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It is getting better

This is a short blog post, but it's an important one.

There's a lot that needs to improve in the world in terms of equality. I spend a lot of time advocating for equality, pointing out problems, and asking difficult and sometimes uncomfortable questions. But the fact of the matter is that things are getting better - not universally, and not as quickly as I think they should. But things have still improved. 

Here's an example: Naughty Dog's development team has more females in it than I think I've ever seen before - and apparently only about 2/3rds of them. I worked at devs I thought had a fair number of females, but their ratios paled in comparison to this picture (and while I don't know the jobs of each of them, it sounds like the diversity of skills is kick ass.) 

Thanks, Naughty Dog. You are awesome. Keep making awesome games and being pretty goddamned rad. 

Why working in gaming doesn’t mean you are okay with sexism

Last night I agreed with someone on an internet forum that the community I posted in was often misogynistic and within 20 minutes was likened to an African slave trader.

Okay, you’re probably pretty confused right now so here’s the explanation: the guy said it because I worked on Duke Nukem Forever (DNF.)

I’m writing today’s post with a bit of a heavy heart because very few people have said something rude like this to me because of my work on that game: I can count them all on one hand. That being said, these people reside almost exclusively within the internet community that I’ve called home for over a decade and they have made my work on that game a rallying cry in an attempt to discredit me when I talk about misogyny, sexism, or inequality in gaming. I’m not going to lie: it’s unpleasant to be threatened, to know that when you want to post about your experiences as a woman you are going to be insulted, so I’ve decided to take that negativity and turn it into a productive discussion.

Look, I guest-wrote a blog-thing!

Last week, Gabriel Valdez recruited me to guest write a blog about some E3 trailers. It's been a long time since I wrote for a blog that a) wasn't my own or b) wasn't own by someone who directly gave me a paycheck, so I was super excited for the assignment.

The most difficult part of the piece, honestly, was trying to get past my cynicism (too many years peeking behind the E3 curtain.) It was fun, however, to be able to talk about E3 from the perspective of someone who did not attend the con - something I haven't done in years. 

Anyway, go check it out at http://basilmarinerchase.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/e3-reactions-elizabeth-tobeys-top-3/

The brilliant addictiveness of combining activity trackers with radio dramas

Guys, I have a confession to make.

I am addicted to activity trackers.

I realized this back in 2010 when I first got Runkeeper. After tracking one measly activity, I knew I had a problem: I FUCKING LOVED making numbers bigger. I needed to. Like little exercise Pokémon, I had to collect them all. Leave it to me to make a competition against myself – but thank you Runkeeper for fueling my addiction and making running a lifelong habit.

Fast forward to February, 2012. Six to Start, a genius company, launches Zombies, Run! The company calls it a “smartphone fitness game” – and I guess that's a good and literal way to describe it – but it’s actually a brilliant interactive radio drama where you unlock the story by exercising.

Let’s talk about sexism and misogyny: an opening gambit to actually having a conversation

I’m not really sure how to start this blog post, so I’m just going to dive right in and get into it. Hi. I’m Elizabeth Tobey. I’m a woman, and I want to have a conversation about sexism and misogyny and what we can do to create more equality between men and women.

Before we begin, let’s frame this post a little: this is the beginning of what I’m going to make into an occasional series on my blog, so please take this as a jumping off point in our conversation and please understand I want this to be a conversation (so many blogs are soapboxes, mine included despite my best intentions sometimes) – so share this, leave a comment, ask questions, tell me what you want to talk about next.  I’m not going to decree something. I’m not going to solve a problem or point a finger: in fact, a big part of what I aim to do here is to try and be a place where we can (figuratively) talk with normal voices, listen to each other rather than waiting for our turn to speak, and stop making this issue into a warzone and instead turn what’s (unfortunately) right now a debate into a dialogue.

Samus and her new stripper heels

Last week, the Internet spent some time talking about Samus Aran’s newest outfit in the upcoming Smash Brothers game for the WiiU and 3DS. While some websites (I’m looking at you, Polygon) wrote dull, short blurbs about the character reveals, others noted the obscenely high heels Samus now wore and decided to take umbrage with this new fact of life. And while a lot of these articles kind of sucked and many were published for the revenue the clicks would garner them because this is a sensational topic, I am more ashamed of those who ignored the issue (or didn't even see it as an issue) more than those who used it for clickbait. It’s a sad day when I’m going to link Kotaku as a notable publication to show, quickly and easily, how fucked up it is to put Samus in stripper heels.

quick tally.

first off: new blogs are coming. job's been busy - but luckily, boot camp is still kicking it.

today was a new session, so we did a mini assessment. didn't run 1.5 miles, but i did get the other stats.

37 pushups til failure
64 situps in a minute

could have pushed harder on the situps but holy shit i don't know where the pushup number came from. that's a metric asston of pushups.

Boot camp: making numbers bigger

Since October, 2012, Mike and I have been going to boot camp in Golden Gate Park at least twice a week (barring times we’re traveling out of state or are too ill to go). It’s been an amazing experience: the discipline of going, no matter the weather or mood or what’s going on at work, and the adventure of learning new things and actually getting better at the hard stuff. While this boot camp isn’t zomg hardcore military stuff, it’s no walk in the park. A typical day will include 3 sets of weight training, between which you’ll run on average of 300 stairs (150 up and down).

Yesterday was the first of a new session, and that means assessment time. I hadn’t been assessed since knee surgery, so I was anxious to see how I was doing. I’m pretty stoked with my results. But, to put it in perspective, I want to show you all three of my assessments over the past two years.

This blog is called Toodle-oo because Google's informal synonym for goodbye is toodle-oo and that is the best.

Today is my last day at Trion Worlds. I feel weird even typing that, because in some ways, these past two years have flown by and in so many others, this company is my home, my family, and I feel like I’ve known these people and games for my entire life. Trion Worlds is, without question, the best company I have ever worked for.


This blog is, technically, a good bye – but I am refusing to actually acknowledge that this is actually a true “goodbye” because while I won’t be coming to Redwood Shores anymore, I’ll still be in our games every day, talking to the people who make them and love them, and those are the places that really matter to us, anyway, right?

On Shitty People (Or, How Elan Gale Made Me Realize Allie Brosh Is The Best Person In the World)

If you are reading this blog, you likely use social media (or at least the internet) and therefore know about Elan Gale’s shenanigans last week. If, somehow, you have a printout of this article, here’s the TL;DR: Elan Gale is a reality TV producer and live tweeted an interchange between him and an angry-holiday-traveler woman (named Diane) on a delayed Thanksgiving flight. Diane was a stereotypical self-righteous, inconvenienced traveler. Elan Gale played out the fantasy of many who have been stuck on a delayed plane with a loud and self-righteous person who believes their delay is worse than everyone else on the plane: he sent her sarcastic notes and alcoholic beverages to tell her to chill the fuck out. Diane, in turn, sent back self-righteously indignant replies, culminating in the climatic final act you could have guessed from the outset: Elan Gale told Diane to eat his dick repeatedly and when the flight was over and he tried to tell her just one last time for the lols, she slapped him.