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<blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 7757527" data-attributes="member: 6796566"><p>Hah! Yeah, I had skipped over that bit to get to the actual game. I've certainly observed the general trend in the industry to include that sort of virtue signaling in the introductory pages of game manuals, but I think that's the first one I've seen that goes so far as to call it a "social contract." I like how the follow it up on the same page with "there's no wrong way to play Pathfinder."</p><p></p><p>My presumption is that all these publishers know that their game is going to be mostly played by groups of friends, and therefore no one is looking for them for guidance on who to play the game with. I think these sorts of statements are simply an effort to diffuse what has become an almost inevitable scrutiny of the product looking for any and everything about which someone could manufacture outrage over the "representation" of some subset of real-world people in a fictional, fantasy world setting. They're trying to head that off before it begins. You might roll your eyes and mutter "Whatever, dude" as you move on to the important parts of the game book, but the people who that column is probably designed to diffuse are venomous--they'll launch a torrent of social media vitriol and call for boycotts and so forth, things which Paizo would feel obligated to address respectfully and "take seriously" regardless of how ridiculous the underlying claims might be. Best to try to avoid that if possible, so my guess is that the whole "social contract" bloviation is Paizo's effort at "an ounce of prevention."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="epithet, post: 7757527, member: 6796566"] Hah! Yeah, I had skipped over that bit to get to the actual game. I've certainly observed the general trend in the industry to include that sort of virtue signaling in the introductory pages of game manuals, but I think that's the first one I've seen that goes so far as to call it a "social contract." I like how the follow it up on the same page with "there's no wrong way to play Pathfinder." My presumption is that all these publishers know that their game is going to be mostly played by groups of friends, and therefore no one is looking for them for guidance on who to play the game with. I think these sorts of statements are simply an effort to diffuse what has become an almost inevitable scrutiny of the product looking for any and everything about which someone could manufacture outrage over the "representation" of some subset of real-world people in a fictional, fantasy world setting. They're trying to head that off before it begins. You might roll your eyes and mutter "Whatever, dude" as you move on to the important parts of the game book, but the people who that column is probably designed to diffuse are venomous--they'll launch a torrent of social media vitriol and call for boycotts and so forth, things which Paizo would feel obligated to address respectfully and "take seriously" regardless of how ridiculous the underlying claims might be. Best to try to avoid that if possible, so my guess is that the whole "social contract" bloviation is Paizo's effort at "an ounce of prevention." [/QUOTE]
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