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Thoughts on Gaming fora
Jun. 16th, 2007 01:56 pmAs long as men and women who are aware of the problems inherent in privilege and believe that something needs to be done about sexism, racism, classism and other forms of privilege within the gaming community refuse to sever ties with those parts of the community that refuse to deal with these issues, then they are not only not furthering change they are actively preventing change from happening since they are condoning behavior that they supposedly stand against.
The situation has gotten to the point where communities of gamers are actively opposed to dealing with their privilege (either overtly or by the simple absence of any real attempt to deal with the issue). The presence of folks who are cognizant to issues of privilege on these forums basically is telling those who refuse to deal with these issues (or are out-right-antagonistic) that it is okay to continue to avoid issues or privilege, or, as is often the case, to continue to revel in it.
As has been the case in other communities in the past (some not so recent) it is time to separate as a matter of conscience and only lend your credibility to those forums that actively seek to address issues of privilege.
For example if everyone I knew who agrees (all too often in private) that privilege in gaming needs to be dealt with stopped going to the RPG.net, the RPGsite, the Forge, Story-Games and Knife-Fight (and the rest) and instead were to post all their thoughts about gaming to a place like Iris than we'd have a vibrant community dedicated to gaming where issues of privilege could be adapted. And instead of being on group blogs where this issue wasn't dealt with and instead focused on group blogs where these issues were welcomed, we'd soon have a very vibrant community. Its really time for people to put their time and effort where their good intents already lie.
The situation has gotten to the point where communities of gamers are actively opposed to dealing with their privilege (either overtly or by the simple absence of any real attempt to deal with the issue). The presence of folks who are cognizant to issues of privilege on these forums basically is telling those who refuse to deal with these issues (or are out-right-antagonistic) that it is okay to continue to avoid issues or privilege, or, as is often the case, to continue to revel in it.
As has been the case in other communities in the past (some not so recent) it is time to separate as a matter of conscience and only lend your credibility to those forums that actively seek to address issues of privilege.
For example if everyone I knew who agrees (all too often in private) that privilege in gaming needs to be dealt with stopped going to the RPG.net, the RPGsite, the Forge, Story-Games and Knife-Fight (and the rest) and instead were to post all their thoughts about gaming to a place like Iris than we'd have a vibrant community dedicated to gaming where issues of privilege could be adapted. And instead of being on group blogs where this issue wasn't dealt with and instead focused on group blogs where these issues were welcomed, we'd soon have a very vibrant community. Its really time for people to put their time and effort where their good intents already lie.
