New column: Tracer Rounds!

Started by bayonetbrant, January 04, 2016, 11:22:55 AM

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JasonPratt

Haiku reviews!
(Counting the drifting dipthong,
that's five syllables.)

Genius idea!
And can serve double duty:
blurb material.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

bayonetbrant

One in particular...

Tank on Tank East Front (LNLP)
Sent out for review
Back before last Thanksgiving
Hey Mirth! Still waiting...
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

bayonetbrant

So I have a feeling I just pissed off two thirds of the internet today. At least I accomplished something
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Emeraldlis

Quote from: bayonetbrant on April 11, 2016, 05:07:02 PM
So I have a feeling I just pissed off two thirds of the internet today. At least I accomplished something


That was a kickass article you just wrote Brant , and drawing attention to this issue of women and gaming needs to piss people off otherwise how can things change ? I seriously applauded you for jumping feet first into a very sensitive subject and giving some very passionate and well thought through arguments  :)  well done for having the guts to speak out on not just the behalf of women , but for men like yourself who just don't want to be a part of the problem ,but a part of the solution . It's guys like you who will make sure women like me , and the women in your own family feel safe in a male dominated gaming environment . I have experienced sexual harassment in my life and honestly it was awful , the first job I had after leaving school , I had a job in a supermarket working as a cashier , and occasionally filling freezers with stock . I had the sleaziest manager EVER .....ugh , he was only 24 and I was 16 , but I used to feel sick going to work every morning because I knew he was there  . He used to ask us ( me and other young women who worked there ) to fill the freezers , and he'd sit across from us and watch us bending over to restock them .....ugh , he'd make very sexist comments , it got so bad I'd be checking for hidden cameras in the ladies bathroom , because honestly I wouldn't have put anything past this guy !!! I eventually left that job , I didn't complain to anyone about it because I was to afraid back then , but you can bet your ass if that happened to me now I'd have him hauled up before authorities quicker than he could say "I didn't touch her " !!!!!  :knuppel2:
I think the point I'm making is that a lot of us experience harassment, men as well as women , in any environment, home , work , school and other places that should be safe . But as long as there are people willing to stand up and say no , "this is not going to happen on my watch " , then there's hope that things can change for the better .
It's sad that as a society we are still having this conversation about women's rights  :-\  wouldn't it be nice if we could just get to a point were people just respect other people regardless of gender !! How many more bras need to be burned for this to happen  >:(
Anyway , well done Brant for broaching this subject and opening it up for debate  O0
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm " winston Churchill 😉
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune , or to take arms against a sea of trouble ,and by opposing end them "  hamlet  🎭

A bad hobbit is hard to break - Staggerwing
Booooo!!!!! Repeat !!!!!!!   - MetalDog

Cyrano

Long, long ago I told a female friend that any time her husband wanted to go to Historicon she should let him.  At no other convention was he less likely to meet unattached females.  It's changed a bit over the years, but I daresay we're still running north of 90%.  Tending to the shape of one's coat buttons prevents other inappropriate behavior, says I.

More seriously, I do not disbelieve what I hear, though I've rarely seen it, and am aghast at the behavior people I trust report.  If the behavior isn't criminal -- which some of what I've read certainly is -- it is profoundly ill-mannered and makes me wonder who is raising these hairless apes.  Seeing a pretty female in a scanty costume can, I suppose, be a challenge for the sexually underdeveloped, but that's nothing by way of excuse.  Besides, I'm now of an age where many of my friends have daughters in their teens and older, some of whom are deeply into cosplay and the like, and this only makes degenerate behavior of this sort all the more repellent.

Now I must needs file down some buttons.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
GdB



Sergeant at Arms of La Fraternite des Boutons Carres

One mustachioed, cigar-chomping, bespectacled deity, entirely at your service.

You didn't know? My Corps has already sailed to Berlin. We got there 3 days ago and we've been in the Tiergarten on the piss ever since. -- Marshal Soult, October 1806

Wes

Quote from: bayonetbrant on April 11, 2016, 05:07:02 PM
So I have a feeling I just pissed off two thirds of the internet today. At least I accomplished something

You have my vote for political office.

One of the best pieces I have read in ages and I could double the length of it with my own personal observations.

The entire reason I have stayed in table top gaming this time is to promote gaming to the demographics that are constantly pushed aside or told they don't exist (or worse).

I have watched how women and young people in general are ran off from the hobby and am devoted to helping as many as I can to find their place in it.

Thank you for writing what I've been wanting to scream for the past few years.
"I must not fear.
    Fear is the mind-killer.
    Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
    I will face my fear.
    I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
    And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
    Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."  - Frank Herbert

Arctic Blast

Quote from: bayonetbrant on April 11, 2016, 05:07:02 PM
So I have a feeling I just pissed off two thirds of the internet today. At least I accomplished something

Good job, brant. I could ramble on about how I agree with you, but I'll save everyone some time...this time.  O0

bayonetbrant

Quote from: Arctic Blast on April 12, 2016, 01:06:30 AMbut I'll save everyone some time...this time.  O0

pish.  go ahead - that's what the internet is for! ;)




thanks for the support, guys
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

James Sterrett

Quote from: bayonetbrant on April 11, 2016, 05:07:02 PM
So I have a feeling I just pissed off two thirds of the internet today. At least I accomplished something

O0  Speaking up is the start of changing the culture of putting up with this crap.

OJsDad

#84
I've read about a third of it and will finish the rest this week. Great job on what I've read so far.

In all seriousness, will Area 51 be shutdown here so as not to promote the sexualization women and war gaming.

'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

bayonetbrant

Quote from: OJsDad on April 12, 2016, 10:34:04 AMIn all seriousness, will Area 51 be shutdown here so as not to promote the sexualization women and war gaming.

Probably not, given that it's a request-only area where we park limited-access forums, like the writer's area and the discussion area for the moderation team.  Those areas have limited member-only access, but we're hardly the only site that does that.  The writer's area, for example, is where we schedule what's coming up and keep the team coordinated on article due dates (and then laugh and ignore them as the whiz on by).
But the Lingerie Channel was a topic I knew would come up.  Bottom line is this: there's really no prohibition against women joining in the fun, if they want, and posting whatever laddie pics they desire.  We just haven't had anyone ask about it.  If someone does, then sure, we'll set something up for them.  But there's also a world of difference between looking at someone (rather the point of cosplay, no?) and inappropriately / unwantedly (is that a word?) getting handsy with someone.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Steelgrave

Brant,

Simply an outstanding column. Well done. I applaud the honesty and thoughtfulness you put into your words and I hope other denizens of the internet take notice in a positive way.

Failing that....we got your back.  O0

And check your PM's please.

Emeraldlis

Quote from: bayonetbrant on April 12, 2016, 10:43:13 AM
Quote from: OJsDad on April 12, 2016, 10:34:04 AMIn all seriousness, will Area 51 be shutdown here so as not to promote the sexualization women and war gaming.

Probably not, given that it's a request-only area where we park limited-access forums, like the writer's area and the discussion area for the moderation team.  Those areas have limited member-only access, but we're hardly the only site that does that.  The writer's area, for example, is where we schedule what's coming up and keep the team coordinated on article due dates (and then laugh and ignore them as the whiz on by).
But the Lingerie Channel was a topic I knew would come up.  Bottom line is this: there's really no prohibition against women joining in the fun, if they want, and posting whatever laddie pics they desire.  We just haven't had anyone ask about it.  If someone does, then sure, we'll set something up for them.  But there's also a world of difference between looking at someone (rather the point of cosplay, no?) and inappropriately / unwantedly (is that a word?) getting handsy with someone.


Thought I'd just add something else to the mix after reading your comments here Brant  :) men and women are gonna be looking at each other and checking each other out , I ain't got no problem with that at all :) I just wanted to make clear that the reason I felt haressed at work , was because the manager was in a position of power and authority and he completely abused his position by asking us ladies to do something for his viewing pleasure that we really had no choice in , couldn't really say no , and to young , afraid to confront his behaviour . If I'd have been bending over and he just happened to walk past and check me out , well that's normal . But this guy was deliberately setting up situations that put him in control and made us powerless  >:( 
I'm not in any ,way, shape or form accusing men of sexual harassment if they're just checking a lady out !!!! ......sheesh , half the planet would be in trouble  :D but I hope you can see my point here , that although the guy never actually touched ( although he did try to do that in ways that came across as innocent ...shudder ) what he did was totally inappropriate , in how he set all of this up  >:(
I hope all of that makes sense !!! I have a lot of male friends and family members , and I am in no way "anti-male " .....lol  :D 
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm " winston Churchill 😉
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune , or to take arms against a sea of trouble ,and by opposing end them "  hamlet  🎭

A bad hobbit is hard to break - Staggerwing
Booooo!!!!! Repeat !!!!!!!   - MetalDog

bob48

#88
A very thought provoking article, Brant.

My missus, who has run a WoW guild for around 6 years now, has come across this sort of thing from some players, to the extent that she has been forced to ban a few due to their attitude, not only to her, but to other female guild members.
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

MetalDog

Well said, Brant!  My daughter is the impetus for our current D&D game night.  Her best friend's husband and her best friend were the first recruits.  Since then, we've added some guys I used to work with until we have six players and a DM.  So far, the two girls don't like the brother of one of my former work friends.  They think he's creepy.  I think he's just a bit socially awkward and doesn't know how to act around females.  I have observed nothing overt, but, I am on watch for any potential behavior that needs addressed.  I suspect, knowing both women, that they would put him in his place much faster, and better, than I ever could. 
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob