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{ The Arkh Project - Yes, I Have an Opinion }

poemsofthedead:

You may or may not know of the interactions I’ve had with Riley, aka dumbthingswhitepplsay, the creator of The Arkh Project. To put it simply, we don’t really get on and I don’t follow them anymore. But I’ve been watching The Arkh Project from a distance from the beginning and I have some things to say.

Now let me preface this by saying I’m not a gamer and I don’t know much (it might actually be legit to say I know next to nothing) about game development or anything else really related to gaming. So I’m not personally invested in this project from the perspective of a gamer at all. I probably won’t be playing it myself. I am a writer, and a reader, who cares a great deal about a good story and about diverse representation in all forms of media and art. So yes, I do feel some feels for this project because it is creating a space for QPOC gamers where they have not had any space before. This can only be good in multiple ways for future generations.

Riley is a visionary. Yes, I just said visionary. My personal and political opinions about Riley do not in any way change the fact that what they are doing is visionary, and you need to know about it. We should be capable of not liking everyone we meet while still recognizing the good they do (just as everyone is subject to critique even if we like them and think they do a lot of good). In the case of The Arkh Project, I want to take a firm stance in support of it. I believe in it, and I believe in Riley for what they are trying to do with it. I believe The Arkh Project is on the cutting edge and paving a pathway into the kind of future that I want to have, the kind of future that I want our youth to have. I believe The Arkh Project will be an inspiration to our QPOC youth to take it to the next level.

I understand that there are some critiques from the artistic/gaming community as well as in regards to the fundraising. I have read a lot of these critiques. And they all pretty much sound like one thing underlying them:

“How dare these uppity QPOC think they are gonna compete with us and do their own thing?!?”

See, one thing I do know about gaming, and this is a huge reason I never got into it, is that it isn’t representative of us. And it’s really interesting to me to note how whenever dominant groups (i.e. cis het white people, with a high male content) create something they want to withhold it from marginalized groups. They don’t want to share. They want the fantasy world where they don’t have to deal with marginalized groups. But on the other hand, they also don’t want those marginalized groups to make/get their own either. Because the goal really is to ensure we stay at the bottom where they can kick us. White people don’t want POC to have our own anything, not because they wish we would get along and share with them, but because they need for us to have nothing in order to ensure that them having everything counts as having something. Being able to look down on us is the only way they feel good about themselves. If we have our own and become equal, how will they know they are worth anything? They have to be on top, whatever it takes. So in the world of gaming, they don’t want QPOC to be comfortable, period. Gaming isn’t for us, as far as they are concerned. Much like how executive positions, country clubs, neighborhoods, water fountains, and the floor seats in a theatre used to be “not for us”.

If you don’t feel comfortable supporting The Arkh Project, don’t support it. No need to run your mouth against it. If you take an ideological stance that you can’t support something awesome because you don’t personally like Riley, just say that’s your beef and move on. If you aren’t comfortable fronting money to help pay for professional developers of the content, that’s your right too. But stop couching it in pseudo-business-knowledge, “this is how things work”, or “this all seems shady to me” bullshit. Most of the criticizers need to be honest and flat out say: “I ain’t cool with QPOC having shit because I hate QPOC”. Because I read your critiques and I know that’s what’s really going on.

And for everyone else, please consider learning more about The Arkh Project and supporting it any way you can. These are our stories, our lives, our worlds that Riley is trying to make happen. We need this.

(via poemsofthedead-deactivated20120)

post notes:

  1. internetwinnage reblogged this from thedarkamethyst
  2. mirandmyst reblogged this from oppressionisyucky and added:
    I know NOTHING about this “Riley”, but the Arkh project is totally awesome! The fact that I always play a PoC in every...
  3. oppressionisyucky reblogged this from my-slightly-awkward