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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5411680" data-attributes="member: 59506">Sorry Imperialus, but I have to disagree.  Danny has it right.  It's quite explicitly laid out in that text.  I can't refute or deny what you're saying about the defaults of Shadowrun, as I haven't read very much in the way of Shadowrun publications; but even if this is "normal" within that context, I think it's still undeniably offensive. I find it rather disappointing in that, for something like this to be printed, it's not just an author involved but everybody in the chain: author, any fellow designers/writer who read it, any proofreaders, and finally the editor(s).  Any one of which could have exerted influence or put the kibosh on this.   And whether or not it's been said in other material that ghosts do not exist in Shadowrun, the above is saying "maybe they do...maybe they don't...don't really know what they are".  But when that is coupled with adventure hooks, flavor text, or location descriptions attributing these "spirits" to areas where People have died, then the link to those People is at the least implied, and at the worst a wink-wink code. Then write a piece of text where the People that died at that location are the victims of a very real world Holocaust, and a subject that is very sensitive and raw to many people.  Then I'd consider that text to be at the least, callous and in poor taste...and at the worst, malicious and purposely offensive. Some people have mentioned (perhaps not in this thread, but in other forums threads concerning this) that the same treatment has been extended in Shadowrun books, to many other sites around the world where similar things happened to real world groups/peoples (specifically Native Americans).  Quite honestly, I find that just as offensive.  Within the context of a Shadowrun sourcebook?  Maybe.  I haven't read a whole lot of Shadowrun sourcebooks. But, within a context as concerns people at large and not just Shadowrun fans?  Yeah, I think it quite obviously exceeds the threshold which most people would consider good taste or even close to acceptable. I can't imagine any way in which this material/hook could be used in a game, that wouldn't be offensive to just about every person I know...including most persons I've ever gamed with.</blockquote>

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