WotC WotC's Chris Perkins On D&D's Inclusivity Processes Going Forward

Over on D&D Beyond, WotC's Chris Perkins has written a blog entry about how the company's processes have been changed to improve the way the D&D studio deals with harmful content and inclusivity. This follows recent issues with racist content in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, and involves working with external cultural consultants.

The studio’s new process mandates that every word, illustration, and map must be reviewed by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication.

Leveling Up Our Creative Process: Learnings From Spelljammer

In this blog post, I'll talk about how we in the D&D Studio are changing our review process following the problematic content that appeared in Spell...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[MGibster]

I feel like when we've reached the point that people are seriously arguing about whether depictions of cannibalism are culturally insensitive or not, the topic has officially jumped the shark.

You can have my Soylent Green when your pry its cold dead fingers off of me!

 

[Staffan]

Really? I know I'm in a bit of a bubble, but as a fan of the works of both authors, the issues in Lovecraft's works really jump out. I have to stop and take some time to think about Tolkien. The only thing that stands out, and the only thing I recall seeing much writing about, is that is related to it being very male centered.

Tolkien has strict racial hierarchies, with Aragorn being particularly awesome on account of being pure-blood Dunedain, and the Men of Gondor being kinda good but not quite as good as proper Dunedain.

That said, Tolkien seems to have been much less racist than his contemporaries, and famously reacted very poorly to his German publisher asking him to verify that he was "Aryan".

 

[GMforPowergamers]

We've romanticized and watered down pirates over the last few decades. Here's an example of a Disney pirates designed for children.

View attachment 266910

I'm pretty sure taking another person's property is what being a pirate is all about.

Jake and the neverland pirates isn't 'watered down pirates' it's lost boys playing pirate. the fact that the show has a basic pirate theme doesn't change anyone teen or older from realizing it. I don't care if a 5 year old mistakes a cartoon fantasy of pirates for real world history... no adult or even teen is.

Edit: and the 1 game of pirates we played was pre that show but had more in common with a mixeture or that and jack sparrow (also before that) then any real life pirates.
I wish I remembered the name of the game, it was furry pirates maybe? I remember I was an anthropomorphic armadillo and we had 2 fox and a wolf and a bear.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If you complain about Tolkien then you should worry more about the "social darwinism" from lots of titles of current speculative industry. In my opinion the danger is not evil characters doing horrible actions but we have lost good guys with noble values. I have listened lot of people saying bigotry is wrong. And bigotry is wrong, but if we want the end of the intolerance, hate and bigotry then we have to promote the respect for the human dignity, and lots of current authors have forgotten that totally.

When I was a child I enjoyed the old movies of pirates, but later I started to understand Hollywood wasn't telling the truth about English corsairs and the "evil" Spanish empire. Also I watched far-west movies of indians vs cowboys, but later I started to learn other point of view. And the movies of Tarzan. Today a production about Tarzan has to obey some rules for respect for the Blackafrican people. Have you thought any time any things are allowed today, but in a future, maybe a couple of decades, could become politically incorrect because the mind of the society has changed again?

I don't like the word "inclusive" because then I start to suspect others are going to be excluyed.

My opinion is if WotC published the right work about settings inspired in no-Western civilitations, then to learn to respect people from other cultures. Of course this is harder challengue than publishing sourcebooks about crunch.

I suposse the strategy by WotC is to watch DMGuild and the reaction by the fandom. Also WotC should watch the 3PPs because someone could have got some really good idea.

 

[MGibster]

Jake and the neverland pirates isn't 'watered down pirates' it's lost boys playing pirate. the fact that the show has a basic pirate theme doesn't change anyone teen or older from realizing it. I don't care if a 5 year old mistakes a cartoon fantasy of pirates for real world history... no adult or even teen is.

I get that and I'm not objecting to it. I simply find it amusing that a bunch of murderers, thieves, and rapist have been watered down to the point where they're fodder for a children's cartoon.

 

[Remathilis]

I get that and I'm not objecting to it. I simply find it amusing that a bunch of murderers, thieves, and rapist have been watered down to the point where they're fodder for a children's cartoon.

You might want to sit down while we discuss the origin of nearly every D&D class...

 

[Umbran]

I get that and I'm not objecting to it. I simply find it amusing that a bunch of murderers, thieves, and rapist have been watered down to the point where they're fodder for a children's cartoon.

I mean, nothing new there - all of Disney's versions of fairy tales are "watered down" as well.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I get that and I'm not objecting to it. I simply find it amusing that a bunch of murderers, thieves, and rapist have been watered down to the point where they're fodder for a children's cartoon.

i mean don't we water down everything? fire fighters are not going to die in a fire in a show rated Y either...

 

[Vaalingrade]

Children's cartoons don't have enough brutal murders in them.

I wish I could say I hadn't heard that argument before. See the above mentioned pizza cutter writers, ne of whom decided to go self-pub because no publisher would let them put lurid descriptions of gore into an 8+ children's book for some reason.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Children's cartoons don't have enough brutal murders in them.

and SA... don't forget they said SA too (something I didn't think we talked about on here) it is so odd

I wish I could say I hadn't heard that argument before. See the above mentioned pizza cutter writers, ne of whom decided to go self-pub because no publisher would let them put lurid descriptions of gore into an 8+ children's book for some reason.