On Zak Smith

Mandy Morbid published a post on Facebook describing abusive behavior committed by Zak Smith. You can read the testimony of Mandy and two other brave individuals, Jennifer and Hannah, HERE. If you do not have access to Facebook, the post has also been reproduced in full at Dungeons & Donuts HERE. Vivka Grey has also published a post regarding similar abusive behavior.

There have already been many responses to Mandy's post which have been written far better than anything I can come up with at the moment. I endorse the following posts, among others:

• The aforementioned Dungeons & Donuts post by Kiel Chenier.
• Response from Scrap Princess at Monster Manual Sewn from Pants.
• Response from Patrick Stuart at False Machine.
• Response from Joseph Manola at Against the Wicked City.
• Response from Dismaster FraNe at Dismaster's Den of Unfinished Thoughts.
• Response from Timothy Brannan at The Other Side.

I am sorry for promoting Zak's work in the past. In the future, I will do my best to avoid writing anything on this blog which I believe would promote his work. I no longer encourage anyone to buy or use anything he produces. Zak does not deserve to be a part of any RPG community.

Please see the end of this post for an update regarding the next paragraph.
Likewise, until Lamentations of the Flame Princess stops selling and promoting Zak's work, I do not intend to write any more posts about LotFP, buy any more of their products, or otherwise promote the brand. Even if LotFP does completely drop Zak, I am not sure that I could continue to call myself a fan of the game in good conscience due to James Raggi's promotion of Jordan Peterson, as well as the way he has treated at least one of my friends in private. But if you're reading this, James, I'm sure that doing the right thing by Mandy and Jennifer and Hannah would do a great deal in earning back the trust of myself and many others.

There are many great OSR games and publishers and writers and artists out there, and many great RPGs in general. I think it is time for me to try and be more selective about those I endorse.

I am sorry for any harm I have caused through anything I have written or said, on this blog or elsewhere, involving Zak Smith. Abuse should not be tolerated.

Mandy, Jennifer, Hannah, and Vivka: I believe you.

UPDATE, 02/23/2019
Lamentations of the Flame Princess has released a statement regarding Zak Smith. If you have access to Facebook, you can read it at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/LotFP/posts/10156179503045886

To summarize, LotFP is parting ways with Zak Smith.

Overall, I am satisfied by this response. I believe that James Raggi and LotFP are taking the right actions by cutting ties with Zak Smith in this manner. Earlier, I said that doing the ethical thing in this situation would do a great deal in the way of earning back my trust, and I meant it. Thus, I once again feel fairly comfortable with the prospect of buying and writing about products from LotFP, should I choose to do so.

My LotFP "boycott," if you want to call it that, is over for the time being. I do think I should both play and write about a wider variety of games, for the sake of my own enjoyment and for the sake of adding more variety to the blog. This could be "other stuff in addition to LotFP" or it could be "other stuff instead of LotFP," depending on my interests going forward. But I hold no ill will toward Lamentations of the Flame Princess regarding the actions of Zak Smith. I hold the latter responsible for his own actions. I will, of course, continue to avoid buying or promoting the work of Zak Smith.