WotC WotC's Chris Perkins On D&D's Inclusivity Processes Going Forward

Over on D&D Beyond, WotC's Chris Perkins has written a blog entry about how the company's processes have been changed to improve the way the D&D studio deals with harmful content and inclusivity. This follows recent issues with racist content in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, and involves working with external cultural consultants.

The studio’s new process mandates that every word, illustration, and map must be reviewed by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication.

Leveling Up Our Creative Process: Learnings From Spelljammer

In this blog post, I'll talk about how we in the D&D Studio are changing our review process following the problematic content that appeared in Spell...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[darjr]

I would suspect that the Spelljammer reprint has more to do with public relations than that it was flying off the shelves so fast a reprint was needed.

It did well enough to support this. Which is pretty good. From the looks of things it does seem like there are books to be pulled if they intend to do that too.

 

[bedir than]

I would suspect that the Spelljammer reprint has more to do with public relations than that it was flying off the shelves so fast a reprint was needed.

There's no report of buybacks of the original printing. That would be impossible to hide

 

[Micah Sweet]

It did well enough to support this. Which is pretty good. From the looks of things it does seem like there are books to be pulled if they intend to do that too.

But would they have issued a reprint if there were no complaints?

 

[darjr]

But would they have issued a reprint if there were no complaints?

Yes, soon too. But at this time? Probably not. Note if it sold worse I’d bet reprints would be further out and not announced. But that’s mostly a guess.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes, soon too. But at this time? Probably not. Note if it sold worse I’d bet reprints would be further out and not announced. But that’s mostly a guess.

Yeah, all of it's speculation. But the PR issue is definitely the impetus for moving so fast.

 

[darjr]

Yeah, all of it's speculation. But the PR issue is definitely the impetus for moving so fast.

Absolutely, good thing they are doing the right thing. Wondering why you’re raining on it? Is there a point?

 

[Zaukrie]

Good deal.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Absolutely, good thing they are doing the right thing. Wondering why you’re raining on it? Is there a point?

I'm not raining on it. I just think it's interesting, enjoy debate and speculation, and have a cynical view of corporations. I hope that this helps those who were affected and fewer issues like this come up moving forward thanks to their new policies.

 

[Velderan]

Does anyone know if WotC ran a standard book offering print run of the revised Curse of Strahd? All my local stores still have the 1st printing from 2016 on the shelf, but I'm guessing the deluxe offering in the coffin box that is more expensive is how they initially handled offering the revised version?

 

[overgeeked]

It’s bizarre it took them this long and this many flubs to finally commit to outside sensitivity readers, but I’m glad they finally did. Hope it’s for real and not just marketing.