I am done with Zak S.

I have to admit that I am still impressed by the products he irregularly puts out. Zak Smith or Zak Sabbath or whatever his name may be, creates awesome roleplaying game products and I am still glad I picked most of them up.

But he also has a pretty abrasive personality. In discussions he’s quick to throw accusations around, uses his own fandom to deluge people who speak critically of him with angry comments, and he generally makes an ass of himself whenever possible.

When he was furiously attacked and accused of being a homophobe, racists, transphobe, etc. I was among the ones defending him. It was clear he wasn’t any of that. But I am not going to defend him any further.

Recent events have made it clear to me that it’s just not worth my (or anyone’s) time to play shield for this person. It actually seems he has turned this behaviour into some kind of brand identity. Every time the Zak S. fans storm a thread in order to defend his honor, his brand gets strengthened.

When people politely point out that what he’s doing is wrong, they get instantly called names and ultimately get blocked. Sure, its his prerogative to do so, but – as I said before – I don’t want to be part of this anymore.

This morning, I blocked him on Google+ and I will probably not buy any of his products anymore. Yes, he’s extremely creative, and he creates awesome stuff, but I am annoyed by him enough to not bother anymore.