ShiTman possibly continuing his bullshit

While I cannot say for certain that Donald Weis and Chip Suel are aliases for James ShiTman of Outlaw Press infamy, at the very least, they should reconsider the company they are supporting. These two 'people' have suddenly appeared at the leading source of RPG digital downloads, and they are fully within the camp of OP.

Scott of Trollish Delver does a fine job of informing us of Chip Suel's pathetic attempts at writing T&T 'reviews', so I shall default to him and redirect you to his awesome blog: http://trollishdelver.blogspot.com/2012/01/shipman-continues-to-pirate-t-material.html

Donald Weis has firmly established himself as an OP supporter. His works have only ever appeared at OP in the past, and now suddenly his solos are popping up at the aforementioned digital RPG hotspot, under the name Aldor Games. I just checked, and as of this writing, Aldor Games has disappeared from the pdf store, and the name Donald Weis has suddenly disappeared from the webpages of OP. Typical response from ShiTman when he's been discovered, which just further supports my opinion (and yes, it is just MY opinion) that Weis is in fact the Shitty One himself.

In addition to these pathetic antics, there have been several bogus announcements at the offending OP site, announcements claiming that respectable writers of T&T fame are throwing their hat in his corner, that they are going to be 'writing' for 'him'. What utter bullshit, and again, these cryptic announcements suddenly disappear as soon as he is confronted.

So, I would like to add the names Donald Weis and Aldor Games to the Boycott of OP. Don ole boy, you may or may not be JS himself, but either way, your support of a bandit is shameful, and you do not deserve a penny from any real T&T fan.

As far as Chip Suel goes, well, just check out the products he claims suck for yourself. I'm sure you'll find his 'opinion' to be somewhat ridiculous. Oh, and by the way Chip, those 'zines you claim are of such high quality are packed to the gills with stolen material. HoHo and DunDig ARE DEAD. What you are purchasing and reading are the reanimated corpses of those once esteemed zines, infused with the energy of stolen works to rise as zombies. And like all zombies, they should have their heads blown off.

Of course, this is all just my opinion (and yes, it's just mine).

~now for something completely different~

My first ever attempt at a comic strip. Pardon my terrible artwork, but I do hope you get a giggle anyway. Click the pic for a closer view.

Enjoy!
Paul

OP Responds!

Well, it seems all I had to do to get a response from ShiTman was to go public! Instead of answering my emails, or accepting my invitation to openly comment here, he chose to add a bit of comical creative writing to his webpage. Not wanting any of you to visit the offending site, but at the same time wanting to share the joke, I decided to reprint his hysterical commentary here at TROLL HAMMER.

First, I would like to extend my thanks to ShiTman for the free advertising, I'm sure the one or two people who might actually visit his site will be inspired to check out what the hell TROLL HAMMER is all about.

Second, thanks for the laugh, ShiTman, I needed a good guffaw, and you've certainly provided it with your tale of fantasy. If I actually were fat and bald, this would have been a great laugh. See, you CAN write for yourself, no need to steal other people's writing. I guess you just need to compensate for some sort of self-loathing issues, and perhaps a feeling of inadequacy.

You know, this all gives me an idea for an MSPE scenario. The fat, balding, tough guy private eye takes on an assignment to investigate a weasel-like, petty outlaw who has become a slight annoyance to the local townsfolk. Hmmm... Nah, never mind, not worth the effort, the villain is too weak; a mentally deficient outlaw with no self-esteem wouldn't be much of a challenge...

Don’t forget to visit FLYING BUFFALO’s website: http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/tandt.htm and order something for your Tunnels & Trolls collection.

Be sure to tell Rick that Mist-tik-foo-al-gassy-ass sent you! ;-}

BOYCOTT OUTLAW PRESS

Things have been quiet around here, I know, and it is with a heavy heart that the revival of TROLL HAMMER has to be based upon something negative, but, alas, we cannot always control what motivates us to action. This is a blight on the world of Tunnels & Trolls, and one which I simply can no longer remain quiet about.

I have wanted to write this post for a few weeks now, and I have gone over and over how it should be done. My initial feeling was a scalding, curse-filled, personal character assassination of the proprietor of Outlaw Press, one James Shipman. But what would that prove? That I know how to bash someone and be a nasty SOB. It would have detracted from what I really want to say.

The questionable business practices of Outlaw Press are no secret, any search engine will return a number of hits describing exactly the thievery that Mr. Shipman has perpetrated, such as:

http://geek-related.com/2010/01/19/outlaw-pressjim-shipman-sinks-to-demented-pathetic-new-lows-in-art-theft-scandal/

http://martianchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/outlaw-press.html

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?483885-Outlaw-Press-uses-stolen-art

Unfortunately, Mr. Shipman has not only refused to make things right, he actively continues his theft. He has gone as far as masquerading as others, or possibly having others act on his behalf, to approach outstanding artists with freelance work for fictitious projects, and then use the art for Outlaw Press products. The kicker? He actually claims in the product blurbs that these pieces of art were 'specially commissioned'. Unfortunately, he doesn't explain that 'specially commissioned' translates into 'duped and stolen'. He constantly mines the sacred halls of Ken St. Andre's Trollhalla for inspiration, publishing tales and games shared in the 'Halla as if they were submitted to him. He has apparently even poured over this very blog, as I have come to realize he has used my work without permission (in Hobbit Hole # 19), and has stolen monsters from the popular Creature Feature posts that appear here. That last bit really burns me, as these generous folks shared their creatures with me, and all of you, for free and in good faith, just to have them stolen for publication in OP's Monstrum Codex III. The list of often brazen thefts goes on and on. When confronted, he responds with apathy, or often not at all, as in my case. To date, I don't even know what he has stolen from me (anyone with a copy of HH#19, please contact me).

Additionally, Mr. Shipman has a habit of posting 'free' solo adventures, which are actually word doc transcriptions of solos that are offered elsewhere by their creators, often not for free. If you do not believe that, look at his website yourself: http://www.outlawpressinc.com/Free.html After taking a look there, do a search of some of the solo titles at your favorite engine to find the REAL versions, then judge for yourself. I suspect that most of the creators did not authorize the appearance of their solos at OP.

So, what is to be done? While initially the word 'lawsuit' screams out to be heard, the reality is, how many small, independent, freelance artists and game designers want to spend the time, and expense, to go down that road? Certainly, one could take the time and effort to contact OP's ISP and lodge a complaint regarding the stolen material and copyright violations, which may yield success, but again, how many people have the time and desire for such an assault?

My suggestion is a boycott of Outlaw Press. Put quite simply, if nobody buys his stuff, he will have no reason to publish more, and therefore no reason to steal the work of others. I invite everyone reading this to save a copy of the 'No Outlaw Press' picture at the top of this post, and re-post to your own blogs and webpages. Spread the word to your friends via RPG forums and clubs. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM OUTLAW PRESS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU MIGHT WANT IT. Also, equally inportant, do not submit any materials to OP for publication. This is very important, because by purchasing or submitting to OP's products you are showing your support of stealing work from honest people who have worked DAMN hard to produce their creations. If you want to purchase REAL Tunnels & Trolls products, there are a variety of reputable publishers out there: Flying Buffalo, of course; Fiery Dragon; Peryton Press; pay a visit to the links list at Trollhalla for even more ideas: http://www.trollhalla.com/links.php

Additionally, I invite you all, no, rather I URGE all of you readers to post a comment here to show your support of the Outlaw Press Boycott. To be fair, I will approve all comments, whether in support of or against the boycott or Outlaw Press. I ask that comments contain a bit of respect and taste, but I also will not moderate or censor any comments.

Finally, I also invite, no I challenge James Shipman to post a comment here. Mr. Shipman, apparently you think there is nothing wrong with the way you conduct business, so I invite you to defend your position here. I promise to post whatever you send, unmoderated. But be prepared, because any responses to your comment will remain unmoderated as well.

So there you have it, a call to arms, a call to boycott.

Thanks for reading. TROLL HAMMER will become more active again, hopefully with much more positive postings in the near and far future.

Paul 'Mist-Tikk Foo-all' Ingrassia