The Gaming Den

Writing long-winded screeds about how literally everyone believes you and is on your side and how dare people accuse you of being bad is definitely the sort of behavior I'd expect from an innocent person.

The dad part is super weird too. Why should anyone believe him that the email he posted is her dad's? I'm not saying he's lying, but I find it weird both him and her dad use the same email provider, and that the provider is hotmail. There's no reason to believe Zak, someone who has posed as other people on the Internet before, isn't posing as other people on the Internet again.

Well now I'm having second thoughts about picking up a copy of Maze of the Blue Medusa.

God damn that dude is fucked in the head. That rebuttal is one of the most weird and unnerving things he's written, and that's saying something.

Remember that time when everyone from D&D was defending a rapist and literally anything came of it?

So, this is a completely normal and not at all psychotic thing to send to your Kickstarter patrons...

Considering he's made a career of outright harassment of people who don't like his work, is it really any surprise that this is happening? This is the guy who put his own name up as a google alert to the point everyone here just started calling him Shitmuffin.

The one thing I love about Narcissists is the lack of self awareness needed to shut the hell up. It's like watching someone actively bail water into a sinking boat.

Zak Shitmuffin seriously wants to sue people for defamation for spreading Mandy's allegations.

Like... He's going to try to serve completely random people from the internet for telling people he was accused of assault.

I for one cannot wait for him to try to get a judge to preside over him suing hundreds of people for defamation, at least.

Bulletproof plan.

"Your honor, XxX_GanjaNinja_XxX called me a rapist on the Internet. Please cancel him and make it acceptable for him to be hit by a car."

Sounds like a desperate attempt to silence people, to me.

I am not a lawyer, but I don't think that's how it works.

It stinks of an intimidation tactic designed because on some level this has majorly hurt him. Financially is definitely a possibility, but I'm betting more of a wounded pride on the fact that his association with some of the big-time RPGs of the last decade (in marketing and legacy if not in actuality) has been essentially blown up by this. His credit got removed out of DnD 5e and I'm pretty sure the WoD folks said he was't getting hired anymore (admittedly that might have been before the accusations)

Yeah. It's kind of hilarious that this narcissistic rapist thinks he can silence people by threatening to sue them for.... saying mean things about him online.

Prak wrote:

Zak Shitmuffin seriously wants to sue people for defamation for spreading Mandy's allegations.

Like... He's going to try to serve completely random people from the internet for telling people he was accused of assault.

I for one cannot wait for him to try to get a judge to preside over him suing hundreds of people for defamation, at least.

You missed the intro: "Known abuser and rapist, minor RPG contributor, and moron who doesn't understand the Streisand Effect Zak Smith posted the following, because he's dumb as shit."

So, did this asshole get banned from GenCon? It sounds like this person is talking about the ShitMuffin we all loathe and abhor.

violence in the media wrote:So, did this asshole get banned from GenCon? It sounds like this person is talking about the ShitMuffin we all loathe and abhor.

They mention that "Z" was nominated for, and won, 4 ENnies in 2018. http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about- ... minations/ Zak fits the bill there, though I'm too lazy to check if anyone else went exactly 4 for 4.

Yes.

I just want to say that Ennies are bullshit even by the standards of industry awards. There's a literal bribery component to get considered for an award, and some of the largest companies in the industry don't bother to submit at all.

-Username17

If one wanted to go about gaming the Ennies how would you do it. Lets say I was releasing a new rpg, lets even assume it was very good and mechanically solid. Is it just giving them a bunch of cash and holding your hands out for awards or should you try and do a big twitter bomb or whatever. Side question: Would it be worth it to even do that? I mean I've read more RPG's than anyone I've ever met in real life and I don't give any shits about the Ennie's.

The value of Ennies is that there are some websites and things that will be impressed and take you seriously and listen to your opinions if you have a few under your belt. Nothing outside of gaming - I doubt it's enough to get you a blue tick on Twitter (which itself means something in the realm of "fuck all") - and likewise not all gaming websites (it's not just the Den that will laugh at you if you mention it for credibility), but there are a few where you can get a posse of fans to hang onto your every word and talk your products up and... um... that's about it?

It won't guarantee you any special treatment at GenCon for instance, you won't have a premium spot in the trader's hall as a result or have your fees waived in return for doing a panel on "I'm brilliant and here's how you can learn some of my amazing skills and cultivate success". And while you can certainly put the nominations on future products (or reprints), that still relies on people finding these future products in the first place (ie DriveThru and so on won't have a SPECIAL SECTION FOR AWARD-WINNERS, GO HERE FOR THE BEST GAMES or run free ads when people are looking for something else entirely) and also giving a shit (they probably won't - it certainly won't make someone say "Well I was looking for [game or supplement] but then I saw this other thing had an Ennie and realised I needed it more!"

There are probably cheaper and easier ways to get attention from strangers on the internet, and in bigger quantities too.

Yeah, the problem with an ENnie win is that it isn't even enough to shoehorn you into the mentions of a better class of streamers or podcasters. I'd bet dollars to donuts that you'd be better served by ponying up for some review copies to send out provided that your product is sufficiently shiny.

True story I had a neighbor who in my view had a sweet scam where he invited people over to play games and give their opinion on its funness and he would give them his “Major Fun” stamp of approval they could put on games and he got free review copies. I did it once and wasn’t invited back since I gave nuanced feedback than a simple “yes” to “is this at all possible to have fun with?”

Basically rubber stamps for free games.

http://www.majorfun.com/award-winners/

I think I helped play In A Pickle and Lost Cities back in 2007.

But yeah. Impressive list of free games.

I remember getting yelled at on Enworld because I suggested that the thieves' guild lookout would be fairly competent and not the least skilled member just because it was the first encounter. Fair or not, I pretty much view anything that comes from that board with the same lens.

It appears that Shitmuffin believes he has won a major victory. I am unable to view any of the links he provided from work.

shitmuffin wrote: https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/f ... zak_smith/

Merry Christmas.

EDIT:

https://twitter.com/Ettin64/status/1248038942777065472

https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/f ... zak_smith/

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads ... th.861914/

I'm told the first is a dead link, and you may need to log-in to view threads on RPG.Net.

First link has been removed by mod.

The twitter link is a person, Paul Matijevic, with a formal apology statement to Zak Smith for deformation.

Zak won a deformation lawsuit.

Not check the RPGnet link.

Yeah, shitmuffin has apparently been obsessively hunting for people who have been mean to him on the internet and also live in countries with exploitable libel laws so that he can sue them, and it has worked once. I assume he thinks that people will stop calling him out as an abuser/rapist if they're afraid of legal action.