Has this happened to you? An RPG you bought back in the day was designed by a guy that is now a woman.
I dont think that has ever happened.
Jacquays for one at least, right?
Quote from: Opaopajr on October 25, 2020, 12:29:35 AM
Jacquays for one at least, right?
That is the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
Do former designers count? If so, there's the designer of Hulks & Horrors: http://www.bedroomwallpress.com/ who abandoned* their RPG work and claims to be designing video games.
*As in Open Source. There's even a Github here: https://github.com/jarcane/bedroom-wall-press
Jacquays is the only one I can think of.
Now if you're in to video game speed running then yeah, a whole lot of those bros are now chicks.
Jaquays is the only one I can think of, too. Seems to me more a videogame-nerd thing. OTOH it usually happens when they're in their 50s like Jenner, some kind of hormonal thing apparently, so we might get a second wave.
The author of Monsterhearts, and The Quite Year (Buried Without Ceremony) Joe Mac something is now Avery Alder. These are story games.
Don't know. Don't care.
I heard Pundit is going to transition to female so he can become a bonafide cat lady, but otherwise Jaquays is it.
Videogames, Dan Bunten is probably the most famous example.
Over at UFO Press Jay Iles is now Minerva (or Mina) McJanda.
Not sure of the whole transitioning timeline, but the name change is recent. At some point after the Legacy: Life Among the Stars 2e release and before the Shattered City - Mysthea release.
Quote from: Brad on October 25, 2020, 09:12:31 PM
I heard Pundit is going to transition to female so he can become a bonafide cat lady, but otherwise Jaquays is it.
HAHAHAHA!
*ahem* I mean, REPORTED!
Why are 80% of transitions male to female, and only 20% female to male? That mystifies me.
Quote from: Hawkwing7423 on October 26, 2020, 07:22:27 PM
Why are 80% of transitions male to female, and only 20% female to male? That mystifies me.
It's easier to be a misfit woman than a misfit man.
Quote from: Hawkwing7423 on October 26, 2020, 07:22:27 PM
Why are 80% of transitions male to female, and only 20% female to male? That mystifies me.
I have two real friends who went from being male to female. I've known both for over half my life.
Of the two, one of them I genuinely think is a narcissist (clinically speaking) and in love with themselves, and the transition was in some way connected to that.
The other one I genuinely think is a woman who had the misfortune of simply being born in the wrong body. She is, in every way I can think of, a completely normal nerdy woman. She's well adjusted and a reasonably happy person.
Why does it matter? If someone transitioned even if they are a game designer, who gives a fuck? Honestly I don't see the issue. And if there is no issue please ignore and carry on.
Quote from: arcanuum on October 27, 2020, 01:56:35 AM
Why does it matter? If someone transitioned even if they are a game designer, who gives a fuck? Honestly I don't see the issue. And if there is no issue please ignore and carry on.
Hey, guys, you're discussing a topic arcanum either doesn't like or doesn't care about. So stop it! I mean, he told you to ignore it. Isn't that enough for you?
It seems to me based on social media posts and having gone to any number of 'cons over the years, that there is a noticeable number of cross- or trans- folks. I haven't gone to a PaizoCon in a few years, but the last few I went to there were quite a few players and many associated with publishing companies.
For all the abuse that gets heaped on the hobby, I would say comparatively speaking, it has always been more inherently tolerant of differences.
Quote from: Lynn on October 27, 2020, 12:44:54 PM
It seems to me based on social media posts and having gone to any number of 'cons over the years, that there is a noticeable number of cross- or trans- folks. I haven't gone to a PaizoCon in a few years, but the last few I went to there were quite a few players and many associated with publishing companies.
For all the abuse that gets heaped on the hobby, I would say comparatively speaking, it has always been more inherently tolerant of differences.
That's been the problem a lot of us have been bitching about.
For all the social ineptitude gamers can display, we're a pretty welcoming bunch. But the latest push by the socjus crowd would have you believe those old school gamers were all monstrously sexist and racist and obnoxious.
Quote from: Eirikrautha on October 27, 2020, 07:06:54 AM
Quote from: arcanuum on October 27, 2020, 01:56:35 AM
Why does it matter? If someone transitioned even if they are a game designer, who gives a fuck? Honestly I don't see the issue. And if there is no issue please ignore and carry on.
Hey, guys, you're discussing a topic arcanum either doesn't like or doesn't care about. So stop it! I mean, he told you to ignore it. Isn't that enough for you?
When I said ignore and carry on, I meant ignore my post and carry on. I guess I should've been more specific. Perks of writing posts really late I guess.
Quote from: arcanuum on October 27, 2020, 02:14:12 PM
Quote from: Eirikrautha on October 27, 2020, 07:06:54 AM
Quote from: arcanuum on October 27, 2020, 01:56:35 AM
Why does it matter? If someone transitioned even if they are a game designer, who gives a fuck? Honestly I don't see the issue. And if there is no issue please ignore and carry on.
Hey, guys, you're discussing a topic arcanum either doesn't like or doesn't care about. So stop it! I mean, he told you to ignore it. Isn't that enough for you?
When I said ignore and carry on, I meant ignore my post and carry on. I guess I should've been more specific. Perks of writing posts really late I guess.
Dude, he was fucking with you. ;D
When you can't think straight and are tired don't come here. They smell that opportunity.
Quote from: arcanuum on October 27, 2020, 01:56:35 AM
Why does it matter? If someone transitioned even if they are a game designer, who gives a fuck? Honestly I don't see the issue. And if there is no issue please ignore and carry on.
Such a gatekeeper.
Quote from: Hawkwing7423 on October 26, 2020, 07:22:27 PM
Why are 80% of transitions male to female, and only 20% female to male? That mystifies me.
Most children nowadays grow up in single-mother households, so there are no male role-models, aside from the stream of the mothers' boyfriends that parade in and out.
For whatever reason, I see a lot of situations where grandmothers or other female relatives put young boys (4 and under) into dresses. Female sexual predation on male children seems to often involve role-playing, with or without overt sexual acts. And it brings up the question as to why all of these women want to emasculate young boys. In virtually every case, these males were also sexually abused by other males -- eroticisizng young boys by putting them into dresses seems to encourage ridicule
and sexual abuse by older males.
There is a similar disorder called body integrity dysphoria which is characterized by a desire to be disabled and by self-amputation. The risk factor is
knowing an amputee as a child. This suggests that it is a
learned coping mechanism for something. It is medicated with antidepressants.
As far as I know, gender identity disorder is a learned coping mechanism for severe depression, learned from exposure to sexual abuse by women and from the public school system which teaches that gender is fluid.
Quote from: Lynn on October 27, 2020, 12:44:54 PM
It seems to me based on social media posts and having gone to any number of 'cons over the years, that there is a noticeable number of cross- or trans- folks.
Well, it's a kind of LARPing, really, isn't it?
This forum does like busting one's balls, doesn't it? :) We don't take ourselves too seriously here as we're often quick to anger, quick to tease, and for the most part quick to forgive. :D Carry on!
The one I'm most familiar with has already been mentioned - Joe McDaldno > Avery McDaldno > Avery Alder. I actually like some of the games they made(I still want to try out Ribbon Drive someday - the idea of creating a road trip story using a group-made song playlist just sounds fun.), and for a couple years back in the day was part of the group over at Infrno.net that was really into Monsterhearts. I forget how I found out, but at some point I found out that on other big RPG forums that Infrno actually gained a bit of a reputation because of the number of people playing Monsterhearts on it at one point. I know that the games I was in always followed "fade to black" and "hollywood casting" rules, but I didn't police all the games there, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of them got creepy. I'm just pretty big into urban fantasy in general, and the game is super simple to play and run, so that was enough for me.
Some of the rules were a bit vague, but McDaldno/Alder had a blog where they would occasionally talk about the intent behind some of the rules bits. How they were supposed to work and all that. So I'd check there for rules clarifications. But between the game design stuff, there'd be things about their personal life. I can't recall exactly when the transition began, but at one point they were begging for donations to help with an adrenalectomy - removal of the adrenal glands. Literally said they were poisoning them. It was weird, y'all. And tbh I played MH from the free handouts and playbooks, so almost never looked at the book. The few times I did, yeah . . . you could tell it was a very "woke" product.
Then the people I gamed with, multiple times in many cases, started coming out as trans. The first couple were m2f. There was another group member who I'd suspected for a while due to their voice, then later heard them flat-out state it, suspicion confirmed. And a 4th . . . I don't even know. She was already a woman, and admitted to being perfectly happy being a woman, but since she didn't 100% conform to all of the stereotypes I guess she needed a special term, too? That was a facepalm moment right there. It wasn't long after that that I kind of noped out of that community, signed out of Infrno and Skype(the VOIP of choice at the time, as this was before Discord) for the last time, and went my own way. I came across one of them by coincidence on Roll20 a couple years later - an f2m I forgot to mention, though I didn't know it at the time and actually found out when we gamed together on Roll20 - and found out that it wasn't just me. The whole group kind of disintegrated around that time anyway.
Very odd history lesson. But yes, I know of at least 1 trans game developer, at least 1 other whom I suspect(though I won't blast them online since I don't know for sure and if they haven't gone public with it then it wouldn't be my place anyway), and had at least 4 trans people in a relatively small online group of gamers I played with for a couple years back in the day.
Not sure your objective, but this is tantamount to asking us to #Deadname people, which doesn't help anyone's case.
Quote from: Libramarian on October 26, 2020, 08:11:01 PM
It's easier to be a misfit woman than a misfit man.
Not wrong.
Quote from: Mistwell on October 26, 2020, 09:28:28 PM
I have two real friends who went from being male to female. I've known both for over half my life.
Of the two, one of them I genuinely think is a narcissist (clinically speaking) and in love with themselves, and the transition was in some way connected to that.
The other one I genuinely think is a woman who had the misfortune of simply being born in the wrong body. She is, in every way I can think of, a completely normal nerdy woman. She's well adjusted and a reasonably happy person.
Indeed there's a hell of a lot of nuance to this issue, and we need to be able to make these kinds of distinctions without being attacked for wrongthink. For example, I know people transitioning due to trauma, which isn't a healthy reason to do so. But they're not going to get the help they need when doing so is seen as transphobic.
Quote from: arcanuum on October 27, 2020, 01:56:35 AM
Why does it matter? If someone transitioned even if they are a game designer, who gives a fuck? Honestly I don't see the issue. And if there is no issue please ignore and carry on.
Because a disproportionate number of people in this field fit that definition when compared to other fields, and it's worth inquiring as to why that is.
I'm nominally a postgenderist and have been for years. I used to never really think about trans issues. After hearing about the attempts by trans rights activists to erode the very concept of being female, as well as numerous other horror stories and recent lawsuits, I decided to tentatively adopt a gender critical perspective.
Humans only have two sexes: male and female. This is because there are only two types of gametes: egg and sperm. This includes individuals with variations of sexual development: they do not produce new types of gametes and thus do not constitute new sexes.
At least with current medical technology, humans cannot change their sex. Males and females are distinct from one another on a cellular level, to say nothing of the macro scale differences.
The gender ideologues ignore this and promote the false narrative that sex was invented by white supremacists in order to oppress transgender people. Among other alternative facts.
The people who are harmed the most by this are, naturally, the people the movement is supposedly trying to help.
I, as a postgenderist, believe technology should be used to remove the sex barrier for the good of mankind when it is mature enough to do so.
As of right now, the medical establishment is promoting dangerous untested body modification for a poorly-understood neurological crisis.
This is quite frankly human experimentation.
Even so, I would discourage deadnaming devs unless they detransition. It's impolite.
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on October 31, 2020, 05:53:49 PM
Not sure your objective, but this is tantamount to asking us to #Deadname people, which doesn't help anyone's case.
The people we are talking about aren't dead. And names can be forgotten, but they can't die. So the concept of "deadnaming" is horsecrap. Doubly so for the many folks who haven't even changed their legal name or identity (which happens more than you would think in these cases). I believe Eddie Murphy said it best: "If his momma called him 'Cassius,' I'm gonna call him 'Cassius'!"
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on October 31, 2020, 05:53:49 PM
Because a disproportionate number of people in this field fit that definition when compared to other fields, and it's worth inquiring as to why that is.
Do you mean on the low or high side? I ask because we seem to be doing a poor job of identifying that many.
Now I can understand that earlier generations would have been less likely to identify as such (greater social pressure to conform) and maintain a presence in the hobby (and therefore be more likely to be able to be identified). Jaquays is one of the few from the very old school that I know of. Certainly in the past five years the number of LBGTQI authors seems to have increased, but is that because they are 'branding' themselves as such to increase their attraction?
Quote from: Kyle Aaron on October 28, 2020, 02:12:23 AM
Quote from: Lynn on October 27, 2020, 12:44:54 PM
It seems to me based on social media posts and having gone to any number of 'cons over the years, that there is a noticeable number of cross- or trans- folks.
Well, it's a kind of LARPing, really, isn't it?
Yes, "being someone else" does fit.
Quote from: Eirikrautha on November 01, 2020, 12:16:58 AM
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on October 31, 2020, 05:53:49 PM
Not sure your objective, but this is tantamount to asking us to #Deadname people, which doesn't help anyone's case.
The people we are talking about aren't dead. And names can be forgotten, but they can't die. So the concept of "deadnaming" is horsecrap.
That's... not what that means.
The idea is that some people don't want to be linked to their other monikers, often for reasons of safety, and shouldn't have to be unless they need to be held accountable for the actions taken under them. And given how defensive ThePudit is about their names I'm sure they'd agree.
Quote from: ponta1010 on November 01, 2020, 04:13:29 AM
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on October 31, 2020, 05:53:49 PM
Because a disproportionate number of people in this field fit that definition when compared to other fields, and it's worth inquiring as to why that is.
Do you mean on the low or high side?
High. Much higher than any other industry I know of.
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on November 02, 2020, 11:29:28 AM
Quote from: Eirikrautha on November 01, 2020, 12:16:58 AM
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on October 31, 2020, 05:53:49 PM
Not sure your objective, but this is tantamount to asking us to #Deadname people, which doesn't help anyone's case.
The people we are talking about aren't dead. And names can be forgotten, but they can't die. So the concept of "deadnaming" is horsecrap.
That's... not what that means.
The idea is that some people don't want to be linked to their other monikers, often for reasons of safety, and shouldn't have to be unless they need to be held accountable for the actions taken under them. And given how defensive ThePudit is about their names I'm sure they'd agree.
If you've put one name on products you've produced, and are now using a new name for new products, I'm not sure how you would avoid having this discussed online. It's useful to know, for example that if you got a copy of Monsterhearts 1st ed the author listed is Joe MacDonald, and if you get Monsterhearts 2nd edition, the author is Avery Alder, and this is the same person.
I've never met Avery, but we've exchanged some emails, books and funds since I sell both Monsterhearts 2nd (https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/monsterhearts2), and The Quite Year (https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/the-quiet-year) on the CDG RPG Marketplace I run. (Prices set it $CAD funds so it tends to be cheaper. You can switch the currency at the top if you want to use USD or another currency.)
I really dig
The Quite Year, it's a great 3000-foot view one-session map-drawing story game. I've enjoyed playing Monsterhearts at a convention or two, but I don't think it's something I'd run.
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on November 02, 2020, 11:29:28 AM
Quote from: ponta1010 on November 01, 2020, 04:13:29 AM
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on October 31, 2020, 05:53:49 PM
Because a disproportionate number of people in this field fit that definition when compared to other fields, and it's worth inquiring as to why that is.
Do you mean on the low or high side?
High. Much higher than any other industry I know of.
All we really have to go on here is anecdotal info I imagine. It does make sense that fringe hobbies may attract individuals struggling to find acceptance, and perhaps even the nature of our games where you get to try out being someone else, but that is pure conjecture.
I've been to 2-6 game conventions a year for the past decade or so (mostly in Ontario I admit, but also UK Games Expo, GenCon and Origins). I run at least 4 sessions. To my knowledge I've had 1 gamer sit at my table who was trans. That doesn't mean that there weren't ones I was unaware of though :)
Cons certainly have gone through . . . flamewars . . . over revising and creating policy to make "everyone feel welcome." At least one has taken to the point where it actually becomes a little uncomfortable to be straight, white and male.
Still, while it may feel more prevalent, I'm not convinced that it is
much higher than other industries.
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on November 02, 2020, 11:29:28 AM
That's... not what that means.
No kidding. That's my point. The proponents of normalization of this mental illness have invented a portmanteau word that is logically and definitionally incoherent, for the primary purpose of obfuscating the real meaning. The actual meaning trends more in the direction of not wanting to be reminded of their birth-sex, for reasons of "mental harm" that approach the histrionic, narcissistic definition of "harm" presented in the "Sword Lesbians" thread.
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on November 02, 2020, 11:29:28 AM
The idea is that some people don't want to be linked to their other monikers, often for reasons of safety...
Gonna need to see your statistics and methodology on that claim. And no, "I don't feel safe" is not evidence of an actual threat. Maybe evidence that multiple mental illnesses tend to clump together...
I...don't really keep track?
And I'm not really sure it matters to me, personally.
If Bob now wants me to call him Bobbi and use female pronouns, I'm not put out doing that for her.
The answer is Zero since men cannot become women (or vice versa).
But its America so they're free to play pretend. Transvestites aren't new and we didn't join in their delusions when they decided to prance around in dresses.
Quote from: Novastar on November 10, 2020, 08:49:09 PM
I...don't really keep track?
And I'm not really sure it matters to me, personally.
If Bob now wants me to call him Bobbi and use female pronouns, I'm not put out doing that for her.
It's not something I would normally follow. In the instance I mentioned above they made the announcement about the transition as part of a Kickstarter Update on their project I backed.
I think the info can be useful. If I like their previous work I want to know to look for the new name instead of just assuming they stopped working in the industry altogether.
Quote from: Thondor on November 02, 2020, 02:14:07 PM
If you've put one name on products you've produced, and are now using a new name for new products, I'm not sure how you would avoid having this discussed online. It's useful to know, for example that if you got a copy of Monsterhearts 1st ed the author listed is Joe MacDonald, and if you get Monsterhearts 2nd edition, the author is Avery Alder, and this is the same person.
You'd think that, yet I've seen authors lose their shit from people using their 'old' name to refer to their previous work. I'm pretty sure Avery
wouldn't, but they're also an anomaly in the #SJW field, not least of which because they won't throw their friends to the wolves to meet the demands of the mob.
The problem I have is when people use accusations of #Deadnaming to prevent anyone from holding them accountable for their previous toxic behavior, and then hide behind the transition or avoid accountability for anything in the future.
Quote from: Thondor on November 02, 2020, 02:14:07 PM
All we really have to go on here is anecdotal info I imagine.
It's
all anecdotal, which is why nothing ever gets resolved and everyone always has enough 'evidence' to justify their current paranoia. And the only real evidence we have are the actions taken
based on anecdotal evidence.
Quote from: Eirikrautha on November 02, 2020, 05:01:41 PM
Quote from: Anon Adderlan on November 02, 2020, 11:29:28 AM
The idea is that some people don't want to be linked to their other monikers, often for reasons of safety...
Gonna need to see your statistics and methodology on that claim. And no, "I don't feel safe" is not evidence of an actual threat.
Well I never said their reasons were
sound, though doxxing has become increasingly dangerous. Regardless I appreciate this kind of accountability, and since I do not have a set of rigorous statistics and methodology to support this conclusion I'll withdraw it.
I'd ask ThePundit then why they're so touchy about people using their given name. I mean do they consider doing that to be harmful in itself?
Oh, just remembered. John S. Berry III, author of Hulks and Horrors and a few other things, now goes by Annaia Danvers. So my count is 2(maybe 3) game authors & 4 players that I personally gamed with. Am I winning?
Russell/Rose Bailey with Onyx Path
I can't say I pay any attention to this, so I have little to say. The only designer that comes to mind is Jaquays. I used various supplements and adventures authored under "Paul Jaquays" for years (and also played through some of the id software game levels that were Jaquays-designed). I met and gamed with Paul at some conventions, before the name change to Jennell. We haven't had any interaction since then, as I haven't been to any cons in some time.
From a truly scientific perspective; no one can change their DNA. A dress, some makeup, and an operation do not suddenly turn a man into a woman.
I now activate my Winged Boots, cast Greater Invisibility, and Fly well outside of Melee range.