Harzel
Adventurer
As in many similar circumstances, my feelings are split between the need to acknowledge a lack of diversity where it exists and the undesirability of focusing attention on superficial traits that appear to divide us into categories that, in an ideal world, would be well-nigh meaningless, at least in the context of gaming. (For more on the downsides of activating mental frames even for the purpose of opposing them, google George Lakoff.)
In the end, with all due respect to the good intentions of the OP, this poll seems IMO to have a very low chance of generating data that says anything interesting about the hobby as a whole. So it looks to me like mostly downside. I would discourage others from undertaking similar exercises.
EDIT: Oh, and before anyone mistakenly generalizes what I am saying - my comment is very specific to this thread. I am fully supportive of conversations aimed, for instance, at alleviating specific identified diversity-related problems in our hobby, or anywhere else for that matter.
In the end, with all due respect to the good intentions of the OP, this poll seems IMO to have a very low chance of generating data that says anything interesting about the hobby as a whole. So it looks to me like mostly downside. I would discourage others from undertaking similar exercises.
EDIT: Oh, and before anyone mistakenly generalizes what I am saying - my comment is very specific to this thread. I am fully supportive of conversations aimed, for instance, at alleviating specific identified diversity-related problems in our hobby, or anywhere else for that matter.
Last edited: