u/ComradeGnull
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15points
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23points
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16points
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5points
Prominent monk calling for reform in Thailand (reuters.com) [Politics]
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1points
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5points
The Barbed Wire Sutra: How Internment and WWII Helped Mainstream American Buddhism (theatlantic.com) [Article]
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331points
The Sickeningly Low Vaccination Rates at Silicon Valley Day Cares (wired.com) [Medicine]
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8points
Was the Buddha a Shaman? (palisuttas.com) [Misc.]
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3points
Help Film a Documentary About StageOne and Mohammed Ali (power2give.org)
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3points
Quick play/one shot rules and simplified character sheet [5e] (self.DnD) [5th Edition]
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19points
Is Ending Segregation the Key to Ending Poverty? (theatlantic.com)
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8points
Zen Mountain Monastery abbot steps down after admitting affair (watershedpost.com) [News]
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8points
What if machines took over and nobody noticed? (blogs.edmontonjournal.com)
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16points
What if machines took over and nobody noticed? (blogs.edmontonjournal.com)
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48points
I am a Marxist, Dalai Lama says - The Times of India (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) [Misc.]
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40points
Destroyer of Illusion: Great documentary on Tibetan religious practices (youtube.com) [Video]
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2,559points
King Abdullah to abdicate Saudi Throne (jerusalemonline.com)
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2points
Caste Origins of the Buddha's Disciples (self.EarlyBuddhism)
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1points
The practice of Tonglen (old-shambhala.shambhala.org) [Misc.]
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9points
Integrated Information Theory: Towards a theory of Consciousness (scienceissexy.com)
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0points
Adding irrational numbers (self.compsci)
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0points
ComradeGnull
ComradeGnull
Perhaps the idea of a "grognard" is subjective.
There are at least three different definitions of grognard I can think of. Ultimately, everybody who has a different opinion is someone else's grognard but there is a strong connotation of nostalgia.
It does mean 'grumbler' or 'complainer', so in that sense, anyone who complains about the features of a game (or maintains that they could do it better) is a grognard. Of course, they can also be the people who make their own games and create cool house rules and fan content.
Ars Magica featured a NPC/semi-PC role called a 'shield grognard' or 'shield grog'- a semi-disposable serf who literally just held up a shield to protect a wizard while he casts spells in combat. In that sense, some grognards are people who feel that the publishers regard them as disposable- the game is not 'for' them, so publishers have no problem with moving it away from them. A lot of 3e and previous fans became grognards when they perceived that Hasbro/WotC was taking D&D in a radically different edition with 4e. They are players who have aged out of a publisher's demographic, or who were playing a game in a fashion that the publisher perceived as being not important to support. Games whose rulesets get heavier and heavier over the years, for instance, tend to alienate people who like to improvise while games that streamline and delete details and bookkeeping alienate people who enjoy the nitty gritty parts of the game. These abandoned players become grognards.
Finally, there are the grognards who have literally toted and carried for publishers over the years- the people who kept games like Traveler or WFRP alive during lean years when publishers or trademark holders abandoned the line. Sometimes they become publishers themselves as a labor of love, and sometimes they find that it is much harder than it looks. Sometimes their game gets resurrected and they are thrilled, but sometimes the proprietary interest that they've taken during fallow publishing periods means that they have a hard time accepting and moving on to new editions.
Some grognards see no point in buying and learning new games or new editions. Some have just become more selective.
The defining characteristic of grognards: too much time on their hands. They spend time writing long essays on the internet defending their interpretations of playing pretend to strangers they will never meet, or creating new slang out of obscure medieval military terms.
ComradeGnull
Louisville cops love shining the spot on random pedestrians who are out at night. Happened to me in the Highlands a few months ago. Not sure if it means that they are looking for an actual suspect, or if they just fly the odd night patrol to justify keeping the bird in the budget and see who is out of bed after lights out.
A manager who doesn't like programming and who fairly represents the interests of his reports (as any non-bootlicker should do) will be less likely to be lured into signing them up for extra work.
To me as a worker, someone with a technical background with that motivation would make a much better manager than a non-techie who treats their team like parts in a machine or a techie who thinks everyone should love their work as much as they do.