One of the panels I went to at PAX East was a train wreck. I’m recapping here via copy/pasting my tweets with a bonus sack of flaming poo, aka I don’t understand words mean things, full on transphobic faux-pology on their FB page at the end.

Because I’m a shady ass, lemme talk about how bad that sexism in gaming panel was yesterday. It was poorly put together, the slides were useless & one female panelist thought throwing out FemFreq was going to impress. Then their content was short, 20 min if that then did Q&A. Which included hawking their teeshirts & crowd funding.

The only female panelist also said women before trans-women per tweets coming out of the audience. The question I did hear was asking for actual take-aways from the panel. Which no one could answer.The one female panelist brought up being harassed while playing LoL.

Again did not answer the question posed by audience member. To recap, a panel on Sexism in Gaming, 2 dudes, 1 woman. All white, all from same “Organisation” I have that in quotes for reasons. They had no web presence anyone could discern, only a FB page selling their (ugly IMHO) teeshirts. No site, nothing tangible.So that makes me wonder how they pitched this panel if that was how they ran it.

The woman was nervous, but come on. When I go to panels, I have an expectation you are bringing things I may not know, or have considered. Not below baseline info. Also, one of the male panelists said men experience sexism in gaming too with no follow up, context. Me: 😒 Why was a panel about sexism in gaming allowed to run with a 2/3 male panel anyway? I hope panels are better vetted than that.That has been the worst panel I’ve seen in a long, long time at any con.

Here is the post they put up on their FB page:

Nerds Want Equality for cis people.jpg

And it turns out the leader of this groups is literally 15. How did a group led by a 15 year old get to do a panel at any convention, that is not youth programming? They just posted a rant on the group about how everyone is so meeeen. Well you shouldn’t have been allowed to panel on a topic you clearly know nothing about.

tantrum nerds want equality

 

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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