D&D 5E The word ‘Race’

[Morrus]

the number of people who would leave it are small and honestly if they are going to act that way I don't want them associated with my hobby.

Just to pick up on this: the number is not an issue. And whether you want them associated with your hobby isn't, either. I agree that the word isn't a problem, but not for those reasons.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

This whole thread is a ridiculous exercise in Sapir-Whorf.

 

[Sunseeker]

But you aren't willing give an example of said artifacts?

Examples have been given. They've been denied as "not really racist" and just the poster "reading it wrong". So I stand by my prior statement that I have no intention to play that game.

Not that it matters, I'm done with this thread.

 

[Hussar]

Did I hallucinate Record of the Lodoss Wars? Did I fever dream Sword World? Did someone pull my leg on Final Fantasy I-V and Dragon Quest? I guess I spent all those years in college staring at static on the TV and imagining Candle Cove!

Are you trying to tell me the Japanese can make western-inspired anime, manga, video games, and their own RPGs, but thought D&D was racist? Somehow, I don't buy it.

Why are these games, movies and whatnot popular but d&d itself has zero presence?

I agree. RPGs are popular here. Magic is huge. Crpgs are huge. D&D is virtually absent.

Why?

 

[Hussar]

Because they already use Type, for something else.

Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Hobgoblins are all part of the Humaniod Type.

So you need another word to distinguish between them.

Why?

We don't need to use race to differentiate Giants or demons or aberrations. Why do we need race to differentiate humanoids?

 

[Hussar]

Could they use other words yes, should they use another word, no they shouldn't. People need to stop bowing down to the minor annoyances of others and just tell them to take it or leave it, the number of people who would leave it are small and honestly if they are going to act that way I don't want them associated with my hobby.

Lineage, origin, heritage, ancestry, or bloodline could all work. But there is nothing at all wrong with the word race, so why stop using it.

So you are assuming that the OP and others in this thread are lying?

 

[Hussar]

The word ‘Race’

Now, just to jump on the other side of the fence. I do think this is a pretty minor thing. I've certainly never seen this come up as an issue and tbh, I would never even remotely consider it an issue.

What bothers me though is what I see as a pretty blatant disregard for other people's sensibilities. It's not enough apparently to say that you or I aren't seeing the issue but rather this is some sort of Newspeak assault on people's views.

I'm taking the OP as being honest when he says he sees an issue. As I said upthread changing race to type seems a pretty easy change that in no way affects my enjoyment of the game and makes other people happy.

Win-win as far as I'm concerned.

By the way, I really like "origin" as well. That not only encompasses biology but also social aspects as well. Hill dwarf and mountain dark aren't sub races. They're just different origins of the same humanoid.

 

[Paraxis]

Just to pick up on this: the number is not an issue. And whether you want them associated with your hobby isn't, either. I agree that the word isn't a problem, but not for those reasons.

The number of people should be of issue as in most things, when society as a whole wants a change, change happens and it should. But when a few members of the society want something they can try and make waves but all it ends up being is noise that no one pays attention to.

In the southern USA we are currently going through something with people wanting to remove objects that have historic importance to a good number of the people here. Ten years ago the people wanting to take down confederate general statues and battle flags, to rename elementary schools that are named after those same confederate generals were a small number of people so it didn't matter. Today many more people are of the opinion that those things should change, society changed, and so now all these changes are being made.

So the numbers matter, my opinion on who should enjoy my same hobby is pointless and I shouldn't have even mentioned it.

I think you said something in another thread Morrus that applies here so I will quote it, I know it isn't the same context but to me I think it is very spot on.

But objecting to the very existence of things because they aren't to your taste? That's problematic. And the problem isn't with the thing.

So yeah objecting to the existence of the word "race" in the game is a problem with the people making the objection and not the word itself.

This whole thread is a ridiculous exercise in Sapir-Whorf.

I only went to college for one year, and am a product of the Texas education system, I have no idea what that is, and that's after googling it and reading about the theory. Could you explain it like I am five please.

 

[Remathilis]

Why are these games, movies and whatnot popular but d&d itself has zero presence?

I agree. RPGs are popular here. Magic is huge. Crpgs are huge. D&D is virtually absent.

Why?

Distribution? Native Language/Translation availability? Amazon's outrageous shipping costs?

Because it can't be race; Final Fantasy has no problem using the word (as recently as 14), nor did Sword World.

[Notice: I do not read/speak Japanese; I can only rely on English translations of those things. If you want to give me what the actual Japanese word used in FF or SW, is, I'd be grateful]

 

[Morrus]

The number of people should be of issue as in most things, when society as a whole wants a change, change happens and it should. But when a few members of the society want something they can try and make waves but all it ends up being is noise that no one pays attention to.

History says otherwise. Indeed, your county is host to the famous example of minority revolution in modern times. That's something you should be proud of.

More recently, your county has amended its position on same sex marriage. Again, a minority. Again, the right decision, and something to be proud of.

Is China's human rights record more right than America's because it has numbers on its side? Of course not.

I disagree with the thread's premise. But not because of numbers. If numbers made right, we'd all be living very different lives.