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Two underlying truths: D&D heritage and inclusivity
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<blockquote data-quote="Valchrys" data-source="post: 8024509" data-attributes="member: 7025262"><p><strong>TLDR:</strong> the problem of racism in D&D has different aspects which will probably require different solutions. None of the following is a judgment for any side, it's only an observation of the state of public discourse.</p><p></p><p>I think part of the problem is who are these solutions being addressed to? The player base in general? The portion of the player base involved in public debate? Or, media critics? A solution might be acceptable to players who are well versed in the mechanics and lore of the game but do nothing to address public criticism.</p><p></p><p>For example, we have this quote, “Racism isn’t just negative stereotypes; it is also an underlying belief that a particular group of people have something inherently in common with each other and also that they are also inherently different from other groups." </p><p></p><p>That's from Helen Young who is, for those that don't know, a professional medievalist who studies white supremacy in medieval literature. Why does she matter? Because the journalists who present the problem of racism in D&D to the public don't talk to players, they go to the loudest voices they can find, declare them experts and quote them. When it comes to WotC, it's going to be people like Dr Young who are going to be more influential on future design because she offers a clear solution and the designers have this stuff right in their face.</p><p></p><p>So, what's the problem with the Dr Young's quote? It works perfectly fine in the real world where race is a social construct. But, for a fantasy setting that postulates race is real and culture derives from it, the very question of what makes an orc an orc is racist. All that design scaffolding has to go in order to answer the media critics charge. Otherwise, no matter how palatable the changes to race are to the players, D&D will continue to accused of being racist at its core.</p><p></p><p>I'm sure many players will agree to get rid of the design and start over. To that, I would only say that I think a large reason for the success of D&D is that it easier to make it feel deeper than other RPG's that lacks the lore built into D&D. As to iterating to a solution, Dr Young's quote tells you what the solution is. I think you'll find you can stop iterating once the game satisfies her criticism and not before.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Valchrys, post: 8024509, member: 7025262"] [B]TLDR:[/B] the problem of racism in D&D has different aspects which will probably require different solutions. None of the following is a judgment for any side, it's only an observation of the state of public discourse. I think part of the problem is who are these solutions being addressed to? The player base in general? The portion of the player base involved in public debate? Or, media critics? A solution might be acceptable to players who are well versed in the mechanics and lore of the game but do nothing to address public criticism. For example, we have this quote, “Racism isn’t just negative stereotypes; it is also an underlying belief that a particular group of people have something inherently in common with each other and also that they are also inherently different from other groups." That's from Helen Young who is, for those that don't know, a professional medievalist who studies white supremacy in medieval literature. Why does she matter? Because the journalists who present the problem of racism in D&D to the public don't talk to players, they go to the loudest voices they can find, declare them experts and quote them. When it comes to WotC, it's going to be people like Dr Young who are going to be more influential on future design because she offers a clear solution and the designers have this stuff right in their face. So, what's the problem with the Dr Young's quote? It works perfectly fine in the real world where race is a social construct. But, for a fantasy setting that postulates race is real and culture derives from it, the very question of what makes an orc an orc is racist. All that design scaffolding has to go in order to answer the media critics charge. Otherwise, no matter how palatable the changes to race are to the players, D&D will continue to accused of being racist at its core. I'm sure many players will agree to get rid of the design and start over. To that, I would only say that I think a large reason for the success of D&D is that it easier to make it feel deeper than other RPG's that lacks the lore built into D&D. As to iterating to a solution, Dr Young's quote tells you what the solution is. I think you'll find you can stop iterating once the game satisfies her criticism and not before. [/QUOTE]
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