Chinese Government Burns Cthulhu RPG Print Run

ParanoydStyle · Mar 27, 2019

LordNightwinter said:
Take note out there you socialism/communism lovers. This is what happens when you give your freedom away or lose it and let the government have control.

Yo dawg, speaking as an anarcho-socialist, please don't conflate socialism with Communism.

on Communism as much as you want. "National Socialists" (Nazis) burn books. Communists, clearly, burn books. Socialists do not burn books. I'm surprised in 2019 I still need to explain to people in 2019 that Socialism != Communism. Socialism has nothing to do with authoritarianism.

Billy Shatswell said:
Communists don't have a monopoly on authoritarianism.

Well said. What rhymes with hump, lump, and chump?

...Anyway, as to the OP, I have two major thoughts:

1) What on EARTH was their stated rational for burning these books? Or did they not even BOTHER giving a reason?
2) What can we do to get back at these bastards? I know it's ridiculous since I am substantially less powerful than the NATION OF CHINA and PROBABLY can't exact any meaningful revenge, but honestly that was my gut reaction upon reading the original post. Nobody should burn RPGs/sourcebooks and get away with it.

Also I think this has got to be the most unassailably legitimate reason for delayed fulfillment in the history of Crowdfunding.

MockingBird · Mar 27, 2019

The only way we can fight back is by not buying things that are produced in China. That's tough to do unfortunately.

ParanoydStyle · Mar 27, 2019

Well for what it's worth, while in general I am stridently against public shaming in virtually any circumstance, and I don't know if it's even POSSIBLE to shame A NATION (and not just A NATION, but probably the largest nation in the world), I still think a massive coordinated campaign to tell the world that this thing actually happened--that the Chinese are burning books about imaginary monsters in 2019--might be a good place to start. Because you're right...virtually everything is made in China. But the Chinese government MIGHT still care about their optics, you know, how they appear to the rest of the world. Which is apparently BURNING BOOKS IN 2019. Hitler would be proud.

jacleg05 · Mar 27, 2019

Didn't this happen to a game supplement of Venger Satanis a few weeks ago here in the US? Though I believe, they just refused to print it. I remember the cover was the back of a woman's legs and a small stream of blood was coming down one leg. The printer thought it was menstrual blood.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 28, 2019

jacleg05 said:
Didn't this happen to a game supplement of Venger Satanis a few weeks ago here in the US? Though I believe, they just refused to print it. I remember the cover was the back of a woman's legs and a small stream of blood was coming down one leg. The printer thought it was menstrual blood.

That’s a little different than what happened this time in China, and happens in all kinds of publishing. The recording industry is full of examples of changed cover art...including some abject refusals.

Immortal Sun · Mar 28, 2019

Elderbrain said:
- The people you are citing are not known for either their credibility or their respectability. They're, shall we say, on the fringe...

As John Rogers put it:

John Rogers said:
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

charlesatan · Mar 28, 2019

In general, China has guidelines on certain tropes/themes that are banned from the country.

The concept of banning something is not inherently wrong--Germany bans Nazi iconography for example--but specific applications of censorship (since this is being performed by the government) are open to criticism.

Without reading the book in question, grounds for destroying the print run might include:

* Depiction of skeletons
* Criticism/Defilement of Chinese culture/traditions
* Promotion of drinking/smoking
* Time travel
* Cleavage
* Homosexuality

Lucas Yew · Mar 28, 2019

Why am I not surprised by this...

billd91 · Mar 28, 2019

charlesatan said:
In general, China has guidelines on certain tropes/themes that are banned from the country.

The concept of banning something is not inherently wrong--Germany bans Nazi iconography for example--but specific applications of censorship (since this is being performed by the government) are open to criticism.

Without reading the book in question, grounds for destroying the print run might include:

* Depiction of skeletons
* Criticism/Defilement of Chinese culture/traditions
* Promotion of drinking/smoking
* Time travel
* Cleavage
* Homosexuality

Maybe... but before offering them too much benefit of the doubt, there's a difference in them suppressing materials designed for their own market and suppressing materials being processed for foreign companies for a foreign market. They've usually been pretty compliant with American businesses exploiting their labor force and lax environmental regulations. Too much of this kind of behavior loses them business that will probably go to the next cheap country (like India or Vietnam). Kind of makes me wonder if there's an additional factor involved in this case.

Immortal Sun · Mar 28, 2019

billd91 said:
Maybe... but before offering them too much benefit of the doubt, there's a difference in them suppressing materials designed for their own market and suppressing materials being processed for foreign companies for a foreign market. They've usually been pretty compliant with American businesses exploiting their labor force and lax environmental regulations. Too much of this kind of behavior loses them business that will probably go to the next cheap country (like India or Vietnam). Kind of makes me wonder if there's an additional factor involved in this case.

It's entirely possible the printer was attempting to skirt the rules and then the government caught wind.

Chinese Government Burns Cthulhu RPG Print Run

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