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]

Did you have a problem with Joey in Friends? Did you have a problem with Chris Hemsworth's character in Ghostbusters? Did you have a problem with Kelly in Married with Children? Did you have a problem with Norm in Cheers? Did you have a problem with Penny in Big Bang Theory?...etc

Norm wasn't dimwitted. You're thinking of Coach and Woody.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Norm wasn't dimwitted. You're thinking of Coach and Woody.

yeah of all of those norm was the oddest.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Norm wasn't dimwitted. You're thinking of Coach and Woody.

You're 100% right. Cannot believe I forgot Woody and Coach.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I read something about the sitcom Friends is not right for the current standards. Today more no-Caucasian people should be added, although I guess we should forgive it.

'Friends' criticized for all-white cast, Lisa Kudrow argues: 'Look at it as a time capsule'

The actress, who famously played Phoebe on the sitcom, came to the defense of 'Friends' when asked how it would be different if it were recreated today.

scoop.upworthy.com

Other point is being right is not enough. You can't say it always in an aggresive way. Some times the things have to be said subtly, softly or diplomatically. If you try other to feel guilty or ashamed because this has got a different point of view, then you aren't doing it in the right way. Don't force others to agree you, never. The art of can convince is not like this. You have to earn their trust and then these will be willing to keep listening you.

And we can't forget the main goal is the work to be loved by the fandom or audience. If this gets bored and doesn't enjoy, then all the effort has been useless. Showing a new characters is not enough. The authors have to worry about to add the right traits to be popular, how to create an empathy link, and not to be a boring Mary Sue.

Comics run into this problem often (though there are exceptions) whenever they add a POC, woman or non-cis hero to the stable, and then cancel the series because it doesn't meet sales projections. Representation alone doesn't make a character fun and interesting, and therefore worth spending money on.

Also, these stories have an unfortunate tendency to push their agendas as hard or harder than the actual genre aspects, which can turn off some people, even those who agree with the agenda.