The resurgence of tabletop RPGs, thanks to the queer community?

[Kerstmanneke82]

Last week or so I saw this article from the NYtimes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/21/style/dungeons-and-dragons.html

I'll paste some interesting points here, what do you think?

"It's the newer generation of players who make D&D — and tabletop role-playing games generally — what it is today.

Connie Chang, a 24-year-old game master who runs "a semi-Tumblr-famous D&D meme blog," is the G.M. of Transplanar, "a non-colonial, anti-Orientalist" livestreamed game consisting entirely of players who are transgender and people of color.

"I really feel like marginalized people are the vanguard of making D&D blow up again," Mx. Chang said. "People say 'Stranger Things,' but I'm like, 'Nah, it's the queer community.'"

"Within the community, it's the Black folks, right?" Mx. Chang continued. "It's the Asian folks. It's the Indigenous folks. It's the people of color who are really bringing cool, innovative, fresh, much needed new blood and air and perspectives and voices and ways of G.M.ing and ways of playing to the space that would shake up an otherwise stale play community, straight up."

For all its fantastical otherworldliness, Dungeons & Dragons — created by Mr. Gygax when he was 36, and Mr. Arneson, at 27 — is deeply rooted in Eurocentric ideals of the Middle and Dark Ages. In interviews, players pointed to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien for inspiring entire races and subclasses within the D&D game that were built on racist tropes and reinforced harmful stereotypes. Players of different races, gender identities and sexual orientations cited instances of feeling unwelcome by legacy D&D players, by the game itself and by its history of straight white maleness and overt colonialism."

They state that it is they who were shunned at the tables of legacy D&D-players. I myself have been playing TTRPGs since 2016. I did know since the beginning of the 90s of one such thing as D&D but the books were impossible to come by. However, I have always been a nerd (for better or, mostly, for worse) and what kind of grinds my gears is that those who make D&D popular, as they say themselves, are exactly the ones who would bully us for being geeks and nerds. And I was picked upon for such interests. If anyone was marginalised, it must have been the nerds and geeks, not them. Because no-one cared about their gender or colour or whatever, back in the day.

So yeah, I think the resurgence of RPGs is partly due to the internet, true, as stated in the article, but also videogames in general (think Bioware). I think the "queer community" has only jumped on it once it was already on the rise and have contributed nothing to the popularity of the game outside of that subculture's boundaries.

What do you think?

[Hzilong]

Frankly, as far as I can tell, rpgs have always been a haven for mildly, or not so mildly, misanthropic peopled. "Queer" has usually fallen into that group. The people who genuinely  used role playing as an outlet for expressing something they can't in real life have existed in the hobby for a long time. This new wave of politically queer, and let's be honest they absolutely are using gender/sexuality/etc. as a political statement more than anything else, just saw a convenient bandwagon to jump on just as they have always done. There will be another fad to be chased eventually. So contributing to a renaissance? No. Inflating a transitory boost in pop culture? Yes.

[FingerRod]

What do you think?

I think you are only here to talk about identity politics through the TTRPG hobby.

I think you have three topics, all of them incendiary, and you have chosen not to engage in any real gaming thread.

I think you'll try to prove me wrong by quickly posting in other threads, but you'll revert back to this in no time.

And finally, I think given all the above, you are just like them. A lonely internet vagabond starting fires and seeking that next dopamine hit.

[Lunamancer]

I think it's pretty simple. Fantasy and things nerdy in general have had a bump in interest in book and film and culture in general. The table top RPG market is so tiny in relative terms that a 10% bump in the much larger industries could easily translate to a 500% bump in RPGs. Most likely it will eventually fade as fashion moves onto other things.

Of course even a temporary bump has some massive upside. The funding to produce cool things the industry wouldn't have otherwise been able to do, and the opportunity to hook in a few of the fair weather fans for the long run.

But it's also got its downsides. Like a producer could enjoy a 300% bump, not knowing they should have been due for a 500% bump, and start patting themselves on the back for a job well done when they've actually fallen far short over what could have been.

Motivated reasoning's gonna motivated reason. People will be able to use the facts to justify whatever they want. My take is, we have an opportunity that comes by once in a generation, if that. Enjoy the bump while it lasts. Have what fun you can have. Make the best products you can make. Forge new friendships.

[VisionStorm]

What do you think?

I think you are only here to talk about identity politics through the TTRPG hobby.

I think you have three topics, all of them incendiary, and you have chosen not to engage in any real gaming thread.

I think you'll try to prove me wrong by quickly posting in other threads, but you'll revert back to this in no time.

And finally, I think given all the above, you are just like them. A lonely internet vagabond starting fires and seeking that next dopamine hit.

Sadly ^this. Brutal, but true. Hasn't even followed through on previous threads.

[Thorn Drumheller]

Yeah, this "article" is pretty laughable.

This Connie Chang is just talking out of their ass. They have no proof, just spouting whatever they think. Like all on the internet do.

If their group is having fun playing "their" version of D&D, so be it. I'm not some purist who thinks D&D should only be played one way. I know how I run it and it won't be inclusive to all, but that's okay. It doesn't have to be.

And also, yeah, what FingerRod said. It seems like the OP is just trying to stir shit up.

[Shrieking Banshee]

Sadly ^this. Brutal, but true. Hasn't even followed through on previous threads.

Yup.

[Kerstmanneke82]

What do you think?

I think you are only here to talk about identity politics through the TTRPG hobby.

I think you have three topics, all of them incendiary, and you have chosen not to engage in any real gaming thread.

I think you'll try to prove me wrong by quickly posting in other threads, but you'll revert back to this in no time.

And finally, I think given all the above, you are just like them. A lonely internet vagabond starting fires and seeking that next dopamine hit.

You're free to think whatever you want. I won't give you the pleasure of participating in threads just to try to prove you wrong. I am not starting any fires whatsoever, but again, you're free to believe what you want.

[bromides]

When I played Battletech with a trans woman, I didn't even get Social Credit for it.

It was in the days before "social media". I didn't have the opportunity to virtue signal my worthiness! Q.Q

Seriously, gaming + queer/trans/whatever is still gaming. If these retards need to slap a label on it, then they're not gaming. They're being racist gatekeeper f*cktards who are ruining the hobby with their labels.

[GhostNinja]

Players of different races, gender identities and sexual orientations cited instances of feeling unwelcome by legacy D&D players, by the game itself and by its history of straight white maleness and overt colonialism."

Sounds like a personal problem.   I have heard idiots on various forums say "well they don't mention gay characters in the character creation process so gay characters and gay players aren't welcome!"

Which is the weirdest and most misguided leap of logic I have ever heard.

[Ghostmaker]

It used to be, nobody cared if you were black, gay, whatever. Roll the dice, minimize the out of game drama, have fun.

Now it's completely backwards. It's gotta be ALL about the 'struggle'.

I just wanna fight some fuckin' dragons! Is that too much to ask?

[HappyDaze]

I just wanna fight some fuckin' dragons! Is that too much to ask?

That depends on the color of the dragons.

[Persimmon]

I just wanna fight some fuckin' dragons! Is that too much to ask?

That depends on the color of the dragons.

But both black and white dragons are evil.  Yet, the obviously Asian-inspired gold dragon is good.  What can I do?  How do I solve this conundrum?

Or maybe Gygax was subversive after all and no one picked up on it?

[Omega]

You're new to this whole woke agenda thing I take it?

Welcome to the lively world of a small faction in the gay community who seem hell bent on antagonizing everyone. Or just claiming anything and everything is gay now or was allways gay or god only knows what the hell it will be next. Theres alot of overlap in rhetoric with storygamers and the woke cult. Or any type of interest that happens to have developed a festering little knot of nutcases. We even see it in the handicapped circles with depressing regularity.

And this is in no way a new thing.

As others said above. RPGs have been often a haven for anyone and everyone. This whole party line that RPGs were exclusionary and now its being made "better" for "diversity" is a fabrication. A lie.

[Kerstmanneke82]

You're new to this whole woke agenda thing I take it?

New, no, but European, so things tend to go a little bit slower or later here. However, but I will keep this brief, as to not veer off to other more sensitive topics, our language starts to change because of such things. Let's take the idea of skin colour.

In English, you can say "white" for both your skin colour and the colour of paper or snow.
In Dutch, you would use "wit" for that. However, the colour of our skin is referred to with "blank". You can compare it to English "blank". A blank stare, for example, to signify emptiness. In Dutch you could also say "een blanke lei" for a blank slate, therefore, "blank" is primarily used to refer to skin colour, but also for cleanliness or emptiness.
Now, opposed to "blank" (white, for skin colour) there is "zwart" (for skin colour). Think about older English "a swart hound". We too have something like "black", like when there is a fire, things are "zwartgeblakerd". Given that blank also means emptiness, cleanliness, next to skin colour (but having nothing to do with it), it must mean that the opposide of white people (thus black people) are dirty, filthy, not clean, etc, according to some people that want to change the language. Therefore, our language must change, and "blank" cannot be used anymore for white skin colour, but instead we must say "wit". People can't get their head around the fact a word can have different meanings, which often have nothing to do with one another. But given the fact that it is not so easy to change this, they link it with slavery, so to make people who use "blank" feel guilty.