News Digest: Controversy Abounds! New Vampire Edition Details, Green Ronin's Talent Search, 7th Sea

Hello everyone! Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! And this week is all about controversy. Vampire: The Masquerade 5^th Edition release information (with a controversial hiring), Green Ronin is looking for female writers for Lost Citadel, International Tabletop Day may not be able to meet demand for promotional items, and more! Even this week’s Kickstarters are loaded with controversy!

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Okay, this is a very simple story with a very complicated background. I’m going to tell the story first this time and, if you’re not sure what’s going on, I’ll explain more in the next paragraph. White Wolf Publishing announced details about the new edition of Vampire: The Masquerade. This new fifth edition of the game will come out in early 2018 and, according to ICv2, “continue the metagame that was shaped in 2004”. This would be the sourcebook Gehenna which presented several options for the “end of the world” of the World of Darkness and the tie-in novel Gehenna: The Final Night be Ari Marmell. If these events will be rolled into the new edition in an “After the End” manner, it’s not yet known. This project began in controversy after White Wolf announced hiring Zak Smith (aka Zak Sabbath or Zak S) back in February, a man who has been accused of harassing behavior, to work on a video game. WW's response can be found here.

So some of you may be wondering where Onyx Path is in all this. They’re still around, but they’re not involved with this new edition of the game. They are, however, still creating new material for World of Darkness. But not for the new edition. Onyx Path still holds the license for the Chronicles of Darkness (which is the official name of what was called the New World of Darkness titles: Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, etc.) and they hold the license for the 20^th Anniversary editions of all the World of Darkness (the official name for Old World of Darkness titles: Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, etc.). So Onyx Path is still publishing new material for both of these lines, but are NOT publishing material for the new 5^th Edition of Vampire: The Masquerade.

So White Wolf was purchased by CCP Games (makers of the Eve Online franchise) who only wanted the IP rights to make a World of Darkness MMO. After many years of development, the title was finally canceled in 2014 and White Wolf plus all its assets were sold to Paradox Interactive in 2015. Late last year, Paradox Interactive spun White Wolf Publishing into its own (but fully owned) company in anticipation of publishing a new edition. At this time, the licensing deals were restructured and, when the dust settled, the licenses for Chronicles of Darkness and the 20^th Anniversary versions of the original World of Darkness games were with Onyx Path and the live-action Mind’s Eye Theater remained with By Night Studios. So this is how White Wolf is coming out with a new edition at a time when Onyx Path is running a Kickstarter for a World of Darkness themed card game.

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Green Ronin launched a talent search for contributors to The Lost Citadel roleplaying game, based on the fiction anthology and world developed by Jaym Gates, C.A. Suleiman, and Ari Marmell about a fantasy world in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. There is a catch, as they’re specifically accepting proposals from women. From the announcement:

In the lead-up to June’s Kickstarter for the LCRPG, we are going to be running a talent search for women who are interested in coming to work on the project. If you identify as female and dark fantasy is your jam, we want to see what you can bring to the table! Not to worry, fellas, we have some other opportunities for you coming up later in the year, as well, but this talent search is just for the ladies.

A statement was issued to further clarify that the talent search was also open to those who identify as non-binary gender. The announcement from Green Ronin General Manager Nicole Lindroos comes following a post from Green Ronin President Chris Pramas [EDIT: This post was from Green Ronin General Manager Nicole Lindroos, not Chris Pramas as original posted] speaking about his [EDIT: her] experience on a panel at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, noting the gender discrepancy of those in the industry and those looking to break in, noting both how far the industry has come and how far it still has to go.

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7^th Sea promised a platform for user-created content during their wildly successful Kickstarter last year, and now they’ve delivered as Explorer’s Society is live. The online store allows users to create and sell content for the 7^th Sea 2^nd Edition game, including adventures, NPCs, homebrew rules, or more. There is a content guideline that acts as a license for use of the Intellectual Property, laying out exactly what you can and cannot use from published materials and in what way you’re allowed to use them (this is similar to the license for the DM’s Guild). In the week since launch, there’s already two dozen products available for purchase ranging in cost from free to Pay-What-You-Want to a set price of $3.99 for some of the adventures.

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International Tabletop Day has run into a minor issue: The event is so big that they can’t keep up with demand! This is the first year that all promotional items have been released a la carte rather than as a single one-size-fits-all pack. Personally, I preferred the old way, but that’s because I live in a rural area so my local event always had more promotional items than attendees. However, retailers in more populated areas could customize their orders in order to make sure they could meet demand based on previous events. And this year, the demand was higher than ever – so much so that not everyone will be getting their products. Quoted in ICv2, Producer Ivan Van Norman said “We opened up the print sizes significantly as well with publishers, but didn’t know what to expect with the new system. After collecting all the pre-orders we can tell you that you meet and beat the expectations out of the park. Despite opening up numbers significantly, we are at 85-95% fill rate to pre-orders for almost all items for International Tabletop Day.” The only odd one out was the promotional card from Cryptozoic’s Master of Orion, which only had enough product to fill 16% of the orders and cannot be reprinted in time for the event. International Tabletop Day is on Saturday, April 29 and the official website has a locator to find the event closest to you.

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Even the Kickstarters this week haven’t managed to evade controversy this week! Alternity is now on Kickstarter bringing a world of science fiction adventure. Technically speaking, however, this is not a new edition of the original Alternity game. Instead, this game takes the abandoned trademarks from the original Alternity and creates an entire new rules system inspired by the original. Some on social media criticized Sasquatch games for using the abandoned trademarks rather than creating an original property. My response: Yeah, how dare this Richard Baker and Bill Slavicsek rip off the hard work of the original Alternity creators, Richard Baker and Bill Slavicsek! And can you believe they’re letting George RR Martin write the next Song of Ice and Fire novel? But more seriously, this new game captures everything from the original Alternity with the original creators involved as they update and streamline the game system bringing in the knowledge of twenty years of advancement in the industry since the original. You can get the core rulebook in PDF for $25, a print version for $40, or a bundle of all content including stretch goals in PDF for $45 or adding on a print copy of the core rulebook for $65. This project is about halfway to its funding goal, but has until Thursday, May 4 to reach its $35,000 goal.

Now for some controversial nepotism! EN Publishing, the game design and publishing arm of EN World, is creating a book of brand new classes for the 5^th Edition of “the world’s most popular roleplaying game”. Alchemist, Cardcaster, Diabolist, Feywalker, Morph, Noble, and Occultist are each detailed with multiple subclass builds (see the links for previews). In addition, the book includes new subclasses and build options for the core classes and much more. You can get the PDF version immediately at the end of the Kickstarter for a £10 (about US$13) pledge, or a print copy for £17 (about US$21) for a print copy as soon as it’s printed. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Friday, May 5.

Underworld Races & Classes gives you even more options for your 5^th Edition or Pathfinder games from Adventure a Week Games. What’s the controversy with promoting this one? While I’m not directly involved with this project, I am currently working with AAW Games on another project they haven’t announced yet. That said, this book is a collection of new races, classes, spells, and items all themed around the things that dwell beneath the surface of the world, thriving in the darkness. The PDF is available for $25 for your choice of edition or $45 for both with hardcover versions available for $55 or $105 for both. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Friday, April 28.

That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I’ve been ranting about the Pepsi controversy (there’s no reason not to bring back Crystal Pepsi permanently!), or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.

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[jimmifett]

Green Ronin is breaking washington state law, of which is where they are located.

http://www.hum.wa.gov/employment

An EMPLOYER may not: (1) refuse to hire a person, (2) discharge or bar a person from a job, (3) discriminate in compensation or other terms or conditions of employment, (4) print, circulate, or use any discriminatory statement, advertisement, publication, job application form, or make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment that is discriminatory.

By publishing their gender discriminitory position, they have broken state law.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

This post is not meant to address any other post this forum or address their opinion in any way because I am not here to thought police anyone, and truth be told I don't really post much of any thing at all. That said I will not ever buy another Green Ronin product again for the same reason I don't entertain Jehovah's Witnesses on my door step; that is, if I cared about your politics or religious beliefs I would ask about your politics or religious beliefs.

I was a huge Star Wars fan my whole life. Grew up a fan boy, can tell you which companies designed and manufactured 3PO and R2 and the exact make and model of Han's heavy Blaster Pistol. I will never watch another Star Wars movie ever again, either. When Disney decided that they were going to have their new feminists publicists refer to the empire as a white power organization I tried my best not to vomit.

I failed.

After I cleaned the chunks off my lap top, I promptly emailed my friends that I would not be watching Rogue One, ever. My friends have even offered me the opportunity to see it for free; still won't do it. When I even see trailers for rogue one I try not to vomit. I fail. After hurling in the face's of several of my friends who kept trying to get me to watch they decided that my chunks were not worth the trouble of trying to convert me anymore and gave up.

Why this extreme reaction? Because if there's one thing I do not want in my fictional entertainment its real world politics. When you have to sell your story, movie, play, etc. by pandering to left wing political elitism or right wing religious ideologies that means only one thing: your story sucks. I was particularly aggrieved when George Lucas decided to dub Anakin Skywalker: Jesus Vader by deciding he was an immaculate conception. Wouldn't have minded an all-female cast of Ghostbusters at all if they hadn't written a script that even your average ten year old didn't find funny and hadn't decided to force feminism down everybody's throats.

I never listened to the right wing when they railed against gay marriage. I'm not listening about the left wing whine about the LBGT community non stop, either. All in all if we, the geek community, keep buying products that pander to either left wing or right wing ideologies we will lose this meaningless hobby that we love so much. Propaganda is not for entertainment, its for indoctrination. Gary Gygax made a game millions of geeks still love even after he was gone; he didn't try to indoctrinate us into a cult no matter what the religious nuts said. He just gave us food for our imagination and to this day millions of us are grateful to him for that.

Star Wars was once all about a great, fun, fast moving, sci-fi epic about the struggle of the light vs the dark. Now its about feminists rhetoric and pandering to liberals. I spend a lot of time eating memories these days, remembering a time when I could read a book that was just a book or watch a movie that was just a movie and above all else play an RPG that was just an RPG, not an exercise in socialist propaganda. Disney did it to their marvel line of comic books when they decided to inundate their titles with leftist propaganda, and sales have dropped off drastically according to what I've read, and the same thing will happen to RPG if companies like Green Ronin try to force a political agenda in our face rather then just entertain us. I liked Green Ronin's stuff. I own ASIF and the DC universe RPG, but I'll never but anything else from them, just like I won't ever watch another Star Wars movie while Disney wants to tell me how I should think rather then just take my imagination to a place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Sorry, I had to clean that up a bit so I could read it; I am thinking maybe you wrote it on a phone keypad or something.

Just a couple comments:

1. You cannot claim to know that, for example, Rogue One is feminist propaganda if you refuse to see the movie. To make an educated discussion you need to explore the media in question so you can talk about it intelligently rather than hide from it.

2. Right now, as someone who was unaware of any such claims of propaganda before seeing the film, and having actually watched it, I can safely say you either have a Very Low Standard for what constitutes feminist propaganda, or you're maybe taking for granted what the fringe right is claiming somwhere about the film. It's not feminist propaganda, and literally the only agenda I could see the film being accused of espousing is a vague attempt to suggest that the world of Star Wars has more people of color in it than Lando Calrissian. Beyond that, it's a fantastic film and deserves none of the accusations you have leveled at it. It's a normal film, and you are trying to demonize normal in your diatribe.

3. Green Ronin can do whatever they want. You can demonstrate your dislike by voting with your dollars. They do clearly have an agenda, and it's been demonstrated in print elsewhere. That said, ask yourself this question: what is it that is actually bothering you about the agenda that you feel needs to be addressed? Don't turtle up and hide from it. We aren't going to be a better society if we don't communicate, and today's political disarray is an example of what happens when we lose the ability to communicate. The guys at Green Ronin have this problem, too; they aren't communicating to change hearts and minds, but are instead excluding people who need to be included so that they can come to find a happy middle ground with the other side.*

As an example: I am a lefty kind of guy. I think gay marriage is fine. I think people should be able to use their bathroom of choice based on the gender they identify with. I think open immigration with careful vetting is a sounder policy than the nonsense being hung up in courts right now. I think universal healthcare is the only option that should be on the table for everyone. I think --from direct workplace experience-- that women still have a gender gap with income and it needs to be fixed. I think the game industry under-represents women. But time and again, left-leaning diatribes regularly like to make out the middle-aged white male as the demonic Other who must be fought at all costs. And the right thinks a guy like me must be something less because he will side with the group that often seems to assume I am "bad" for being a white middle-aged male (I love the liberal tumblrs I subscribe to that regular hashtag #whitemalemenace and other fun stuff).

My goal however is to weather through this and get past the point where such arbitrary distinctions are being made. I can do this because as one of those white male guys I am not an idiot and realize I have a very, very substantial gain on my own privileges over those of others, enough so that having a single instance where Green Ronin offers a contest to women writers is not only no skin off my back, it functionally has zero impact on my life at all. Literally the only thing being done wrong here is that I don't get to participate in a special contest for an under-represented group in the industry, and you know why? Because I AM NOT UNDER-REPRESENTED in this industry. Wow.

TL;DR I am saying grow a pair and own up to the fact that you should be bigger than this. Don't demean yourself. Don't be one of those small-minded freaks. And most importantly, stop being petty.



*To clarify: the best approach any liberal should take is an open dialogue (imo). If you don't engage with the opposite side you will only isolate. That is what (I feel) has led us to the weird and unpleasant political climate today. So engagement needs to include dialogue and discussion, but often I feel the hard left writes off anyone who isn't already on board with their views, which defeats the purpose of inclusivity, and leads to cases where someone will feel put-off by a contest for female writers when in fact you should feel at most like this is a nice experiment to try out.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

Green Ronin is breaking washington state law, of which is where they are located.

http://www.hum.wa.gov/employment

An EMPLOYER may not: (1) refuse to hire a person, (2) discharge or bar a person from a job, (3) discriminate in compensation or other terms or conditions of employment, (4) print, circulate, or use any discriminatory statement, advertisement, publication, job application form, or make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment that is discriminatory.

By publishing their gender discriminitory position, they have broken state law.

Maybe I am misunderstanding the arrangement, but isn't this more of a talent contest than an employment opportunity?

 

[Alzrius]

Green Ronin is breaking washington state law, of which is where they are located.

http://www.hum.wa.gov/employment

An EMPLOYER may not: (1) refuse to hire a person, (2) discharge or bar a person from a job, (3) discriminate in compensation or other terms or conditions of employment, (4) print, circulate, or use any discriminatory statement, advertisement, publication, job application form, or make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment that is discriminatory.

By publishing their gender discriminitory position, they have broken state law.

As a note, the more relevant citation is Revised Code of Washington 49.60.180, which outlines the state's anti-discrimination laws. Interestingly, the definition for "employer" given in RCW 49.60.040 notes that it applies to anyone who "employes eight or more persons," which does seem to be a threshold that Green Ronin meets.

My guess (and it is just a guess) is that there's likely to be some sort of technicality about whether or not this constitutes "hiring," which is what the RCW statute is concerned with. They specifically say that this is for a "talent search" to find someone to write as part of a "paid contract," which seems like it could avoid that on a technicality (as "contractors" are often not considered to be "employees"), but that's just conjecture on my part.

 

[jimmifett]

Maybe I am misunderstanding the arrangement, but isn't this more of a talent contest than an employment opportunity?

If it is paid money or otherwise compensated, then it is a employement opportunity and falls under washington state's human rights commission which protects against gender discrimination in any form. By publishing this, they have already violated the law and If not corrected, I fully intend to register a complaint with that body.

I'm not out to get Green Ronin, I love their work. But you cant go around bigotedly discriminating against men in the state of washington just bc it's the popular 'scause right now.

Who is protected from employment discrimination?
The law prohibits unfair employment practices because of a person’s:

Opposition to a discriminatory practice
Presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability
Use of a trained dog guide or service animal
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Status
Race/Color
Creed
National Origin
Sex (including pregnancy)
Marital Status
Age (40+)
Sexual Orientation, including Gender Identity
Honorably discharged Veteran or Military Status
State Employee or Health Care Whistleblower Status

 

[jimmifett]

As a note, the more relevant citation is Revised Code of Washington 49.60.180, which outlines the state's anti-discrimination laws. Interestingly, the definition for "employer" given in RCW 49.60.040 notes that it applies to anyone who "employes eight or more persons," which does seem to be a threshold that Green Ronin meets.

Unless GRP has undergone considerable contraction since this photo, I count more than 8 members or GRP staff in 2016.

http://greenronin.com/about-green-ronin-publishing/

 

[Morrus]

If it is paid money or otherwise compensated, then it is a employement opportunity and falls under washington state's human rights commission which protects against gender discrimination in any form. By publishing this, they have already violated the law and If not corrected, I fully intend to register a complaint with that body.

Save us from the armchair lawyering, man. It's a talent contest, not an offer of employment. They know what they're doing. You'll be suing the Paralympics for discriminating against able-bodied people next. You're blowing this way out of proportion. It's a talent contest. Talent contests usually have entrance rules, unlike offers of employment.

 

[Sunsword]

Because the industry and gaming groups were historically sexist (either dismissively or even openly misogynistic) there are just fewer women in the industry. There were fewer opportunities for them to get their break. So right off the bat a gender neutral open call will skew male. And because they're competing against so many other likely more qualified males, many women won't even apply.
Also, because so many publishers remain male-centric, they are often not friendly to women. The work environment is toxic. Nobody wants to work in a place they're not wanted, for a company that doesn't like them. If the company's views on female employees are not known, many women are just hesitant to apply. Just having a women-only call for applications will dramatically increase the number of women who apply.
And because the books are written by male authors writing to people like themselves, the industry has a perception of masculinity. Young women don't see women making the product and don't see themselves in the text and feel discouraged from getting into the industry.

Respectfully, is it sexism that the small publishers in the industry is predominantly male? The bloggers too? I was born a male and identify as male. I love this industry, game master to a diverse group of gamers in several groups, write a blog, and have a small vanity press for PDF products.

I have been intrigued by Tales of the Lost Citadel and have an interest in submitting a work. However, I'm not female and my gender is neither fluid or non-binary. One of Green Ronin's owners is female, shouldn't her perspective help fight sexism? Both Chris and Nicole are open-minded and good people, why an artificial constraint to find the best story?

In the end, it's their decision with Editor of the fiction line, I'm simply disappointed in it and where I was anxiously awaiting the release of the Anthology, I'm not sure what that I will pick it up in the future.

 

[Alzrius]

Unless GRP has undergone considerable contraction since this photo, I count more than 8 members or GRP staff in 2016.

http://greenronin.com/about-green-ronin-publishing/

Yeah, I'm the one who first linked to that picture. I also granted that they likely had more than eight employees. Finally, I speculated how they still might not be in violation of Washington state law. That was all in the parts of my post that you didn't quote.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

If it is paid money or otherwise compensated, then it is a employement opportunity and falls under washington state's human rights commission which protects against gender discrimination in any form. By publishing this, they have already violated the law and If not corrected, I fully intend to register a complaint with that body.

I'm not out to get Green Ronin, I love their work. But you cant go around bigotedly discriminating against men in the state of washington just bc it's the popular 'scause right now.

Who is protected from employment discrimination?
The law prohibits unfair employment practices because of a person’s:

Opposition to a discriminatory practice
Presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability
Use of a trained dog guide or service animal
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Status
Race/Color
Creed
National Origin
Sex (including pregnancy)
Marital Status
Age (40+)
Sexual Orientation, including Gender Identity
Honorably discharged Veteran or Military Status
State Employee or Health Care Whistleblower Status

As an employer, I am fully aware of the pitfalls that one must face when hiring employees, and you have to watch out for a variety of issues, and avoid demonstration of bias (especially when you know there's a risk, chiefly due to gender discrimination and ageism, two top concerns in my own industry).

The discrimination laws in WA I could find seem to be:

Under the new law, an employer may not: (1) refuse to hire a person; (2) discharge or bar a person from a job; (3) discriminate in compensation or other terms or conditions of employment; or (4) print, circulate, or use any discriminatory statement, advertisement, publication, job application form, or make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment that is discriminatory on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation.

(source)

Although I support Green Ronin in what they are doing (because I have little doubt that if you look at their current roster of employees and contractors I bet most are male) I think they could be in violation of item 4 in the above quoted text from the law (caveat: IANAL).

(EDIT: I used to live in WA and always felt is was simultaneously one of the most litigious states I'd ever been in, as well as conveying a very "big government nanny state" feel, in the name of progressivism. Which always put me in a weird conundrum as a liberal because I couldn't disagree that excessive nanny-state level control in my life felt absolutely awful and I was both very happy to move even while missing the more progressive mindset of WA. In the end, this is why my own philosophy is more about social change for community and self-betterment, and not artificially enforced changed through state/Federal controls).