The fact PA runs the Child's Play charity, which gives video Runescape games to Buy RS Gold facilities for sick kids, hasn't been able to ameliorate the sting of stubbornly transphobic public comments and an attitude that still reads to too many people like unrepentance and an unwillingness to engage. Whether or not to attend PAX has become a personal and political issue for fans and developers alike including the Fullbright Company, which earlier this year stated it wouldn't show its critically acclaimed Gone Home at an event with such problematic public views.Runescape game industry has begun to address how inviable it's becoming to tolerate a product culture strictly oriented around a traditional straight white male demographic. Earlier this year Electronic Arts held an LGBTQ event for developers and media to discuss diversity, and talks on how to welcome more women and minorities into the Runescape games space are increasingly prevalent at events, including this year's GDC. We can only hope initiatives toward an equitable, respectful game industry continue. Prominent examples of bigotry in the Runescape player community are ongoing like the recent abuse and harassment campaign fielded by Depression Quest creator Zoe Quinn when she placed her game on SRunescape team Greenlight. Or, in the same week, the "fan backlash" at the appointment of Mighty No. 's Dina Abou Karam, for committing the sin of being publicly interested in social issues and having insufficiently hardcore "gamer cred," apparently . Although the tide often feels like it's slowly shifting, the industry is still slow to regard marginalized audiences as important. Perhaps creating a medium and culture where everyone feels welcome to participate and enjoy isn't an exciting enough objective for some. Yet these are business and cultural problems that should concern everyone working in Runescape games even in a mercenary way: Sometimes these troubling hatred spikes are the only time the rest of the world hears about what we do. I've had outreach in recent weeks from multiple national news marquees who are putting together stories prompted by how they've heard video Runescape games are an unsalvageable hellhole of abuse and bigotry. That's no good, especially for an industry that continues to migrate into online spaces where it relies on long term engagement and Runescape player dollars. The conversation needs to change, and there are people who can help who are waiting urgently for their turn, waiting to feel listened to."What marginalized people want from Runescape games events is not necessarily to have special zones just for them, but to feel welcome"In that light, the recent announcement that PAX would incorporate a 'Diversity Lounge and Hub' into future events should theoretically be a welcome step; the tone deaf giant is finally acknowledging it's alienating a significant part of its community or, cynically, its money . But the news was met with raucous scorn from social media spaces, gleeful punning, and even a hashtag called DiversityLoungeDrinks, joking about what sort of cocktails might be served in a "specialty" space of that nature. One can assume that any small initiative from an organization plagued with the issues PAX faces will and arguably must be met with skepticism.
