# Does Anyone Know What Happened To Hobo?



## Kaodi (Dec 23, 2013)

I am not sure if there is a better forum for this than here. I was just wondering if anyone who may know [MENTION=2205]Hobo[/MENTION] outside of EN World knows what is going on? His last post mentioned things being crazy at work, but that was in May. Long time, very active EN Worlder, I was just hoping nothing untoward has happened to him.


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## dd.stevenson (Dec 27, 2013)

A bit of googling on joshua dyal (the name from his vcard) got me this site. Looks about right--matches the picture on his enworld profile.

Also that's the same site from his sig.


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## Kaodi (Dec 31, 2013)

Despite being a fan of Republic of Doyle it appears I may fail miserably as a detective. Thanks, dd.


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## Kaodi (Jan 3, 2014)

Apparently Hobo, aka Joshua Dyal, just decided to quit EN World when he left a year ago, :\ . A heads up way back when would have been nice.


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## Desdichado (Jan 7, 2014)

Wow, crazy as in _busy._  My job's not really very dangerous.  

In any case, long before I posted that, I'd been pretty darn scarce.  For months, at least.  

I don't really talk _too_ much about gaming even on my blog anymore, honestly.  I've done a fair bit of setting development there, but I've finally "settled" on my system (at least for now) and the setting's got a lot of material in it (at least for my needs.)  My efforts there are more towards developing novels that I'm planning on self-publishing for Kindle once they're ready.

All that said, gaming has moved a bit to the back burner in my hobby life anyway.  You want to talk about hiking and backpacking, I'm all over that.  You want to talk about yet another version of D&D that I'm not interested in and won't play because the systems just keep getting further and further away from my ideal rather than closer, well... I've done a lot of that in the past.  I think I'm good for a while.

Feel free to keep in touch, though.  When I quit posting regularly (or even sporadically, for that matter) at ENWorld, I didn't necessarily feel like I was leaving on the best of terms... I was a bit cranky about the whole affair, I was sick and tired of rehashing a lot of the same old tired discussions with the same old vocal and increasingly factional rivalries, and to be honest with you, in terms of D&D I'd lost that "sense of wonder" a long time ago.  Yes, I said it.  Sense of wonder.  I don't have it, at least not with D&D.  For months, if not years, before I quit posting, I'd lost interest and was coming back as an empty habit, without even enjoying myself very much.  

Anyway, in those circumstances, I didn't feel the need to flame out with a manifesto, or even a heads-up... to be honest, I didn't think very many people would miss me much.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 7, 2014)

Sorry to hear that your sense of wonder has diminished, but good to hear from you anyway!  Remember, we'll leave the site on for ya!


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## Desdichado (Jan 7, 2014)

Thanks.  The sense of wonder quip was partly tongue in cheek, given the controversial use of that phrase round these parts in the past, but the sentiment isn't really.

I came into D&D in the very early 80s as a fan of fantasy books, and I wanted D&D to reflect much of what I was reading in fantasy.  I'm not sure at all if that was Gygax's intention when he wrote it, and in fact, I'm fairly certain that it was not; his baseline for D&D was through the medium of wargaming, and that was reflected in the way the game was structured, many of the basic assumptions with the game, and many, many of the details as well.  Because the background was so different than mine, there was much about D&D that was strange and unlovely to me; that I never liked, and never really accepted.

It was probably inevitable that my lingering disenchantment with D&D itself as the medium to represent fantasy roleplaying would catch up to me again, after being shoved a bit to the back burner during the heady days of the early OGL and 3e.

I probably will never really be a regular ever again, but honestly, I just don't really like D&D itself all that much, and this site is too focused specifically on D&D (and it's various iterations, like Pathfinder, fer instance) to offer much to tempt someone who's tastes align otherwise.


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## Nellisir (Jan 8, 2014)

Hobo said:


> I just don't really like D&D itself all that much, and this site is too focused specifically on D&D (and it's various iterations, like Pathfinder, fer instance) to offer much to tempt someone who's tastes align otherwise.



Says the guy with 18,000+ posts.  

I was kinda wondering where you were too. Too many new faces for me now; made me think about some other cranky old-timers.


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## Desdichado (Jan 9, 2014)

Cranky old-timer... that certainly fits me.

In any case, since I got the mention in my email that I'd been "mentioned", which brought me back, I've been a little curious to browse for a little bit and see what's going on.  Like I said, I doubt it'll be a full-fledged comeback or anything, but I'll kick around here and there for the next few weeks, having a bit of a look-see, I suspect.


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## diaglo (Jan 9, 2014)

welcome back


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## diaglo (Jan 9, 2014)

dd.stevenson said:


> A bit of googling on joshua dyal (the name from his vcard) got me this site. Looks about right--matches the picture on his enworld profile.
> 
> Also that's the same site from his sig.




his user name on this site for a long time was Joshua_Dyal


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## Desdichado (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks, d-  Good to see you again.


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## Umbran (Jan 13, 2014)

Hobo said:


> I probably will never really be a regular ever again, but honestly, I just don't really like D&D itself all that much, and this site is too focused specifically on D&D (and it's various iterations, like Pathfinder, fer instance) to offer much to tempt someone who's tastes align otherwise.




You may find that these days there's enough general discussion, or discussion of things like FATE and Savage Worlds, that might pique your interest for an occasional stopping-in.


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