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The D&D Open Gaming License / The Dangers of Playing with Other People’s Toys

January 13, 2023 by krisis 2 Comments

This week everyone is talking about Dungeons & Dragons, but it’s not for a good reason.

Last week, a revision to the longstanding D&D “Open Gaming License” leaked. I’ve written about the OGL before, but in short it’s the persistent legal agreement that allows independent creators to use the core rules and concepts of D&D to create their own 3rd party material. While that ostensibly exists for people who want to sell their own 3rd-party D&D supplements, it also acts as a safety net for anyone homebrewing their own content.

Many outlets have written at length about the newly-drafted version of the OGL – i09 reporter Linda Codega broke the story at Gizmodo last week. The draft institutes a number of restrictions, including tightening the ability to distribute digital content, enforcing royalty-sharing on big earners, and instituting some potentially-invasive rights to reproduce creator content.

Understandably, both creators and players are in an uproar – after all, every D&D player is also a co-creator of their campaign’s story! Even if they never intend to publish or profit from their storytelling contributions, there’s a pervasive feeling of “this affects all of us” solidarity from the D&D community.

Another reliable leak mentioned that D&D owners Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and Hasbro would be looking at digital DNDBeyond subscription cancellations as an early metric of the community’s response to the OGL changes. A leak coming from within the DNDBeyond team makes a lot of sense. WotC and Hasbro bought DNDBeyond last April from Fandom for $146 million dollars. The DNDBeyond team don’t have a long-term allegiance to the Hasbro corporate overlords and they are watching the stellar good will they’ve amassed as a community platform being quickly eroded by this decision.

As the DNDBeyond team may have feared (but also secretly wished for), this new leak immediately lead to a cascade of hundreds of players posting proof of their subscription cancellations on DNDBeyond forums and on Twitter.

I was one of those players.

Tomorrow is my bi-weekly D&D date with my best friends from the states and I am currently the Dungeon Master of our campaign. That means today ought to be spent finalizing maps and building out potential encounters for my custom campaign that has taken a hard left turn from the official campaign in Storm King’s Thunder.

Instead, I’m spending the day wondering if it’s worth putting in the effort to tell stories in a fictional world that is just another capitalist playground. [Read more…] about The D&D Open Gaming License / The Dangers of Playing with Other People’s Toys

From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issues #2-4

January 23, 2018 by krisis

Tonight’s discussion is on The Sandman (1989) issues #2-4, which follow Dream as he returns to his kingdom of dreams and sets out on a quest to rediscover two of his three crucial tools – his pouch of sand and his helm.

What people often forget in talking about Sandman as a modern masterpiece is that it started out as very much a horror comic. It was also not so specifically disconnected from the DC Universe – we peek into Arkham in issue #2, hang out with Constantine in #3, and meet Etrigan in #4.

The Sandman (1989) #2 is Gaiman building a world, and dispensing a lot of information along the way, though some of it we will not recognize until much later. Sandman discovers his Cain and Abel, his librarian, and his decrepit castle – all of his dream time falling apart without him to hold it together.

Dream resolves to regain his three aspects and consults the trio of fates for them in a memorable sequence packed with literary references. His pouch of sand currently resides with Constantine, which he views as easier to acquire than his jewel (with the League) or his helmet (with a demon). Kieth’s art is a bit lumpy here, though the later recolor does it many favors. It’s our first time seeing Morpheus unbound, and he bears an uncanny resemblance to his creator.

The Sandman (1989) #3 is a low point of early Sandman for me – bringing in the caustic John Constantine and showing us Dream through his eyes. It feels much more like a Hellblazer issue than a Sandman issue.

Also, Kieth and Dringenberg’s art here goes a bit sour, just too inconsistent and droopy across a tale told primarily with a specific, human character (though there are some great panels, like the reveal of Constantine’s former lover).

I think it is in The Sandman (1989) #4 that Sandman became a classic. This issue is firmly rooted in Christian mythology, but also features an active, clever Dream increasing in his powers. It’s also quite boldly drawn by Kieth and Dridenberg, with the notable trio of demons – Beezlebub, a human with a fly’s head, Azazeal, a sort of Beholder, and Lucifer Morningstar, who is apparently a Space Oddity eta David Bowie.

Dream’s journey to the underworld is dire with a dash of humor beneath as Etrigan takes him through the suicide grove and past his own lost love, and later as Sandman engages in the most famous sort of wizard’s duel, that we all know from Sword In the Stone.

Song of the Day: “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us” – Sparks

November 27, 2017 by krisis

When was the last time a song you never heard before totally pierced your brain to become an automatic favorite?

I can tell you exactly when it was for me: July 1st, sitting in our friend Liz’s living room, listening to Sparks’ “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us.”

Research says there is a “magic age” somewhere in our 20s where our musical taste becomes more set, owing to a combination of factors ranging to hearing loss to not having as many new experiences for music to soundtrack.

While some people concern themselves with anti-aging creme and memory-extending games, I am more worried about avoiding the potential to stop liking new music. It’s terrifying to me. Even though I already have lists of thousands of favorite songs, I still want more.

Really, it’s not as though we stop appreciating songs entirely at some point. It’s about our preferences becoming locked in. If you’ve always loved Garth Brooks, chances are you might still enjoy a new Garth Brooks song when you are 42. The thing that could become more scarce is liking something that sounds entirely new.

(Perhaps that is why our interest in popular music dwindles as we age – the sound keeps evolving with out us.)

From that perspective, I don’t think me liking “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us” is as encouraging as me falling in love with the songs of Czarface on that same night, as East Coast Hip Hop is a little bit further outside of my typical preferences as the Glam Rock of Sparks.

Glam Rock was my whole life for a while there, right? The theme song of my new internet show is a song called “Glam,” wherein I state “When I was 16 I thought I was David Bowie because nobody told me there was more than life than being glam.” Liking Sparks should come as no surprise.

One way it was a surprise was just that I had never heard of Sparks. I have a pretty encyclopedic knowledge of rock history and a song collection to match, yet they were a complete stumper for me when Liz put them on the stereo.

Not only that, but the song sounded completely alien to me. I instantly recognized it as a form of Glam Rock, but it also had a galloping free time feel to it that I associate with mathier rock, like Rush. And I was convinced it was being sung by a woman, which left me completely incredulous when Liz reveal the band is comprised of a pair of brothers!

What was this sorcery!

Track-by-Track: Lady Gaga’s Joanne – “Hey Girl” with Florence Welch (Track 10)

October 28, 2016 by krisis

lady-gaga-horse-2016 I’ll be dissecting Joanne song by song every day until November, which will bring a monster month of daily music and comics content with it.

“Hey Girl” fascinates me to no end. After over a week of listening, I’m still not sure if I like it or not, but it definitely holds my interest.

The first interesting thing about “Hey Girl” is that it’s a duet and a co-write with Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine. And, it’s a true duet – Florence doesn’t just pop in for a quick featured verse and some harmonies, she is threaded throughout the entire song along with Gaga.

Her presence makes a lot of thematic sense, since this is a song that’s unabashedly about female friends and girl power (and it’s not like Gaga was going to pick Madonna for that spot).

Hey girl, hey girl – We can make it easy if we lift each other
Hey girl, hey girl – We don’t need to keep on one-in’ up another
Hey girl, hey girl. Hey girl, hey girl.
If you lose your way just know that I got you

The other thing that will hit you in approximately 10 seconds of listening is one – maybe two – obvious nods to Gaga’s influences on this tune. (I know this because that’s exactly how long it took both Jake and I to notice.)

The first of the two influences is Elton John, as Lady Gaga is nearly plagiarizing the rhythm section of “Bennie and the Jets” here – a favorite that she’s performed with John! The back and forth octaves of piano that dip chromatically played against a loping drum beat make the songs nearly identical.

The second of the two influences is slightly more obscure, but makes a lot of sense in the context of 2016. The phased, swirling synthesizer sound paired with clean stabs of guitar is a straight lift from the Philly Soul sound of the A-Side of David Bowie’s Young Americans – “Win,” “Fascination,” and especially “Right.” As a major David Bowie fan, I can’t unhear it – you can start singing any of that trio of tunes directly from the chorus of “Hey Girl.”

It’s hard for me to get past hearing the influences to hearing the song. It has a certain flatness to its structure and chord progressions. There aren’t any big leaps or breaks. The songs flows forward like liquid, a particular trademark of Florence’s own work.

That brings us back to collaborations. While Gaga has collaborated with a number of producers and instrumentalists, she’s been much more selective about allowing other vocalists on her tracks. On Fame Monster Gaga’s guest star was Beyonce, who was just cresting her wave of being one of the most revered creators in pop. It felt completely appropriate to see these two women together, creating dancefloor anthems.

On Artpop, the collaboration was regrettably with R. Kelly, as famous for his self-parodying “Trapped In The Closet” as for his pursuit of sex with minors and a litany of alleged child pornography and sexual abuse. While Kelly is also at times an R&B genius, the dissonance of Gaga choosing him as a featured co-star was immediate – especially on a song called “Do What You Want (With My Body).” It was a rare example of her going off-message and being chided for it by the fans and media.

florence-welch-on-horse-with-sword Florence Welch makes another, very particular kind of statement as a pairing with Gaga. Welch is seen as a nearly infallible, genre-defying female auteur who is mentioned in the same breath with the biggest rock stars.Like Gaga, she was a guest of the Rolling Stones to sing the duet on “Gimme Shelter.” While I didn’t love her last LP, if it was indeed a bit weak it did nothing to slow her popularity or weaken her ability to break through to modern rock radio.

In short – Florence is an image in which Lady Gaga is currently trying to remake herself, much as Taylor Swift veered towards the big tent mega-pop of Katy Perry on her last LP.

Gaga does a brilliant job of fitting into Florence’s mold across this album. And, true to the lyrics of the song, she uses it to lift Florence up – rarely has her vocals ever sounded silken and beautiful, even on her own records. I’d never say Gaga and Florence sound alike, but their voices are mixed so evenly here that it is truly hard to tell them apart at points.

That’s a lot of digital ink spilled on the context of the song without saying to much about the song itself, but for me that’s the thing – the song is all context. It’s a vessel full of ideas about influences, Gaga and Florence’s personal brands, sharing spotlight, and friendship. Its retro sound would feel out of place on the record without “Diamond Heart” as an opener and “Come To Mama” to proceed it, which further justifies that peculiar tune. At the same time, it helps to counterbalance the sexual revolution on the first half of the record with a feminist one.

Eventually I’ll figure out whether I like it or not.

From The Beginning: David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World (1970-71)

January 26, 2016 by krisis

Essentials of the Era

“Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed” – BBC
“Width of a Circle”
“All The Madmen”
“The Man Who Sold The World”
“The Supermen“

Starting in 1970, David Bowie locked into an album-a-year rhythm he would maintain for nearly the entire decade as he left behind his more folk-influenced sound on Space Oddity and prepped material for The Man Who Sold The World. With this increased pace come necessarily briefer album cycles – Bowie would be on to the next era of material even before the final singles from this LP were released.

The Man Who Sold The World frequently gets lost between retrospective adoration for “Space Oddity” (not so big of a success at the time) and the three-album glam hits-capade that began with “Changes” from Hunky Dory. This marooned album had no terrific singles of its own. Nirvana did more to promote “Man Who Sold” as a song than Bowie did in the period. The period also occupies a peculiar sonic territory, with Bowie’s pre-Spiders band more interested in sounding heavy than glamrous despite Mick Ronson’s membership in both lineups.

The result is that most latter-day Bowie fans don’t know the music from this era especially well. That makes a deep dive into it all the more interesting … and challenging! This took me over a week to digest despite already having a familiarity with the LP.

Before The Man Who Sold The World

This era begins during the last: Bowie made his first appearance with The Man Who Sold band on the BBC on February 5, 1970, as he was still promoting singles from his second self-titled album.

This appearance was a full-length concert, though only about half those tracks are readily available today. Opener “Amsterdam” by Jacques Brel would later be recored on Pin Ups. Here, Bowie attacks it with verve, first singing in a fine theatrical baritone, but gradually growing more frenzied along with the acoustic guitar that drives the track. It’s not as though any of us are at risk of forgetting Bowie was a theatrical nerd (especially with his many alter-egos looming ahead) but it’s fun to think about how surprising this performance may have been to fans of the day. The host certainly seems a bit shocked by it.

“God Knows I’m Good” is less Dylanesque here than on Space Oddity, but its refrain is less indelible. The next sequence is lost – “Buzz The Fuzz,” “Karma Man,” “London Bye Ta Ta” and “An Occasional Dream.” We pick back up with the first of The Man Who tracks, “The Width Of A Circle.” This is a fascinating early glimpse into the track, which would grow to be impenetrable on the album. Stripped to its acoustic trappings it’s much more driving, but Bowie isn’t quite up to the howling vocal here. He warbles and cracks on the higher notes.

We then skip “Janine” and “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” for a vicious version of “Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed.” Here, the lower-fi sound of the radio session focuses the track’s fury beneath Bowie’s practiced vocal. Unfortunately, there’s no remaster of “Fill Your Heart” or “The Prettiest Star” – both would be fascinating. We do get a sprawling, eight-minute version of “Cygnet Committee” that’s perhaps a bit slighter than the album cut. Bowie’s highs are not as a clear, and his lows not as resonant. Finally, the show ends with “Memory of a Free Festival,” here just prior to its release as a single. However, this is more like the LP version than the fascinating single mix, with unadorned organ until the “sun machine refrain.” (A final take on “Waiting For The Man” is not collected.)

On the whole this session is unremarkable. Bowie is not in his finest voice, and “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed” is the only song strong enough to leave a lasting impression. Indeed, it is the band unleashed on “Unwashed” that seems to best presage the heft of the impending LP despite being still months out from its recording.

The band would return a little over a month later, already fused into a more metal stomp. They show it off on a pulsing version of “Waiting For The Man” with nothing of Lou Reed’s strut (which gets a little weary by the close). Mick Ronson, in particular, is in strong form. “Width of a Circle” has grown hugely in the intervening month. Bowie’s vocal is massive and confident, and Visconti and Woodmansey are beginning to lock into the riffing and fills that would appear on the LP without overdoing them. The song had yet to grow its epic tale of gods and demons (more on that below), so this isn’t really a definitive take on it. A plain electric guitar version of “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” feels out of place even after the band kicks in after the “really you and really me” refrain.

The Man Who Sold The World – Released November 4, 1970

The original UK cover.

This might be a weird statement to make about a David Bowie record, but I find it hard to enjoy The Man Who Sold The World because so much of it feels insincere.

When is David Bowie ever really being sincere? He’s not known for his confessional lyrics, that’s for sure. Yet, I would propose there is an inherent honesty and weight in how he portrays many of his fantastic characters with real emotion. They matter to him, so they matter to us. Here, Bowie’s narrative creations feel like nothing more than window dressing to a squalling live band of Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti, and Mick Woodmansey, with Ralph Mace on synthesizers. [Read more…] about From The Beginning: David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World (1970-71)