The End (For Now, At Least)

The time has come for me to take a break. After this article, I will be going on an indefinite hiatus.

There are a number of reasons for this decision. Not least among those is the fact that I am not gaining any dedicated repeat readership. Despite my best efforts, the number of people who come back to read my posts every week remains a very small number. Barely in the double digits.

Additionally, there's the matter of time. My work as a middle school teacher takes up a vast quantity of time. I had been doing my best to carve what time I could in the evenings or weekends to write articles, take photos for game reviews, research market trends, etc. But I'm finding that I just don't have the time for it all. It's been a long time since I've been able to do any 'how to play' videos, which is frustrating to me, as there are a lot of games out there that need better tutorial videos. I know I'm no cinematic master, but at least (in my opinion) the videos I make are made in a more intuitive format than many of the ones I've seen out there.

Frustration

But another large concern is the feelings of frustration I often experience. It frequently feels to me as though my attempts to make the gaming hobby (and the world at large, for that matter) a more inclusive place are failing utterly.

My special event that was held at Loot & XP (the Trans Friendly Game Night) generated a large amount of interest, but no action. Lots of people clicked 'going' or 'interested,' but few people ever actually showed up. It was very irritating to have people get my hopes up. Sure, a handful of people came, but never anywhere the number of people who said they were going to. And there were some people who were actively opposed to it. Like the guy who complained that trans people are mentally ill, and we should not be inclusive towards them as it doesn't help them overcome their illness. Or (and in some ways, this one is worse) the person who told us that we weren't being inclusive enough because the words 'trans friendly' indicated that other nights were not trans friendly. Supposedly on the same side as us, and yet still attacking us...

Or the person who felt (for some reason that I still don't understand) that he had to leave a comment on my article about whether lizardfolk females had breasts, saying that online misogyny was acceptable because real world misandry exists. I don't understand why the existence of one form of bigotry makes any other form of bigotry OK. But I tried to redirect the conversation, only to have him state:

Yes it is funny that feminists & their simp 'white knights' see misogyny everywhere & in everything while ignoring rampant misandry espoused by feminists & enabled by a gynocentric legal system. The definition of what is considered misogyny has expanded so much/broadened so widely that it's in danger of becoming almost worthless as a term. In our twisted broken society it seems it is perfectly acceptable to insult all 'white' males as "stale, pale, male", privileged etc while ignoring the many privileges that women have legally/socially etc etc. BTW Once upon a time I was a radical Socialist & considered myself as a 'Feminist' until told that I couldn't be a feminist coz of my maleness, but I could call myself "an ally". I came to realise that 'feminism' was not about 'equality' but about 'Matriarchy'/ 'Supremacism'. If it was about Equality then you don't need the word 'Feminism', Egalitarian/Equalitarian' do perfectly fine. If 'Patriarchy' is 'bad/evil' then by logical inference 'Matriarchy' must be good, a desired goal. If men are bad coz of patriarchy, then women must be good/better/superior to men. I believe women are fundamentally 'equal' to men, but I still consider myself a misogynist in the pure unadulterated original meaning of the word ...I despise women, but it's nothing personal though as my misanthropy trumps everything.

Which is problematic for several reasons:

• Referring to non-female feminists as 'simp "white knights"' indicates an attitude that strength is the most important factor in determining a person's value, when it isn't.
• Claiming that feminists see misogyny everywhere but ignore misandry, despite the fact that most feminists acknowledge that the current social system is just as harmful to men as it is to women. Sure, there are extremist feminists who hold distorted views and espouse blatant misandry, but they are the minority, and they don't represent feminism as a whole.
• The references to the 'discrimination' faced by white males and the 'privileges' enjoyed by non-whites, non-males, etc, indicate that this person has a very ego-centric view of society, believing that the benefits enjoyed by people other than himself outweigh the benefits that he himself has despite the ease with which such misconceptions can be dispelled.
• The common cry of the bigot: 'I used to be X,' as if that proves that his viewpoint is rational.
• The fallacy of stating 'I despise women, but that's OK, because I hate everyone.' In my experience, that's merely a cop-out. My father used to say things like that, but has since proven himself to be no different than any other bigot. Those words are meaningless.

I could go on, but the point is, with people out there so firmly entrenched in these faulty mindsets and no way to reach them, it's hard to feel like there's a point in trying to make the world a more inclusive place.

Frustrations With the Hobby Itself

I think things came to a head for me recently when I read another article on the Angry GM's website. He was talking about how the core system of D&D is not a great one, but is still used as the baseline for most other RPGs. He, who routinely enjoys and even GMs D&D, is also frustrated at the hegemony of that particular game. And maybe, in other places, there's more of a willingness to embrace alternate game systems, but at least here in central Oklahoma, I feel there's a staunch refusal to try anything new. 'I like D&D, so why should I try anything else? No need to branch out and risk finding something that I might like better. I'll stick with what I know!' And learning that it's not limited to just my experiences?

Yeah, that's it. I think I'm done. At least for a while.

Goodbye

And so that's it. I may come back to try this thing again in the future. But for now, I need to focus my energy on things that I feel are more productive. I may use the time to make some more 'how to play' videos, but I think I'm going to take a break from writing articles.

But I hope that, even in my absence, you will continue to

Game on!