No, you didn’t miss the November update. I haven’t published it yet. And I know what you’re thinking: how the hell can there be a supplemental update to an update that hasn’t been put out yet. This is sort of a preamble or warm-up to the update.
I am trying to desperately get my work as The Angry GM back on track. Unfortunately, things have been repeatedly derailed by my health and by life events. In the past month alone, I have been in the emergency room twice, admitted to the hospital once, there has been a loss of employment in my household with a drastic and critical change in our financial situation and, as of this past weekend, I have also suffered a deep personal loss that permanently affects my daily life, living situation, and I really don’t want to go into much detail.
I can honestly say without hyperbole that this has been the most challenging year I have personally faced in the last decade.
What I don’t want to do is keep explaining why I’m falling short on my goals, promises, and plans. I had big plans for this year. I am still very excited about those plans. And I did pull some of them off. In some ways, the most recent changes do empower me to refocus my energy on this work, which is something that I am not doing obligation, but out of sincere desire. I love what I do. When I am unable to do it or fall short on it, I lose the feeling of purpose that it gives me. So please don’t tell me to take time off and relax and take it slow.
There is an update coming. A proper update. This week. There are features coming. I am just trying to build a plan that is one I can reasonably meet. For everything. Features, live chats, proofreadalouds, Discord events, and Slapdash. Once I know what that plan is, you will know. And it will not take weeks or months. It will take days. It just won’t be today.
Thank you for your ongoing patience and support. Especially this past year. Through everything, even as I’ve faltered, you’ve all stood by me and you have devoured the content I worked so hard to produce. Even if it was late and spewed forth in one giant burp in the last week of every month. That is what has kept me going. And that is what helps me continue to feel a sense of purpose.
I know you’ll have questions about this, that, or the other. By all means ask them. But be patient if my only answer for the next day or two is, “I don’t know. Yet.”
You ask us not to tell you to take it slow, so I’ll say this instead: I have full confidence in you. You’ve shown us time and time again how much this matters to you, and how you recover from every setback. I know that you’ll find your footing again and deliver us amazing content that changes how I see the hobby.
And I’ll also say thanks for this amazing year of articles so far. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this year and the next hold.
The True Gamemaster series that was born out of your already great Town series has been some of the best and most profound work you’ve ever put out on this website. I can’t wait for everything coming this month and the future.
Wishing you nothing but the best. We’re hete when you’re ready for us, and we’ll be here however long it takes for you to get there.
Long time lurker, first time poster and just wanted to say I enjoy your work a great deal. Thanks.
Much as I’m sorry to hear of your problems, I wont tell you to take a break, I’m looking forward to the next lot of articles. S**t happens sometimes, but you’ve got to keep on bu**ering on. Good luck, mate.
You’re right. I agree. Thank you.
But I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what “bu**ering” means.
I wanna say buggering, but that dramatically changes the tone of the comment…
Isn’t buggering “bug collecting?”
This might be a US English vs UK English thing. Because…. No. I don’t believe it is.
The tone of that comment came off as very British, to me, and bu**ering definitely means something else there…. Do what you do, Angry. We’ll be here. I haven’t been able to live up to my expectations of myself for the last couple of years, either. This “getting older” crap ain’t for sissies…..
Best wishes
Another long term lurker but as a Brit, gotta help out here. Churchill was (allegedly) famous for the phrase, “Keep buggering on,” and it’s become part of the British vernacular: at times of trouble, just keep plugging away and get through it. Apologies if that’s teaching you to suck eggs.
Anyway, I wish you well and get your sentiment. Head down and dealing with the issues got me through a tough time of personal loss.
Your work is great and applying it has improved my game. I’m not sure my players appreciate it, but I can see the difference. You’ve a lot to offer, and I look forward to seeing it, just don’t break yourself getting it to us.
Keep on buttering on, Angry. Don’t you ever stop buttering.
Well, I don’t know. I think I really like it better when he buffers. So, please keep buffering.
I’m going to stick with buttering. Buffering sounds too much like me taking way too damned long to push a bit of content to the site.
I’m going to keep buttering.
I know the feeling. We’ll all be here when things do come out as you figure how to make it all work. In the meantime, I know I still have plenty to refine from all your previous articles. (Just used your quick and dirty dungeon method the other day and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly a dungeon came together!)
Angry, you’ve been a source of entertainment, inspiration, and insight for all of us. Despite the hurdles, your dedication is admirable and we’re all grateful for it. We understand the complexities of life and also appreciate your transparency during tough times.
Your commitment to delivering the next update, despite the adversities, speaks volumes about your passion for the work. As you work on regaining your footing, please let us if there’s anything we can do to help.
Wishing you strength, healing, and brighter days ahead!
Hope you’ll be fine, this year has been rough on me too, here’s hoping it’ll be better next year !
Even though this has been the most challenging year for you, I think it is this site’s best year. The focus and quality of the articles has been incredible, not to mention how thorough it is, covering areas that internet GMs rarely discuss. Simply put, there’s nothing else like it. All your hardwork is very much appreciated
I am extremely proud of the True Game Mastery series. And I thank you for reminding me of that. It’s just that TGM was one of SEVERAL things that was supposed to happen. And I have been struggling with every other thing and not even keeping myself on an even release schedule.
It’s a kind of toxic thinking that’s a little bit “all-or-nothing” and a little bit “discounting the positive” and a little bit of other stuff. But the end result is I’m fixing on all the stuff I didn’t make happen instead of the good I did. Among the many other things I have to work on with myself, that is one of them.
At your worst, you’re still the best, at least in the realm of pretend elf games. Even though I can’t find the time to play and put your advice into action, I believe your work is good for the hobby in general, and I will continue to support you so long as I can afford it
Yesterday I ran quite a dramatic encounter, where the party split. Three of them resulted in a fight for their lives, while one of them was talking to a guard captain, asking to send help.
The situation was not planned, but was created by players at the game. Thanks to reading your blog, I resolved both scenes simulteniously, making “thousands cuts”. In result, every dice roll was very tense.
So, thank you for improving our games!
Absolutely no-one needs health issues and personal loss and financial trouble on top.
So all the best wishes. Never forget that you made RPG a lot more fun for many of us and that your articles are a gold mine of good ideas, ways to think about roleplaying problems and invaluable advice – I’m just now re-reading all articles in the archive to remind me of a lot of things I already forgot.
Since as some random guy on the internet I cannot help you with your personal problems, I at least took the opportunity to subscribe on Patreon to help at least a tiny bit with the financial trouble.
I know it sucks not to achieve the goals you set yourself.
You don’t want to disappoint others and you want to prove to yourself that you can do it. (Many of us know this from our own experience).
But at the end of the day, no one is mad at you if you don’t manage to stick to your schedule. (And if they do, they should p**s off).
We don’t care WHEN the articles come out. We also don’t care if there are fewer of them. What’s important to us is that you keep your style, your attitude, your structure, your ideas and your big mouth. Because no one else out there gets to the heart of things as well as YOU do.
We won’t pity you, be sad or be disappointed in you. Forget that pressure. We just want you to find a way to do things your way (the Angry Way) given the circumstances in life. Nothing else matters.
An Angry GM is never late, nor early, he posts whenever he intends to.
My only thought is: I would still support this blog as long as I can, even when it’s not producing at top efficiency. That’s one of the nice things about the crowd funding scheme.