Cultural appropriation in gaming

[Koloth]

IMO, as long as you state up front that your game/story/movie/play etc is fiction/fantasy, do what you want, get ideas and inspiration from whatever sources you want and have fun. If someone is offended, politely suggest they can go elsewhere. We aren't talking about a Doctoral Thesis. We are talking about a game for entertainment. If someone isn't having fun, perhaps they are in the wrong game. Just as baseball players might not enjoy playing football(either version), not everyone is going to enjoy playing a RPG set in setting X.

I have had players shocked and freaked out that I as a male player was playing a female character. Yet they had no problem as a human player playing a Orc barbarian character. Can't make everyone happy, don't stress out trying.

 

[Desdichado]

D&D—and, in fact, the entire fantasy genre as we know it—is a creation of white, European-American males. I'm not sure why anyone would complain about cultural appropriation in gaming, because anyone complaining about it is—by definition—culturally appropriating themselves by playing a game that has no ties to their own cultural heritage.

Which mostly just shows how ridiculous and absurd people who take seriously any discussion about cultural appropriation are in the first place.

 

[Morrus]

D&D—and, in fact, the entire fantasy genre as we know it—is a creation of white, European-American males.

That's European and American, not just European-American. Plenty of non-Americans had a hand in creating the fantasy genre as we know it.

 

[Desdichado]

Yes. I was unclear and you are absolutely correct.

 

[Sunseeker]

IMO, as long as you state up front that your game/story/movie/play etc is fiction/fantasy, do what you want, get ideas and inspiration from whatever sources you want and have fun. If someone is offended, politely suggest they can go elsewhere. We aren't talking about a Doctoral Thesis. We are talking about a game for entertainment. If someone isn't having fun, perhaps they are in the wrong game. Just as baseball players might not enjoy playing football(either version), not everyone is going to enjoy playing a RPG set in setting X.

I have had players shocked and freaked out that I as a male player was playing a female character. Yet they had no problem as a human player playing a Orc barbarian character. Can't make everyone happy, don't stress out trying.

But by the same token, you cannot simply excuse offensive material as "It's just for fun bro!". Nor can you argue that whoever created the game gets to define the absolute definition of "fun". If people aren't having fun, they won't play, and that's gonna kill any game.

If minorities and women are the only ones regularly walking away from your game, then you ought to re-evaluate your approach.

I mean, statistically, when an effect happens over and over and over again there's often a commonality within the cause.

 

[Lylandra]

IMO, as long as you state up front that your game/story/movie/play etc is fiction/fantasy, do what you want, get ideas and inspiration from whatever sources you want and have fun. If someone is offended, politely suggest they can go elsewhere. We aren't talking about a Doctoral Thesis. We are talking about a game for entertainment. If someone isn't having fun, perhaps they are in the wrong game. Just as baseball players might not enjoy playing football(either version), not everyone is going to enjoy playing a RPG set in setting X.

I have had players shocked and freaked out that I as a male player was playing a female character. Yet they had no problem as a human player playing a Orc barbarian character. Can't make everyone happy, don't stress out trying.

Oh I can understand the latter. Maybe they had bad experiences with male players playing female characters because, for example, they were played like a two dimensional sexy wishfulfillment who ran around exclusively naked.

I usually don't mind though because my players tend to play reasonably. Sometimes I realize though that they put a male perspective in a female char, but as long as it isn't distasteful...

Orcs on the other hand don't have any real life pendant, so no one would be too upset if you don't play exactly their fantasy of what an orc is.

So I can also understand if someone gets upset if you, for example, play in First Nations America and then would do the whole "indian stereotypes" bingo. Playing a "general noble savage archetype" without a direct cultural reference is a whole different thing though.

 

[Koloth]

But by the same token, you cannot simply excuse offensive material as "It's just for fun bro!". Nor can you argue that whoever created the game gets to define the absolute definition of "fun". If people aren't having fun, they won't play, and that's gonna kill any game.

If minorities and women are the only ones regularly walking away from your game, then you ought to re-evaluate your approach.

I mean, statistically, when an effect happens over and over and over again there's often a commonality within the cause.

Been playing since 1979. Never had anyone walk away over "In game offensive material". Had folks leave over rules arguments, drunken stupidity, bf-gf breakups, and irritating the DM one too many times. Maybe the folks I game with have a good wall between fantasy gaming for fun and Real Life.

 

[Sunseeker]

Been playing since 1979. Never had anyone walk away over "In game offensive material". Had folks leave over rules arguments, drunken stupidity, bf-gf breakups, and irritating the DM one too many times. Maybe the folks I game with have a good wall between fantasy gaming for fun and Real Life.

Maybe. But by "game" I was referring to D&D as a whole, or whatever title is the subject of discussion, or even just gaming in general. What happens at your table or my table are at best anecdotal. If X group of people continually walk away or avoid a specific hobby, it's important to evaluate why.

 

[pemerton]

I can also understand if someone gets upset if you, for example, play in First Nations America and then would do the whole "indian stereotypes" bingo. Playing a "general noble savage archetype" without a direct cultural reference is a whole different thing though.

Why is the "general noble savage archetype" a whole different thing? Maybe it upsets someone; maybe it doesn't. I can certainly understand why it would upset someone - I've got zero interest in seeing someone depict that archetype at my table, and its connection to me is only indirect.

Which mostly just shows how ridiculous and absurd people who take seriously any discussion about cultural appropriation are in the first place.

What's ridiculous and absurd is people who think they can prescribe to others how those others should perform acts of resistance and self-assertion.

 

[Snof]

To see this racist and poisonous term being discussed in dungeons and dragons is a really depressing sight