It's about that time, folks! Time for your princess to run off to another castle, so to speak.
I have to say, right off the bat, that I have had an outstanding time during this run. It is not often that so many topics of my interest come together in one place as they have here with so many people to discuss them. Gaming, like many elements of pop culture, is a great opportunity to look at many aspects of social justice in a broad spectrum, and I was most appreciative to the Bitch team here for giving me a space to discuss it.
I've learned much during my foray here, both about one of my favorite hobbies from many of you, and about speaking with a broader community outside of my own bubble about these topics and how we engage them when we pick up that controller or click that mouse. I hope that I've been able to bring enough food for thought to leave you with for a while, because I am certainly taking away many things to mull over as I return now to my much-neglected blog. The conversation has been strong and mostly thoughtful (with some needed frivolity), and for that, I thank you.
Gaming is at a great place right now, in my opinion, a place where changes can happen if those of us who care push back hard enough. If those of us who like to look at the pop culture we consume are really interested in seeing changes for the positive in gaming I think that there are plenty of places for these discussions to happen and for this action to be taken. During my time here I have come across some great gaming blogs and discussion boards and communities dedicated to the vivisection of video games that are free of the mainstream gamer forums. I have been given a renewed sense of assurance that those who game and want to demand better games for a diverse group of gamers are not as few as I had once woefully presumed. I was glad to be proven wrong.
There were many topics that I didn't manage to fit in, either because of time, or because after careful consideration, I decided that I was probably not the most qualified speaker on some of them. There was a post I had wanted to write about representations of trans people in games, and it never felt quite right. I had also wanted to cover more about censorship and the ongoing U.S. Supreme Court Case, Schwarzenegger v. the EMA, but it is such a complicated and multi-layered topic that I could never narrow it down to make it fit. There have been similar issues in Australia regarding the rating of mature-themed games, so the topic is certainly one that would be enlightening. Perhaps these are all conversations we can have another day.
I want to give a Great Big Thank You to Kelsey and Kjerstin for helping me with moderation and tech questions while I worked from the Hemisphere that Rocks. They have been a huge help, and extremely accommodating to me through this entire jamboree. Really, I could not have been more pleased to have their support behind the scenes.
In closing, I would like to invite you to plug your favorite gaming blog or community for further reading for all of us in comments. I would also like to invite you to visit my blog, which will hopefully be updated more frequently soon, and I welcome new followers on Twitter any time. I hope to see some of you around again!
And, please, by all means, game on!
