D&D 5E WotC: Why Dark Sun Hasn't Been Revived

In an interview with YouTuber 'Bob the Worldbuilder', WotC's Kyle Brink explained why the classic Dark Sun setting has not yet seen light of day in the D&D 5E era.

I’ll be frank here, the Dark Sun setting is problematic in a lot of ways. And that’s the main reason we haven’t come back to it. We know it’s got a huge fan following and we have standards today that make it extraordinarily hard to be true to the source material and also meet our ethical and inclusion standards... We know there’s love out there for it and god we would love to make those people happy, and also we gotta be responsible.

You can listen to the clip here.

 

[Imaro]

Says those who keep saying how Dark Sun is morally repugnant for having slavery in it. ROFLMAO!

Who claimed that? But yes continue to show us you don't understand the talking points... without telling us you don't understand the talking points.

 

[Alzrius]

Who claimed that?

Who claimed they wanted to keep the setting the same as it was 30 years ago?

 

[Minigiant]

I mean that's fine to believe, but it doesn't change the reality that there are people here, and on social media who claim that regardless of research, work that references or plays off a region in the real world, can only be appropriately done by someone with ancestry from the region with sensitivity readers from the same.

Sure because no one does it to prove them wrong.

The same demographics of people have been the main contributors of content in D&D for 50 years and they never do the research on the cultures and materials they copy before publishing.

For 50 years.

It's has not beeen until the last 5-10 years have other demographic groups had a turn in the limelight of content creation. And of course they will all choose their demographics first.

 

[Imaro]

Who claimed they wanted to keep the setting the same as it was 30 years ago?

Read the thread...

 

[Alzrius]

Read the thread...

Right back at you.

 

[Irlo]

As has been said above, personal attacks, particularly those intended to ruin personal and/or professional lives, are the problem, not simple criticism. That phenomenon has gotten  much worse in the last several years.

I don't follow much social media. Can you point to any RPG creators who were subjected to personal attacked intented to ruin personal or professional lives based on the content of their creative work? Was Paizo's decision to stop depicting slavery in its campaign setting a response to personal attacks? When WotC revised the Hazodee lore and removed the artwork, was that in response to personal attacks?

Outside of RPGs, most "attacks" on content creators have been in response to personal behaviors, not professional work (as far as I know).

Or the game is becoming less diverse as more people assert that anything they have problems with is evidence is moral corruption, creating a climate of fear. (Hence why we aren't getting Dark Sun, apropos this thread.)

Please point to an instance of an assertion that including slavery in a 5e Dark Sun setting would be evidence of moral corruption.

A sign of clumsiness and laziness, yes, with an unintended side-effect of putting off some players and potential players. But moral corruption? I haven't seen that claim.

 

[Scribe]

Sure because no one does it to prove them wrong.

The same demographics of people have been the main contributors of content in D&D for 50 years and they never do the research on the cultures and materials they copy before publishing.

For 50 years.

It's has not beeen until the last 5-10 years have other demographic groups had a turn in the limelight of content creation. And of course they will all choose their demographics first.

Thats not the same thing as was being discussed.

The question has been posed here, I'm not going to bother looking for it so here it is again.

If I'm born in Japan, raised in Japan, immersed in the culture of Japan, but I'm white there are people who will actually tell me that I shouldnt write a Fantasy Japan book, if it could instead be written by people who are of japanese decent, even if they were born and raised in North America, several generations removed from living in Japan.

Even if I as the white guy who lived it, does all the research in the world, that has been the position that has been forwarded. Its not appropriate for a non-japanese to cover a fantasy japan.

It's just how it is now, progress.

 

[Alzrius]

Please point to an instance of an assertion that including slavery in a 5e Dark Sun setting would be evidence of moral corruption.

Where to begin? You want to start with the media coverage which grant the premise, or just skip to people disingenuously equating content they don't like to "bigoted nonsense" in other threads?

Now, this is usually where people start engaging in parsimonious issues of "but they're not calling it 'moral corruption' per se" and such, but that's not really an argument worth engaging in, since the understanding is very clear. So hopefully we can avoid that tired old digression.

A sign of clumsiness and laziness, yes, with an unintended side-effect of putting off some players and potential players. But moral corruption? I haven't seen that claim.

Then you haven't been paying attention, have you?

 

[Minigiant]

Thats not the same thing as was being discussed.

The question has been posed here, I'm not going to bother looking for it so here it is again.

If I'm born in Japan, raised in Japan, immersed in the culture of Japan, but I'm white there are people who will actually tell me that I shouldnt write a Fantasy Japan book, if it could instead be written by people who are of japanese decent, even if they were born and raised in North America, several generations removed from living in Japan.

Even if I as the white guy who lived it, does all the research in the world, that has been the position that has been forwarded. Its not appropriate for a non-japanese to cover a fantasy japan.

It's just how it is now, progress.

If you born in Japan, raised in Japan, immersed in the culture of Japan, but you're white AND someone say you could not make a Japanese Fantasy book....

That person would get draaaaaaaaaaaaaagged on social media and publicly laughed at because you are Japanese.

"This guy over here saying the Japanese man can't write Japanese fantasy. "
That's my point.

 

[Scribe]

If you born in Japan, raised in Japan, immersed in the culture of Japan, but you're white AND someone say you could not make a Japanese Fantasy book....

That person would get draaaaaaaaaaaaaagged on social media and publicly laughed at because you are Japanese.

"This guy over here saying the Japanese man can't write Japanese fantasy. "
That's my point.

I'd agree, its insane, but we live in an insane age.