often), the ego is operative. <br /><br />And logic flies out the window. Along with any hopes of reaching a 'satisfactory conclusion' which does not involve verbally grinding the other person to paste.<br /><br />If I wanted that I would visit Internet Infidels more often.<br /><br />SteveSteven Satakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03621308678106707775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-52790604610196968732009-11-28T09:00:46.724-08:002009-11-28T09:00:46.724-08:00Maybe you should re-post your original rant here? ...Maybe you should re-post your original rant here? Blogs are good for that.<br />I too find myself becoming "grumpier" with age, less willing to accommodate those I think are wrong, and wanting to express my own contrary views. I am also trying to broaden my views by seeking out opinions I do not necessarily agree with, hopefully to learn something I did not know before.<br /><br />[CounterRant=on]<br />IMO, if two intelligent people cannot find any topic on which they disagree, then one or both of them are not really trying. People should disagree from time to time, and if they are sincere they will be able to resolve why they disagree and come to a better answer. That's what I tell people I work with when the occasional argument arises - we should be arguing sometimes, because we care about the right answer - it does not mean we are not friends.<br />So go ahead and post what you think; your friends should be happy to disagree with you. :-)<br />[CounterRant=off]Dan Eastwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14105563883467108602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-12194549875968735642009-11-25T06:13:35.655-08:002009-11-25T06:13:35.655-08:00I agree, Skiltao. It does almost look like they a...I agree, Skiltao. It does almost look like they are coming from opposing directions. The first states that there's been a change in me, and that this is partly to blame for what happened to me in the related incident.<br /><br />The second rant would be almost a rebuttal, an insistence that no matter how grumpy I've become, it's not so much my attitude that's degraded as it is my inclination to forgive others their grumpiness. I need to work on that. But the problem remains; no matter how much *I * change, they will be just the same.<br /><br />Yes, I suppose many of the CBT (and BTU) forum regulars are human and if given a set of parameters, will offer up sterling advice. But then, the rant was not directed at them (or you).<br />You will recall how much of a beating that writing took when I submitted it to you. Thank you for sticking with it. I am sure the remainder will make you wince a bit - what I do *not* know about writing seems to increase by leaps and bounds with each piece I produce.<br /><br />However, Louis L'Amour himself wistfully commented near the very end of his long life that he'd worked as a writer for more than fifty years and he was now - just now - getting to be a good one.<br /><br />It's the ones who offer no advice beyond that of 'not canon' and peck at inconsistencies all out of proportion to the actual impact such flaws have when taken in context with the entire work... that's where I have a problem. I ran on at length not to vent, so much as to give a fuller description of a problem I feel nearly every writer, every artist encounters when they go to the forums.<br /><br />Eh. Such is the nature of the Internet, I suppose.<br /><br />SteveSteven Satakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03621308678106707775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-35594949010836890142009-11-25T01:27:44.293-08:002009-11-25T01:27:44.293-08:00I like the symmetry between your two rants: they c...I like the symmetry between your two rants: they could almost be the opposing viewpoints of a single event.<br /><br />Us over on the BT forums *can* be an unappreciative bunch. We seem to be more receptive when the OP starts the thread by describing which material he's familiar with, the context he's playing in, the area he wants feedback in, and what level of accuracy and detail he's aiming at. (Nevermind that folk seem to use fewer "social" words ever since playful antics were banished from the main forums).<br /><br />I'm glad you've gotten so far with your TRO- many do not. It might be worthwhile to write up your experience, obstacles & solutions etc., for anyone interested in following you.skiltaonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-49863967076658327212009-11-24T16:24:33.887-08:002009-11-24T16:24:33.887-08:00And thank you for stopping by, Yuki. I don't ...And thank you for stopping by, Yuki. I don't think you *will* find any real departures from canon - that was one of the things we writers worked hard to stamp out - but there's plenty of room to tell stories without using one of the Name characters.<br /><br />Finished that Dick Francis mystery. Pretty good, and his son has helped him keep up to date on the technology. But you know? Human perfidy never quite goes out of fashion. Seems like his heroes take more of a beating in the more recent books than those of the early reads, but these are ripping good tales, and the man do know his horses....<br /><br />SteveSteven Satakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03621308678106707775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-1010240727055007652009-11-24T16:05:25.322-08:002009-11-24T16:05:25.322-08:00Hey there. I'd just like to say I've been ...Hey there. I'd just like to say I've been eagerly following this project for months. I'm the kind of person who loves fan projects, and the quality that yours brings to the table is beyond any i've seen before. As a result, deviations from the canon don't really bother me at all. Keep on trucking on this quality work. Don't let the gamer nerds keep you down.Yukigononoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-51109531075515854602009-11-23T17:57:20.443-08:002009-11-23T17:57:20.443-08:00Thanks for the vote of support, Pink.
Yeah, unfor...Thanks for the vote of support, Pink.<br /><br />Yeah, unfortunately, I take a page from the passive-aggressive types I know and keep my displeasure bottled up until it finally comes boiling out.<br /><br />It does no one any good in that form, and meanwhile I have not done anything to correct the original problem. It may be there *is* nothing I can do about it.<br /><br />But what I was ranting about? That's the sort of thing that drove Vlad and several others I know away from the game as an outlet for artistic skill and even fun. <br /><br />The folks on the forum, it's like they never really play the game, they just talk about it. And so their grip on that false reality is pretty weak.<br /><br />Well, back to my new Dick Francis mystery, 'Silks'. I wonder if he's still go the touch after teaming up with his son for this latest book?<br /><br />SteveSteven Satakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03621308678106707775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23852428.post-4974976771351176052009-11-23T09:20:59.412-08:002009-11-23T09:20:59.412-08:00Well, it is always good to get things off your che...Well, it is always good to get things off your chest, mostly...<br /><br />Don't let this stuff eat you up, because at the end of the day it is just a game you enjoy playing. There have been times when I have sworn at Battletech, and I even went away and wrote my own rules, which crashed & burned BTW.<br /><br />I've been most impressed by your perseverance and dedication to this book, and will try and support it as much as I can, which given that we live half a world apart isn't going to be much.<br /><br />As for the whole job thing. Yeah, stuff rubs off on you, that's natural, but just take a step back and think about the costs versus the benefits of becoming Mr. Grumpy? I'm pretty sure you will be able to take a step back in due course. Just be kind to yourself, and treat others as you would wish to be treated.<br /><br />Take care now. Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13666947574653683678noreply@blogger.com