I posted this like a week ago on G+, because I wanted there to be a public record people could point to if they ran into any of the vicious lies claiming "pundit is a homophobe", "pundit is a racist", "pundit is opposed to the inclusive language in D&D", etc.
I didn't get around to reposting it here, so I'm doing so now:
This is the RPGPundit.
Some people have, for the past month, been spreading vicious lies against my character and false claims about what I believe. They continue to do so in spite of repeated statements to the contrary, because they have NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER in the truth.
So it is not a question anymore of reasoning with them (they are entirely beyond reason) or arguing with them (they have no interest in a fair debate). The only goal is to promulgate the truth as much and as often as the promulgate their lies.
So, in the spirit of that, 'these things I believe':
I, the RPGPundit, strongly support women in tabletop RPG gaming. I have several women in my gaming groups (present and past), and have done so for the last 25 years or so. At present, 25% of all the people currently playing in campaigns with me (4 out of 16 players) are women. I have in the past spoken up against misogyny or attacks on female gamers from all sides, opposing both the recent (idiotic) statements some have made about 'fake geek girls' and the attempts of certain pseudo-activists to attack female game designers, women cosplayers, and the organizers of the woman-organized woman-run gaming con, Contessa.
I, the RPGPundit, strongly support minorities in tabletop RPG gaming. I have various minorities in my gaming groups. I also wrote Arrows of Indra, an RPG with a carefully-researched and detailed setting based on the mythology of a non-european culture. I guess I could also add that the vast majority of all my current players are latinos (and I'm half-latino myself).
I, the RPGPundit, strongly support the inclusion of all varieties of gender in tabletop RPG gaming. I have constantly and consistently given my ABSOLUTE AND UNQUALIFIED SUPPORT for the inclusive language about gender included in the new D&D rules.
I'll also note that my RPG, Arrows of Indra, featured a transgender character on its cover, possibly the first tabletop RPG to do so.
I, the RPGPundit, strongly support the inclusion of LGBT gamers in the tabletop RPG hobby. I have always welcomed LGBT gamers into my gaming group (by "always", I mean I've had LGBT gamers at my table since at least as far as 20 years back).
I'll note that I was practicing inclusion in my RPGs when it comes to gender and sexuality for years BEFORE WoTC got around to it. I have promoted gender and sexuality inclusiveness (and promoted gaming set in non-european cultural milieus) in the games I have actually written myself. In other words, I've not just said things, I've actually DONE things for inclusiveness in the gaming hobby. And I've done so without trying to make a big deal of it or to engage in self-congratulatory smugness about how 'socially conscious' I am; I just did them, without commentary, because it was right.
My opponents, for the most part, have done nothing, other than cynically and self-servingly using these causes to try to attack people they don't like, baselessly and without merit. In the process, they've viciously attacked women in the name of fighting sexism, they've viciously attacked minorities in the name of fighting racism, and they've viciously attacked LGBT advocates in the name of LGBT advocacy.
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RPGPundit
(August 10, 2014)
I think you're implicitly giving your critics the moral high ground here. By justifying yourself in their politically-correct terms, you're conceding to them that their PC categories are meaningful. That they are correct about "the need for more women in gaming" or "representation of minorities in games" or "inclusion of gender diversity" or whatever Humpty Dumpty Moon language bullshit they're making up this week.
ReplyDeleteScrew that. The only honorable, truthful, MORAL response to all that is to deny their right to set standards. You shouldn't be justifying yourself by parading whatever PC credentials you can scrounge together. Because they'll always be able to move the goalposts, Pundit. That's the whole engine driving the SJWs: constantly competing to show that one is more and more exquisitely PC than everyone else. They will always be able to make up some bullshit thing to accuse you of. "He's not supportive of Otherkin gamers! He doesn't use non-Western alphabets in his products! His text is visionist!"
Don't play their game. Deny it. Women in gaming? Tell them you don't care if any women ever play a game again, and you're certainly not going to cater to their foolish whims. Minorities? Say you think gamers should be judged not by the color of their skin but by the contents of their dice bags, and you're going to create the game worlds and characters you want to. Gender-bending? Say you think it's irrelevant to gaming — or maybe that gaming is a traditionally male space and that should be respected.
Whatever you want to say. But quit grovelling!
I certainly think `"the need for more women in gaming" or "representation of minorities in games" or "inclusion of gender diversity"` are all important issues in gaming.
DeleteNo, I deny their claim to have ownership over any of these things they claim to champion.
ReplyDelete