MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Do you put most of the blame on the creators? Or are they not given the budget and support they need to have sensitivity readers? In my experience, those shouting the loudest about incompetence and ignorance on these issues tend to find their foot in their mouth when they have to put themselves out there. To say Perkins et al are incompetent is rather rich considering how successful the game is. To fire everyone and start over would mean losing some of the most successful designers and a huge amount of institutional memory and experience. I'm not optimistic that replacing the team with all new people, who may have much better DEI credentials, will avoid similar problems. We all have our blind spots. Even if it would help avoid many of these kinds of issues, what makes a great sensitivity reader does not necessarily mean they will be successful designers, writers, and artists.I don't think Perkins (or anyone on the team) is racist... I don't know them. HOWEVER, if there was a petition to fire everyone and start over I would seriously think about signing it. Because if it was on purpose, or by accident, this is happening too much.
I am MUCH more willing to assign incompetence and error over malice and prejudice.
WotC just needs to hire and contract with sensitivity readers, where that is their full job. Let the designers design. Let them make their mistakes in house with a chance for those mistake to be caught in house before publication. That will not only avoid this issue by catching the mistakes but help educate the writers, designers, and artists. You don't educate and improve an organization culture by hanging your creatives out to dry and making them the scapegoats.
These are growing pains many companies have go through as the expand into increasingly diverse marketplaces. D&D is a big brand now. And an increasingly global one. These issues are only going to get more complicated. Most of these issues are within the cultural framework of the United States, in particular, and the "west" in general. There are going to be many new cans of worms that will be opened as they publish editions outside of western cultures. And with movies and video games there is even greater potential for issues to arise. They need to make the necessary investments to properly review and focus-group test their content. Not gut the creative talent that made the brand so successful.