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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zarrock God of Evil" data-source="post: 1289700" data-attributes="member: 2025">No problem. I am myself quite committed to the Irish/English conflict and have been so for many years. Therefore I am naturally a bit sensitive to writings that simplify the conflict - no matter where they may appear. I have not seen the earlier "flame wars" that Neo describes above, but if his word is an accurate description of what went to pass (and my earlier experiences with Neo leads me to believe that it is), this topic should probably be laid to rest and I feel I have already spoken my part in this. I would have liked to see the writing in full, though, but as I have only little interest in the B5 RPG (I loved the series), I probably won't <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />. I do, however, believe that RPG books have as great a responsibility as any other work that describes elements of the real world (future or not) to stay true to the spirit of the source material used (here: the nationalities and cultures of Earth). As I mentioned earlier, I do not infer any ill will on the part of Mongoose Publishing and their apology should have been sufficient for the offended. Personally things like this don't offend me as much as they annoy me. Everytime a decision is made to portray our cultures in crude and stereotypical manners, an opportunity is made to show the true verisimilitude and depth of our various cultural heritages. I could not think of a greater missed opportunity for interesting roleplaying than that deprived from us by such means. This mistake is by no means limited to Mongoose Publ. and the author, we are probably all guilty of this most of the time. After all the human minds is apt to fill in lack of knowledge with assumptions and stereotyping will always be the result. The weapon is understanding and openmindedness - but that's a discussion for other, more important, forums than those that deal with a hobby which purpose has always been to bring people together (something rpg products should preferably reflect of course). I wish Mongoose all the best - especially their B5 line because Straczynski's work deserves all the exposure it can get - and hope that this experience may encourage them to apply even more research and not fall back on simple, less informed material for their future products. The mistake is natural, though, fantasy authors usually have more space to maneuver in as their descriptions rarely offend any particular group (but beware: some fanatics even infer that Tolkien's work is both racist and glorifying of Western culture, so no one is truly safe). I guess I have said more than enough by now and will let this topic rest in the hope that no "permanent" damage has been done <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> and that we are all the wiser (hope springs eternal  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />). -Zarrock</blockquote>

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