Geoffrey Ramirez

Over on the @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social Discord we've been showing off and playing with our work-in-progress digital library (soon!), this is going to be such a great resource. I just asked it to show me every video game magazine in our collection in chronological order that says "Metroidvania."

A young mother waiting for her sailor husband to return from abroad c. 1846 colorized

A young mother waiting for her sailor husband to return from abroad.
c. 1846 colorized

CfP alert! 📢 Mythological Game Studies Conference

@maciejpaprocki.bsky.social and I are organizing an online conference on mythology & video games (May 2025). We're interested in everything games, myth, mythology & mythologies! Abstract deadline: Feb 2!

For more: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Unanswerable questions sent into The Dragon Magazine sometime in the 80s or 90s. I dunno if I have the time to fully explore TTRPG genetic and eugenic intellectual influences right now...

Bluesky academics, let's get to know each other! Quote this & tell me: 1) a project you are working on & 2) an odd idea/theory you aren't working on but keep thinking about.

1) Oral history project capturing diverse TTRPG player voices

2) How space/place affected player dynamics & gameplay

I have not! I'll definitely check it out as I continue working. I have run into more openness to gay PCs in the 80s and 90s, but definitely see a lot of animosity towards them early in the hobby. One woman had to literally roll to see if her lesbian character could be Lawful Good in 1976.

Part of my research is delving into medievalism in early TTRPGs. Players and developers looked to published histories, not just fantasy fiction, to build their worlds.

Here, Roger Daggs is possibly making reference to Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality c. 1981

The fun part of studying zines is finding the cultural connections tabletop RPGs have with other fan circles and fandoms.

Here, a zinester is reporting on the 1990 LA ConFurence and explains what furries are to the older and more mainstream RPG players who read and contribute to the zine.

A photo of the gaming magazine Different Worlds which shows a wizard looking on as spectral shapes form out of magical smoke.

I emerge from shapeless void to tell you all about myself!

Hello! I am a PhD Candidate analyzing race, sex, and gender in early tabletop gaming culture. I'm doing my best to focus on players over developers to understand how and why people played these games despite their problematic imagery!

Here's the link for game studies in the medieval and early modern!

go.bsky.app/PRLDDK8

Hey folks, I made this to drop in all the orgs and scholars of #KoreanStudies (not just Korean Media, but history, politics, literature, everything). Please let me know who I forgot (especially if it's you). Starter packs really help you to get a bunch of cool accounts at once. go.bsky.app/8nRZ5tp

The fun part of studying zines is finding the cultural connections tabletop RPGs have with other fan circles and fandoms.

Here, a zinester is reporting on the 1990 LA ConFurence and explains what furries are to the older and more mainstream RPG players who read and contribute to the zine.

I made a Starter Pack for Women's and Gender History because when I looked yesterday I couldn't seen one - sorry if it's now been superseded.

You know the drill by now: please just let me know if you'd like to be added, and equally if you'd prefer not to be listed, just shout.

go.bsky.app/KR9qXhj

Hi all! I made the starter pack to bridge together some of my own research interests. Reply here if you’d like to be on it, and DM me if you want to be removed.

go.bsky.app/PRLDDK8

TSR straight up sold a pin-up calendar in the 1990s, by the way

The chad sorcerer versus the virgin wolf man fighter. A 1990 fanzine version of a modern meme.

The Chad Sorcerer v. the Virgin Wolf Fighter c. 1990

Origins of modern memes.

I'm here to have fun, look at silly things, and find other history and gaming scholars & nerds.

I'm also working on an oral history project to support my research and looking for potential narrators. Feel free to reach out about it!

A photo of the gaming magazine Different Worlds which shows a wizard looking on as spectral shapes form out of magical smoke.

I emerge from shapeless void to tell you all about myself!

Hello! I am a PhD Candidate analyzing race, sex, and gender in early tabletop gaming culture. I'm doing my best to focus on players over developers to understand how and why people played these games despite their problematic imagery!