D&D 5E WotC: Why Dark Sun Hasn't Been Revived

In an interview with YouTuber 'Bob the Worldbuilder', WotC's Kyle Brink explained why the classic Dark Sun setting has not yet seen light of day in the D&D 5E era.

I’ll be frank here, the Dark Sun setting is problematic in a lot of ways. And that’s the main reason we haven’t come back to it. We know it’s got a huge fan following and we have standards today that make it extraordinarily hard to be true to the source material and also meet our ethical and inclusion standards... We know there’s love out there for it and god we would love to make those people happy, and also we gotta be responsible.

You can listen to the clip here.

 

[Eubani]

What does this have to do with it?



You ask why there was no push back And ask this?

 

[Imaro]

I think the claim here is that they would have gotten flack if anyone on the creative team didnt have a heritage related to the subject matter.

So they have to be white for it to count... got it.

Funnily enough it's gotten a ton of flack from a big chunk of that community for being "woke". I wonder is the fact that white males have dominated the lions share of the faux-medieval D&D writing for years a type of "woke" as well... smh. No, of course not... that's the norm...lol!!

 

[Minigiant]

Wakanda is basically a utopian state. What is there to object to that wouldn't itself be shouted down?

Oh a lot. MCU Wakanda looks like a utopia. The comic book version was not at all. That's why they changed it.

And then the mvies more or less display that the country isn't so great on geopolitically and let a ton of bad stuff happen.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So they have to be white for it to count... got it.

For what to count? I legitimately don't understand this statement.

 

[Eubani]

For what to count? I legitimately don't understand this statement.

It's a fishing expedition

 

[Imaro]

For what to count? I legitimately don't understand this statement.

An example where controversial subject matter was addressed and no backlash happened. It has for all intents and purposes been reduced to... "because they weren't white' as opposed to it was handled well, it was well written, etc. And I would note by someone I don't think has even read it to be honest. No... that couldn't possibly be it. That's impossible.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Oh a lot. MCU Wakanda looks like a utopia. The comic book version was not at all. That's why they changed it.

And then the mvies more or less display that the country isn't so great on geopolitically and let a ton of bad stuff happen.

I'm talking about MCU Wakanda. It's a utopia, where nearly all the danger comes from outside and everything there is practically perfect. I'm a Marvel fan, I know comics Wakanda is a different place.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's a fishing expedition

Fishing for what? What euphemism are you using?

 

[Eubani]

An example where controversial subject matter was addressed and no backlash happened. It has for all intents and purposes been reduced to... "because they were not white' as opposed to it was handled well, it was well written, etc. And I would note by someone I don't think has even read it to be honest. No... that couldn't possibly be it. That's impossible.


Let's ignore what was being advertised as a selling point.

 

[Micah Sweet]

An example where controversial subject matter was addressed and no backlash happened. It has for all intents and purposes been reduced to... "because they weren't white' as opposed to it was handled well, it was well written, etc. And I would note by someone I don't think has even read it to be honest. No... that couldn't possibly be it. That's impossible.

Fair enough. I don't know enough about the book to comment on it deeply.