WotC Dungeons & Dragons Fans Seek Removal of Oriental Adventures From Online Marketplace

[Cadence]

Totally agree here. Like I said, the anachronisms of the book aren't a big deal. It's the fact that it presents Asia as a single culture, ignoring all the other cultures.

No, I'm miffed that they are pretending that Japan is the only culture of note and everything else gets shunted to the background if mentioned at all.

The second paragraph of the introduction addresses that to some extent. :-/

WotC - Dungeons & Dragons Fans Seek Removal of Oriental Adventures From Online Marketplace

I originally read this as an attempt to obscure the sexual violence implicit in the older half-orc lore, rather than to emphasize it more strongly. Mainly due to "crossbreed," which doesn't necessarily imply force. Not discounting your take; just an alternate perspective. That said, I'm of the...

www.enworld.org

I wonder if Cook had complete control and someone had suggested advertising it as being about just Japan instead of all East Asia if he would have.

 

[Maxperson]

No, I'm miffed that they are pretending that Japan is the only culture of note and everything else gets shunted to the background if mentioned at all.

Like I said, if D&D was written with all the names and mythology in French and everything else was an after thought, people would lose their frigging minds. But, apparently, it's okay to do that in Asian cultures.

I'm curious as to your opinions about Kara Tur, the setting that was detailed in the Forgotten Realms. Specifically, Shou Lung and Wa.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I think that the international production of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Asian* cast, Asian director, Asian language, based on an Asian novel, screenplay adapted by 2/3 Asian writers) that went on to popularize Asian cinema, and won countless awards and was a massive box office hit ....

Pretty sure that's not the best example to use for something not being accepted. I don't think that Chow Yun-Fat, or Michelle Yeoh, or Ang Lee thinks that this was a poor choice, or wasn't accepted.

And Kung Fu Panda, which had virtually no Asians with a major role in it's production -- the exceptions being Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan (in a very small role), and the head cinematographer Yong Duk Jhun from South Korea -- was overwhelmingly well-received in China. It captured Chinese culture so well that there was discussion about why such a movie had never been created by China before.

 

[Remathilis]

Too be fare there a loads of things in traditional D&D that aren't of historically contemporary periods. I think that one should be fine.

The other day, my PC druid was loading up his pistol and sheathing his rapier and said "you know, this whole thing is a bit rubbish, isn't it?"

 

[Voadam]

Like I said, if D&D was written with all the names and mythology in French and everything else was an after thought, people would lose their frigging minds. But, apparently, it's okay to do that in Asian cultures.

If D&D was mostly a mash up of King Arthur, Robin Hood, Tolkein, and Narnia names and mythology some people might complain because that is all England stuff and not other European stuff they want, but I think most would not blink and it would not be that different from standard D&D.

Warhammer's game world fantasy not-Europe is basically fantasy Germany with a side supplement for Knights of the Round Table Britain/France and some Italian mercenaries. Some complain about it but most do not blink.

 

[TheSword]

I dunno. I prefer the wide-eyed naive enthusiasm of the 80s over the faux-enlightened smug pretentiousness of L5R/OA 3e. Especially considering that they really had no claim of having done anything better, and in fact did a lot of things worse. Yeah, yeah... with the old "Rokugan is not Japan! That means even though we gratuitously plaster our work with Japanese concepts and names, you cannot complain if they are hilariously wrong! In Rokuganese 'Heimin' actually does mean 'Half-people', you see!"

No they did somethings better and some new troublesome things, which will be corrected in later editions.

Rokugan has always been heavily and unapologetically inspired by Japanese history.

 

[TheSword]

No, I'm miffed that they are pretending that Japan is the only culture of note and everything else gets shunted to the background if mentioned at all.

Like I said, if D&D was written with all the names and mythology in French and everything else was an after thought, people would lose their frigging minds. But, apparently, it's okay to do that in Asian cultures.

is it a requirement for a future replacement of oriental adventures to give representation to all asian cultures? Or is it enough that they are explicit that are drawing on specific sources if they acknowledge that?

 

[Danzauker]

Totally agree here. Like I said, the anachronisms of the book aren't a big deal. It's the fact that it presents Asia as a single culture, ignoring all the other cultures.

So maybe the solution to all of this would just have been rebrand it to "Japanese Adventures" and go with it?

 

[Wulfhelm]

So maybe the solution to all of this would just have been rebrand it to "Japanese Adventures" and go with it?

Ideally, a given Japanese setting, like the late Sengoku period, would have been given the full treatment in the historical reference series, like the Viking period, the Crusades etc. - complete with ideas how to transport them into a fantasy world. Even more ideally, there should also have been other East Asian settings in the same vein.

EDIT: Heh. I see Wizards/dtrpg has put that stupid disclaimer on all books from the HR series as well. Geeze...

 

[Cadence]

Ideally, a given Japanese setting, like the late Sengoku period, would have been given the full treatment in the historical reference series, like the Viking period, the Crusades etc. - complete with ideas how to transport them into a fantasy world. Even more ideally, there should also have been other East Asian settings in the same vein.

"Ideally" they would have an infinite budget and staff to turn out that many different source books and have a market that could afford them all...