![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minorities in fandom
Feb. 25th, 2010 07:21 pmI sympathize with those of you talking about Racefail and other instances of racial minorities in SF fandom. My own issue along these lines is women/girls in gaming, especially as it has many parallels to women in science.
Waaay back in 2006 I went to PAX (a con for video gamers) (back when it was only in Seattle) and had some quite uncomfortable experiences (REDACTED IDENTIFYING INFORMATION, summaries available to my friendslist here and here) including both blatant sexism from employees/volunteers working the con, and from other women/girls attending. (My point being that sometimes when the atmosphere is the most sexist, women respond by becoming our own worst enemies.) Well I'm going again now that there's another one in my neck of the woods, and Jonathan Coulton is one of the musicians playing and the tickets for the whole thing were the same price as a Coulton concert usually is alone.
In case you are not familiar with it, PAX is a gaming con centered around three or so things: (1) webcomics and specifically the Penny-Arcade webcomic and its creators nicknamed Gabe and Tycho (PAX stands for Penny-Arcade eXpo), and any panels with Tycho and Gabe have a are HUGE audience; (2) the keynote speech is always some hugely famous geek, Wil Wheaton being this year's and a previous one as well; and (3) another major draw is the concerts, one held on Friday night and one on Saturday night, of "nerd-core" and other geek-centric music, this year MC Frontalot is the star of Friday's and JoCo is the star of Saturday's. These three events are majorly important, like (if I'm getting my analogy right) Arisia's Masquerade is majorly important to that con.
When reading through the schedule for PAX East this year, I was happy to see that there's a panel on girls in gaming:
When I first saw this, I was relieved to think that PAX had apparently made some progress from their gaffes of 2006. And then I realized something I'd missed on the previous line.
Yes, the Girls and Games panel is running against the Friday night concert, not only guaranteeing it a low turnout and showing that the people who made the schedule don't give a shit that it'll have a low turnout and revealing that they don't give a shit about the plight of women/girls in gaming, but also guaranteeing that anyone who attends the Girls and Games panel is unable to attend the concert and showing that the people who made the schedule don't give a shit that we can't attend the concert and revealing that they don't give a shit about including women/girls in the larger gaming community.
This pisses the hell out of me. Am I overreacting?
Edit: If your response is "yes, you're overreacting" and you're not yourself a member of a minority within a fandom please first (1) try viewing it from my point of view, then (2) if you still think I'm overreacting I'd appreciate it if you explained your viewpoint but be prepared for me to not respond. As usual, my rules for my journal are no bashing or insults or expressions of anger. Any such comments will be frozen at a minimum or potentially deleted.
Waaay back in 2006 I went to PAX (a con for video gamers) (back when it was only in Seattle) and had some quite uncomfortable experiences (REDACTED IDENTIFYING INFORMATION, summaries available to my friendslist here and here) including both blatant sexism from employees/volunteers working the con, and from other women/girls attending. (My point being that sometimes when the atmosphere is the most sexist, women respond by becoming our own worst enemies.) Well I'm going again now that there's another one in my neck of the woods, and Jonathan Coulton is one of the musicians playing and the tickets for the whole thing were the same price as a Coulton concert usually is alone.
In case you are not familiar with it, PAX is a gaming con centered around three or so things: (1) webcomics and specifically the Penny-Arcade webcomic and its creators nicknamed Gabe and Tycho (PAX stands for Penny-Arcade eXpo), and any panels with Tycho and Gabe have a are HUGE audience; (2) the keynote speech is always some hugely famous geek, Wil Wheaton being this year's and a previous one as well; and (3) another major draw is the concerts, one held on Friday night and one on Saturday night, of "nerd-core" and other geek-centric music, this year MC Frontalot is the star of Friday's and JoCo is the star of Saturday's. These three events are majorly important, like (if I'm getting my analogy right) Arisia's Masquerade is majorly important to that con.
When reading through the schedule for PAX East this year, I was happy to see that there's a panel on girls in gaming:
Girls and Games: The Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry
Manticore Theatre
Friday, 8:00pm
According to the ESA, more than 43% of video gamers are female, making women the single largest untapped market segment in the gaming industry. Look at the milestones crossed and the hurdles to come as developers and publishers reach out to this previously overlooked demographic. Are current strategies effective? What does this mean for the game industry as a whole?
Panelists Include: Brittany Vincent [Editor-in-Chief, Spawn Kill], Julie Furman [Founder, SFX360], Jeff Kalles [Penny Arcade], Alexis Hebert [Community Relations Manager, Terminal Reality]
When I first saw this, I was relieved to think that PAX had apparently made some progress from their gaffes of 2006. And then I realized something I'd missed on the previous line.
Friday Night Concerts!
Main Theatre
Friday, 8:30pm
Break out your cell phone and handheld gaming screens to welcome our musical acts to Boston! The Protomen, Anamanaguchi, Metroid Metal, and MC Frontalot will all be rocking for the first night of our Nerdcore Concert Series. The first 4,000 attendees at PAX Friday afternoon will receive wristbands for guaranteed entry, with the remaining seats being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Yes, the Girls and Games panel is running against the Friday night concert, not only guaranteeing it a low turnout and showing that the people who made the schedule don't give a shit that it'll have a low turnout and revealing that they don't give a shit about the plight of women/girls in gaming, but also guaranteeing that anyone who attends the Girls and Games panel is unable to attend the concert and showing that the people who made the schedule don't give a shit that we can't attend the concert and revealing that they don't give a shit about including women/girls in the larger gaming community.
This pisses the hell out of me. Am I overreacting?
Edit: If your response is "yes, you're overreacting" and you're not yourself a member of a minority within a fandom please first (1) try viewing it from my point of view, then (2) if you still think I'm overreacting I'd appreciate it if you explained your viewpoint but be prepared for me to not respond. As usual, my rules for my journal are no bashing or insults or expressions of anger. Any such comments will be frozen at a minimum or potentially deleted.
I was just discussing with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rosefox (locked link here for my reference) that Magic: The Gathering, Fluxx, and Robert's Rules of Order all have a similar gameplay/mechanic. Specifically, the issue is figuring out which cards to play in what order, and then resolving which actually take place first. In Magic you have "first-in-last-out" and fast effects; in Fluxx you change the win conditions and what objects you and others own, as well as how many cards you're allowed to play; in Robert's Rules you have friendly amendments to motions, amendments to ByLaws, and Points of Order that can trump any action currently on the floor.
( Further examples, to the best of my recollection of the rules. )
And the same people in suits in a board room who game Robert's would never be caught dead with cards in their hands, let alone collectible ones.
rosefox (locked link here for my reference) that Magic: The Gathering, Fluxx, and Robert's Rules of Order all have a similar gameplay/mechanic. Specifically, the issue is figuring out which cards to play in what order, and then resolving which actually take place first. In Magic you have "first-in-last-out" and fast effects; in Fluxx you change the win conditions and what objects you and others own, as well as how many cards you're allowed to play; in Robert's Rules you have friendly amendments to motions, amendments to ByLaws, and Points of Order that can trump any action currently on the floor. ( Further examples, to the best of my recollection of the rules. )
And the same people in suits in a board room who game Robert's would never be caught dead with cards in their hands, let alone collectible ones.
still lacking
Dec. 3rd, 2006 09:41 pmSome day even famous gamers will grow up, and on that day they will suddenly understand why they don't have more girls in gaming.
Since Gabe made the post about it on the PA news/frontpage, I'm considering emailing him about it, however it's Khoo who has much more sense about ... well, anything. I'm not really *upset* about it, per se, more disappointed. I'll think about it for a couple days and then see how I feel and maybe write to Khoo then. And yes, I do have his email address - a Google search seems to imply it's a well-kept secret, but there are honors that come with Omeganaut status. No, I'm not going to post it here now. Ask me later if you want it.
ETA: After thinking about it (seerosefox's comment below), I doubt I'm going to email Khoo, and instead I'm sorely tempted to buy one and wear it at inappropriate times.
Since Gabe made the post about it on the PA news/frontpage, I'm considering emailing him about it, however it's Khoo who has much more sense about ... well, anything. I'm not really *upset* about it, per se, more disappointed. I'll think about it for a couple days and then see how I feel and maybe write to Khoo then. And yes, I do have his email address - a Google search seems to imply it's a well-kept secret, but there are honors that come with Omeganaut status. No, I'm not going to post it here now. Ask me later if you want it.
ETA: After thinking about it (see
rosefox's comment below), I doubt I'm going to email Khoo, and instead I'm sorely tempted to buy one and wear it at inappropriate times.To warm up for the MIT Mystery Hunt, try your hand at identifying these objects, and also seeing how far you can get at this puzzle. For the latter, no cheating - you can find all the answers via Google, but you shouldn't. It's ok to use it as a tool to get to the answers though.
"It's been a long time"
Oct. 6th, 2006 08:48 pmOMG, when'd they get rid of THAC0?! That's awesome!
I told the nascent gaming club that I'm advising that the condition of my advisement is that I get to play in the games, and this afternoon was the first time I joined their AD&D 3.5 campaign. I last played 8 years ago, when v2 was the best they had. I had barely figured out the rules when that ended, and now they're all different again. I remembered just enough to suspect that when the DM rolled my character he stacked the dice in my favor. And to know that he's bending the rules - he suggested, and I think it's awesome, that I play an Orcish Bard.
He kept the character sheet since Imay will be late to the next game so I may not recall correctly, but I think she's 20 Str, 16 Dex, ~14 Con, 12 Int, 12 Wis, 10 Cha. Yeah, I'll never be the best Bard, but I still get skills like Inspire Confidence or something that adds +1 to everyone else's rolls. Came in handy already when two party members (half-elf ranger assassin, and bat-shit crazy dwarven cleric) were blocking the door between me and the imps (or whatever they were) and there was nothing else for me to do. I've also already used the bardic knowledge thingit.
The others are at third level already while I'm only at first, but I expect to be one of the most consistent players so I should catch up without too much difficulty. Yes, a campaign can be time-consuming, however I NEED it, I need the stress relief, I need something fun to do. It's about time.
Did I mention that we're chaotic neutral pirates? Arr! The ranger gets seasick. I'm trying to convince him that when he gets a pet/familiar it should be a parrot. Or else a dolphin.
I told the nascent gaming club that I'm advising that the condition of my advisement is that I get to play in the games, and this afternoon was the first time I joined their AD&D 3.5 campaign. I last played 8 years ago, when v2 was the best they had. I had barely figured out the rules when that ended, and now they're all different again. I remembered just enough to suspect that when the DM rolled my character he stacked the dice in my favor. And to know that he's bending the rules - he suggested, and I think it's awesome, that I play an Orcish Bard.
He kept the character sheet since I
The others are at third level already while I'm only at first, but I expect to be one of the most consistent players so I should catch up without too much difficulty. Yes, a campaign can be time-consuming, however I NEED it, I need the stress relief, I need something fun to do. It's about time.
Did I mention that we're chaotic neutral pirates? Arr! The ranger gets seasick. I'm trying to convince him that when he gets a pet/familiar it should be a parrot. Or else a dolphin.
