Quote from: RPGPunditIt has been this way in every civilization since the beginning of time, and the reasons are psychological, practical, educational, and spiritual. Its not blindly following tradition. This rule is neither meaningless nor harmful, and ceasing it would be harmful to all concerned.

There were differences, in some civilizations, gender identity was matter of choice (you could be "man", with man duties and rights because you have choosen than, even trought you are female) some civilizations were matriarchates and there is tribe in Polynesia, where males and females meet only once per year for purposes of reproduction and otherwise live in homosexual relationships... I don't see any reason why today's civilization couldn't be different like every else civilization was...

We have females in politics and manager positions and males on maternity leave (I know one) and in my experience mixed groups are more effective than groups limited to one gender...

Quote from: jhkim;239175All the basics of how the awards are run were set before I took over running them.  Publishers may send copies to the list of 90-something potential voters, but they are not required to.  There was one year when a couple publishers did this.  

I could make it a requirement for consideration (i.e. you must offer 90-something free copies or you aren't eligible for an award).  However, that would cut down considerably on what games can get an award, and I expect there'd be complaints because some excellent games weren't being considered.

Hmmm.

To be honest, I think it's quite harmful to the award if the judges don't make sure to familiarise themselves with the various entrants; after all, surely half the point of having an "Indie RPG Award" is to celebrate otherwise-overlooked gems of the gaming scene? If a more popular Indie game which has been making the rounds in the scene has a clear advantage over a more obscure game which might actually have more innovative mechanics, for example, doesn't that undermine the whole validity of the thing?

To my mind, you want to do one of two things:

- Make sending out "judge's copies" a requirement, and accept that a bunch of indie publishers (90 copies possibly being the most they actually expect to sell) simply not take part. This probably isn't a good thing.

- Limit the pool of judges somehow, so that entrants only have to send out, say, 5 judge's copies. (If you make one of the criteria for being a judge "must commit to reviewing, playing, and commenting on every entrant", that might narrow the pool down a fair bit.)

Quote from: Fritzs;239180There were differences, in some civilizations, gender identity was matter of choice (you could be "man", with man duties and rights because you have choosen than, even trought you are female) some civilizations were matriarchates and there is tribe in Polynesia, where males and females meet only once per year for purposes of reproduction and otherwise live in homosexual relationships... I don't see any reason why today's civilization couldn't be different like every else civilization was...

We have females in politics and manager positions and males on maternity leave (I know one) and in my experience mixed groups are more effective than groups limited to one gender...

Since you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about when it comes to freemasonry, I'm going to stop bothering with you.

Suffice it to say that the reasons why women are not allowed in regular masonry are not because of sexism, or because of the belief that women are inferior in any way at all (masonry argues that they're absolutely equal to men, and have done so for considerably longer than most institutions); it is because of practical reasons related to the mysteries and system of philosophy masonry teaches.

RPGPundit

Sticking my nose in...

 Dude, Lay off the Masons!!
All the ones I've met in-person or friends I've discovered to be Masons have been very good and honorable men.

 As for the women in it or not thing - in Ohio there is a group called Eastern Star, which I believe is affiliated with the Masons and may be part of a larger national or global group that is connected to the Masons.  At least thats how it was explained to me - it s like a women's auxiliary of the Masons.

 Pundit, go ahead and correct me if I'm full of crap on this one.


- Ed C.

Quote from: Koltar;239247Sticking my nose in...

 Dude, Lay off the Masons!!
All the ones I've met in-person or friends I've discovered to be Masons have been very good and honorable men.

 As for the women in it or not thing - in Ohio there is a group called Eastern Star, which I believe is affiliated with the Masons and may be part of a larger national or global group that is connected to the Masons.  At least thats how it was explained to me - it s like a women's auxiliary of the Masons.

 Pundit, go ahead and correct me if I'm full of crap on this one.


- Ed C.

No, you're right. The Order of the Eastern Star is a feminine order that is associated with Freemasonry. And they do not allow men to join! How dare they!?  :rolleyes:

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;239254No, you're right. The Order of the Eastern Star is a feminine order that is associated with Freemasonry. And they do not allow men to join! How dare they!?  :rolleyes:

RPGPundit

A good place for members to pick up women...

Bill

Quote...it is because of practical reasons related to the mysteries and system of philosophy masonry teaches.

If it's "religious" problem, there's not much argumentation that can be done... I trought we were speaking about "educational" and "psychological" reasons...

Quote from: Fritzs;239334If it's "religious" problem, there's not much argumentation that can be done... I trought we were speaking about "educational" and "psychological" reasons...

Both educational and psychological organizations and events have advocated single-gender activities in different occasions and contexts.

RPGPundit

RPGPundit: Both educational and psychological organizations and events have advocated mixed-gender activities in different occasions and contexts...