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Dr Ian Sturrock

@sturrock.bsky.social
181 followers 223 following 50 posts

Researcher into game studies, game histories, motivation for play, ethics of game design, creativity and world-building. Capoeirista, HEMA practitioner, larper, TTRPG designer/publisher. HE teacher and UCU activist but my views represent only me.

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Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
Adrian Tchaikovsky @aptshadow.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Something of a large reveal! deadline.com/2026/09/andy...
deadline.com
Andy Serkis To Narrate Sci-Fi Adaptation Of 'The Odyssey'
Andy Serkis To Narrate Adrian Tchaikovsky's Sci-Fi Adaptation Of 'The Odyssey' For Audible
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I am doing the Great North Run next weekend in aid of the Teesside Family Foundation... please help if you can! click.contact.justgiving.com?qs=ABB7InYiO...
click.contact.justgiving.com
Ian's fundraiser for The Teesside Family Foundation
Help Ian Sturrock raise money to support The Teesside Family Foundation
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Stellbound: Stellraiser II @antlervel.vet · 03/09/2026
Just got outta the TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY 35th anniversary rerelease and Jesus Christ, man. What a movie. They had to do all that shit for real. They had to fly that helicopter under an overpass. They had to blow up that building. They had to find an actor who could turn into liquid metal.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Ah yes Dr Ryder loves free speech as long as it's only free for bigots.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
More on the Warhammer conference issues. feehan.substack.com/p/activist-a...
feehan.substack.com
“...activist academics [are] trying to destroy my work.”
Not the article I wanted to write as my next post, but here we are. This is a situation that is happening.
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Aasa T 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @rosgakori.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I am withdrawing my paper proposal from Warhammer Conference 2026. My reasoning can be found below. In a way, this has been one of the most stressful decisions of my academic career. In one way, the answer was clear to me since I found out about this.
To Dr. Ryder:

I am deeply saddened to do this, but I must withdraw my paper proposal for this year’s Warhammer Conference. I have been attending the conference every year since its inception, and as you are aware, this is the premiere conference in the field where I am currently writing my doctoral thesis.  

My withdrawal is based your signature of the open letter in support of Nathan Cofnas, which I feel misleadingly frames his suspension as an issue of academic free speech, where as Ghent University has stated that their reasoning was based on shoddy work ethics and work that would bring university’s reputation into disrepute, i.e. “race realism” and other frankly racist and dubiously scientific works. I believe that many well-meaning scholars have been misled by primarily making this a case of academic free speech. 

Moreover, Nathan Cofnas was the instigator for a mass harassment campaign of dubious merits that led to the death of Professor Jason Arday, which I find disgusting, horrible and unforgivable. I am unwilling to associate with anyone who shows support for Cofnas under the guise of academic free speech. The far right have shown their capability to use free speech as a smokescreen to harass, target, and demonize whole groups of people, and this is just another example of it. To see “academic free speech” being used as a reason to support this odious man is unacceptable to me. Without speculating on your motives, I have to listen to my own principles in this matter.

Aasa Timonen
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Very sad to see one of the Warhammer Conference organisers pushing a far-right line, and trying to justify said line as being all about "academic freedom".
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Dr Rory MacLellan @rorymaclellan.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Had to withdraw from this in the end as one of the organisers signed the letter supporting Nathan Cofnas. While the other organiser didn't agree with them, I just don't want to be associated with it, especially in a franchise that already has far-right elements in its fanbase. #warhammercommunity
I am sorry to be writing to withdraw my paper proposal for this year's Warhammer Conference. I greatly enjoyed attending the first conference in 2024 and had been very much looking forward to going again this year.

However, I have seen that you have signed the open letter in support of Nathan Cofnas (https://johnarmstrongmaths.com/openletters/letter.php?campaign=cofnas). The letter portrays his suspension as purely an issue of academic free speech and unfair punishment for whistleblowing: "As academics, we are concerned that Ghent University's disciplinary proceedings against Dr Cofnas appear to constitute retaliation, at least in part, for publicizing academic misconduct that occurred in British universities."

I strongly disagree with the characterisation. Ghent's own letter setting out their reasoning is that Cofnas has publicly presented himself as working on racist projects like his "Guide for the Hereditarian Revolution", not the postdoctoral project he was hired for, and has risked bringing the university's reputation into disrepute. In doing so he has breached the employment contract he willingly signed: https://bsky.app/profile/roterote.bsky.social/post/3mtonundvbs22 Ironically, he himself has written about his desire to violate the academic freedom of anyone who disagrees with his 'race realism': https://xcancel.com/mariachong/status/2090858937465835982#mThis is not an academic free speech issue at heart. It is a philosophy academic opining on IQ and genetics, something he does not have a single degree in, nor has he been hired to work on these topics.

Regardless of my interpretation of this academic speech point, which we may have to agree to disagree upon, I do not want to be associated with support for this odious man. As you have signed this letter in support of him and are one of the lead organisers and have been the public face of the conference, I do not want to present at it and shall exercise my academic free speech in withdrawing my paper.

Cofnas' racist views and his stated dream to "after the revolution" become "head of the Department of Eugenics and Race Science at Harvard" are abhorrent. Considering the problems that Warhammer already faces with far-right elements in its fanbase, something you have yourself written upon, it is deeply disappointing that the only conference on the franchise is now linked to such an individual as Cofnas, a publicly admitted eugenicist.

Rory
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DanS @dansquier.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Keir Starmer resigns, as Andy Burnham confirms he will run to replace him as Labour leader and PM.
Travis mk.1Travis mk.2
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Simeon Shtebunaev @shtebunaev.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The state of higher education in the UK, in a photo
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Rob Hawkes @robbhawkes.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
As a UH alumnus (MA Literature, 2002), as a humanities scholar, and as a human being, I can barely express the combination of sorrow, outrage, and “Jack’s complete lack of surprise” that I feel in response to the devastation being wrought on our disciplines and, more broadly, on UK higher ed. 1/
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 07/05/2026
Dozens of professors face the axe at Teesside University with cuts possible as soon as next month. Management claims strong finances yet staff are being pushed out at speed. You don't strip decades of experience overnight without consequences. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1449...
ucu.org.uk
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Rob Hawkes @robbhawkes.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
As more of my valued colleagues face the threat of redundancy, here’s a quick reminder that it takes years and years of public investment to train an academic. Cutting someone with this wealth of experience loose isn’t “saving” anything. It is a massive waste of our collective resources.
moneyontheleft.org
UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance
by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
how it feels to say "sprezzatura"
AOC talking to RFK Jr. Her facial and hand gesture has the spiritual energy of that Italian hand gesture where you pinch your fingers and wave your hand (the "ma che vuo" gesture).
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Ian @brocktoon.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
New on Stuckness: THAT Nine Inch Noize Coachella set, the import of reworking your old material, what happened when Front 242 did something similar, and how weird it is that a 60 year old is singing about heresy in an evangelical age. stuckness.ghost.io/nine-inch-no...
stuckness.ghost.io
Nine Inch Noize and Reinventing Your Old Stuff
The talk of the town this past week has been the blistering Coachella set which Nine Inch Noize put on. A hybrid project of Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize, birthed from their tour together last year, ...
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
I don't have any articles in this but I did contribute to the editorial and peer review aspects, and can heartily recommend the content: journals.uu.se/ijrp
journals.uu.se
International Journal of Role-Playing
The International Journal of Role-playing is a double-blind peer-reviewed scholarly journal that examines all facets of role-playing games for an audience of academics, designers, and players. The journal emphasizes analog role-playing games such as tabletop, live action role-playing (larp), and freeform, but is open to submissions analyzing adjacent phenomena and other interdisciplinary topics in relation to role-playing game studies.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
I was down this morning to show solidarity from Teesside UCU. There's a fantastic atmosphere on the Northumbria picketlines! If you're in Newcastle please show your support. Stick around till the 11am demo on a given day & you get to participate in "Picketline Pilates" which was a lot of fun.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Awh thank you! I was pleased with it, although lots of players hated the sorcerer's defensive blast thing
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
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lucynoakes1.bsky.social @lucynoakes1.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252: Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email. Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
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ana valdivia @anavaldi.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results: - AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2% - ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1% - ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Saving this for next time I see gammon whinging about casting choices in early medieval film & TV. Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society theconversation.com/two-seventh-...
theconversation.com
Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
We should not be surprised that there are west Africans in early medieval Britain, the clues were there.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Woooooooo, landslide victory for Zack in the Green Party leadership elections! That's a huge blow for the boring centrists who don't believe that radical policies can get support.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Precisely this!
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
(And obviously Jayanth is cleverer still but, ya know, research is all about standing on the shoulders of giants!)
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
2/2 ...“for identity, community, self-esteem, challenge, love, joy” are fulfilled through the game, rather than deferred (2021). Citizen Sleeper is, perhaps, at last, one such game.'
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
1/2 'Jayanth points out the “gun is still the fundamental tool we give players to interact with the world”, advocating instead for games in which our fundamental human needs...
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
I am proofing an upcoming chapter I wrote, sitting here thinking, I am so clever, which is a pretty nice feeling; way better than thinking I am useless or broken, which, you know, are also options. Here is a relevant passage that I love, but OMG ALL this stuff is so damn good, I am very clever:
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
How you sound when you say "there's no point in my caring about my personal CO2 emissions because Jeff Bezos is worse"-- "look we already know there's microplastics in the swimming pool so it won't make any real difference if I take a dump in it"
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Oh. There's a lot of bad art out there in every medium. But look at Citizen Sleeper, Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, Six Ages: Ride Like The Wind, Gris, even God of War: Ragnarok, and tell me videogames don't have multiple ways of telling amazing, subtle stories.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Videogames are capable of telling just as complex and emotionally engaging stories as any other medium -- more so, in some ways -- but not if studios think that consumers only want slop. www.pcgamer.com/games/we-can...
pcgamer.com
We can't keep making videogame stories for players who aren't paying attention to them
Let me get lost, I promise it's okay.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
tldr: do continue to keep your climate apocalypse cupboard topped up with canned beans and such iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org
Radware Bot Manager Captcha
To ensure we keep this website safe, please can you confirm you are a human by ticking the box below.
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Phil @ Mace Games @mace-games.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Thanks to a bit of advice from @sturrock.bsky.social , I've been able to strip the fantasy world map back to the basics and repopulate it digitally. Photoshop isn't particularly intuitive to use, but once I got the original scan cleaned up, Paint does the job nicely. #booksky #book #fantasy #sf&f
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
profserious.substack.com/p/understand...
profserious.substack.com
Understanding University Finances
... a very short guide
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Easily the best Star Wars, probably the best SF TV show ever too (I still have a huge soft spot for Strange New Worlds obviously).
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
5) Seeing a key Imperial institution fragment & self-destruct with paranoia felt very like watching the Tory Party's implosion over the past 10y; what do you do when your most competent fascists are disgraced & disempowered? Now we know why the Empire of 1-3 is so ineffective in so many ways.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
4) The conscious low-tech touches -- radios, flight paths, air traffic control, etc. -- are so much fun thematically, harkening back to the mid-20th century wars and media that influenced Lucas so much.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
3) The insight into rebellion is also just astonishing -- we joke about an Andor game being a leftist infighting simulator but it does show how tough it is to get a bunch of traumatised, angry people to work together.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
2b) The makeup, esp. S2 E.10-12, shows not so much the aging of a couple of the key characters, as what they have endured. Again subtle and mostly about the contrast with how they looked for the rest of the series. A good indication of how well every single detail is considered in this show though.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
2a) The music has been subtly powerful all through and in particular brings a sadness to the final scene that, in the hands of a more schmaltzy director, would have been seen as hopeful rather than adding to the tragedy.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
2) Obviously the last three episodes are exceptional pieces of television and the acting, direction, and writing have been heavily praised, quite rightly! I am just gonna single out the music and makeup too though.
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Finally finished watching Andor! No big spoilers below I think. 1) Rogue One is now MUCH better. It was always pretty decent but also always flawed, and Andor S1-2 fixes most of the flaws. (a Jyn prequel exploring her connection with Saw could fix the rest -- I believe there's a novel out already)
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Toby Venables @tobyvenables.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero Games allow us to play with imaginary futures and situations. For example, humanity's own future, as the Anthropocene era comes to a dangerous close and we begin to consider the post-Anthropocene. CFP and more at: www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...
tees.ac.uk
Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero
We're seeking submissions for proposals for 20-minute conference presentations from across the fields of animation, VFX and games.
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Trixie ☕︎ @dixie13.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
#booksky
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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/b...
independent.co.uk
Inside the scandal that rocked behavioural science – and paved the way for revolution
Five years after a widely revered study was debunked as totally bogus, Helen Coffey asks the experts whether trust in the sexiest branch of science has been irrevocably eroded – and how to discern bet...
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that. The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one. This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.

I work as an elder and hospice caregiver, which I am oddly passionate about. I can love on them shamelessly and no one complains about my codependence. It's a win-win situation. 

Many of my caregiving colleagues complain about the repetitive questions and, sometimes reactions, of the elderly, especially when those patients happen to read the newspaper, especially with the current downward spiral of our country — as if these people haven't lived through enough horror...

I love my dementia peeps, but sometimes wonder if there's a Guinness Book World Record for how many times an hour a dementia patient can repeat the same question — it's got to be in the hundreds. At least with small children, they ask different questions. Dementia patients will get stuck on one short question and ask it until you can interrupt their train(carousel) of thought and successfully redirect their attention. That carousel is pretty manic sometimes. 

A couple days ago, I picked up my mail from the post office and drove over to the nursing home to take (let's call her "Miss Daisy") Miss Daisy out for a drive. Before we took off on our road trip, to the end of The Road and back, in our landlocked little town (Juneau, Alaska), I set my copy of The Onion down in front of her. 

Over our two-hour excursion, tiny Miss Daisy read that front page at least a dozen times and each time she would snicker, giggle, and guffaw, then put it down on the dash board and, a minute later, discover it anew. I think it was the best afternoon of my life. We don't often hear them laugh and when they do, it's the sweetest thing you've ever heard. 

...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the really important work all of you do. You make the world a better place.
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