Personalities in the Gaming Industry and Politics

[DaveMage]

I think it boils down to this for artists (authors, etc.) posting in a blog:

1) You are allowed to post/discuss your views in a blog.

2) If you discuss your political views in a blog, some people will agree with you, and others will disagree.

3) Those who disagree may choose not to purchase the products that you are selling. That's one of the consequences of free speech - people can "enhance" their disagreement with you by not buying your products that they otherwise might have.

4) If you are willing to accept #3, then post away! You most-likely will lose some customers. If you are afraid of losing customers, then don't post controversial stuff.

I asked Chris Pramas in the other thread about this, because he indicated that he may lose business because of his blog. He felt that his freedom to post his views was more important than the bottom line. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.

 

[Belen]

But that's not quite what I'm asking. I'm simply asking whether you think that writers in this industry should be talking politics. It sounds to me like the answer is yes, as long as it is in the appropriate place.

I would very much like to hear if there are any dissenting opinions.

Ok, I will play devil's advocate here. The answer is no. Writers or celebrities should not attempt to mix their career with their politics. Using fame or status to force personal beliefs on others is wrong. There is no difference between using status to foist political beliefs on another than using it to foist religious beliefs.

Now, I am not saying that they always have to hide their views. However, if I am at a Star Wars convention and talking to Timothy Zahn about his novels, then I am not there to here about his political leanings. I want to hear about his novels. I attended the convention because I love Star Wars and his books. If he uses that time to talk about the Treaty of the Red Eagle and how the Superfudge is evil, then I have been cheated.

If I am sitting at the political flumph convention, then Zahn should fire away about his belief in the superiority of flumphs.

Blogs are tricky. It is wrong to call them diaries because they are public. You're not writing for yourself. You are writing to an audience. You want those people to listen to you. That is the entire point of a blog. If you're a writer in the tar industry and you decide to have a blog that is 90% about tar and you advocate your blog among tar enthusiasts, then you place comments about flumph in your blog, then you're using your audience to advocate your beliefs in flumph.

If you have a disaclaimer at the top of the page that says "This is my blog about gaming, life, and flumph." Then you're covered and people have an idea of what they may find. However, if you're happily reading about tar and then find an article on poison flumph, then it becomes a slight betrayal of your audience.

End Devil's Advocate.

Personally, I have long thought that 99% of the writers in our hobby lean a certain wait. Maybe I have been colored by people such as Sean Reynolds and Anthony Valterra, but I have come to half-expect certain political leanings. No big deal in many cases. I actually go to SKR's site from time to time just to see what is happening on his politcal boards. The difference being that Sean clearly labels his site and you know what to expect.

Maybe I am a bit spoiled by ENWorld, but (for me) if a writer posts a link on ENWorld, I assume that it will follow the same guidelines of etiquette or be clear about the differences. But then, maybe I am just hyper-aware because I am assulted by politics everyday. My boss is always making comments, which is annoying because you are not allowed to disagree. Politics also destroyed my last gaming group, so I have a strict rule about not mixing the two.

 

[Berandor]

I'm fine with whatever political opinion someone espouses, as long as he/she is fine with me blatantly disregarding said opinion.

Honestly, though, a game designer or other artist is just like any other person. I know if I had to keep political opinions out of my personal blog, then I would be extremely unhappy, because there are things happening around the world that rile me. On the other hand, I force nobody to read my blog or said opinion pieces, nor do I force my (imaginary, I often suspect) readers to agree with me - though I might try to convince you of my point Nor would I think that just because you might know me from a published story or the internet my opinion should be somewhat more worthy than anybody elses.

My opinion is more worthy than anybody else's because I'm right, and they're not, but that's another matter altogether

 

[Belen]

Everything that anyone says or does in life is influenced by thier morals and ethics.

Politics is not about morals or ethics. It is about power. People may try to make it about morals and ethics, but that eventually makes it impossible for rational discourse to take place. For some people, politics has become religion where only their beliefs and faith are right. Facts become meaningless once that happens and hatred and disdain for people on the opposite spectrum become your ally.

 

[boredgremlin]

I feel differently. Free speech and freedom in general is the most important thing americans have. Anything and anyone that tries to impinge on that is dead wrong. No one has the right to tell other people what they can and can not say. Men died to give the right of free speech to americans. So unless your willing to die to take it away again, (and fight for it, because i for will fight you to the death) you dont have that right.

You can disagree, you can not buy the products of people you dont like or agree with. You can call that person an idiot and list all the reasons why you think they are an idiot and your better. What you cannot do is tell them that they cannot speak. Not now or ever.

 

[Belen]

I read a great quote just recently about how political debate should work: "True debate is about more than winning; it is collaborative truth-seeking." In order to come to the table with "sound habits of thought" we need to do certain things: respect facts, research, and learning; think critically about sources of information including bias, credentials, funding sources and affiliations; examine our own unquestioned assumptions and motivations; practice open-minded listening; and resist "argument by slogan and sound-bite."

I think instead of telling RPG "celebrities" to shut up about their politics on their personal websites, it should be the reader's responsibility to choose whether to read or not.

You're a very smart man, Mr. Noah.

I do not think anyone has asked the writers to shup up, at least, not here on ENWorld.

 

[Storm Raven]

Politics is not about morals or ethics. It is about power.

In my experience, politics is about money. Which is close to being the same thing as power, but not quite. Most people in the U.S. don't realize that the bulk of Congress' time every session is spent on approprations bills, determining how to spread Federal money around, fighting over the roughly 40% (actually about 19%, because DoD/HS is sacrosanct these days) of the budget that isn't on autopilot.

 

[EricNoah]

You're a very smart man, Mr. Noah.

I do not think anyone has asked the writers to shup up, at least, not here on ENWorld.

In the "Erik's got a blog" thread, I seem to recall people smackin' Mona around 1 for talking politics in his blog. That's where I'm coming from, here.


1. "Smackin' Mona Around" is a fun party game, btw!

 

[Belen]

No one has the right to tell other people what they can and can not say.

And no one has. At most, people have asked for a bit of common sense about when, where, and how to say it. "Free" speach is a tricky road to follow. I am sure that you can think of one or two things that you would never want to say to another person or that could cause you trouble if you said them.

The funny thing about absolutes is that they never are.

 

[Belen]

In the "Erik's got a blog" thread, I seem to recall people smackin' Mona around 1 for talking politics in his blog. That's where I'm coming from, here.

Well, I do not recall anyone getting really personal with Erik in that thread. And he should not have felt the need to apologize for anything. Erik is a good guy.