arkardoFeb 28, 2023
RC2014

If anybody is wondering if it is morally acceptable to play Scott Adams adventure games following the recent bout of newspapers dropping Dilbert cartoons.

Yes. Yes it is perfectly ok.

The Scott Adams that's famous for writing Adventure and many other classic computer games is not the racist intolerant arsehole that wrote Dilbert. They're two very different people.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams_(game_designer)

Feb 27, 2023 at 7:59pmWeb
Show threadRC2014Feb 27, 2023
This is kind of blowing up right now. Sadly, I don't have a Soundcloud to link to. But I do have a shop selling cool Z80 based retro computer kits.
z80kits.com
The CP/M kits can run some Scott Adams games, but do not display Dilbert cartoons.
Show threadWindell OskayFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 It's times like this when I'm glad to have a relatively unique name.
Show threadRC2014Feb 27, 2023
@oskay
Oh, wait, you haven't heard what that other Windell Oskay has done recently? ;-)
Show threadA Smol BearJun 16, 2025
@oskay @rc2014 I also have a relatively unique name. Unfortunately, of the two people I know to have the same name, one was summoned for unpaid fines in Brighton, and the other was banned from South Korea. Proving that I was neither was inconvenient...
Show threadShadowInTheVoidFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 I was not aware of the good Scott Adams till today. Is there any of his games you would recommend?
Show threadRC2014Feb 27, 2023
@ShadowInTheVoid
Any of them are worth playing, but maybe start here; https://www.ifiction.org/games/index.php?cat=44
iFiction - Category - Scott Adams Classic Adventures

Show threadD2Feb 28, 2023
@ShadowInTheVoid @rc2014 best is The Count, but it’s hard. Voodoo castle. Adventureland (graphic adventure version loses something by trying to do in images what his adventures did with text). And I fondly remember solving Ghost town with school friends around 1982.
Show threadDoug SheppardFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 The only bigger coincidence in games is Steve Jackson and Steve Jackson, one of whom invented Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy and the other of whom wrote a Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy book under the name Steve Jackson.
Show threadD2Feb 28, 2023
@sirilyan @rc2014 one is British and the book author is from USA @ an equally-renowned game designer (GURPS, Ogre, Munchkin, etc)
Show threadpowersoffourFeb 27, 2023

@rc2014 Aaron Reed's article on Pirate Adventure was really great!

https://if50.substack.com/p/1978-pirate-adventure

1978: Pirate Adventure

The story of the husband and wife team who founded the first successful computer game studio—a year before Ken and Roberta Williams founded theirs.

50 Years of Text Games
Show thread🐚 Undo Influence 🐚Feb 27, 2023

@rc2014

As someone who also has a super-common first and last name, I approve of this message.

Show threadCarl MuckenhouptFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 For what it's worth, it is also the case that the Dave Grossman who co-designed Secret of Monkey Island is not the Dave Grossman who gives seminars to police officers telling them they need to be able to kill people.
Show threadShinydanFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 if I had a quid for every world-famous roleplaying game designer called Steve Jackson, I'd have two quid. It's just weird it's happened twice.
Show threadmiketcopeFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 ChatGPT isn’t so sure
Show threadRC2014Feb 27, 2023
@copito
Thank you. Yet another reason why I avoid ChatGPT and fear the poisoning of the internet with it's dreams.
Show threadMark RiedlFeb 27, 2023

@rc2014 @cstross
Relieved that the creator of Adventure is not an intolerant racist asshat.

That would have been devastating.

It would be like learning that MineCraft was created by an intolerant racist asshat. Oh wait…

Show threadGorgeous na Shock!Feb 27, 2023
@rc2014 I remember e-mailing Dilbert guy to ask if he was the same guy on my hand-me-down VIC-20 cartridges. It must've been, like, one of the first e-mails I sent in, like, 1996 on my hand-me-down 386 with my brand new Juno account. He said that's a question he got a lot, too, lol.
Show threadD C RossFeb 27, 2023

@rc2014

And, in a similar vein, the Steve Jackson who wrote the Fighting Fantasy games is not the same as the Steve Jackson who wrote the Fighting Fantasy games.

Well, the _other_ Fighting Fantasy games.

Show threadacbFeb 27, 2023
@rc2014 @cstross I have met at least two other Scott Adamses (Scotts Adams?), neither of whom were famous.
The same goes for Davids Mitchell and Zoes/Zoës Williams.
Show threadCharlie StrossFeb 27, 2023
@acb @rc2014 I have run across one other Charles Stross via the internet. We're pretty rare.
Show threadscrew_dogFeb 28, 2023

@rc2014 in this timeline I was expecting this post to be ... he's a different asshole and you shouldn't play his games for different bigoted reasons.

Glad to find myself too cynical

Show threadMike [SEC=OFFICIAL]Feb 28, 2023
@rc2014 I had believed this was the case, but it's good to see it confirmed! Thanks!
Show thread0xd34db33fFeb 28, 2023
@rc2014 well played👍
Show threadsqueakyearsFeb 28, 2023

@rc2014

I genuinely thought this post was some sort of parodical commentary on Scott Adams, JK Rowling, and consumerism until I got to the last paragraph and remembered the other Scott Adams exists.

I'm not familiar with his work.

Show threadRC2014Feb 28, 2023
@squeakyears
If you played adventure games on a home computer in the early 80s, you would have come across his stuff.
Show threadSnerk RabbledauberFeb 28, 2023

@rc2014

Also OK: Actor Adam Scott

Show threadFor I am CJ   Feb 28, 2023

@rc2014

TL;DR- not "That" Scott Adams . . please continue to enjoy your gaming:

https://oldbytes.space/@rc2014/109938473896834045

RC2014 (@[email protected])

If anybody is wondering if it is morally acceptable to play Scott Adams adventure games following the recent bout of newspapers dropping Dilbert cartoons. Yes. Yes it is perfectly ok. The Scott Adams that's famous for writing Adventure and many other classic computer games is not the racist intolerant arsehole that wrote Dilbert. They're two very different people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams_(game_designer)

OldBytes Space - Mastodon
Show threadHenry Edward HardyFeb 28, 2023

Note: not the same Adventure as the earlier Colossal Cave Adventure, as in,

YOU ARE IN A MAZE OF TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES, ALL ALIKE.

@rc2014

Show threadRC2014Feb 28, 2023
@hhardy01 GET LAMP
Show threadpas un réseau socialFeb 28, 2023

@rc2014
@onepict

are "good" works by "bad" people worth examining?

we each find our own answer[s]- some on a case by case basis ...

(it's an old question for music lovers - many shitheads made incredible sounds)

Show threadator robotMar 1, 2023

@rc2014 quick recommendation- very helpful post so thank you (although i don't play video games myself), but when i read this i was *certain* it was sarcasm. it took some digging to realise that, in fact, you were not joking.

in the future would you mind doing something to clarify it for idiots like me please? simply stating that "this isn't sarcasm" would be enough, but there are more subtle ways you could alter the phrasing. thanks for your time 

Show threadRC2014Mar 1, 2023
@ator Ah, sorry about that. To be honest, I didn't expect this Toot to blow up as much as it did. Normally only get a dozen or so likes from my retro computer followers that would have been familiar with the *good* Scott Adams. I'm thrilled that this has reached so far and wide, though.
Show threadator robotMar 1, 2023
@rc2014 that's ok, don't worry! it's an easy thing to miss, and probably most people weren't confused anyway. thank you for providing information and i'm glad you got a banger 
Show threadosmanthusMar 1, 2023
@rc2014 oh! actually literally two different people haha
Show threadQuazarMar 3, 2023
@rc2014 Aiming to get the Scott Adams VIC-20 Adventure cartridges working on the SAM Coupe...
Show threadNow with 16kMar 3, 2023
@quazarsamcoupe @rc2014 That is truly an adventure
Show threadChewieJun 16, 2025
@rc2014 why, what did he do?