So, I'm curious - did my table rules have an effect? Did my "open table" change their minds, make them less nervous of attending a table populated by people they don't know?
And this curiousity has got me wondering - is the game's official stance on LGBTQ issues going to help attract new players in those (and other) communities? Does more need to be done, or is the current pace the correct one?
As with all divisive issues, there is an almost unreadable continuum where you gain more of "side A" then you loose of "side B" that tips into: you loose more of "side A" than you gain of "side B".
These questions are incredibly important, but also, very prone to divisiveness. They are also
very regional (even if people like to pretend "
it's [state year]! We should be beyond this!) some regions will have vastly different prevalent ideas on the subject. And you needn't go very far to find a radically different perspective (I'm talking less than an hour drive in many areas.)
Personally, I'm finding the current situation to be slightly less "inclusive" (as in, the amount of references to) than what I'd prefer. I'm not LGBT, nor do I actually know all that many that are. I don't really have any black friends either (that being said, my social circle isn't ginormous). Just so you know where I'm coming from.
I do appreciate when settings are described in an "adult" manner - i.e. no need to be blatant about it, but let us not shy away from it either; mention torture, no need to describe the details. Mention that X (male) is Y's (also male) boyfriend, but don't describe their lovemaking habits in a three page dissertation, etc.
The ideas of gender dis-association from biology is an interesting one to ponder (for me), it can also be very important in many situations (changelings leap to mind, asexual or poly-sexual based races also). It's inclusion where appropriate is important. It's inclusion to the point (and this point will be very subjective - hence the difficulties) where it "get's in the way" by feeling, "put in, to be put in" is not desirable to me. But, for my money, we are still a far cry from this point.
tl;dr - we're going in the right direction. Some people will be put off by it. It will be tricky to find the optimum "inclusion" threshold.
Side note : I am really digging the inclusion of different coloured people in the art (that just makes sense!)