"It's up to you to decide where you stand..."

[John Wick]

After talking to Ron last night and answering a few personal e-mails, I've heard this phrase stated multiple times:

"It's up to you to decide where you stand."

Can someone please explain what this phrase means at the Forge? It's clearly a communal short-hand for something.

[jburneko]

That's extremely hard to judge without context and I certainly can't speak for Ron.  I don't know of any communal Forge meaning.  But I can take a guess based on past experiences.  It has been my experience that Ron is very uninterested in "proving to" or "convincing" anyone that his theories are correct.  He'll clarify and explain all day long in a effort to help you understand what he means and what exactly he's talking about.

But, "it's up to you to decide where you stand," after you've reached that point of understanding.  Agree or disagree, up to you.

Jesse

[Judd]

This is a place about making creator-owned ideas into creator-owned games.

Everything else is details, including where you stand.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

This is a place about making creator-owned ideas into creator-owned games.

Everything else is details, including where you stand.

Judd is exactly right.

[greyorm]

Can someone please explain what this phrase means at the Forge? It's clearly a communal short-hand for something.

Unh...no. That is, "No, it isn't shorthand for anything." I really have no idea why you think this is communal short-hand, "clearly" or otherwise, but I suggest if you want to know what Ron means, to ask Ron.

Unless maybe John wasn't sent his Secret Forge Decoder Ring? You know, the one that lets you reveal all the secrets of the universe, all the stuff we're REALLY talking about, by decoding the secret messages hidden in all the voluminous threads we pretend are about "game theory" (hah! as if!). Geez! No wonder he never knows what Ron's talking about!

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I can tell you what the phrase doesn't mean.

It doesn't mean, "You're with us or against us."

When I use it, it means, "There are lots of ideas and claims and possibilities tossed around. If you want to consider any of them, then you have to decide which ones make the most sense to you, what that means, and what you want to do about it."

And I also mean,

"I am not telling you what kind of person you are, and I am not telling you what to do."

Best,
Ron