Car News

Hi All,

What does this group stand for?  I'm curious as to our mission statement.  I went looking for it, but it looks like the existing web site is down: http://www.car-pga.org

Here's why I ask:  My understanding is the CAR-PGA was dedicated to positively engaging with non-gamers about gaming.  Back when it was formed (before my time), I believe the primary issue was the Satanic Panic and overall ignorance about RPGs. 

I wish I could say those days are over, but there is now a line of thinking that is aggressively divisive and reacts with unbridled hostility to anyone questioning the status quo.  It started with Gamer Gate, but let there be no doubt that it affects every aspect of gaming, including tabletop RPGs. D&D's surging popularity means our biggest problem is no longer ignorance about the game, it's the gaming population's own prejudices and biases. 

I think a group like the CAR-PGA should be dedicated to making role-playing as welcoming as possible for everyone -- and yes, that includes diverse voices and diverse topics.  Are we all older white guys?  Has there been any effort to reach out to more diverse gaming voices? How do we recruit new members?

And relatedly, what are we doing to advance RPGs as a group?  After seeing Black Panther, I've been thinking about otherism, and that led me to write two other articles about stereotypes that early D&D reflected -- phrases like "orientalism," or lumping all African nations into one fantasy region, or even whether or not we should be still classifying sentient humanoids as "races" in D&D. The first two threads were shut down, the most recent is still going: 

I'm not sharing these threads to show my work, but rather a data points about the state of the RPG audience (at least, online) today as reflected in the comments.  I encourage you to read as much as you can tolerate.  You will see some amazingly thought out, really interesting points...and you may also despair for the future of our hobby.  

It seems to me that this group should be the champion of this kind of dialogue, even if you don't necessarily agree that things should change -- we should at least be asking the questions. I have no doubt you are all doing excellent work in personally advancing RPGs.  But as an organization, I'm concerned about this group's future.  

I welcome answers from prospective board members to the above questions.