Greetings Horizoners,
I know I’m hot on the heels of the previous post, but I’ve been following the discourse about current TTRPG news — and the people who write that news.
Discourse aside, one thing that I noticed (when Chase and Thomas sat down on Rascal Radio Hour to discuss it) is that Rascal strive to be transparent and equitable in what they do, both their publications and their dealings. This is fundamentally a good thing. This is what we should expect from all journalists, but especially when we have so few (good?) options in the TTRPG space. Maybe people are making valid critique over some things, and I think that Rascal have accepted that and (hopefully) taken it on board. But also people are making ludicrous ad hominem attacks (such as the person who described their behaviour as “evil”) against an outlet which has done legitimately genuinely good work in investigative journalism in the TTRPG space.
Far Horizons CoOp also strive to be transparent, equitable, and fair in our publications and dealings: we tell people ahead of time what and how they’ll be paid; we aim to pay people fairly for the work done, according to how much labour they put into a project; and we make sure that people understand what others are being paid. Nobody gets a free ride with payments they haven’t worked for; and nobody works without being recompensed.
You’d think these ideas of transparency, fairness, and equity would be de rigueur everywhere — after all, are we not striving to do things right by everyone? But we can all agree that this is basically never the case: everybody, from politicians to bosses to landlords constantly aim to obfuscate abso-f***ing-lutely everything, to cover up the fact that nothing, in fact, is fair or equitable. To give an example of my (corporate, boring) day job, I’m contractually obliged to not reveal my salary to others, in case we work out that something is in fact not equitable or fair. All this despite constant chat about how we operate fairly and transparently with others. With so much in the world, everything is an elaborate ruse to stop people from acting with morality, and to be honest, dignity.
Because of this, we need to celebrate these ideas of transparency, equity, and fairness where we see them. When somebody shines a light on wrongdoing, sure, examine their motives, but if their motives are giving daylight to the truth, you shouldn’t assume villainy on their part.
Shouting at journalists is, by and large, what private wealth wants you to do. They want to make it so that nobody believes people who ask difficult questions, publish difficult articles, face difficult people. Speaking truth to power. This isn’t hard stuff, and it’s not controversial.
If you expect honesty and decency in political reporting, like if you bemoan how major news outlets are collapsing or turning into corporate or fascist mouthpieces, then you have to treat the honest and decent journalists who obviously exist in the hobby space you operate in with the same level of respect.
I think I’ll end it here, but like, please think about what I’ve said here. These values are desirable in all parts of our life. We should all aim for them.
Coming up
We’ve got some great things coming up.
Look out for Petmon from Kamala Kara Arroyo (Friendship Effort Victory!, We Dig Giant Robots), whose crowdfunding campaign for the Digimon-inspired game is coming up in the next few months. We’ll put a sign-up page together ASAP.
Also there’s … Loves Me, Loves Me Not … from CoOp newcomer Davey, which was the winner of the Random Prompts Jam. This game is tonnes of fun and we’re really looking forward to sharing it with you as part of Thousand Burning Stars. On that note we also have some new Stars in the stellar nursery; watch this space y’all.
Some of us (particularly me) are getting obsessed with a hot new project from another CoOp newcomer, Michael Coolwood. I don’t think I can give you details of this project yet, but it’s big, it’s fun, and I think you’ll like it. Coming to a crowdfunding platform near you later in 2026 (but also with a quickstart before then).
Also rumblings of a long-forgotten project, a possible Far Horizons CoOp house system?! I don’t know if you’re as excited about this as some of our members, but personally I think this is a rad direction for rapid prototyping our games, and that’s cool. Another “watch this space” I’m afraid, but, that’s how it goes sometimes.
That’s all there is. Remember: make cool games. wage class war.
F.H.C. //