Possible this is posted somewhere else but I was looking for fresh information instead of regurgitating existing stuff... Rapid post, sorry lads. This has been thrown together.
Tanya DePass, better known as Cypheroftyr.
Twitter / Twitch / Instagram / Wikipedia Page / Website
#INeedDiverseGames
You might recognize them for being the maker of
I Need Diverse Games which is their not-for-profit company (NOTE: not a nonprofit. Not-for-profits do not need to serve a public good, they simply serve the goals of the members, while nonprofits must serve a public good.) she founded in 2016 which is meant to promote diversification in all aspects of gaming. It "
serves the community by supporting marginalized developers attend the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives" (1). She "
often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions" (1). She is a cast member for Rivals of Waterdeep, a D&D show on
Twitch which airs live on Sundays at 1p Eastern time. Until the end of their thirteenth season it was a show sponsored by Wizards of the Coast themselves! Impressive. They launched a
IndieGoGo to crowdfund future production of the show and raised $23,921... Out of $60,000. Seems to have ended production 9 months ago with S15,E12 being their last episode with the June 15th, 2023 episode. At time of writing the
Twitch VOD has 47 views and the
YouTube upload has 162 views. Super popular show. A show fitting for one of
Kotaku's 2020 GAMERS OF THE YEAR (alongside Hasan Piker... Somehow). Oh they're also named in
the Game Awards (Geoff Keighley's show) "Future Class" of "50 inspiring individuals who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future of video games." (2)
She is also a writer and "
her writing appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Vice Gaming, Mic, Waypoint, Wiscon Chronicles, Paste Games and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox" (3) alongside being the "
programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX" (3) with her being brought on by Green Ronin Publishing to co-lead adapting N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy into a tabletop role-playing game (4). She even has a short documentary made about her life from Tina Charles called
Game Changer (
interview about that here).
Their wesbite has some neat stuff on it. This "
ways to support marginalized creators" shows how low tier this company is really. It's a publicly viewable Google Doc with a bunch of C-list Twitch Andys advertising themselves. The submissions are publicly viewable. DO NOT TROLL THEM HERE.
I Need Diverse Games
Website / Twitter / Twitch / Patreon
They went from GoFundMe fundraisers raising $5,175 for a $5,000 goal and to a Patreon which currently has a monthly income of $995.90 with 267 paid members. Seems they post reviews of popular games occassionally. Neat. Anyway the main goal is "to bring projects, works and research by marginalized folks to light. We also seek to discuss, analyze and critique identity and culture in video games through a multi-faceted lens rooted in intersectionality" (5). They do this by providing tickets and travel for people to the Game Developers Conference every year, publishing articles about diversity in games (even paying contributors to do this), working with GDC, IGDA events in their city, GeekGirlCon,FlameCon, GaymerX, HavenCon, VectorConf, East Coast Games Conference, and others to get panels speaking about diversity or assisting others in doing so at these conventions... Their purpose is to provide a safe online space for gamers of colour or other marginalized identites "including race, gender, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, disability, etc." (5), promote the work of marginalized creators, encourage and defend diversity in all forms of gaming, promote posts which "use a sociological lens to talk about video, tabletop and other forms of games as well as gaming culture, posts that raise awareness of PoC activism and independent projects, and posts that discuss the future of games as a form of media" (5) and apparently maintain journalistic integrity. Apparently they lost their not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status due to a administrative error.
Sweet Baby Supporter
AKA, how to inject yourself right back into the fray. (This is legitimately the only reason I know they exist)
Source 1,
Source 2,
Source 3
Someone please look into this one, Mental Woke is simply an amazing name.
Source, archived here
#WonderWomanGame
Work Twitter Account
"Sr. Writer on #WonderWomanGame"
Remember how over 2 years ago Warner Bros. announced a Wonder Woman game? Well Tanya is a Senior Writer for that! Despite having... minimal writing credits for video games before. I have no idea how they landed this job.
She had to stop DEI consulting to take this job... (6)
The game also at one point had job listings for this role which mentioned procedural content such as procedural conversations and dialogue (7)
. So that sounds great. What could be better than handcrafted story lines? Letting a computer do it! Genius! AI is unstoppable! ChatGPT should just take over DC's media production at this point.
Assorted Amazing Quotes
1 - "Spoiler alert, affirmative actions has not benefited black people as much as whites. So tired of the idea I don't belong in an academic" I guess she'd agree with Clarence Thomas on Affirmative Action!
2 - “
If I walk into a room and I see the same … people on the same panel, it tells me you’re not trying,” DePass said. “There are plenty of non-white, non-dudes, queer people, non-binary, et cetera, that can talk about the same issues.” I wonder what the '...' is replacing!
3 - "
*Taps the sign* You cannot be racist against white people. Anyone could absolutely be prejudiced against whites; but I (nor any other POC/Black person) have the systemic power, funding or other means to keep you from jobs, homes, etc." Okay so they're fully down for P + P = R.
4 - "
I'm not blurring names, I'm not being nice. Also for the umpteenth time, black people cannot be racist against whites. We DO NOT have the systemic power and privilege to enact racism against white people. I can be prejudiced, sure. But not racist against whites."
5 - "
Orcs are evil in LoTR is where D&D got it from. Having lore doesn't excuse the trope and racism tied to Orcs and their depiction. It doesn't work in either setting, and should be done away with, and there's no way to make orcs are evil works.... in any contenxt." Orcs = Black or marginalized people!
6 - "
For the last time, non-whites cannot be racist towards white people. Y'all want to say all kinds of whackadoo BS to Black & non-POC people but then want to claim they're somehow victims of racism. Learn that reverse racism doesn't exist y'all. It's fuckin' exhausting." - "
Brought to you by people whining on Matt's retweet of my charity tweet that I blocked them at some point, after complaining about racist BS while being racist towards white people in RPG's." - "
Claiming that Black & POC folks are perpetuating racism against white people is the weakest shit. Especially when you're called on being a fuckin' racist. We can absolutely be prejudiced, but lack the systemic power to be racist against white people." - "
We're not able to control the means of production, or keep y'all out of industries, or ruin careers. Stop acting like being called white is equivalent to decades of systemic racism that we are still affected by today." Marxism anyone? Of course!
7 - "
I feel like these bumble fucks that wanna cry “reverse racism” or call Black folks racist need to walloped with a dictionary until they get it." - "
For the last time. We (Black folks) do not have the systemic power to be racist. We can’t ruin someone’s life, deny anyone jobs, housing, or opportunities based on race." - "
Y’all really don’t get how racism works, or prejudice or any of this shit works. Black people pointing out systemic racism != us being racist." - "
Some of y’all wanna be oppressed so bad but wouldn’t last a week if you had to deal with a fraction of the shit Black folks have thrown at them daily." - "
That’s without the additional modifiers of gender, orientation and economic status are piled on. But oh no, Black folks speaking on the built in racism of our world and y’all wanna act like your rights have been removed. FOH." - "
We ain’t even got to Black History Month yet and folks have made me exhausted. Gather up your friends if you see them talking about “reverse racism” & if they won’t listen? Get better friends." Stalker child, it is YOU who needs a dictionary!
8 - "
I agree, there’s also the issue that when we make our own; we get accusations of reverse racism & other bullshit. Never mind a fraction of monetary support." She's jealous of Critical Role for having enough funds to attain their high production value? Gah, having any money at all is just the Marxist version of original sin huh? Money doesn't make their skits as popular as they are, it doesn't write their jokes, it isn't what makes the show/crew good. It augments them but c'mon. You wouldn't make as good a show with the same money given to you. Giving money to you solely because you're a BIPOC would, in fact, be racist.
Sources
Source 1,
archived here - MotherlandsRPG website
Source 2,
archived here - The Game Awards, Future Class Active Alumni
Source 3,
archived here - OrcaCon 2020 website
Source 4,
archived here - Polygon, The Fifth Season RPG will expose N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth to a new audience
Source 5,
archived here - I Need Diverse Games Patreon
Source 6,
archived here - Tanya DePass' Website / Blog
Source 7,
archived here - GamesRadar Wonder Woman Guide
Quotes
Source 1,
archived here - Twitter
Source 2,
archived here - Chicago Tribune, I Need Diverse Games works to give minorities and women a louder voice in gaming
Source 3,
archived here - Twitter
Source 4,
archived here - Twitter
Source 5,
archived here - Twitter
Source 6 Part 1,
archived here |
Source 6 Part 2,
archived here |
Source 6 Part 3,
archived here |
Source 6 Part 4,
archived here - Twitter
Source 7 Part 1,
archived here |
Source 7 Part 2,
archived here |
Source 7 Part 3,
archived here |
Source 7 Part 4,
archived here |
Source 7 Part 5,
archived here |
Source 7 Part 6,
archived here - Twitter
Source 8,
archived here - Twitter
