The least woke major RPG publishers

Llew ap Hywel · November 20, 2018, 03:26:04 AM

Quote from: amacris;1065380Politically I lean libertarian. My games are apolitical. Although ACKS has been criticized as being unwoke because it uses the word "king" in the title.

You owe me a laptop cleaning since the idiocy of that concept just had me spray mine. There is a serious malfunction in people.

Armchair Gamer · November 20, 2018, 06:25:18 AM

Quote from: amacris;1065380Politically I lean libertarian. My games are apolitical. Although ACKS has been criticized as being unwoke because it uses the word "king" in the title.

Is it being criticized for being reactionary or for being gendered?

RandyB · November 20, 2018, 08:25:16 AM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1065449Is it being criticized for being reactionary or for being gendered?

My guess is "both", converging into "#PatriarchyBad".

Tod13 · November 20, 2018, 08:50:24 AM

Quote from: amacris;1065380Politically I lean libertarian. My games are apolitical. Although ACKS has been criticized as being unwoke because it uses the word "king" in the title.

LOL You made me think of the King of the Dragons in Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forests books. ("King" is a title and the female dragon who becomes King is really confused when her human asks why she isn't the Queen of the Dragons.) https://www.pcwrede.com/dragons-and-gender-bias-huh/

kosmos1214 · November 20, 2018, 11:37:11 PM

I say postmortem off the top o my head.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210283/Tales-of-Gor-Gorean-Roleplaying

David Johansen · November 21, 2018, 12:23:34 AM

So, all this begs the question of whether there is a support base for a not "woke" publisher. I'm not talking about a pack of degenerate racists who think women are aliens from another planet that should only exist to please men. Just a company that's not bending to the social pressure to conform. I think Legends of the Flame Princess and Dungeon Crawl Classics take it a little too far even.

But there's a massive movement that refuses to support publishers that fail to meet their approval and I wonder how much incentive there is for a publisher to hold firm.

Haffrung · November 21, 2018, 08:56:24 AM

Quote from: David Johansen;1065574So, all this begs the question of whether there is a support base for a not "woke" publisher. I'm not talking about a pack of degenerate racists who think women are aliens from another planet that should only exist to please men. Just a company that's not bending to the social pressure to conform. I think Legends of the Flame Princess and Dungeon Crawl Classics take it a little too far even.

Take political correctness too far?

Quote from: David Johansen;1065574But there's a massive movement that refuses to support publishers that fail to meet their approval and I wonder how much incentive there is for a publisher to hold firm.

It's not massive. Progressive activists make up 8 per cent of Americans, and given the demographics of the hobby, maybe 25 per cent of active tabletop gamers. They're just extremely vocal (and organized) on social media. The great majority of gamers don't give a shit about any of this stuff. The question is whether publishers have the courage to aim their products at the silent majority, or whether they succumb to the smear campaigns and brigading of a zealous minority.

David Johansen · November 21, 2018, 09:22:22 AM

No, the question is whether the zealots impact sales enough that a courageous publisher can't make a buck. It doesn't take much to tip a purchasing decision to another product.

amacris · November 21, 2018, 11:13:50 AM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1065449Is it being criticized for being reactionary or for being gendered?

The conversation went something like this:
"With your gendered title you are signaling that your game is not for people like me."
"It's named after the Conan series of novels, Conan the Adventurer, Conan the Conqueror, Conan the King. That's who it's intended to appeal to."
"Citing some 1930s pulp as your justification doesn't help."
"Are you actually interested in a game about adventurers who become military conquerors that evolves into a tabletop wargame?"
"No I don't like wargames."

I ultimately don't lose sleep over people who... wouldn't play my game anyway.... not playing my game. Jeep doesn't market to Prius buyers.

Shawn Driscoll · November 21, 2018, 12:06:46 PM

Quote from: Haffrung;1065612Take political correctness too far?

It's not massive. Progressive activists make up 8 per cent of Americans, and given the demographics of the hobby, maybe 25 per cent of active tabletop gamers. They're just extremely vocal (and organized) on social media. The great majority of gamers don't give a shit about any of this stuff. The question is whether publishers have the courage to aim their products at the silent majority, or whether they succumb to the smear campaigns and brigading of a zealous minority.

Most of those gamers that don't give a care will cave to the SJWs (see general public). So publishers will then make more SJW stuff.

SavageSchemer · November 21, 2018, 04:11:44 PM

Quote from: amacris;1065636The conversation went something like this:
"With your gendered title you are signaling that your game is not for people like me."
"It's named after the Conan series of novels, Conan the Adventurer, Conan the Conqueror, Conan the King. That's who it's intended to appeal to."
"Citing some 1930s pulp as your justification doesn't help."
"Are you actually interested in a game about adventurers who become military conquerors that evolves into a tabletop wargame?"
"No I don't like wargames."

I ultimately don't lose sleep over people who... wouldn't play my game anyway.... not playing my game. Jeep doesn't market to Prius buyers.

TIL that if I ever get into the RPG publishing business, I need to find a way to work the word "King" into every title. That synopsis is pure gold, and seeing as I was on the fence anyway about picking up ACKS, I'm thinking I'll pick up a copy of your game this weekend if I can swing it.

amacris · November 21, 2018, 06:45:55 PM

Quote from: SavageSchemer;1065681TIL that if I ever get into the RPG publishing business, I need to find a way to work the word "King" into every title. That synopsis is pure gold, and seeing as I was on the fence anyway about picking up ACKS, I'm thinking I'll pick up a copy of your game this weekend if I can swing it.

Thank you for your support! *salutes*

RPGPundit · November 26, 2018, 02:49:25 AM

Most small-press publishers, I think, especially in the OSR, aren't interested in SJW politics at all. The problem is a couple of minor publishers infected with it from the start, plus a few of the major ones that have had massive entryism.

1989 · July 11, 2020, 05:02:33 PM

I am resurrecting this thread from 2018 for up-to-date recommendations on non-woke RPG publishers.

I was sad to see Swords and Wizardry succumb to wokeness with their new Core Rulebook cover art from the all-female art team led by "a pansexual genderqueer/fluid person who prefers the pronouns of 'they/them/their'."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/swords-and-wizardry-complete-rulebook-3rd-printing

Is the core book with this cover art even still available? I cannot find it on Frog God's website or DriveThru RPG. Maybe they decided it was a bad idea, after all?

David Johansen · July 11, 2020, 05:34:06 PM

I'm asleep most of the time. Does that count?