thread: 2006-08-16 : GenCon 06 observations 1-4
On 2006-08-17, Brand Robins wrote:
A couple of comments from someone that wasn't there, as he was in Mamallapuram crawling around two millennia old temples:
1) Even though Mo didn't end up making it to the Forge booth this year, I was very impressed with the energy and work that folks (Luke, Ron, Ben, and others) put into making her feel like she would be welcome there. She went from dreading going to GenCon to being hugely, crushingly disappointed that we wouldn't make it: and at least 80% of that was because of the Forge booth and various folks there.
2) While I'm a tad less Camilla Paglia than Ron, I agree with the general sentiment. It is not that we need to remove sex, sexuality, or even sexualization from games—it is that we need to remove whole scale victimization, gender-typing, and the frankly pathetic adolescence of objectification from games.
I've often been struck by the hypocrisy of game companies who sell their books with blatantly sexualized, and objectified, puerile art on the cover while giving their writers instructions to make it family friendly and doing everything they can to avoid having any actual sexual content in the book. Why is it all right to sell the book with sex, but not to have sex in the book?
Of course, I think a lot of this comes back to the idea that one of the biggest things gaming needs right now are games made to different audiences. If every game is targeted to 15 year old males, then it is no wonder that the sexual fantasies of 15 year old males dominate everything. But that's a rather limiting demographic, don't you think?
3) Meg, you have now made me want to do a Roman/Celtic game in which giant throbbing cocks are the sign of a true hero. Cause really, nothing says, "The Gods Inspire Me With Holy Rage" like a berserker with an erection charging down an army single handed.
4) I can't be sad I missed Gen Con, considering what I got to do instead. But I am totally 100% more hyped about the thought of going next year and meeting all you fine folks.
