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The Weekender XLBS: Gaming Feminism and the Glory of Risk!
December 15, 2013 by dracs
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Happy Sunday!
Like!
Superb show this week guys. Really loving the informality of the setting these last few weeks.
I missed the Raging Heroes comments but I think I resemble the 300 thread. I still blame Romain :p. I never took that to be a flame war as it managed to remain a fairly well articulated discussion rather than a descent into name-calling. I get that not every stereotype is sufficiently in the public consciousness for the issues to be obvious to everyone, and I’m fine with disagreement. A well thought-out and articulated set of counterarguments is vital for progress on any issue.
Hear hear, we’ll said. I was one those at the centre of the apparent Raging Heroes “flame war”. In my mind it was anything but a flame war, simply a reasoned discussion. Unfortunately I would say that some people who joined in were making comments which were perhaps less reasoned and less reasonable. When comments are coming thick and fast there is a natural it is very difficult to keep track of the fact that two people may be disagreeing with you for very different reasons and with very different arguments. It all gets a bit muddled and people get accused of having said things or intending this they did not and never would.
End of the day, it’s all just opinion and if you’re offended by the fact that other people have different opinions from you then you probably should go anywhere near the internet. At the same time it’s good that we can have these discussions, however heated, and still all be friends afterwards.
My typing sucks at this time on a Sunday. Some of that is barely coherent 🙁
Have to smile at the Risk talk. It’s over 20 years since I last played it yet I’ve still got opinions on what you were doing (approving nod at holding Australasia, sharp intake of breath at trying to control Asia too early).
I missed the Raging Heroes thread, and have just read it I won’t make any comments about it!
However there is another aspect to the presentation of women in gaming and that is the lack of representation. In WW2 the soviet army had women in combat roles including as snipers, yet you cannot find a decent representation of a female sniper in 28mm.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of 1500 women who served in the Red Army as a sniper, she was wounded four times in battle and credited with 309 confirmed kills – the majority German soldiers.
Here’s an article about her and her visit to the USA http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/02/eleanor-roosevelt-and-the-soviet-sniper/
@warzan I know you have an interest in the “Nacht Wulfen” well there was a Soviet unit, called by the germans the “Nachthexen” (the night witches) and this is the obituary of one of the units members Nadezhda Popova who died this year, I found it to be very interesting reading
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/world/europe/nadezhda-popova-ww-ii-night-witch-dies-at-91.html?_r=0
Happy Sunday! Following those kind of discussions sometimes is really hard for me – as being English not my mother tongue – I’v to translate everything. And due to translation some nuances get lost. It’s even more complicated to make substantial arguments If I constantly search for the right words. I try, but I don’t try to do this as often as other members. So I followed both discussions but thought everything one could say was already written down. I will not call them flame war, cause in general the arguments are “redden” and “erastus” pointed out in some way reasonable.
So my approach on every post I make is, keep polite, respect others opinions and last but not least don’t take yourself to serious. This is all about our hobby and having fun!
Tuskar, English is not a language but a series of dialects separated by a common tongue. The nuances get lost in translation for many of us, and this leads to even more confusion.
Your approach is admiral and should be followed.
In the interests of lightening things up. Head over to http://www.vogue.co.uk and type –
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A
Then keep pressing A
amazing
haha. That’s brillaint. 😀
Cool! Now I have to go try that with every site I visit.
Go to Google Maps, select Walking, input The Shire into A, and Mordor into B. Heed the warning!
Go into Google Search and type Do a Barrel Roll
It wants to send me from The Shire, London to Mordor, Alkmaar (the Netherlands). I guess that isn’t the exciting journey you intended.
It’s the not the journey or the destinations. Select walking directions and look for the warning.
If you want risk with a bit more have you tried Supremacy? (which came out in the early 80’s). It has the map, superpowers and armies, but also has navies, nukes and laser satellites, and you need to collect resources by controlling areas in order to buy your units and wage war. Supremacy Games also brought out expansions for nuclear submarines, tanks and even killer satellites. The game usually ends in total nuclear destruction of the planet but hey what a way to go!
Happy Sunday fellas, always a pleasure 😉
HAPPY SUN-whenever you actually filmed it-DAY!
😀
I’ve got to say, a lot of the female infinity minis have always felt somewhat… In my own personal opinion, slightly sleazy to me. It’s the same feeling with one of the last rounds of the Knight Models Batman minis. – “She is a police officer, going to a hellish prison completely uncontrolled city sized prison… Why does she have her shirt unbuttoned?”
On the other hand, you have, say, the Catwoman mini and I’m quite happy to say, “hey, she’s Catwoman” cause that’s what she does.
Mantics probably one of the best (large-ish) companies right now for treating female characters as actual characters. You have the Void Sirens team, Helder, Freya the Forge Father smuggler in Deadzone, not to mention Dr Simmonds… – Who though similar in concept to say, Starcraft’s Kerrigan, has a completely different execution.
I couldn’t agree more. Infinity in particular.
Although, to be fair, it is a bigger thing than just minis. If you like a bit of a laugh, have a google for the ‘Hawkeye Initiative.’
It’s worth a minute or twos thought.
My Great uncle bought me and my brother Risk in the early 60’s. I still have it, minus some of the wooden pieces. Brilliant game, glad you’ve discovered it and promoting it.
As for the Raging collection of Tough Girls. There were so many comments I genuinely thought I’d somehow misread the article the first time and it was leave a comment for a chance to win one.
This right here! Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.
As with most games, Risk is even better when you add a narrative to it. Also, I think Sam spent a little too much time thinking about Carrie Fisher in the Slave Leia bikini.
I reckon the majority of backstagers have spent too much time thinking of Carrie Fisher in the Slave Leia bikini 😉
As the BoW cultural attache I’m sure Sams thinking was on a higher level than the rest of us.
As a women who games and a mother of two girls being brought up as gamers, let me add my two cents. Are there some sleazy minis/games out there? Yes. Am I offended by them? No, not really. Will I ever buy or play them? No, but they are not aimed at me. I get that it is a business and stereotypes are not limited to miniatures, you find such depictions throughout fandom.
Just look at a comic, video game and certainly anime. Difference is I do not dwell on the images and neither do my girls, their self esteem does not come from a game or a comic. Both my girls are really into anime and we simply roll with the images, especially when they want to dress up as certain characters on Halloween.
Would it be nice to see strong females not busting out of their clothes? Yes, and some day that may be more of the norm. Girls are in fandom and we are here to stay. As my husband realized, once you start gaming with your daughter it is hard to want to buy the more sleazy games or even hang around those who do.
All in all, it is about personal preference–don’t judge me and I won’t judge you. Welcome girls into your gaming groups and be sure to respect them just like you would any other gamer.
How dare you dictate how much time a man is allowed to think about Carrie Fisher and her golden bikini. 😉
It surprised me to find these heated discussions underneath some minor news items. But I actually found both these ‘flame wars’ quite entertaining, and at some points even informative.
I like my Risk with moonbases!
Also on the RH thing I had the pleasure of participating in the art direction webinar last night (it was one of the options on the Kickstarter) and I did not got a bad feeling from the team at all. I certainly got the impression that nothing was accidental about the design of any of the characters (take that how you will).
They cited their inspirations, made it clear that they had a very particular style in mind, and they went for it. I even broached the topic with Benoit and he was very diplomatic in his answer so I guess it’s something they gave a lot of thought to when they decided to launch the TGG line.
Well, to be entirely frank, Sam posted the actual news of the last kickstarter update that included slightly modified new renders of the old renders.
So it was really news, but could pass as old news if nobody noticed.
Hate to be the pedant, but Sam actually posted a single two month old image originally. It was only after this was pointed out that the post was updated with new images from the latest update.
OK as a female who has been a gamer since I was a youngster and a former member of the military and a retired police officer (early retirement due to military time) I have been around in a male dominated profession since I was 18. How this relates to minis is it is what it is. At least you’re seeing characters (female) being portrayed as fighters/warriors/magic whatever and so what if they are blessed in assets. As Warren stated a most people who buy minis are males and lets face it companies are in the business to sell products and make money. So who would want ugly women minis? This is all a game whether historical or fantasy or Sci-Fi. So take it for what it is fun and don’t be so soft and sensitive. I don’t believe the mini companies are trying to make any kind of statements other than “Hey! Look at our cool minis and buy some!”
Never fight a land war in Asia
I love Risk the very first war game I played. Still have that St and picked up an original Axis & Allies w high I haven’t played. I bet we could for a great grip of players for risk via a forum or chat room
On a more important note, why does Sam look likes he’s been green screened in?
I hear Sam is actually a 3D rendering of one of Warren’s alternate identities. That’s what I heard anyway.
I think you mean alternate personalities.
You’re right. Warren would never fit into a Sam suit.
Like! 😀
I just can’t believe someone was called a fascist, and I didnt see a single ‘Young Ones” reference. So disappointed.
If you like the whole geo political thing, could try giving the “Diplomacy” board game a go. It’s like risk, but bigger board and no dice rolling involved. You’ll need about 5-7 people and a whole day to play it though.
basically:
>every writes down their moves during the diplomacy phase and puts them in a pot.
>moves are then performed on the game board.
>then you go on to the next diplomacy phase and so on.
>Each region can only have 1 ‘army’ in it
>To take a region you must attack with more armies than the adjacent region defending it has.
>To achieve this you must “support” an attack with an army from a region adjacent to the target
>Defending is similar, an adjacent region can “support” a defending (ie not attacking) army
>”Support” does not have to come from your army, it can come from anyone else on the board.
>However you do not know what the player “supporting” you has actually written down on their orders
>Thus the diplomacy phases can last quite a while, with people taking others aside out of the room for “chats”, backstabbing is rife and friendships lost.
Hopefully that brief description isn’t too Rimmer-ish.
Grr, it keeps dying to green screen and no sound at the 8.00min mark 🙁
I am at a loss here ” What is truly more disturbing after reading this thread”
Guys who look at toy models made of plastic or metal in a sexual way and call them sleazy or the “A” typical response from chicks who grand stand about being a gamer and then are pelted by a circus clown fury of thumbs ups.
I guess if the toys were battery operated the guys could get away with getting a chub at the sight of them. Then again, that would reveal yet something else just as disturbing.
Sorry, playing catch up 🙂 Damn you fence thieves! Stop taking a fence! Also ‘LIKE’