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Contrarian

@pataverse.com
33 followers 33 following 441 posts

I have nothing to sell you. I'm just a boy who never stopped loving AD&D.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/09/2026
Went to the "community book sale" and bought a stack of mid-1980s #scifi magazines, mostly for the game reviews. So I guess I collect vintage sci-fi magazines now. I think there's even a review of #StarFrontiers in there somewhere!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 16/09/2026
@questauthority.bsky.social provides a detailed analysis of the ridiculousness here: bsky.app/profile/ques...
bsky.app
@questauthority.bsky.social on Bluesky
OK, a day later than planned, here we GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! What time is it, kiddies? That's right, it's Litigation Disaster Tourism time! And whoah nellie! there's a lot here. Ground rules: 1: I'm going to do this until I'm too tired or bored to continue. No telling how long that will be. [contains quote post or other embedded content]
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 16/09/2026
I can't write an into funnier than real life here, so: The man who made this video thinks he invented weresharks, and is suing #WOTC for copyright infringement! youtu.be/JJJreoPuSx4...
youtu.be
Wereshark: Neptunerise - Starring Julianne Michelle
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 10/09/2026
The motel my wife and I prefer for #GenCon allows reservations exactly 11 months in advance, so I booked our room during my lunch break today. See you next year, Indianapolis!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 09/09/2026
An alleged Canadian thinks the United States should use a Debtor's Army to invade Iran. This guy could help Hasbro invent replacements for slavery in the new #Darksun. www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-ea...
aa.com.tr
Israeli opinion piece proposes 'debt forgiveness' for young Americans to enlist in Iran war
Article in Jerusalem Post outlines debt forgiveness as means of encouraging young Americans to fight in war with Iran | Anadolu
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 09/09/2026
Crown Royal #Whiskey is distilled in Canada. #Trump is about to create a #dice bag shortage in the United States! www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
cbc.ca
Trump banning import of Canadian booze, motorcycles, other goods into U.S. | CBC News
U.S. President Donald Trump is banning the import of Canadian alcohol, motorcycles and various other products into the U.S. as of Sept. 29. This latest move in an escalating trade war between Canada and the U.S. comes after Canadian retaliatory tariffs came into force on Tuesday.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/09/2026
Phil and I apparently have two mutual friends on Facebook, but one of those friends is deceased. We're all getting old, and researching old school game history often feels like a race against the Grim Reaper.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 07/09/2026
If I was playing the #MontyPython RPG, I would use this soap so I showed up at games smelling of elderberries. It's immersive!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 05/09/2026
If you're going to post his art like that, you should at least tell people where they can buy a copy. jeffeasleyart.com/store/DLDF/d...
jeffeasleyart.com
Jeff Easley · Dragon of Flame
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 05/09/2026
Looks like you rolled them into submission, though.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 05/09/2026
Bluesky has added a feature that will warn people how long-winded I am, if I don't break it first.
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Reposted by Contrarian
Bill Corbett @billcorbett.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
[getting out of bed, reluctant and groggy] Welp gotta add to the lore
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/08/2026
The next time a job interviewer asks me to describe a personal weakness, I'm going to say "I can't make joke so obvious that multiple redditors won't try to correct me on history I lived through."
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/08/2026
Bought an old collection of the "Bulletin of the British Model Soldier Society" this week, and might have another lead on German #toysoldier sizing? The December 1968 issue says Heyde had TEN standard #miniatures sizes! I didn't know yet if these were guild standard sizes, or just Heyde's system.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
The local art supply store is trolling me with their sticker display.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
In 2017, Neuscheler trademarked "Fantasysmith!" trademarks.justia.com/877/34/fanta... As someone who's stuck with "Contrarian" for 20+ years, I respect Phil's commitment to his brand.
trademarks.justia.com
FANTASYSMITH Trademark of Neuscheler, Philip Elmer - Registration Number 5524877 - Serial Number 87734678 :: Justia Trademarks
Molded toy figures
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
That "Fantasysmith" Dragon article does not have a byline. DragonDex and RPGGeek both ascribe it to Phil Neuscheler, who seems to have written most of Dragon's #miniatures articles in 1979 and 1980. rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/...
rpggeek.com
Phil Neuscheler
Magazine article author specializing in miniatures.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
James Opie, in Chapter 2 of "Collecting Toy Soldiers in the 21st Century," makes an offhand remark to "the most popular scale being Size No 2, or 48mm" in the late 19th Century. Maybe the confusion is that Germans had a set of standardized scales, not just one official scale?
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
I picked up two more issues of the MWAN newsletter to look for responses to Toby Barrett's original letter, and what did I find? A second person claiming they learned about the eye-height standard from Willie Suren! Is this all going to trace back to Suren making excuses for his 1970s #scalecreep?
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
I emailed Thoroughbred Figures, and its owner confirmed he's the same Toby Barrett who wrote The Courier editorial. Unfortunately, he can't recall what his original reference for the eye-height standard was, but he thinks "European Guilds" were "probably" responsible.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026
Three months later, #WizardCon still seems doomed. The Facebook page is still AWOL, the website says they've rescheduled to October, but the promised event list is overdue on Tabletop Events.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 14/08/2026
Jeez Louise! If #GenCon went badge-less like #ECCC, I'd have to use a second phone just for my badge, and I'd hang it from my neck in protest.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 13/08/2026
I didn't usually have problems with #concrud, but #GenCon got me this year -- what I thought was a simple cold turned into bronchitis and an ear infection! Three missed work days last week, four prescriptions this week, and I'm still only half-functional.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 13/08/2026
Government and corporations continue building the #TormentNexus by equipping the race police with classic #StarFrontiers weapons. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
ICE equipping agents with gloves that deliver electric shocks
The US immigration agency is spending $20m on gloves that deliver a sharp electric shock intended to compel subjects to comply.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026
There's a 50/50 chance the guy is just going to reinvent hexadecimal #dice, but I hope he does it, because dice collectors need a new stupid category of dice to collect. "Cryptocurrency Dice" could replace "Lotto Dice" as the dumbest idea in dice! www.thediceshoponline.com/products/imp...
thediceshoponline.com
Impact Opaque Hexidice D16 Hexadecimal Dice – The Dice Shop Online
Purchase your Impact Opaque Hexidice D16 Hexadecimal Dice from The Dice Shop Online, the World's largest retailer of dice.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026
So, the #cryptocurrency dorks on Reddit have been talking about dice a lot since last week. When a post appeared in r/dice looking for a Chinese manufacturer and talking about "bits of entropy," I knew right away: That's a crypto-bro dork. And he has a business plan... for dice!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026
Believe it or not, the device manufacturer's suggestion for manually adding randomness was rolling lots and lots of #dice. Apparently, not enough people followed that advice, and now their digital funny money is all gone. coldcard.com/docs/verifyi...
coldcard.com
Verifying Dice Roll Math - COLDCARD Documentation
Documentation, tutorials, and other resources for COLDCARD, the world's most trusted and secure Bitcoin hardware wallet.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026
Last week, $120,000,000 worth of #Bitcoin was stolen because a device manufacturer accidentally didn't add outside randomness when generating cryptographic keys. www.techtimes.com/articles/322...
techtimes.com
Coldcard Hardware Wallet Hacked via Firmware Bug That Bypassed RNG for Five Years
Coldcard hardware wallet vulnerability let an attacker drain roughly 594 BTC — about $38 million — from around 500 wallets after firmware silently bypassed the device’s own hardware random number generator for five years. Mk2 and Mk3 owners who generated seeds on firmware v4.0.0 through v5.0.3 are
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026
Computer software isn't good at generating random numbers. The best solution for this problem is "seeding" the random number generator with a outside (non-software) source of randomness. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Why computers can’t generate randomness.
In order to produce true randomness, computers must reach outside themselves.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026
I was checking the mailroom for a package I'm expecting, and noticed one of the other tenants has received a package from @goodmangames.bsky.social. There's an #OSR guy in my apartment complex! Shit, there goes the neighborhood.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 03/08/2026
There were for different vendors (including the soda company) at #GenCon this year named some variation of "Critical Hit." Hey folks, maybe we should declare a moratorium on using this phrase in business names? It's getting confusing!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 03/08/2026
I did spend an hour there. Turned my hands gray with pewter dust!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
They turned off the lights and told us to leave! (Look at those sad faces.) #GenCon 2026 is complete. See you next year, Indianapolis!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
Took a while to get to the official #GenCon pizza this year. "Dragon's Luau" is a spicy pineapple pizza. My wife and I agree: Too much spice, not enough pineapple.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
My wife @coreyosullivan.com drinks @redbull.com everyday, so we did what we had to do to get this #GenCon baggage ribbon for her.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
My last game of #GenCon 2026 is #OldSchoolEssentials. Our characters listen at a door; they can't make our the words of speech they hear, but they can clearly hear someone flipping the pages of a book. Fucking #OSR adventure design, man.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
There's an anti-AI crusader publicly expressing their "disappointment" on Facebook and Reddit whenever they see an #AI illustration at #GenCon. Every time they write "Gen Con is about artists supporting other artists" I image Gary Gygax laughing at them from Hell.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
A quick record of the storm damage at #GenCon: Part of the board gaming hall is closed, and some Block Party tents have collapsed.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
There's is a free photo "booth" at #GenCon. The pictures it takes are not great. Look at that stomach it added to me!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026
#GenCon seems to have survived today's tornados and/or flooding, but some areas are closed for cleanup. I assume things will be running normally tomorrow.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 01/08/2026
Tornado Warning at #GenCon ended 15 minutes early, but now we've got a flash flood warning?
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 01/08/2026
I'm in the audience of the #GenCon Costume Contest, which is continuing through the tornado warning because we're in a windowless room. I'm seriously wondering if Gen Con is going to end early this year.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 01/08/2026
Every cellphone at #GenCon is sounding a tornado warning. A convention center recorded message is telling us to move away from windows. Reports of leaking ceilings in parts of the building!
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 01/08/2026
Signed up for a last-minute paint-and-take at #GenCon because it will help my wife earn a badge ribbon she wants. Not going to ruin my reputation by photographing my shitty miniature.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026
Trapped in a extremely bloody session of the Dune board game at #GenCon where everyone is unclear on the rules and the gamemaster is occasionally asking Siri for help.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026
Wife and I attended the first session of the #DnD Carnival at #GenCon 2026. It's pretty, but they're clearly still working out the kinks.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026
When I used to travel solo to #GenCon, I'd bring just a box of crackers and a bag of beef jerky for motel snacks. My wife packed a cheese cutting board this year, and I don't know how I feel about that.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026
My wife's silent review of the official #GenCon #beer.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026
My wife @coreyosullivan.com declared it was taco time at #GenCon because the taco stand had the shortest line.
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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026
We are now officially Gen Caffeinated, and it only cost us 54 bucks. At least the #GenCon souvenir cups have lids this year!
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