I am listening. So far in this thread we have [MENTION=9037]Elf Witch[/MENTION]'s experience of being groped by a Hugo-award winning writer in the late 1970s, and [MENTION=82779]MechaPilot[/MENTION]'s experience of rape by PC proxy in the early 1990s. Did I miss anything?
I went to Comic Con a few months ago with a friend of mine (granted, this is the only con I've ever been to). I didn't notice anything I would call harassment. I asked her yesterday in response to this thread if she experienced or witnessed any harassment then, just to be sure. She said no, it was a great time and she didn't have any problems at all.
Why be skeptical? For at least two reasons:
1) In case the person making the claim has an ulterior motive, like Emily Garland (author of article in the OP). She has a vendetta against Wyrd Miniatures. I know you consider it gauche to actually read up on something before forming an opinion, so you'll have to trust me on this. She attacks Wyrd in her blog post. She includes their phone number and asks people to call and complain to them.
2) These claims themselves turn women away from the hobby! [MENTION=82779]MechaPilot[/MENTION] mentioned upthread that she thinks she would enjoy gaming at a con but doesn't want to go because of what she's heard about them. That sucks to the extent that she's been mislead.
The agenda of removing sexist content from the game...
One one hand, I think it's pretty crass to co-opt existing IP to further any kind of sociopolitical agenda. Their only agenda should be to make a great game that entertains fans of the series. If you want new fans, make new IP.
However it depends to what degree and by whose definition the content is sexist. I haven't played Baldur's Gate for many years but I don't recall anything striking me as sexist.
If there were a quest in the game that involves the player abducting, assaulting and destroying innocent women, or a companion who hates women and harangues the PC on how they're evil and cannot be trusted, that would be outrageous and I'd support its removal from the game in all expansions and re-releases.
But a female character who flirts with men? That's sexist content? Not by any reasonable definition.
The context of the joke was her lobbying to reduce the the breast size of female Wyrd miniatures. The biological purpose of mammary glands is to feed babies. Breasts are a secondary sex characteristic.
Of course they're literally possible, but the less likely it is that they occurred, the less we ought to be afraid of those scenarios occurring again.
It's not irrelevant to the interests of the forum! People should know that it's by no means proven that Wyrd was complicit in her harassment. They make tabletop games and this is a tabletop games discussion forum.
(Just to repeat, I'm not denying that she received threats and that that's terrible).
Two years ago my friend 13 year old was groped at con so this is not something that only happened years ago.
I am very happy that your female friend did not experience any harassment at Comic con and enjoyed herself. That is what we all want.
But harassment is still happening at cons.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-sexual-harassment-at-comic-con-not-so-comic/
http://mashable.com/2014/10/15/new-york-comic-con-harassment/#pYMOkL9YsPqJ
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