I’m on a lot of panels. O_o; so they are under a cut. Names of my fellow panelists redacted to maintain the gap between meat space, fan space and online handles. Come see me talk, a whole lot. Also, someone keep my flask full. 😐
Friday May 22nd. 4:00 – 5:15 pm; Location: Assembly
Misandry. Reverse Racism & Other Mythical Creatures
aka Drinking the Tears of My Enemies, Part 2
Saturday May 23rd 1:00 – 2:15 pm; Location: Assembly
Why #INeedDiverseGames – Description: So this tag went viral, and out of it came a great, great thing. But let’s talk about why we need diverse games, what is gained by having more stories, more voices to narrate our tales. Since the tag has gone on, a lot of great things have come of it, however I also want to talk about the ugly side of it, the hate received and the utter ridiculousness that some people threw out there.
Sunday May 24th, 2015:
08:30 – 09:45 am Capitol B ~ Playing with Social Justice: A Dragon Age:Inquisition Panel – Description: Bioware’s ‘Dragon Age: Inquisition’ has sold over a million units and won several “Game of the Year” awards. It has also garnered a great deal of media attention for its attention to GLBT issues and its examination of questions of race and class. Let’s dig in, talk about what went right and what didn’t, and how that can inform future work in games and fiction. Possible topics include: “Krem, Dorian and the politics of sex and gender in Thedas”, “‘Being Elfy’: race, class, and identity”, “Spirits and demons, violence and consent”, “What’s your watchword?”, and “Is this metaphor too thick?”
10:00 – 11:15 am Caucus ~ Fandom, Creators and the Space In-Between – Description: Sparked by commentary during the tumblr panel at the last wiscon, where does the line fall between creators and fandom online? Should creators interact with their fans and if so, how? Let’s examine ways to interact well and ways to fall down when interacting within fandom. Does it make you as a fan uncomfortable or less likely to share your works if you know creators could possibly see it? OR worse, what if they saw it and publicly derided it?
1:00 – 2:15 pm, Senate B ~ How to Tell POC Apart the Game! – Description: So many POC writers these days–how can we tell them apart? This game-show format panel will sharpen your skills while earning you fabulous prizes! (Books!) Ted Chiang or John Chu? Nalo, Nnedi, Nora, or Nisi? You decide.
4:00 – 5:15 pm, Wisconsin – Why is this character white? Why are they straight? Description – Let’s flip the center on casting and think about what it might be like if scriptwriters had to justify their choices to make characters members of the privileged ends of their spectra (instead of them only allowing gay characters “for plot”).
Monday May 25th, 10:00 – 11:15 am, Senate A – Disability Representation in Videogames
Description: From Mass Effect to Guild Wars 2 and Grand Theft Auto V, video games have often explored the realm of characters with disability. What defines “good” representation for a character, and which characters hit the mark? On the other hand, when is representation of a character’s disability less than ideal or outwardly offensive? Do video games fall into the same pitfalls as other genres when it comes to representing disabled people? And if so, what can we as critically engaged fans of media do about it?
Published by cypheroftyr
Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers, attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions and as a public speaker..
She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. She’s the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a Twitch supported RPG and Actual Play stream, airing weekly on her channel, twitch.tv/cypheroftyr. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC. She’s also the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators; live streamed on her twitch channel, /cypheroftyr.
She’s named as one of The Game Awards Future Class 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021.
Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.
Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. She often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox. (2019, CRC Press)
Writer Bio for pubs: Tanya is the Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. She’s part of Rivals of Waterdeep, an actual play D&D show on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep; the programming coordinator for OrcaCon & GaymerX; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. She’s on the Board of Take This as well as a Stream Ambassador, and was part of the inaugural cohort of The Game Awards Future Class. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.
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