Quote from: Shipyard Locked;839238We need something a bit like that to serve our constant need to dismiss TBP issues.

Well ... that kinda presumes that we're uniquely enlightened and sensible over here.

The truth is more along the lines of that here (a) we don't have to come up with twisted circumlocutions to call someone acting like an asshole an asshole, and (b) the mods aren't powertrippers who won't tolerate dissent, backtalk or being shown to be wrong.

Doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate a snarky, jeering emoticon.

Anyway, it's a source of ongoing bemusement to me that in a hobby where our characters are serial killers, casual murderers, thieves and rapists, it's racism that's out of line.

Skullgrinder and Spleenchewer were having a bit of fun with the prisoner when the elf arrived.  Chewer threw a sneer towards Grinder who responded with a faint shake of the head as he backhanded the weeping human for good form.

"Anything?" the elf asked in his soft, musical voice.

"Nar, he sez he's a pasi-thingie.  You know, one of them what don't want no more wars.  Thought if he could just talk to us we'd all be lying in the soft grass sipping weak wine together."

"Is that so?" the elf smirked at the suffering man, "Well, as it happens he's gotten his chance to talk to us and we will be marching on his precious village tomorrow.  So, if he doesn't have anything to tell us about their defenses, you might as well give him his wish.  Stake him out on the beach with his feet in the river.  And as it's going to be such a hot and sunny day, put some watered down wine just outside of his grasp."

The orcs nodded silently as the elf strode off with a slight bounce to his step.

"Fugging elf," grunted Chewer.

Grinder just kept his head down and that was what saved him from the elf's blade, which cleanly removed Spleen Chewer's head from his shoulders.

"You're a good fellow Skullgrinder, do me a favour and throw this mess in the river after you've staked out our friend with the gentle, peace-loving heart here would you?  This silk shirt is new and I'd hate to get any blood on it."

Grinder just smiled and nodded, he knew what was good for him.  The ripper fish in the river would be driven into a frenzy by Chewer's fool blood and the humans legs would soon follow.  That's what unthinking bias got you in this orcs army and he had no desire to join the human pacifist on the beach.

Quote from: Ravenswing;839341
Anyway, it's a source of ongoing bemusement to me that in a hobby where our characters are serial killers, casual murderers, thieves and rapists, it's racism that's out of line.

It'll all be "out of line" at this rate.

Remember, rape (or even very indirect implications of rape) is quickly becoming taboo as a topic in fiction too. See what happened to Game of Thrones, the Batgirl comic cover, several incidents in video-gaming and movies, etc.

The bizzaro-world attitude now is that even realistically depicting a subject like racism or rape as obviously bad things is actually endorsing them and mentally assaulting all the fragile people who require trigger warnings on everything.

Murder (especially of "non-problematic" groups) is still fine and dandy, but for how much longer?

I wouldn't be surprised if tabletop RPGs soon find themselves fielding renewed attacks on their "problematic violence". After that we'll be left playing gentleman thieves for a little while until that last bastion is taken, and then we'll all end up playing RPGs where we peacefully wander around a house looking for clues as to where our overweight-but-proud otherkin sister ran off to.

(EDIT: Yes, I edited this several times, that's how nervous this climate of assume-the-worst outrage makes me.)

I do seem to remember a Laws Study class at a college that was blasted for not having trigger warnings on the  course material that dealt with sex crimes. If you are so triggered in class about  it, how di you expect to deal with it in a courtroom?

As far as rpgs are concerned? Aren't the enlighted hall monitors supposed to be playing nWoD and Exalted? Plenty of "triggers" there.

I've just read the thread and, to be honest, I couldn't really see anything wrong.

The OP was a bit uncomfortable with how the Shou were portrayed. A number of other people explained the reasons why.

There wasn't a great deal about orcs being a racist idea, at least that i could see.

But, there again, I enjoy RPG.NET as much as I enjoy The RPG Site and don't really have an axe to continually grind ...

No, of course not.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;839348I wouldn't be surprised if tabletop RPGs soon find themselves fielding renewed attacks on their "problematic violence".

The hobby is a really easy target for those who are trying to aggrandize themselves. Another easy target are people who enjoy the works of HP Lovecraft, but don't feel bad about HPL's personal life.

Quote from: Lynn;839367The hobby is a really easy target for those who are trying to aggrandize themselves. Another easy target are people who enjoy the works of HP Lovecraft, but don't feel bad about HPL's personal life.

Yeah any thread related to HPL's work inevitably ends up being about what a racist prig he was in spite of the fact that he's been dead for 80 years and most of his best works have essentially no racist elements, and the few that do can almost all be read and enjoyed completely without any racial subtexts if they do exist.  It's entirely possible for a Deep One to be nothing more than a fishman monster...

Are orcs racist? Yes, they hate all other races and especially elves from what I hear.

So someone feel's "uncomfortable" playing a game.  Wah. Life is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable because you have to deal with people who don't think the way you do. Wah. Wah, wah, wah.

It's a game. No laws are being broken except someone's sense of propriety. This is why we now live in a world were people use 20 words to explain what could be said in 5.

Quote from: Brad;839226Or are some people just trying to find reasons to be outraged instead of taking fiction at face value...

A dude who seeks racism in the most improbable and ludicrous places, doesn't realize that he is not yet aware of his own racism. This is called projection and well known in psychology (this is universal): you attribute intents and flaws to people you don't know, and generally always the same, so in fact you are but describing yourself. So, this dude is racist, and he has yet to discover it (though probably not toward ethnic groups, but intolerant and having prejudices towards some groups of people).

People need to chill the fuck out.

The allegories, euphemisms, and "racism emulation" happened when a handful of SJWs read the description of Orcs and decided these were the "savage minorities". That's on them, not on the author.

I just read them as "horrible human-like monsters" and ran them accordingly. They represent savagery sure, but even tribal cultures IRL have recorded religious, courtship, and hunting rituals. The Orcs are portrayed as horrible rapists, ravagers and killers. They are a caricature of evil fears of savagery.

Sheesh.

Quote from: trechriron;839405The Orcs are portrayed as horrible rapists, ravagers and killers. They are a caricature of evil fears of savagery.

Sheesh.

Depending on the past culture, they arent quite caricatures. But in the end they are just fiction in a game specifically originally designed to "MAKE OF IT WHAT YOU WILL!" where any creature could be anything you wanted it to be.

The never ending debate from the Purple Toilet. I think I was banned on this topic from there a while back.

Jackasses. Anyhow... is anyone really shocked?

This is why I prefer to keep goblinoids as supernatural dark fey-like creatures who do not have developed cultures, societies or babies. Other than whatever is deemed necessary to provide basic antagonists.