Consonant Dude
First Post
It is also possible that they just didn't say anything even if they felt this way about the art.
I have been playing a long time and I never used to say anything. I felt that the guys would not get it or they would accuse me of being over sensitive or do what some of the guys have one over the years on threads on this subject which is argue why should they have to give up their cheese cake to accommodate me.
I read this last night and decided to sleep on it and think about it. That's a good point, you know.
There are certainly female gamers that are too close to me (relatives, close friends, people I love dearly) and that I have known for too long not to perceive this.
But there are plenty others I have gamed with, or who weren't interested in gaming, who might be too shy to express discomfort.
You sound like a good DM who makes the game fun for all your players so maybe you have not seen this kind of behavior or would not tolerate it at your table.
There were a few incidents, I would say especially as a teenager. There was one major disgusting and prolonged issue when the original Dragonlance modules were released. This was the 80s, we were all teenagers and it had been decided we would go through the entire campaign.
Now, if you're not familiar with the modules, it's a long series (I think over a dozen module) and it encourages a LARGE CAST of player characters. It wasn't our usual small group of friends. We had to fish elsewhere. We had two DMs co-running it and something like 10 players.
It wasn't about a bunch of friends anymore. There was bullying and then in-game sexual innuendos and harassment. There was peer pressure and some of this impacted high school (many of us attended the same school where there were arguements). So many ugly things happened. Until one of the older kids put a stop to it and the campaign imploded.
I was relieved it ended but so disgusted I stopped gaming for a year or two. Then I figured out I didn't have to game with asses. And I could walk away. So I tried a few different groups, hooked up again with old players and started slowly getting back into it.
But I learned an important lesson: if you wouldn't be comfortable hanging around these people in other situations than gaming, it's just not worth it. All of a sudden, "Let's invite the rude creepy dude because the party really needs a cleric" didn't fly anymore.
It's very important to have boundaries and express them.