Hiya!
...and this (inaction) is bad because...?
I don't care how "harmful or grotesque" some book is, it should NEVER be banned. Same goes for thoughts and opinions.
What AM I fearful of? Getting to the convention, starting up a game of OA...then having a convention official come over and say "You guys can't play that anymore. Someone complained that you were being racist, discriminatory and non-inclusive because you were playing a game with 'That label' on it". THAT is the only 'fear'. That a single person can be offended and have the power to completely cancel my right to play what I want, how I want, with who I want....even though that person wasn't playing, wasn't invited to play, and simply walked by and saw what we were playing and "felt offended".
Of that...EVERYONE should be afraid.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Inaction is bad because it means we become static. I don't want to live in a world where people are too worried about potential making things worse to ever try and make them better.
And, the convention thing is something I don't think would happen. First, you would have already gotten the convention approval by being scheduled if they are so spineless that even the mention of Kara-Tur has them canceling games, then they woulnd't have approved you.
Secondly, that person could have done something similar anyways. Perhaps you have an early monster manual sitting on the table? They could have gone to the convention board and told them that at their family friendly convention you were showing lewd pictures to small children. Or that you were using vile slurs on people who walked by.
The thing is, those are baseless accusations, with no evidence, and with your word against theirs, you would probably be under watch if not asked to leave "just to be safe". I would hope your table would back you up with agreement that that didn't happen, which would then make it clear that the person who reported you was just stirring up trouble. And, while the online store has a disclaimer, that disclaimer is very generic, and has nothing to do with your adventure. And even if they did try and use that label against you, saying "I altered the parts that were problematic" would likely be enough. It is just small pieces that are the bad parts, not the entire book.
Not "harmed or uncomfortable". Just annoyed. It's unfortunate if someone feels 'harmed or uncomfortable' when reading a fantasy roleplaying game book...but that's not, to put it bluntly, my fault or my problem. They have to find a way to deal with it. I find things others may say online, in print, or in a movie or video game "uncomfortable"...but I don't think it's up to the other person to try and make me feel 'safe'. That's on me.
For example, this. While I don't feel 'harmed or uncomfortable' with the disclaimer....I do find it annoying because I can see it causing me a lot of head aches in the future. Not just me, but any "old school player".
The disclaimer isn't going to do anything positive. That's all I'm saying, basically.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
The positive thing is acknowledging that there are harmful stereotypes in our rulebooks. Which, frankly, is not something most of us are really shocked by. Something written decades ago isn't going to follow a modern understanding of what is and isn't okay to say. But, while it may not be shocking for us, plenty of companies in the past have revealed ignorance about the affects of their products, so WoTC needed to show that they at least heard the complaints.
Also, while I get the "it is on me to make me feel safe" attitude.... I disagree with it.
I've mentioned this a few times during these discussions, but one of my 4e games I was running, a friend of mine came up to me with concerns about the half-orc that another player was planning on running. He had read the book, and the implied origin of the half-orc made him highly uncomfortable but he didn't want to tell the other player not to play the character he wanted to play.
The relief he felt when I came up with a solution was palpable, but it was not a solution he could have came up with on his own (turning all half-orcs into full-blooded orcs) in fact, his only two options were to continue being uncomfortable or leaving the game.
And frankly, DnD is not the type of culture I think that should be comfortable with telling people to either put up with it or leave. But those are the only options they have available to them in the face of content. They aren't creating the content after all, they might not even be buying it, they might be reading another person's copy. So, the change has to come from somewhere else.