D&D 5E Mearls' "Firing" tweet

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Honestly, this is something I can't believe I've had to put in group social contracts before. I've actually lost players over it.

I am not a game at the store type of person, but to play tabletop wargames I've had to branch out. So I've been playing with a historical gaming group at one of the local stores. There is AL and Magic on the same nights we game and honestly, the smell is noticeable that wafts from the back of the store where they are playing but not overpowering. Thankfully Tuesday nights is a slow night and its not packed.

I get it that gaming often draws in the fringe types with issues but damn do you not smell yourself? Sorry, back on topic.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Considering the number of celebrities that have come out in recent years saying that they are gamers, do you really think that anybody, male or female, would not fake liking a game that a celebrity plays just to get closer to him or her because of the idea, whether delusional or not, that a date or something could happen?

Deplorable! We must keep such people out of our hobby no matter how many innocent casualties there are! This is Gatekeeper war!

 

[Kobold Boots]

I am not a game at the store type of person, but to play tabletop wargames I've had to branch out. So I've been playing with a historical gaming group at one of the local stores. There is AL and Magic on the same nights we game and honestly, the smell is noticeable that wafts from the back of the store where they are playing but not overpowering. Thankfully Tuesday nights is a slow night and its not packed.

I get it that gaming often draws in the fringe types with issues but damn do you not smell yourself? Sorry, back on topic.

I used to run the house game for a gaming store some years back as well as run a segment of that campaign from my home. All I'll say is there was some gate keeping based on personal hygiene which could have been avoided had people taken 15m to shower and be presentable in front of my family. Sounds pretty crappy until you have young kids in the house you want to be exposed to the socially appropriate behaviors and don't need the counter example.

Back on topic - sorry.
KB

 

[Guest 6801328]

I know. I'm saying that they're the same definition, but the second one is when the first is taken way too far... and that some in this thread seem to be so zealous in throwing out the bathwater that they'd happily toss the baby too.

No, they are not even remotely related. One is about protecting physical space around you from people you don't like. The other is about protecting the game itself from an illusory threat because one has too much self-worth/identity wrapped up in being an expert in the game.

The false equivalence you offer is exactly like...I can't go there because it's political. But, yeah.

 

[epithet]

Got me a beautiful wife! ...then I started liking DND!

Yeah, I still feel extremely lucky to have found my amazing wife, I just wish I had known 30 years ago that I could hook up with supermodels through D&D. They really should have put that in the marketing materials.

 

[Tanin Wulf]

No, they are not even remotely related. One is about protecting physical space around you from people you don't like. The other is about protecting the game itself from an illusory threat because one has too much self-worth/identity wrapped up in being an expert in the game.

The false equivalence you offer is exactly like...I can't go there because it's political. But, yeah.

It's OK. I won't be insulted. Or, if I am, I'll acknowledge that emotion is on me and work to be mature about my reaction.

But as to the idea that it's false equivalency, I disagree. I can't count the number or times I've met people who have done horrible things because their identity and self worth was wrapped up in it too much. It didn't make the jobs less helpful (if they'd been done right), but it did certainly do irreparable damage. Sometimes whole jobs were eliminated, only to find out they were necessary but being done poorly.

These bad gatekeepers are sometimes just jockeying for acknowledgement of how awesome they think they are in their own bubble of insecurity. And that rejection that follows just validates their own sense of superiority because, "they wouldn't have reacted like that if they understood." And that is unhealthy for the community, and the community, however you define that, should weed those out.

 

[nswanson27]

I think nowadays you're not likely to see that kind of overt, face-to-face behavior towards women; but privately, or behind internet anonymity? In my experience the kind of person who likes the idea of content density as a barrier to entry is the same kind of person who would drop terms like "feminist agenda" and "SJW" in casual conversation.

Your first sentence might be true, but...
You enter a high-level tennis tournament precisely because you want to have a high level of gameplay (which necessarily will exclude others). Exclusionary elements to an activity is not inherently bad.
Nor do I think that people who use those terms in conversation are necessarily sexist (they CAN be, however).

 

[Morrus]

Mansplaining is a sexist and embarrassingly pathetic term used to try and silence male voices by feminists.

BTW on a side note Mearls is getting into crap from women who felt he insulted their intelligence by suggesting women can't handle rules complexity.

They have a point. Modern feminism is so mysgonistic and paternalistic, not just mysandrist.

While I’m glad that this thread is nowhere near as bad as the corresponding Twitter or Reddit discussions, it has its share of misogynistic crap. This is the worst example of it, and has no place in this community. Don’t post in this thread again, please.

 

[Guest 6801328]

It's OK. I won't be insulted.

You shouldn't. I'm not passing judgment on, for example, your desire to exclude people who are only there to lure away your players, or otherwise be disruptive.

I'm just saying that it has nothing to do with the kind of gatekeeping at issue here. It's not the same thing to a different degree; it's completely unrelated.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Yeah, I still feel extremely lucky to have found my amazing wife, I just wish I had known 30 years ago that I could hook up with supermodels through D&D. They really should have put that in the marketing materials.

It was an amazing thing when White Wolf's games came out and hit the college campuses. As diverse and welcoming as 5E is trying to be, and as I am sure other games try to be, the release of Vampire: The Masquerade did more to get women interested in gaming than any other system that I know of. None of the ones I gamed with in those days were actual supermodels, but some of them could have been.