So, on that Booth Babes thing.

Last time on Opening Hand, I said I'd start defining some of the common terms used in card gaming. I realized that it'd make for a boring article and besides, Google will do a much better job of that anyway. (PROTIP: A lot of Magic terms are universally used in other card games. PRO-PROTIP: Less than half the terms in that link are actually used these days.)

The post that started it.

Besides, we've more immediate concerns at hand.

As some of you're already aware of, a bit of a buzz regarding Booth Babes has come up thanks to Neutral Grounds’ bringing a professional model to their booth at the upcoming LaroCon. This pretty much started when Mia over at Girls Got Game reacted to it, first on the blog itself and then on GMA News —after some back-and-forth with the event organizers, which you've already seen if you've clicked any of those links. The latest I've seen on the matter is an article wherein a blogger said a few things about… entitlement issues.

Since I've already been quoted in the GMA News article, I figure I should say something.

DISCLAIMER: Brian's opinions are not necessarily that of Gamebros.

First things first, I stand by what I said when I was quoted in that GMA News article: if we’re working to make the public aware that the field of geeky hobbies is no longer completely male-dominated, it should be an equal-opportunity thing. I’m not gonna deny that a little bit of eye candy goes a long way when it comes to drumming up interest — and if we’re going to resort to one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book, might as well appeal to both sides of the proverbial fence. In my years of gaming, I've run into fellow hobbyists of all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life: guys, girls, LGBT's; rich geeks, poor geeks (or rather, people with barely enough purchasing power for their hobbies who still stick to ‘em regardless), young and old, articulate, vocal, old-fashioned, the list goes on.

After all, we live in an age wherein the public seems convinced that being a geek is cool. And by ‘geek’ I’m going with a somewhat older definition, which people seem to be saying ‘nerd’ for these days. As far as I know, a geek is really nothing more than an extremely passionate hobbyist (emphasis on extremely passionate), archetypally involved in less sociable pastimes like gaming and comics. A nerd would be someone socially inept but academically invested, but for some reason we've got this whole 'fake geek' thing with people snapping #selfies of themselves in thick-framed glasses going all like "lol I'm a nerd" and whatnot. I refuse to use the term in that sense despite it being the apparent modern usage, but you can blame that on my being part of an older generation of geeks. Apparently I’m already old by geek standards by having predated online gaming, because I can still clearly remember having to walk over to a neighbor's house for a quick Mortal Kombat fix, sometimes having to bring my own controller.

"Cocksuckas errwhere!" -Six the Northstar, local rapper

But I digress.

What we're really faced with here, of course, is people responding to opinions with their own opinions. Some of you might think this is some Vandread-esque call to arms in a fight between genders, thinking that this is some bizarre war between cock and cunt. The worst, of course, are the half-wits who're simply latching onto other statements and backing 'em up without really adding anything to the discussion. To you, I say: no spine!

Like I just said: opinions, people.

Of course, you’ll all probably want my opinion.

My opinion is, again, equal opportunity. I won't deny that the use of Booth Babes presupposes a male-dominated market, and in all fairness that is completely the discretion of a given event's organizer(s). Neutral Grounds and LaroCon were good enough to respond civilly to Girls Got Game’s statements, going as far as apologizing to the offended. Maybe their marketing team's old-fashioned, or maybe they know their buyers well enough to know what’d really sell a product to them. Who knows?

I certainly don't.

What I do know is that geeky hobbies have come long way from what I grew up with — the days when gaming was pretty much a guy thing. One of the most skilled L5R players I know is a woman. My current World of Darkness group is more-or-less evenly split between guy and girl (and mind you, it's pretty huge for a tabletop gaming group; last time I checked, thirteen and counting). The point is: geeks are hobbyists, and hobbyists spend for their stuff (even if you're Torrenting your stuff, you're still technically spending for the internet connection — or your parents are). Anyone who's into a hobby is automatically someone who goes out of their way for it, and it's the seller's call on how to bring more people into it.

My stand is that I, as a geek, am simply here to game and to spread the love. I'm enthusiastic about my hobbies of choice and I'd love nothing more than to have more people getting into them, and I don't particularly care whether or not you've got boobs or man-boobs.

And so, with the interests of all readers in mind, I give you: goblin cheerleaders!

Brian was born in Marikina but swears that Katipunan raised him. On weekdays he’s pretty elusive thanks to his night shift job but on weekends you’ll usually spot him gaming at the Appraisery, occasionally at Xocolat.