It’s been about two months since we’ve heard from the co-creator of the Dungeon World RPG, Adam Koebel. The prolific streamer inexplicably ran an in-game sexual assault on RollPlay’s Far Verona live stream which resulted in the entire cast quitting and then Koebel’s shows being cancelled.
Koebel did apologise, blaming a failure of consent tools, but many in the community could accept neither the apology nor way it was made. Others remain disappointedly perplexed that a man who once gave professional advice on how not to be a creepy abusive GM made such a terrible decision.
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Now, after death threats, Koebel as announced he will be quitting streaming altogether.
My mistake started an avalanche of cascading collapse, fuelled by the most aggressive cruelty I’ve ever experienced.
Earlier, he describes;
I continue to be the recipient of hate, vitriol and targeted abuse both in public and in private spaces. I’m being emailed anonymous threats of harm if I ever return to broadcasting or attend a convention, messages telling me I shouldn’t exist at all let alone be allowed to “come back” — voices shouting that nothing I had previously said or done or made mattered in the face of my mistake. People are telling me that redemption, for me, is impossible. I’ve been invited to end my own life to prevent the further harm I will certainly cause.
Death threats are never acceptable, but it is hard to see how Koebel could return to streaming. The assault scene lasted two minutes, and he was grinning throughout.
Elspeth Eastman, the player in question, used her own channel to explain why she, understandably, quit the show.
Eastman’s video isn’t the last on the subject. Later, RollPlay used their YouTube channel to broadcast Koebel’s apology and the cancellation of the show.
The cast supports Eastman, without equivocation.
Despite this, Koebel has indicated he’s not vanishing from the scene.
I’m leaving streaming. Out there is something new and still uncertain. I’m stepping back from creating live content, from my Twitch channel, and from all its connected spaces, but I’m not disappearing. For now, you’ll be able to find me posting on this blog, and find my photography work on Instagram. My YouTube channel will stay up and my Twitch channel highlights will remain as an archive of broadcasts from the last five years. Dune: Adventures in the Imperium is set to release later this year and I’m so excited to be a part of that project. If you’re looking for live RPG content; I assure you that there’s no shortage of folks to follow and stories to experience.
Dune: Adventures in the Imperium is an RPG from Modiphius, first announced in 2018, set in Herbert’s sci-fi masterpiece. The game came top in EN World’s most anticipated RPG of 2020 poll, but Modiphius may not be thrilled to see Koebel reminding the world of his involvement in it.
Do you have any thoughts on this article?
Let’s not forget that he has clocked hundreds of hours as a GM and this is, as far as I’m aware, the first infraction of its kind. Whatever happened to forgiveness? Again, this is an improvised medium where anybody at anytime could have said something, but didn’t. Adam’s job is to push boundaries and the players without exactly knowing where those lines are. I urge the writer of this article, Andrew, to really look at what you wrote and think about this sentence critically: “Death threats are never acceptable, but it is hard to see how Koebel could return to… Read more »
Thanks for the comment and I concede that, for some, this is a tricky issue. I hope this article makes it clear that not only was this out of character for Adam it actually goes against the vein.
However, he was grinning during the scene. Likely due to his failure to read the room (exasperated by remote play). I think it is hard to imagine him returning to streaming given the very strong response from large quarters of the community. Is it this return that you think deserves more critical thought?
Thanks, Andrew, for the response. What I was drawing attention to was the death threats. We all have different levels of resilience. Adam explicitly stated that he suffered from anxiety and insomnia and is just now getting to the point where he can leave his house. This is the punishment he suffered-not for a real assault, but for two minutes in a fantasy game on the internet gone awry. In my mind, the two aren’t even close. We will never know who sent those death threats, but the outrage or cancel culture really needs a mirror. I think Adam actually… Read more »
Oh yes, I wanted to make that explicit – death threats are never acceptable.
Adam’s job is not to push boundaries. What are you talking about?
Funny how it’s always talk of forgiveness and rationalizations when the infraction is committed by someone personally liked, but when the infraction is committed by anyone with slightly disagreeable background, it’s all well and good to hound them out of the industry. Death threats are never okay, but this article is one big rationalization on Adam’s behalf. An attempt to turn him into the victim of his own incredible irresponsibility and initial attempt to blame all things not him for what happened. He should not be rewarded for his rape scene. I’ll pass on Dune and all things Modiphius if… Read more »
Geek Native / I have no relationship with Adam. This article is an attempt to explain cooly and levelly what happened and why. It is not an attempt to turn Koebel into a victim. I clearly state that it is hard to imagine that after his unimaginably awful cockup that he could ever return to streaming again and I don’t make any suggestion he should be forgiven.
To be honest…. Man where to even start. Adam has bent over backwards for his sjw community. Hes created an “extreme safe space” in his discords and chats. His moderators crush anything even remotely non pc. To see Adam, the SJW legend… be viciously attacked by his own community for one mistake out of his entire carrier.. is both hilarious and horrible. This is what people are talking about when they go on about how this community will turn on you. You only need to make one mistake, that’s it. After that your DONE. I’m going to go with Destiny’s… Read more »
That’s the first time in my life that I’ve been described as far left!
Just now finding out about this, and I absolutely agree with you.
I loved the older edgier rollplay shows, Adam really inspired me to try to tell creative stories in my own tabletop experiences. Really, genuinely sad to see him go 😦