D&D 5E D&D Beyond Self-Censorship: Pride Month Digital Dice Blocked In Some Countries

[Echohawk]

It’s not your fundamental right to demand WotC campaign for you against the Turkish government. It’s just not a reasonable expectation.

I don't see anyone demanding that. All I've seen is a request for WotC not to block content and then provide as the reason that it is "regionally prohibited" when it is not, in fact, prohibited in the region in which it is blocked.

 

[TheSword]

I don't see anyone demanding that. All I've seen is a request for WotC not to block content and then provide as the reason that it is "regionally prohibited" when it is not, in fact, prohibited in the region in which it is blocked.

The request for a set of pride dice in turkey is a request for an overt political statement. In a country when overt political statements in that regard are repressed.

You’re not a lawyer, neither am I so taking legal positions is above both our pay grades.

 

[Ondath]

You’re not a lawyer, neither am I so taking legal positions is above both our pay grades.

To bring some levity to the thread, we've been talking so much about pride that I read this sentence initially as "taking legal positions is above both our gay prides".

 

[Burnside]

I think it's quite reasonable for Ondath to request further details from WotC about exactly why this move was made by WotC in his country. However, I personally will reserve judgement because I do think it is possible that Hasbro/WotC legal has info on this issue that Ondath doesn't, which informed their decision. It may very well be a case of overly-aggressive geo-blocking, but it also may be informed by past legal misadventures that Hasbro is aware of with regard to Turkish law, either through their own experience or that of industry peers.

 

[Oblivnow]

The request for a set of pride dice in turkey is a request for an overt political statement. In a country when overt political statements in that regard are repressed.

I mean, we have an LGBT person living in Turkey in this thread who has repeatedly said, in very clear terms, that that is an inaccurate characterization of the state of LGBT media in Turkey.
Do you think it is inappropriate for @Ondath to want clarification from WotC? So far, all they have stated is that the dice aren't available, that they know of no laws that would prevent it, and provided some other information to clarify the exact issue they is having, if there has been a grand demand that WotC "campaign for you against the Turkish government", then I seem to have missed it.

 

[Ondath]

I mean, we have an LGBT person living in Turkey in this thread who has repeatedly said, in very clear terms, that that is an inaccurate characterization of the state of LGBT media in Turkey.
Do you think it is inappropriate for @Ondath to want clarification from WotC? So far, all they have stated is that the dice aren't available, that they know of no laws that would prevent it, and provided some other information to clarify the exact issue they is having.

To clarify, I myself am not LGBT but I do have an LGBT partner and a lot of close friends who are LGBT, which is why the matter is close to my heart. I avoid speaking in place of actual LGBT people as much as possible, but in this case I felt the need to post the thread since I don't know of any other Turkish people here. I defer to other LGBT people when it comes to matters of strategy and whatnot, but most LGBT friends in Turkey I shared the news with shared my opinion.

 

[Burnside]

Wizards states that "Certain regions prohibit specific subject matter, and in some cases, access to content that includes regionally prohibited subject matter can put members of our community at risk of harm. For that reason, we must at times make certain content unavailable in these impacted locations."

This feels like a very fraught statement with a lot to unpack. I don't know that there are easy answers. I think "we're censoring our content to protect members of our community from risk" is probably true in some cases, but a convenient cop-out in others.

I also think the question of when, and when not, to do business in a place whose values oppose your own is also not an easy one. There is a valid argument that the moral compromise is cynical and fails to exert economic pressure where it might help. There's also an argument that even partial ambassadorship of values can help, and that getting some content through is better than none at all (for example, as Ondath notes, while the front-and-center Pride dice are blocked, the LGBTQI+ content in the adventures isn't - and that content might be really important/helpful for some people to see.)

 

[Oblivnow]

To clarify, I myself am not LGBT but I do have an LGBT partner and a lot of close friends who are LGBT, which is why the matter is close to my heart. I avoid speaking in place of actual LGBT people as much as possible, but in this case I felt the need to post the thread since I don't know of any other Turkish people here. I defer to other LGBT people when it comes to matters of strategy and whatnot, but most LGBT friends in Turkey I shared the news with shared my opinion.

Thanks for clarifying. To be quite honest, I remain unused to straight people taking initiative on even minor LGBT issues, so I think I scanned one of your early posts and assumed. My apologies and I appreciate what you are doing. I'm very glad that WotC is providing its content that is LGBT affirming internationally, just wish that they were more consistent. We can't expect moral consistency from any company, but we can certainly try to encourage them to be better, especially if the decisions may have been based on not understanding the actual legal situation.

 

[DEFCON 1]

For those who were suggesting that any corporation's efforts to promote Pride Month is purely self-serving, cynical and economic in nature (and thus perhaps insinuating that they shouldn't even bother because they are merely trying to fool us into thinking they care)... I personally would disagree. Even if having Pride-themed materials and color changes are at a baseline marketing efforts only-- by displaying them they are normalizing Pride Month and Pride in general as a thing. That normalization might not move the needle that much right now as a society... but as our subsequent generations grow up under that normalization of Pride and the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, things will open up even further. Our children and grandchildren will live in a much different world of acceptance that I did as a child and teen, and that is only a good thing.

Any good we try to do right now that seems "pointless" in the short-term (because it won't seem to change anything right now), can eventually pay off dividends down the line. Heck, the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States passed 50 years ago... and I think if we were to compare the rights and standing of women between 1972 and today, the passing of the ERA did a whole lot of good. It still ain't perfect by any stretch of course... but all us men and women who have grown up with the ERA as a thing have helped shift the narrative and our society for the better. Just like those who will grow up under the banner of Pride will do so in the decades to come.

 

[Ondath]

Thanks for clarifying. To be quite honest, I remain unused to straight people taking initiative on even minor LGBT issues, so I think I scanned one of your early posts and assumed. My apologies and I appreciate what you are doing. I'm very glad that WotC is providing its content that is LGBT affirming internationally, just wish that they were more consistent. We can't expect moral consistency from any company, but we can certainly try to encourage them to be better, especially if the decisions may have been based on not understanding the actual legal situation.

No worries! I just wanted to avoid any wrong impressions that I'm part of the group when I'm not. The last thing needed is someone to misrepresent the community I think.