Pelgrane Press just put up their list of GenCon seminars on their website, and this is their first event on Thursday afternoon:

"Thursday 1:00 PM – Gaming Saves the World
How do we translate our experiences as gamers into productive expression, activism & persuasion? Join us as we look at the map, hash out the tactics, & min-max our way out of the darkest timeline."

  Is it just me, or does this sound like a bad idea? Political activism may be a good thing, but should we really try to instrumentalize the hobby as a tool for it? And what happens if someone uses their advice for the 'wrong' agenda?

Agree. Gaming is best seen as a relief from politics. I think we benefit from activities where people engage with people who don't necessarily share the same beliefs.

Quote from: Arminius;956189Agree. Gaming is best seen as a relief from politics. I think we benefit from activities where people engage with people who don't necessarily share the same beliefs.

The money quote is "min/max our way out of the darkest timeline".  So either they mean...

1. Activist gaming to fix our gaming past based on the "dark side of the hobby" bullshit.
2. Activist gaming to fix the world Trump & Co. are going to create.

The first one is based on an idiotic view of gaming.
The second one is based on an idiotic view of how government works.

The only way these chuckleheads are going to get out of the Dystopia they see themselves living in is to get active in the real world, not the imaginary one at their tables, actually put some time in organizing with real people in the physical world, get everyone they know to register to vote and actually bother to show up on Election Day.  Anything else is masturbation.

Only a ridiculously self-centered, selfish and privileged narcissist could think they could achieve political change through their entertainment and recreation choices.

*Sigh* I think I'll pass on fretting about this one. I'm tuckered out from rolling my eyes at this sort of thing on my side for more than two years now, and I'm biased in Pelgrane Press's favor anyway. Furthermore, last I checked Kenneth Hite politically leans 'sane right of center', so I don't think he's likely to sign off on anything truly noxious.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;956194*Sigh* I think I'll pass on fretting about this one. I'm tuckered out from rolling my eyes at this sort of thing on my side for more than two years now, and I'm biased in Pelgrane Press's favor anyway. Furthermore, last I checked Kenneth Hite politically leans 'sane right of center', so I don't think he's likely to sign off on anything truly noxious.

I like a lot of Pelgrane's stuff, and you've got a point about Hite. He may balance the fact that others with the company are more left-wing and/or ... fervent. (Tweet and Heinsoo were leaders in last fall's #gamers4her petition.)

Maybe it's that I'm a political outlier who's on the other side of where this kind of movement is likely to wind up, but it just feels like pumping gasoline into the fire.

Shouldn't this be in Pundit's forum?

Quote from: Voros;956200Shouldn't this be in Pundit's forum?

I went back and forth on it, but "industry gossip" goes here. If the mods want to move it, though, I won't complain.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;956186our way out of the darkest timeline."

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..."

Quote from: CRKrueger;956193The money quote is "min/max our way out of the darkest timeline".

It may be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the television series Community (which I haven't watched, so I could be wrong).

QuoteThe only way these chuckleheads are going to get out of the Dystopia they see themselves living in is to get active in the real world, not the imaginary one at their tables, actually put some time in organizing with real people in the physical world, get everyone they know to register to vote and actually bother to show up on Election Day.

There's also contacting Representatives and Senators, and donating to political parties, campaigns, and advocacy groups.

QuoteOnly a ridiculously self-centered, selfish and privileged narcissist could think they could achieve political change through their entertainment and recreation choices.

I think you're unfairly overlooking the efficiency of having one's cake and eating it, too.

Quote from: CRKrueger;956193Only a ridiculously self-centered, selfish and privileged narcissist could think they could achieve political change through their entertainment and recreation choices.

STFU and drink your Pepsi.

It sounds like a very bad idea indeed, but I'd like to know just what the hell they mean with it before I decide what to think. So far, all I'm getting from it is the standard ego-stroking "we're really good people and our nerdy obsessions are SUPER-RELEVANT!" thing that tends to float around all the time.

... admittedly, putting even more of that out there might qualify as a bad idea in and of itself.

I dont know, if people want to piss in the wind, and pat themselves on the back for it to compensate for millennial insecurities, leave em to it I say

Quote from: Tristram Evans;956225I dont know, if people want to piss in the wind, and pat themselves on the back for it to compensate for millennial insecurities, leave em to it I say

Problem is, the wind tends to spread the piss all over the place...

Or to step away from the disgusting metaphor, I would prefer to not run into this culture of smug piety whenever I want to read an interesting roleplaying discussion. But by now it seems to be so omnipresent that it's even odds that just when a discussion starts looking interesting, someone is going to turn up and start talking about how Problematic everything is, and then something I enjoyed will turn into something that annoys me. It's kind of like being halfway through a delicious piece of pie only to find in mid-bite that the other half has been sprinkled by...

... oh look, we somehow found our way back to the disgusting metaphor. *sighs*

Has it become a thing at GenCon, to be seen on panels that show off your PC street-cred? Kinda curious, but not enough to go look it up, what other 'stretch goals' the talks might be aiming at this year.

An alternative explanation for the seminar might be applying game theory and practices to activism ...

Which I believe is an approach already being used by Vox Day.

(Not a fan of VD's, but I can't help but appreciate the irony.)