Ripple Effect of D&D's Statement on the Rest of the RPG Industry?

[Retreater]

There is a mighty long thread already on here about D&D's statement about races going forward. I am wondering if this might have a ripple effect on the rest of the RPG industry, since D&D is the biggest name in the industry. I apologize if this has been discussed in the (very long) other thread, but I didn't want to go through 100s of posts to find the answer or derail that conversation on a tangent.
And let's try to keep this discussion friendly, just as speculation about the future of the industry with other settings, systems, and publishers.
I'll post my thoughts below.

 

[Retreater]

So there are obviously some literary-based RPGs that have very racially problematic inspirations: Call of Cthulhu (Lovecraft), Solomon Kane and Conan (Robert E. Howard). What would those games look like to try to remove racism from them? Is it even possible? Both CoC and SK are set in fantastical versions of our world in which racism was a reality. It also comes through strongly in Conan.
Look at CoC's well-regarded "Masks of Nyarlahotep." You travel around the world and run into stock characters and stereotypes: Australia, China, Africa, the Middle East.

 

[Catulle]

Honestly, they're pretty late to the party and playing catchup.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Chaosium has not been silent on current events. But as far as I can tell, aside from two paragraphs tucked away in their FAQ, that's it. They are publishing Harlem Unbound, 2nd edition, which is a good thing. But, as far as I'm aware, they have never acknowledged their very real complicity in glossing over Lovecraft's vitriolic racism in the past.

I think that there's definitely a path forward for the IP. For my part, I prefer to focus on those authors that directly work to redress Lovecraft's wrongs, rather than Lovecraft's own works these days - Tom LaValle, Ruthanna Emrys, for starters. Heck, the upcoming HBO Lovecraft Country adaptation is probably going to be the most prominent directly Lovecraftian work in years.

Not to neglect R.E. Howard's works, which are also are pretty racist (and sexist: Frost-Giant's Daughter, anyone?). At a quick glance, Modiphius talks about it in a podcast tucked away on their website, but that's it. Nothing more recent.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

So there are obviously some literary-based RPGs that have very racially problematic inspirations: Call of Cthulhu (Lovecraft), Solomon Kane and Conan (Robert E. Howard). What would those games look like to try to remove racism from them? Is it even possible? Both CoC and SK are set in fantastical versions of our world in which racism was a reality. It also comes through strongly in Conan.
Look at CoC's well-regarded "Masks of Nyarlahotep." You travel around the world and run into stock characters and stereotypes: Australia, China, Africa, the Middle East.

As a long-time fan of the cosmic horror of Lovecraft and the sword and sorcery of Howard, I think it's important to be able to acknowledge that they remain problematic. I do not believe it is possible to enjoy them without understanding the context or to simply turn a blind eye.

I quoted the following in a separate thread, and it is worth repeating here:

Far from outlandish eccentricities, the fears that generated Lovecraft’s stories and opinions were precisely those of the white, middle-class, heterosexual, Protestant-descended males who were most threatened by the shifting power relationships and values of the modern world.

Alan Moore, in The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft. (Norton, 2014).


There is value in understanding these things; both why they can be problematic because they reflect the times (for example, passages from Howard exemplifying attitudes regarding other races and colonialism), and to a deeper extent, understanding how, for example, the intense racism and fear of the other of H. P. Lovecraft in inextricably linked to the birthing of cosmic horror.

 

[Morrus]

WotC is trailing Paizo on this.

 

[shesheyan]

As a long-time fan of the cosmic horror of Lovecraft and the sword and sorcery of Howard, I think it's important to be able to acknowledge that they remain problematic. I do not believe it is possible to enjoy them without understanding the context or to simply turn a blind eye.

I quoted the following in a separate thread, and it is worth repeating here:

Far from outlandish eccentricities, the fears that generated Lovecraft’s stories and opinions were precisely those of the white, middle-class, heterosexual, Protestant-descended males who were most threatened by the shifting power relationships and values of the modern world.

Alan Moore, in The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft. (Norton, 2014).

There is value in understanding these things; both why they can be problematic because they reflect the times (for example, passages from Howard exemplifying attitudes regarding other races and colonialism), and to a deeper extent, understanding how, for example, the intense racism and fear of the other of H. P. Lovecraft in inextricably linked to the birthing of cosmic horror.

You need to add Body Snatchers and Zombie survival games to that list. The body snatcher's mind control and infected zombie's mindless behaviours have represented many unconscious fears of the occident over the years. The immigrants, the communists and more lately anonymous religious fervour.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Honestly, they're pretty late to the party and playing catchup.

Agreed, WotC is behind on this compared with many other companies.

The change is coming from the grassroots up, and I've been seeing the indie scene on itch doing a lot more for diversity than the big companies.

One structural imbalance that is making things difficult is that Kickstarter doesn't support many countries where exciting ideas in game design have been happening. Of all the #RPGSEA countries, Singapore is the only one where you can run a Kickstarter campaign. Malaysia? Thailand? Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world? The Philippines, a hotbed of RPG creativity? Nope.

The only way we can show up on Kickstarter campaigns is to hop on board a project set up in another country. So in terms of crowdfunding, we're gated off.

 

[Grazzt]

Honestly, they're pretty late to the party and playing catchup.

Yep. There have also been a few times where they make a statement about something like this (OK, maybe not quite as big as this, but still) and then do nothing more than "we need to..." or "we will.." and then nothing. Just lip service.

 

[Morrus]

Agreed, WotC is behind on this compared with many other companies.

The change is coming from the grassroots up, and I've been seeing the indie scene on itch doing a lot more for diversity than the big companies.

One structural imbalance that is making things difficult is that Kickstarter doesn't support many countries where exciting ideas in game design have been happening. Of all the #RPGSEA countries, Singapore is the only one where you can run a Kickstarter campaign. Malaysia? Thailand? Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world? The Philippines, a hotbed of RPG creativity? Nope.

The only way we can show up on Kickstarter campaigns is to hop on board a project set up in another country. So in terms of crowdfunding, we're gated off.

Why is that? Legal stuff? Banking infrastructure?