it's not a contest, folks

Yesterday's blog entry from RPGpundit merits a quick response. He reports that some people at RPGnet are talking smack about the new incarnation of theRPGsite. Can we please all agree not to have a message board war? Anyone who stops and takes a moment to think about it will realize that a heated rivalry between the two sites is pointless and silly. Let's look at the facts:

• RPGnet is like 2 orders of magnitude bigger and awesomer than theRPGsite. It would take years of hard work for theRPGsite to achieve the same level of net presence as RPGnet.
• The new RPGsite is intended for a different audience. Consider for a second that RPGnet's tagline is "The Insider Scoop on Gaming". That's not what theRPGsite is meant to be at all. If I had my way theRPGsite would have a nifty tagline like "Gaming for Regular People". Not because everyone on RPGnet is some kind of weirdo, but because I want the site to have a more populist and less insider approach. Neither way is wrong, just different.
• RPGpundit and some of the mods at RPGnet may have some animosity, but RPGpundit is not theRPGsite and Eric Brennan is not RPGnet. Pundit is one man with a vision for the site and some admin powers. I think he's pretty cool but I don't always agree with him. I think a lot of the mods and admins at RPGnet are cool people, but I don't always agree with them, either. Some of the modding policies at RPGnet doesn't suit me, but that doesn't stop Cessna from being a total awesome guy, or VoiceofIsaac and A2K from being the cutest gaming couple I've never met in person.
• Anyone who thinks RPGpundit will use his admin powers to silence critics on theRPGsite doesn't understand the man at all. He'd much rather fight than shut you up!
• Anyone who suspects that theRPGsite is simply meant to be a 'bitch about RPGnet site' needs to point me to even one thread devoted to talking smack about RPGnet. I haven't seen any but if I do I will leap in, not with the mod stick, but with vehement and heartfelt arguments that theRPGsite is NOT an anti-RPGnet site.
• Even if theRPGsite becomes everything I hope it to be, RPGnet will still be the best place for many gamers. I know several local RPGnetters, some of whom will clearly continue to be better served by RPGnet even though theRPGsite looks like a better fit for me. For example if Kathleen and Josh (RPGnetters coeli and UnkaJosh) were to ask me for an opinion, I would tell them to stick with RPGnet. Not because I don't want them at theRPGsite (I do) but because I think RPGnet's approach better fits them. Just like I would send a hardcore D&D-only fanatic to ENworld first rather than either RPGnet or theRPGsite.

So let's not fight, please? It's not like there isn't enough room on the internet for both sites. Pundit, this plea goes double for you. If we're going to do this, let's do it right. Keep things positive. Getting up in RPGnet's grill won't help your cause right now, even if some of them are picking a fight.