Alzurius said:
As such, my answer to the OP's question is as follows: I don't think that fiction in general or games in particular should concern themselves with being instruments of social change. Rather, I think that they should be designed around whatever goals will best serve their primary purpose (e.g. to have fun).
I think it's important to note that it's kind of impossible to take a "blind" stance. You can't escape the implications of your actions. If WotC for some reason thought "fun" was best served by grim-looking Caucasian males, they'd be expressing a cultural view, just as if they decided that "fun" was best served by excluding those characters, or in including a diversity.
So, no matter what they do, it's going to serve as an example of a judgement call made by someone (someone who, it must be said, is probably a Caucasian male).
I think the real question as far as WotC goes is the same question that faces a lot of video-game developers. There's a tension here in marketing: appealing demographics (ie, those most likely to blow possibly-reckless loads of cash on your product, ie: caucasian males ages 18-24-ish or so) are mostly likely to respond to someone "like themselves." If you slap some grim-looking dude with a sword on the cover of your game, hey, you've just bumped your sales by $x.
But that doesn't accurately illustrate what the game's about or what you're going to play like for the millions of people who AREN'T that narrow target demographic. Plus, like I said: you can't avoid the implications of your art choices. And if they're unfortunate implications, you may have a bigger mess on your hands than before. Nothin' like having your name synonymous with racism and sexism to really drive your brand in a good direction! (sarcasm!)
So I think the actual tension here is between business decisions: do we risk long-term brand damage to cater to a lucrative demographic, or do we risk alienating some of that demographic in exchange for a healthier long-term brand?
For me, this choice is pretty obvious. But to those who are less guided by a moral teaching here, or to those who have lots of other pot-stirrers putting forth their two bits, the decision might be different. But at the very least, I don't think anyone at WotC can claim ignorance of the consequences of their choices.
Savage Wombat said:
Maybe one solution to this issue would be to include more art that doesn't automatically look like it's based from the Forgotten Realms (or equivalent).
...y'know, any societal issues aside, the thought of a PHB/DMG/Whatever that is something like a pile of all D&D settings throughout history has me kind of
crazy excited.
Y'know, the chapter on the Planes is accompanied by DiTerlizzi-esque artwork of a planewalker,all watercolor and spikey. The chapter on environmental survival has a BROM-esque muscleman in leather. The bit on managing your empire includes something that harkens back to Birthright. The bit on alignment might be accompanied by a Dragonlance-esque Big '80's Hair style. The bit on dungeon-crawling might include something Otus-esque.....
This is probably the fever dream of a madman, but it is making cool vibes in my brain.