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[List] TTRPG Guide to Woke Companies

Started by Ocule, August 03, 2021, 12:26:41 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Ocule

Okay so I just did an update and added a version number in the title so it's easier to track which version is out. I also now am keeping a master version as a backup just in case something happens to it. I don't trust google docs not to take it down since it's google.

1) The lists are now in alphabetical order, used a tool to do it so it made it an easy fix. Hurray for Libre Office

2) removed Symbaroum as it's own entry and it now falls under free league publishing.

3) Kobold press is only under a single entry it was already done on the document. They are red.

4) Grim and Perilous Studios (Zweihander/Flames of Freedom) now has a description as to why they are where they are, citing banned words bot and Flames of Freedom as a revisionist/"anti colonialist"/"anti white game."

5) Added BRW, Gillespie and TSR Hobbies to the Green list.

6) Renamed a few of the entries to be listed under their developer or publisher name. Ideally the entries should be based on IP holders of the properties if they have a game associated with them. If there is a strong personality or notorious name associated with the company I added them in as well IE Fred Hicks.

7) Evil Beagle Games/Sean patrick fannon went on some tirade about social justice and asked to be put on the red list. So he is now on the red list.


It's funny how they simultaneously condemn the list and also proudly proclaim their own actions with the worst listed here. I think RPG pundit nailed it when he said they are mad they aren't in control of it and that it's information leaving their echo chamber that is bad marketing for them. This project has actually restored some hope for me that these companies do not represent the majority of gamers or game developers. For a while I was getting a bit put off that it seemed like everywhere I looked companies were adopting this post modern, anti gamer stance like it was just the norm. That if I wanted to continue gaming i'd just have to learn to ignore it and hope the fad goes away in a few years



Read my Consumer's Guide to TTRPGs
here. This is a living document.

Forever GM

Now Running: Mystara (BECMI)

Thorn Drumheller

Quote from: Ocule on September 07, 2021, 11:36:55 AM

7) Evil Beagle Games/Sean patrick fannon went on some tirade about social justice and asked to be put on the red list. So he is now on the red list.


It's funny how they simultaneously condemn the list and also proudly proclaim their own actions with the worst listed here. I think RPG pundit nailed it when he said they are mad they aren't in control of it and that it's information leaving their echo chamber that is bad marketing for them. This project has actually restored some hope for me that these companies do not represent the majority of gamers or game developers. For a while I was getting a bit put off that it seemed like everywhere I looked companies were adopting this post modern, anti gamer stance like it was just the norm. That if I wanted to continue gaming i'd just have to learn to ignore it and hope the fad goes away in a few years

Wow, talk about a classic example of virtue signalling Evil Beagle. Well done. something something cutting nose to spite face.
Member in good standing of COSM.

PonchoGoblin

#752
Quote from: Ocule on September 07, 2021, 11:36:55 AM
Okay so I just did an update and added a version number in the title so it's easier to track which version is out. I also now am keeping a master version as a backup just in case something happens to it. I don't trust google docs not to take it down since it's google.

1) The lists are now in alphabetical order, used a tool to do it so it made it an easy fix. Hurray for Libre Office

2) removed Symbaroum as it's own entry and it now falls under free league publishing.

3) Kobold press is only under a single entry it was already done on the document. They are red.

4) Grim and Perilous Studios (Zweihander/Flames of Freedom) now has a description as to why they are where they are, citing banned words bot and Flames of Freedom as a revisionist/"anti colonialist"/"anti white game."

5) Added BRW, Gillespie and TSR Hobbies to the Green list.

6) Renamed a few of the entries to be listed under their developer or publisher name. Ideally the entries should be based on IP holders of the properties if they have a game associated with them. If there is a strong personality or notorious name associated with the company I added them in as well IE Fred Hicks.

7) Evil Beagle Games/Sean patrick fannon went on some tirade about social justice and asked to be put on the red list. So he is now on the red list.


It's funny how they simultaneously condemn the list and also proudly proclaim their own actions with the worst listed here. I think RPG pundit nailed it when he said they are mad they aren't in control of it and that it's information leaving their echo chamber that is bad marketing for them. This project has actually restored some hope for me that these companies do not represent the majority of gamers or game developers. For a while I was getting a bit put off that it seemed like everywhere I looked companies were adopting this post modern, anti gamer stance like it was just the norm. That if I wanted to continue gaming i'd just have to learn to ignore it and hope the fad goes away in a few years

I'd say that you forgot to change Arc Knight to Arc Dream, but I kinda wanna keep just to hurt Dennis's fragile little ego.

Also, based on a lot of the twitterati, they really don't understand that the green is where people that don't put their politics in their games is right? Because a lot of it is "oh the green is half leftoids too hurr durr" is really funny in its own right lol
Forever GM that owns way too many books.

Banjo Destructo

So I am a little late to this, and maybe this was discussed in the previous posts, but is this list only about publishers/content creating companies, or is it also about stores that might be importing/providing access to games?

Because "Exalted Funeral" seems kind of like a mixed bag? They've been making getting the Necrotic Gnome stuff easier in the US, but they've partnered with some cringe SJW people like the "Full Metal RPG" podcast on some stuff,  I don't remember if they've done much overt political stuff, or if they just kinda have an idea of providing products to people who want them, whether they're products that cater to SJWs or non-SJW gamers.


Somewhat related to Steve Jackson/GURPS is  Amarillo Design Bureu. They have the Prime Directive RPG, which also has a version for GURPS. Their products don't seem to have a political bend or messaging in them.

Thorn Drumheller

Quote from: PonchoGoblin on September 07, 2021, 11:57:55 AM

I'd say that you forgot to change Arc Knight to Arc Dream, but I kinda wanna keep just to hurt Dennis's fragile little ego.

Also, based on a lot of the twitterati, they really don't understand that the green is where people that don't put their politics in their games is right? Because a lot of it is "oh the green is half leftoids too hurr durr" is really funny in its own right lol

Exactly right?! It's like they can't comprehend that the list is just about good games without political bias. I don't care where the creator is on the spectrum......if they keep it out of their games. The left has preached (huh, get it) that religious people have been shoving religion down their throats for years. And that's what this list is for us. Them shoving their political/social ideology down our throats.
Member in good standing of COSM.

PonchoGoblin

Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on September 07, 2021, 12:14:04 PM
Quote from: PonchoGoblin on September 07, 2021, 11:57:55 AM

I'd say that you forgot to change Arc Knight to Arc Dream, but I kinda wanna keep just to hurt Dennis's fragile little ego.

Also, based on a lot of the twitterati, they really don't understand that the green is where people that don't put their politics in their games is right? Because a lot of it is "oh the green is half leftoids too hurr durr" is really funny in its own right lol

Exactly right?! It's like they can't comprehend that the list is just about good games without political bias. I don't care where the creator is on the spectrum......if they keep it out of their games. The left has preached (huh, get it) that religious people have been shoving religion down their throats for years. And that's what this list is for us. Them shoving their political/social ideology down our throats.

I mean it doesn't help that their views have essentially become a defacto secularized state-religion. And agreed, if someone gets preachy, or specifically asks to be put in the red list, so be it, they may think it's "good optics" but to everyone off Twitter (a majority of the populace) it isn't...
Forever GM that owns way too many books.

Ocule

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on September 07, 2021, 11:58:58 AM
So I am a little late to this, and maybe this was discussed in the previous posts, but is this list only about publishers/content creating companies, or is it also about stores that might be importing/providing access to games?

Because "Exalted Funeral" seems kind of like a mixed bag? They've been making getting the Necrotic Gnome stuff easier in the US, but they've partnered with some cringe SJW people like the "Full Metal RPG" podcast on some stuff,  I don't remember if they've done much overt political stuff, or if they just kinda have an idea of providing products to people who want them, whether they're products that cater to SJWs or non-SJW gamers.


Somewhat related to Steve Jackson/GURPS is  Amarillo Design Bureu. They have the Prime Directive RPG, which also has a version for GURPS. Their products don't seem to have a political bend or messaging in them.

As far as stores go I think only including them if they do something that really does effect a good portion of the hobby. Like Kwan's crusade against any rpg that is asian themed, despite the fact i think hes from like cali or something. But he managed to get wotc to stick warning labels on rpgs and damn near got oriental adventures pulled off obs. This list would be unreasonably long if I went to include every game store and distributer on the market. So unless we cross the boundry into tortious interference or trying to get games pulled from shelves in other stores then I really don't see the point. The same goes for podcasts, youtubers, random DMs Guild contributors, etc.

Amarillo Design Bureau looks solid enough I cant find anything on their website/twitter/facebook etc. They just post about their products, they don't look too active overall which isn't a bad thing
Read my Consumer's Guide to TTRPGs
here. This is a living document.

Forever GM

Now Running: Mystara (BECMI)

SandCastleRogue

You forgot Higher Grounds.

Higher Grounds literally wrote about gay Ellen warriors in modern day earth and fighting systemic oppression by way of rebellious dragons.

PonchoGoblin

Quote from: SandCastleRogue on September 07, 2021, 12:27:32 PM
You forgot Higher Grounds.

Higher Grounds literally wrote about gay Ellen warriors in modern day earth and fighting systemic oppression by way of rebellious dragons.

Not gonna lie, that game sounds like garbage
Forever GM that owns way too many books.

rando

Hi All,

New subscriber here.  I just wanted to point out that I don't think Monte Cook games should
be in the Red Zone.  I've bought just about all of the Numenera books, never played it, but
I never noticed any woke material.  It's still your game to run as you will.

I hadn't heard of "Consent" so I went to read about that.  That checklist looks like it would
be useful if you were running a game in public with a bunch of randos.  If I were going to play
the game with people I didn't know, I'd want to have some idea of what they're comfortable with.

What I would do is write down on the "Consent" form what I would put in my own game.  Maybe
it'll cover slavery.  You can write in your own topics you don't want to cover as well.  For
instance, I'd probably write in "homosexuality" because I'm not comfortable with that.  I'm
not interested in rape (NPC/PC or PC/PC) or kids being killed, or abortion, and for sex, I'm not
interested in the details so that can "Fade to Black".  I'm not going to run a campaign that
plays out like the movie Kinjente: Forbidden Subjects or Hell Raiser 2, so I'd exclude all the
crap that would never show up.  If I was going to cover any of those things (gore, rape, etc),
then I would write that in the "Consent" form.  Frankly, for it being a game, I really don't
see the point of getting into that stuff.

I had to think about it for a minute, but most of this "safe stuff" is for women.  If you've
ever gone on dates or read about relationships, women are very concerned about their safety
at all times.  So having a woman or women show up in your game and you go off and do a
rape, gang rape, or hit on them through the game funnel, well that will absolutely freak
them out.  The Reddit RPG Horror Stories thread is filled with these stories of people
playing 3e with their Half-Orc Ranger Assassins using Chaotic Evil to rape somebody else
in the party and then use excuses such as "I can do it because I'm Chaotic Evil".  Granted,
I'm laughing my ass off when I read these stories, I can perfectly see how awful it would
be for women to join such a game and have this intent thrust on them when they're supposed
to be playing a game FFS.

So back to the "Consent" form, you would then send your Consent form out to the Rando
players and see how they fill it out.  You can then compare what they put in their list
to what you have in your list.  At this point, you can decide what will go and stay or
whether certain players wouldn't fit your game.  Then send out the compromised "Consent"
form to the players you want to keep and they either take it or leave it.

So anyhow, all the "Consent" form does is act as a screen and set expectations between
you and a bunch of rando players.  For instance, who would want to cover a rape scene
with a stranger that was raped in the RW?  This doesn't sound like liberally libtard
schlock to me, as if it was a cry for BLM and telling everyone not to play the game
if they voted for Trump or that there were too many whites.

I propose moving Monte Cook games to Yellow.  I think the only book Twain is in is the
Guidebook, which isn't necessary.  Don't forget that Monte Cook produced the Book of Vile
Darkness (BDSM, bestiality, etc).  It's entirely possible to mash-up Vile Darkness and
Numenera if somebody wanted to. hahah.

Also, someone was posting about the Asians Represent channel covering or banning 
Oriental Adventures.  I've been listening on the side to their videos while doing other
things.  That first video they were really hung up on the Comeliness stat.  When
that book came out, I was really scratching my head over what the hell that attribute
was used for and I figure it was probably never used.  One of the things they griped
about was the lumping of various Asian cultures into the Kara-Tur setting.  However,
if you look at the "Western" D&D Civilizations, it's the same thing: they've lumped
various Western periods and European cultures altogether to build D&D settings.  It's
kind of silly to compare the real world as they do with an Asian fantasy world created
by white people.  I for one would love to see Asians in China or Japan build their
own fantasy setting lumping the other Western civilizations/folklore together with
whatever preconceived stereotypes they may have about us.  It might be exotic and
weird if it's not loaded with HR protections and all of that ridiculous legalese
you see in the corporate world.  All the comments sections are turned off on their
channel which is annoying.

I love those gonzo oriental settings that have come out over the years for OSR.  I've
often thought about running Black Hack with Yoon Suin.  In fact, the modularity of
OSR is what makes it interesting: you can mix and match game system books with system
settings, and RNG books.  I'd run it solo, but I'm OK with that.

On another side note, in the past, I did buy Evil Hat's Andromeda and Ghost Worlds.
These two games had some flavor I was interested in to make a Mass Effect: Andromeda
spiritual successor.  I think the fluff in those books would be good for SWN. 
It didn't cost very much, however, I didn't notice any diversity, inclusion, or BLM in
it. EH was the only game in town for Andromeda/Ghost Worlds fluff that fit the
ME:A custom system I was interested in putting together.

- rando

Allvaldr

Quote from: Ocule on September 07, 2021, 12:26:35 PM
Quote from: Banjo Destructo on September 07, 2021, 11:58:58 AM
So I am a little late to this, and maybe this was discussed in the previous posts, but is this list only about publishers/content creating companies, or is it also about stores that might be importing/providing access to games?

Because "Exalted Funeral" seems kind of like a mixed bag? They've been making getting the Necrotic Gnome stuff easier in the US, but they've partnered with some cringe SJW people like the "Full Metal RPG" podcast on some stuff,  I don't remember if they've done much overt political stuff, or if they just kinda have an idea of providing products to people who want them, whether they're products that cater to SJWs or non-SJW gamers.


Somewhat related to Steve Jackson/GURPS is  Amarillo Design Bureu. They have the Prime Directive RPG, which also has a version for GURPS. Their products don't seem to have a political bend or messaging in them.

As far as stores go I think only including them if they do something that really does effect a good portion of the hobby. Like Kwan's crusade against any rpg that is asian themed, despite the fact i think hes from like cali or something. But he managed to get wotc to stick warning labels on rpgs and damn near got oriental adventures pulled off obs. This list would be unreasonably long if I went to include every game store and distributer on the market. So unless we cross the boundry into tortious interference or trying to get games pulled from shelves in other stores then I really don't see the point. The same goes for podcasts, youtubers, random DMs Guild contributors, etc.

Amarillo Design Bureau looks solid enough I cant find anything on their website/twitter/facebook etc. They just post about their products, they don't look too active overall which isn't a bad thing

Is Exalted Funeral only a store? I've seen them Kickstart some stuff for Mörk Borg and be listed as a co-publisher on the packaging and all. example: "Putrescence Regnant".

Note: besides their name popping up on some of that stuff, I don't really know em, so no clue how woke they are.

Mithgarthr

Quote from: PonchoGoblin on August 05, 2021, 09:11:03 PM
Agreed, that's why I try to buy physical/PDFs whenever I can. Hell, the only reason I've pirated something is just to give a look through to see if I like it because 9/10 times the DriveThru preview is just the Table of Contents (which idk if that's on the publisher or DriveThru).

Late to the game on this one, but just found this thread and wanted to point out that that is 100% on the publisher's end, not on DriveThru's. When you set up a title, you tell it exactly which pages of the PDF you want to be displayed on the preview. It defaults to like 1-3 or something along those lines, so when you get a preview that ends up being essentially just the ToC, that's a publisher being lazy and not setting their preview correctly.

Palleon

Quote from: rando on September 07, 2021, 12:53:51 PM
Also, someone was posting about the Asians Represent channel covering or banning 
Oriental Adventures.  I've been listening on the side to their videos while doing other
things.  That first video they were really hung up on the Comeliness stat.


FFS sake.  Comeliness was an addition to the entire AD&D line with the 1.5 splat books via Unearth Arcana.  It was just republished in OA so that you could run the game without the original PHB and UA.

I'm not saying it was a good addition, I'm just saying why it's there.

Hopladamus

Don't forget to add Tenkar's Tavern Gamen to the Green list. Tenkar has always been fair to us.

PonchoGoblin

Quote from: rando on September 07, 2021, 12:53:51 PM
Hi All,
...
- rando

First of all, most of the "horror stories" in the RPG Horror Stories sub are false, with multiple people writing multiple a week just to gain Karma.

The context of the Monte Cook consent form was not for convention games, because most cons if you run at them don't allow you to even broach taboo topics unless it is specifically a horror game in a lot of cases (in which case, what are you doing playing it if you need to be protected from those kinds of thoughts?). The context and intent was to try and push it on people's home games, particularly forcing them to include "that guy" types who would try to make Mary Sue esque characters, along with the inclusion of multiple "session 0s" which is unnecessary unless you are trying to force politics (I only ever have one for initial character creation in a new system). Likewise, why would you need a form to go off about pronouns if you actually believed in what you said? Then wouldn't it just be easier to talk directly?

Also, Evil Hat is one of the worst purveyors of this kinda stuff to the point where I think Fred Hicks has absolutely lost it (which is a shame, met him before all the GG craziness and he was actually a fairly nice fellow).

Edit: typo fixes, I hate being on a mobile
Forever GM that owns way too many books.