New Agenda Publishing To Promote Diverse Voices In RPG Communities

A group of designers, publishers and editors have come together to form New Agenda Publishing, a publishing cooperative/consortium made up of Misha Bushyager, designer for Chill: Save and Lovecraftesque as well as being an editor of the award winning #FEMINISM microgame collection, Eloy Lasanta, the ENnie Award winning publisher of Third Eye Games, and designer and publisher Jerry Grayson of Khepera Publishing.

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From their new website, their mission statement is:

"New Agenda Publishing is a consortium dedicated to promoting diversity in the RPG community through our hiring and choices. We want to amplify underrepresented voices and help them tell new stories from their perspective. We want to bring more people of color and especially women of color to the table and we think the best way to do that is by hiring them to help us create the games and worlds they want to play in."

No announcements regarding what games will be released through this new imprint, or if any of the existing game lines already produced by the members will move to this new home.

 

[Mr. Greengoat]

Am I supposed to want to support a company whose opening statement says the color and gender of the author is more important than the quality of the product?

Where do they say ANYTHING like that? I can't find it in any of their statements or texts. This looks more like you projecting an opinion on the quality of diverse voices in game design & writing. As if you are saying that non-white or non-cis gamers can't write anything of quality. As if you are saying diversity is mutuality exclusive from quality.
Really, why would they not be focused on "quality" game stuff? Why would ANY game initiative not be focused on quality? Isn't that focus on quality a given for something like this? Why do they have to earmark their focus on quality more than most game shilling posted about on here at ENWORLD? What the hell?

 

[Egg Embry]

Adding a company of diverse voices can only benefit RPG. Adding a company with creators that have resumes like Misha Bushyager, Eloy Lasanta, and Jerry Grayson can only benefit my gaming table. [Read my EN World review of Eloy Lasanta's Pip System for my reason why]. This is an exciting announcement and I'm eager to see what they're developing!

Egg Embry, Wanna-lancer
Interested in reading EN World reviews of all-ages games? Check out:
The FirstFable RPG, Monster Slayers, Mouse Tails, Little Wizards, Hero Kids, Little Heroes, Dagger, Pip System, The Basic Hack, Medusa's Guide For Gamer Girls: Gaming With Kids, and Adventures in Wonderland.
If you're a publisher and have an all-ages RPG that you'd like to have reviewed, please contact me here.

 

[Mavkatzer]

This project, and the people supporting it here who represent the majority of today's gamers, make me proud to be a part of this hobby! Imagine what games we'll see in 20 years. I'm super excited to see us grow.

 

[Panda-s1]

The ideal of DIVERSITY includes straight white males being proud of being straight white males.

Equal voices includes everyone.

okay but the "straight white males being proud of being straight white males" are neo-nazis, and neo-nazi doctrine is specifically against "DIVERSITY".

 

[Derren]

Interesting that a company with stops only one step short of flat out saying that they intend to be racist and sexist when hiring people receives so much praise.

Real diversity also includes white men. Refusing to hire them means you are not incluse, but exclusive.

 

[Emirikol_Prime]

Some seriously embarrassing comments here already show that we need this company to exist and flourish. Straiten up, gaming community.

 

[Morrus]

I’m away until Monday, but some people in this thread (some of whom have just joined the community to make an obnoxious comment, others who have been here a while and know the rules well) will be asked to leave when I get back to a PC. Folks, please review the rules on inclusivity before posting.

 

[VengerSatanis]

okay but the "straight white males being proud of being straight white males" are neo-nazis, and neo-nazi doctrine is specifically against "DIVERSITY".

WTF?

 

[Michelle L-M]

Congrats to the responders for proving why New Agenda is a fantastic step forward in game publishing, and one that's sadly absolutely necessary.

 

[Dualazi]

Where do they say ANYTHING like that? I can't find it in any of their statements or texts.

It's in the opening statement dude. "New Agenda Publishing is a consortium dedicated to promoting diversity in the RPG community through our hiring and choices." It's right there, at the bottom of the OP. Emphasis on "Hiring", meaning they will be giving undue weight to a persons race, gender, or possibly religion, rather than experience or skill in game design. I don't doubt that they will also look for people who have those things, as I agree they would probably like to make a good game if possible, but it is a poisonous mentality to focus on a person's skin color or orientation when hiring for a job, and the company has openly stated they will do just that.

Amusingly, while I don't doubt I'll get the axe when Morrus gets back on account of me forgetting that "ideology" is verboten, 'Agenda' actually is as well so the OP itself shouldn't have been posted under the site's rules.