D&D 5E Should the next edition of D&D promote more equality?

[billd91]

That's actually not true at all. JC Penney is currently in free fall.

Unlikely to be caused by homosexuals in the ads. The most common analysis has attributed the trouble to getting rid of sales and coupons. Apparently, shoppers would rather be misled into believing they're saving tons of money than have another discount outlet like KMart or Target.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Unlikely to be caused by homosexuals in the ads. The most common analysis has attributed the trouble to getting rid of sales and coupons. Apparently, shoppers would rather be misled into believing they're saving tons of money than have another discount outlet like KMart or Target.

"Unlikely" is pretty subjective in this case. I'd guess it contributed, but that's coming from my experience set and you're coming from yours. There were so many things going on that it certainly can't be proved either way.

Mainly I just thought it was really funny that he used such a terrible example.

 

[The Choice]

"Unlikely" is pretty subjective in this case. I'd guess it contributed, but that's coming from my experience set and you're coming from yours. There were so many things going on that it certainly can't be proved either way.

Mainly I just thought it was really funny that he used such a terrible example.

Sorry about that, we don't have those stores in Quebec and I only checked my facts after the... uh fact.

Still, I feel my point stands because I doubt a boycott by a handful of overzealous bigots caused a major retailer to just fail.

 

[TanithT]

Still, I feel my point stands because I doubt a boycott by a handful of overzealous bigots caused a major retailer to just fail.

Not when there are insanely popular brands that have sexually ambiguous models as their main branding signature, probably not.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

"Unlikely" is pretty subjective in this case. I'd guess it contributed, but that's coming from my experience set and you're coming from yours. There were so many things going on that it certainly can't be proved either way.

billd91 is basically right.

Not only does what he say conform to the reports of market analysts who polled former JCP customers, it is precisely the kind of response that would be predicted by academics who study the behavior of shoppers, like Paco Underhill. It's part of why Saturn's "no-haggle" pricing model was ineffective.

Some analysts and consumers even predicted the no-sale policy could backfire.

From CNN/Money Feb. 1, 2012 (before the diversity commercials aired):

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/01/markets/jc_penney/index.htm

"We continue to believe sales trends will deteriorate further before improving as it will take time for consumers to adapt to J.C. Penney's new pricing strategy," wrote Michelle Clark, analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a research note.
So far, the advertisements and pricing plan have been met with mixed reactions, according to comments left on J.C. Penney's official social media pages.
"Hate the commercial! Annoying! No more sales and coupons means no more J.C. Penney shopping for me!" said 1katiebella on J.C. Penney's YouTube page.

It's a bold bet. If it succeeds, Clark thinks that the stock could soar more than 40% from its current levels to about $60. But if the changes fail to resonate with customers, leaving profit margins flat and the company short of its savings target, Clark thinks shares could tumble more than 50% to about $20.*

Deutsche Bank analyst Charles Grom said that while J.C. Penney's forecast is impressive, the bar is now set very high. He targets the stock at $40 per share, a tad lower than where it is currently, and recommends that investors remain "on the sidelines for now."

While the diversity commercials may have turned off some consumers, it probably wasn't a major factor.










* last I checked, JCP was under $19.

 

[S'mon]

Ethnicity, sexuality, male/female ratio et al are all stuff that are setting and genre specific IMCs. If the art is depicting inhabitants of a high-latitude setting like the Nentir Vale I'd expect the inhabitants to have fair skin unless there's an in-setting explanation why not. If it's a tropical latitude setting I'd expect the inhabitants to have dark skin unless there's an in-setting explanation why not - this could be magic, recent migrations, etc. Pale white humans in tropical fantasy-Africa or black halflings in fantasy-Europe both benefit from some explanation, but it only takes a moment's thought, I'm not fussy. The least likely thing and the one most in need of explanation is a wide variety of skin tones among the same 'race' (human/halfling/dwarf etc) in the same setting. This can be plausible in a multicultural port city, and a widespread empire might result in some temporary colour variety before interbreeding evens it out, but I don't like art direction that uses it as a default without need of explanation.

As far as the default 'generic' art goes, I don't have a problem with current WoTC and Paizo art except that I'd like to see the occasional not-young-and-beautiful adventurer character. Paizo have their one iconic greybeard Wizard, Ezren, but 4e D&D art was completely devoid of adventurers who didn't look like US TV actors or fashion models.

 

[Li Shenron]

Ethnicity, sexuality, male/female ratio et al are all stuff that are setting and genre specific IMCs.

Is this an argument for keeping the status quo or for changing it?

Would having more black characters in the art be more disruptive to the generic-ness of D&D than introducing dragonborn and tiefling as core playable races, for example?

 

[S'mon]

Is this an argument for keeping the status quo or for changing it?

Would having more black characters in the art be more disruptive to the generic-ness of D&D than introducing dragonborn and tiefling as core playable races, for example?

Paizo's Pathfinder art has lots of black characters. I think it works well and fits within the context of their Golarion setting. WoTC's 3e and 4e art has some, but not as much, and they tend to go for threefers like the black female halfling in the 4e PHB. Both Paizo and WoTC tend to make most of their black character depictions female.
As far as I'm concerned they could both have more black male character depictions and that would be fine with me. If they're choosing between "shall we have a black human male, or a dragonborn female?" I'd prefer they go with the black human male. In general I'd prefer more humans, and plenty of male humans, in the generic art.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually, the dearth of black male role models is a sad echo of the black subculture in the USA...probably unintentional.

 

[delericho]

Both Paizo and WoTC tend to make most of their black character depictions female.

I take it that isn't just a consequence of the iconic Pathfinder Paladin and the iconic 3.5e Monk being black women?