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 have seen enough PR speech that I don't. Especially when a company is in damage control mode take everything with two grains of salt, both about what happened and what they are going to do.
We will see when/if the next "scandal" happens.

I presume that the errata itself is a product of this new process. Take a look and see.

 

[Zaukrie]

It's also hard to be aware of one's own blindspots. Even a well-meaning person might not realize there's something to show to a sensitivity reader until it's too late.

Imagine being a one person "company" that puts stuff on DMSGUILD! Even if I have a person or two read things, no chance I can do all this, no chance I realize all the things are blindspots for me. It kind of scares me, actually....

 

[Marandahir]

It's also hard to be aware of one's own blindspots. Even a well-meaning person might not realize there's something to show to a sensitivity reader until it's too late.

Absolutely! I thought I had spoken to that in my post, but you say it far more eloquently here.

That's all the more reason why creation of a product like these takes a team. Not everything should be on the Project Lead to have an answer on or to catch.

 

[Incenjucar]

Imagine being a one person "company" that puts stuff on DMSGUILD! Even if I have a person or two read things, no chance I can do all this, no chance I realize all the things are blindspots for me. It kind of scares me, actually....

Thankfully you can find a lot of sensitivity readers and beta readers these days, even just folks in writing forums from different backgrounds willing to read for little more than a thank you in the credits.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I presume that the errata itself is a product of this new process. Take a look and see.

I don't own Spelljammer, but given the previous issues with hadozee, the hadozee being swapped out in multiple places in the adventure is certainly suggestive.

 

[Ixal]

Why would Perkins say that the material had not been reviewed if in fact it had been? If it had been, then WotC could blame the reviewer for doing a bad job. Admitting that it wasn't reviewed means WotC takes the blame.

Because that is what the other party expects. Why prolong the whole issue and open another can of worms when you can simply nod and say you do exactly what the other party wants? Its not as if they can in any way check if you follow up on your promises or that this is what really happens. But they are happy that they were right and got their will, so this is the fastest way to smooth things over.

 

[Velderan]

Why would Perkins say that the material had not been reviewed if in fact it had been? If it had been, then WotC could blame the reviewer for doing a bad job. Admitting that it wasn't reviewed means WotC takes the blame.

Especially when wasn't Chris Perkins the Project Lead in question that failed to recognize something that should have been looked at? It seems obvious to me that in hindsight he'd be able to help figure out where the process failed. Nothing against him and I think he genuinely means well, but this isn't the first time something he's worked on has had issues and if the common theme is "maybe I shouldn't be the one deciding if this could be offensive", the solution becomes pretty easy imo.

 

[Morrus]

I have seen enough PR speech that I don't.

I mean, if you're just of the opinion that he's lying, there's not really much to discuss.

 

[Morrus]

Imagine being a one person "company" that puts stuff on DMSGUILD! Even if I have a person or two read things, no chance I can do all this, no chance I realize all the things are blindspots for me. It kind of scares me, actually....

Being a publisher is hard.

 

[Marandahir]

Even in things as controlled as building airplanes, issues happen. I'm going to assume that it slipped thru the cracks and they are putting more process in place to make sure more don't. But, every thing like this costs money and tends to have effects on product (in every industry). There are limits to how far any company can do to eliminate error.....even, as I said, in building airplanes.

I agree.

I also think that this doesn't necessarily mean that we the consumers are going to eat the dividends via higher-priced books per page (whether that be straight-up higher prices or shorter books in overall page numbers).

It could just as well be that WotC will say, hey look at all the sales we made for Magic 30th Anniversary this year - we can make up for some of the costs we had to spend on D&D book production. And D&D 50th in 2024 will help us make up some of those costs too.

Or cutting out middlemen could help them make up the difference - you see both the Magic and D&D teams really making a push now for direct-to-consumer online sales of physical products. I'm still going to support my FLGS, but consumer trends are definitely pushing towards cutting out the distributors to some extent (the FLGS won't be entirely eliminated since they're a source of growth via word of mouth and play locations, and WotC has first-hand experience of the problems of trying to run their own physical stores back in the 90s and early 00s). During Covid shutdowns, Magic and D&D sales still went strong, despite production delays of their products. Online sales are a big part of that.

So they'll find ways to make the money up.

Overall, D&D is a LOT cheaper to make than Magic, and while it earns a lot, it earns a lot less than Magic too. It's growing, though, and Hasbro sees WotC as a core pillar of their business. I don't think Hasbro is particularly put out by this increase expenditure. It's a worthwhile investment, especially since if they didn't do it, they could be losing customers disgruntled by racist caricatures and half-donkey'd PR cover-ups. They're putting their money where their mouth is.