Basically, in a nutshell, here is the attack being circulated by conspiracy theorists about senior D&D head Mike Mearls:
The conspiracy theory was begun by people on the Something Awful /tg forum. The theory refers to events back after the release of the fifth edition of D&D in 2014.
Here's what happened with Mike and I. In order:
-Mike and I were casual internet acquaintances. He said he liked my blog.
-Soon after the development of a 5th Edition of D&D was announced, he contacted me about being a paid consultant. This was probably the longest conversation we ever had.
-I read drafts and exchanged long emails with Mike about the new editions' players' handbook drafts and got paid to do it.
-I never playtested the game. That was not in my contract and I had no special reason to stop my weekly campaign to try a different game --and I wasn't in love with what I was seeing at the time.
(-I liked the final product much better. If anyone cares, I can't be sure of my influence on the game. Either they took some of my suggestions or other people had the same suggestions I did.)
-After it was released, the same conspiracy theorists who'd been harassing me and the D&D With Porn Stars/ I Hit It With My Axe women for years about appearing in Maxim in 2011 started harassing us again. They started on twitter, in public posts. These were not new names to us since they'd been harassing us for three years.
-I knew that D&D was going to have to have some sort of official response and probably an investigation so, unprompted, I gave Mike all the information on all the trolls and conspiracy theorists involved that I knew about at the time and said I was happy to cooperate with any investigation of my alleged badness the company might have to do.
-Mike replied that he had gotten lots of emails but none of them pointed to me doing anything bad at all. It seemed in many cases people were linking to blog posts of mine fed to them by Something Awful "friends" they themselves hadn't actually read. (This is exactly what happens any time any company investigates me: they asked for complaints, got lots, they turn out to be bs.)
-Note, none of these emails full of allegedly damning details have surfaced despite the folks involved still being around right now and still active in the scene and on RPG twitter as we speak.
-Important to emphasize: the complaints about me were all about internet stuff and all in response to recorded interactions so there's no question of Mike "believing" or "not believing" anyone. Presumably after asking, Mike was forwarded links, they didn't link to anything incriminating, just the usual: gamers harassing each other and me telling them not to.
-The names Mike used with me were ones I'd already brought up in the conversation (they had been publicly attacking me all over twitter and Something Awful for years.) Mike did not share any of their information with me. He merely said I think people like (Something Awful troll A that you already brought up) is encouraging people like (other trolls b and c that you already brought up).
-If a screenshot floating around with the accusation: look at it. It doesn't show Mike forwarding emails to me or anyone. It has us talking about well-established harassers Tracy Hurley and (the woman now called) Olivia Hill. Again: they'd been publicly harassing me since 2011.
-Mike gave me no instructions or inside info of any kind other than "be nice to people".
-Mike and I went on with our lives. I continued to do what I'd always done, including tell trolls not to troll--which Something Awful spun as "Mike Mearls gave Zak information that he then used to attack people".
-Mike and I didn't meet or talk much until years later at Gen Con and that was pretty randomly.
-Nobody has ever produced whatever alleged terrible thing they sent to Mike (even blurred or redacted) and none of them even claimed I contacted them, so far as I know. So what I was supposed to have done with that "contact info" I don't know.
All of this is recorded because me and Mike only talked online, so if you doubt any of it, contact me for a link or screenshot. If anyone tells a story that contradicts this one: they haven't fact-checked their story and aren't a reliable source of information, they either aren't smart or aren't honest. (I know this is pointless but I have to say it: Ask them for sources.)
Me and Mandy's legal stuff is progressing after a long period of waiting around for the court system to make time for us, in the meantime please stop smearing Mike.
-Z
p.s. If you really want to get into the Holiday spirit, maybe stop harassing anyone anyone you think did something wrong connected to this bullshit until the legal action is over and you know more than you do now.
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-Mike gave me no instructions or inside info of any kind other than "be nice to people".
-Mike and I went on with our lives. I continued to do what I'd always done, including tell trolls not to troll--which Something Awful spun as "Mike Mearls gave Zak information that he then used to attack people".
-Mike and I didn't meet or talk much until years later at Gen Con and that was pretty randomly.
-Nobody has ever produced whatever alleged terrible thing they sent to Mike (even blurred or redacted) and none of them even claimed I contacted them, so far as I know. So what I was supposed to have done with that "contact info" I don't know.
All of this is recorded because me and Mike only talked online, so if you doubt any of it, contact me for a link or screenshot. If anyone tells a story that contradicts this one: they haven't fact-checked their story and aren't a reliable source of information, they either aren't smart or aren't honest. (I know this is pointless but I have to say it: Ask them for sources.)
Me and Mandy's legal stuff is progressing after a long period of waiting around for the court system to make time for us, in the meantime please stop smearing Mike.
-Z
p.s. If you really want to get into the Holiday spirit, maybe stop harassing anyone anyone you think did something wrong connected to this bullshit until the legal action is over and you know more than you do now.
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