TSR Unearthed Arcana: TSR Policies

[Ferghis]

A blogger dug up and posted TSR's policies regarding publication. There's some fun stuff there, like a prohibition on describing satanic rituals in detail.

http://jrients.blogspot.fi/2013/05/how-many-commandments-have-you-broken.html?m=1

 

[Ahnehnois]

Yikes.

 

[knottyprof]

That was hilarious. I think they violated many of their own code of ethics. I love #18 since LARPing is now considered just as mainstream as tabletop versions.

 

[TerraDave]

Good old T$R.


They left out the part about suing server hosts over webpages that had fan material.

 

[Savage Wombat]

I wonder how much of that was cut-and-pasted from the Comics Code Authority?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wonder how much of that was cut-and-pasted from the Comics Code Authority?

Good call. A lot of that is eerily similar.

 

[Nikosandros]

I remember seeing those a long time ago, probably in the late '90s... ah, the not so fond memories it brought me.

 

[eondesigner]

An interesting read, thanks for sharing. Crazy to think they found it necessary to write these guidelines, they must have been under attack by 'moral' groups at the time. Imagine if novels or movies adhered to these rules.

 

[Morrus]

An interesting read, thanks for sharing. Crazy to think they found it necessary to write these guidelines, they must have been under attack by 'moral' groups at the time. Imagine if novels or movies adhered to these rules.

Many do. When's the last time you saw satanic rituals in Mickey Mouse or Toy Story? Every property (game, movie, TV, book, comic) has its own set of guidelines.

 

[eondesigner]

I actually worked for Disney for a time and the guidelines for artists are surprisingly relaxed although there's so many approval processes that anything a little 'adventurous' tends to get removed or watered down along the way. I kind of understand a set of rules in place for kids media, but censorship for grownup entertainment starts getting a bit Third Reich, don't you think.