Um...no. I think everyone has a different standard, usually one that people generally keep to themselves. What might be anti-inclusive to someone, but be fine to someone else and vice versa. As a result, what constitutes anti-inclusive language and behavior is often unpredictable. Yet at the same time, people are expected to speak or act in an inclusive way.
first of all if you want to get anywhere with this you can do better than treat us like a goddamn minefield. though if you want to I will say some of the mines are very big, with big blinking red lights with a sign pointing at it saying "THIS IS A MINE DO NOT STEP ON IT". I'm here because I play fun elf game. do you think I play D&D to ruin other people's fun?
secondly if this is your attitude about racism and inclusion, why aren't you also worried about being a writer or artist beyond this issue? like let's pretend for a second that inclusivity wasn't an issue, do you honestly think it'd be any easier for you to establish a career if you didn't have to worry about it? there's
a lot that goes into becoming a successful writer or artist, this isn't something that started a month ago, it's always been that way.
I understand what an art director is. I was merely responding to someone's suggestion to hire an art director, and took that person at his or her word.
Like I said, I'm not worried about companies. Companies have more financial resources to protect themselves. They can do more to ensure their works don't offend anyone than individuals can.
I'm promoting about individuals and want to see more art in the world, not less.
did art stop?
....seriously, did art stop? I know WotC dropped 2 MTG artists recently, but they had good reason to: one of them had deeply racist and transphobic views and the other was a known serial sexual harasser. do you feel like you fit either of these descriptions?
Google is useful, but insufficient. It can only tell us what phrases have provoked a negative in reaction in the past, but it provides little knowledge of what phrases might provoke future outrage. Expecting every creative individual to become a cultural anthropologist is not feasible. We need to decide on clear, understandable guidelines for anti-inclusive language and behavior that can be discussed and refined openly. As of now, there is simply too much unpredictability in the standards artists are expected to uphold.
why are you worried about the future? things change. that's life. when West Side Story came out it was praised as an amazing musical, it won an Oscar for best film. nowadays? we talk about the portrayal of Puerto Ricans in the film, and how the female lead was a white actress in brownface and how this is probably bad. but people still like the movie. people point out the problems in Lord of the Rings but even knowing them still enjoy the books and movies.
the best you can do is adapt and change. a lot of authors and artists do this as time goes on and people still follow them. you know who will get spit on at the drop of a hat? the ones who refuse to learn and go to great lengths to defend their bigoted views.
Should we really expect individuals to hire consultants for this sort of thing? Many artists are already struggling financially. I don't think setting the financing barrier to entry even higher is the right answer.
first of all if you're this worried then don't write about things you don't know. that's a good start. but also I'm pretty sure someone like a sensitivity reader will understand what it means to struggle financially, it's kinda part of the minority experience. I don't have resources available to me, unfortunately, but I'm sure if you look you can find someone with affordable services.
I think that's good general advice. But I'm not sure it applies to the high school kids being denied places in universities due to social media posts, James Damore at Google, or Jordan Peterson at Cambridge University.
do you see yourself doing anything those people did? have you done anything those people did? doesn't sound like it.
Unfortunately, they are connected. I've been told on this forum, after expressing that I wished politics could stay out of games, that art and politics are inseparable. I worry that forcing artists (I've also been told here that elf games are art) to walk on eggshells will not end until the political mess is solved.
yes. it's
always been this way. maybe you've seen the portrait of Che Guevara. it's one of the most popular photographs ever taken. in some places he's vilified, in others he's a hero of the highest order. how you view him depends on your politics. I can't post that picture here because it's political. that picture is also 60 years old. art is poltical. it's always been political. it didn't become political a month ago. it's not gonna stop being political anytime in your's or my lifetime. "until the political mess is solved" that political mess has always been there and might be for some time.
despite all this an amazing number of artists and authors have become wildly successful. and a lot of them are very good. you can worry about your own potential career all you want, but don't make it sound like this is going to prevent all art going forward. it's never stopped it before.
