WoTC promises every single word in every #dnd5e book will now need to be approved by "Diversity Reader" political commissars. Every game designer will be watched by multiple diversity hires in a massive Woke make-work scheme.
#ttrpg #dnd #OneDnD #OSR
Why only 3 Kultural Komissars? They clearly need much more than that...
Lets see, How many cultures in the world? They clearly need one Komissar for each and it has to be someone with the magical blood, clearly.
Now, how many genders? Well they need one for each.
Disabilities? One Kultural Komissar for each
They also need one landwhale at least.
So, that's 3800 Kultural Komissars selected for their magical blood. Times Gender+ Times Disability + 3800 landwhales from each culture.
This is going to be a glorious train wreck.
Yeah, if it really is 3 commissars per writer, this is going to burn money faster than I burned my goodwill towards WotC. Who looked at that and could have possibly thought "yeah, this is a sound financial decision". Just about everyone, in every field, already agrees that there is too much administrative bloat. Only people who disagree are, shockingly, the crazy HR people who have the greatest authority and incentive to expand said useless administrative sector.
(https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/editorial_content_posts/hero/6507-/K4QBwAjpL43nwcgwEHjaAPEfNc85oZ_small.jpg)
As I have stated in another thread, if you work for Wizards, you are NOT marginalised.
"Marginalized" is one of those words that have been coopted to mean whatever these idiots say it means regardless of its actual meaning, or who it actually applies to in actuality. In our current climate the only truly "marginalized" people, by the actual meaning of the word, are the ones who either hold the "wrong ' political positions or disagree with the prevailing narrative—who are hunted to the ends of the earth, publicly shunned and attacked with impunity, and driven to financial ruin (or at least attempted to). You know, MARGINALIZED.
But no matter how many lonesome instances of fringe individuals without political power or influence who are genuinely bigoted or racist (against non-whites) you may find, people in the modern western world are demonstrably NOT "marginalized" on the basis of immutable characteristics (with the arguable exception of men and white people). The only basis of marginalization in the current paradigm is political. The idea of inherently "marginalized" people on the basis their race, (female) sex or (non-heterosexual) sexuality is newspeak.
I particularly love the assertion that people who complained about the new Spelljammer stuff "correctly" identified problematic content when the fact of the matter is that this is all subjective and subject to whatever whims people have that day. There is no objective criteria to "correctly" identify in any of this. It's all a matter of what direction the winds blow that day and how they are able to spin the current outrage. No amount of "cultural" consultants is gonna be able to predict or fix that. But I'm glad that WotC is willing to waste money to appease the mob. Anything that drives them closer to ruin is fine by me.
I applied to be the Kommisar of Oriental, Consulting Klepto-affirmers on their approver council... or the KOCK as it's known.
And they said "Oriental sounds racist".
I told them " Would you prefer Asian?",
They replied "What is that?"
So no dice.
From my perspective as left-leaning, this sounds like a simple "cover-your-ass" move that has little to do with actual liberal values. I have no belief that WOTC is on my side - they're just trying to pay a token amount to win support from my side. Those consultants will get paid a token amount to suggest a few minor changes, which will change very little about the game experience of a product regardless of one's political orientation.
I think of it like McDonald's hiring dietary consultants to review their menu. I'll still eat McDonald's, but I know damn well that it's not healthy - that's not what I eat it for.
Quote from: jhkim on November 18, 2022, 01:26:47 PM
From my perspective as left-leaning, this sounds like a simple "cover-your-ass" move that has little to do with actual liberal values. I have no belief that WOTC is on my side - they're just trying to pay a token amount to win support from my side. Those consultants will get paid a token amount to suggest a few minor changes, which will change very little about the game experience of a product regardless of one's political orientation.
I think of it like McDonald's hiring dietary consultants to review their menu. I'll still eat McDonald's, but I know damn well that it's not healthy - that's not what I eat it for.
It's protection money to the woke mafia. They're paying up in the vague and uncertain hopes that the woke won't burn their house down. I think that it will change the direction any product could've possibly taken, so it will probably change the
potential experience of the game at the very least more than a little bit. Though, I agree that this is more about appeasing the mob than it is about any genuine adherence to their ideology as a company, even if some individuals within the company ostensibly adhere to that ideology.
Quote from: jhkim on November 18, 2022, 01:26:47 PM
From my perspective as left-leaning, this sounds like a simple "cover-your-ass" move that has little to do with actual liberal values. I have no belief that WOTC is on my side - they're just trying to pay a token amount to win support from my side. Those consultants will get paid a token amount to suggest a few minor changes, which will change very little about the game experience of a product regardless of one's political orientation.
If that's how they do it, we're all going to know soon. The leftist maniacs they have in their employ will reveal it to Twitter (or wherever the communists run to now that Twitter is no longer in their power) and it will be the subject of brutal articles in the "gaming" media, then Wizards will have to do something even bigger.
They're under too much scrutiny for this to be cursory, and if they do it that way, the woke mob will come after them even worse. They won't stop until the people who have ALL the power in WoTC are the Diversity Commisars.
Quote from: RPGPundit on November 18, 2022, 02:27:54 PM
Quote from: jhkim on November 18, 2022, 01:26:47 PM
From my perspective as left-leaning, this sounds like a simple "cover-your-ass" move that has little to do with actual liberal values. I have no belief that WOTC is on my side - they're just trying to pay a token amount to win support from my side. Those consultants will get paid a token amount to suggest a few minor changes, which will change very little about the game experience of a product[/b] regardless of one's political orientation.
If that's how they do it, we're all going to know soon. The leftist maniacs they have in their employ will reveal it to Twitter (or wherever the communists run to now that Twitter is no longer in their power) and it will be the subject of brutal articles in the "gaming" media, then Wizards will have to do something even bigger.
They're under too much scrutiny for this to be cursory, and if they do it that way, the woke mob will come after them even worse. They won't stop until the people who have ALL the power in WoTC are the Diversity Commisars.
I knew something was missing from the Corporate Cancer thread...
The inevitable;
"No big deal", "The game isn't really changed", "Nothing to see here", apologia response.
As was pointed out in that thread, and which Pundit has driven home in his video - WotC has been lit up too much by the cool kids over their 'cursory' efforts. This is WotC's reply to criticisms of their previous efforts.
It doesn't matter whether they are hiring full time employee's, or using a group of contractors; They are giving creative veto power over D&D to people who's job will be to apply critical race theory to everything.
The results will be wonderful to behold.
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/SK5cT.jpg)
Quote from: Jaeger on November 18, 2022, 03:35:12 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit on November 18, 2022, 02:27:54 PM
Quote from: jhkim on November 18, 2022, 01:26:47 PM
From my perspective as left-leaning, this sounds like a simple "cover-your-ass" move that has little to do with actual liberal values. I have no belief that WOTC is on my side - they're just trying to pay a token amount to win support from my side. Those consultants will get paid a token amount to suggest a few minor changes, which will change very little about the game experience of a product[/b] regardless of one's political orientation.
If that's how they do it, we're all going to know soon. The leftist maniacs they have in their employ will reveal it to Twitter (or wherever the communists run to now that Twitter is no longer in their power) and it will be the subject of brutal articles in the "gaming" media, then Wizards will have to do something even bigger.
They're under too much scrutiny for this to be cursory, and if they do it that way, the woke mob will come after them even worse. They won't stop until the people who have ALL the power in WoTC are the Diversity Commisars.
I knew something was missing from the Corporate Cancer thread...
The inevitable; "No big deal", "The game isn't really changed", "Nothing to see here", apologia response.
As was pointed out in that thread, and which Pundit has driven home in his video - WotC has been lit up too much by the cool kids over their 'cursory' efforts. This is WotC's reply to criticisms of their previous efforts.
It doesn't matter whether they are hiring full time employee's, or using a group of contractors; They are giving creative veto power over D&D to people who's job will be to apply critical race theory to everything.
The results will be wonderful to behold.
Most likely, one of the reasons to focus on digital is to cut overhead costs for physical books. The VTT will be a subscription, so in theory should generate revenue. I would assume physical books will be rarer, because if most of the fanbase plays face-to-face, that would work against their monopoly. So, I would imagine if 6e doesn't do it, 7e will make books a Limited Edition thing (to save trees)
Oh man this is so fun. I'll refresh my popcorn and soda from watching the cancer that is Twitter flaming out. Now it's fun watching WotC flaming out....huzzah.
This is crazy, what are they going to pay these people? Man, we all know that salaries are a major drain on company funds. This is amazing. I guess they're just following the 'rule of three' from planescape right?
When they go digital a woke mistake will be super-costly. I assume this is some kind of insurance against that sort of thing. I also don't think you can buy off the woke because what is horrifically unacceptable today is ever changing.
Just when you thought D&D couldn't get more bland and sterile....
But seriously, by the end of the decade, I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of conflict entirely and turned it into a Steven Universe simulator where the the goals are "be queer" (whatever that means) and "make friends".
The sad part is this will validate all those weirdoes who spent four years wasting their parent's money getting a degree on something stupid, like asian footbinding or underwater lesbian basketweaving. These consulting positions are not productive jobs. They are, in fact, destructive jobs and no one should be encouraging this market.
Absolutely anything that hurts WotC is good for the hobby long term.
I'm sure all this staff bloat is going to exist as the recession deepens.
LOL.
Just wait until Christmas sales are shitty. Total retail panic will set in.
The mass firings at Hasbro & WotC will be hysterical.
They ought to be able to get some former Twitter employees cheap. :)
Quote from: Tasty_Wind on November 18, 2022, 11:39:36 PM
Just when you thought D&D couldn't get more bland and sterile....
But seriously, by the end of the decade, I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of conflict entirely and turned it into a Steven Universe simulator where the the goals are "be queer" (whatever that means) and "make friends".
That seems to be the end goal of the people currently in charge.
This has to be the magnum opus of their comedy absurd. They've moved from a bunch of hypocritical finger waggers to a Monty Python skit. This gave me quite a good laugh.
QuoteBut seriously, by the end of the decade, I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of conflict entirely and turned it into a Steven Universe simulator where the the goals are "be queer" (whatever that means) and "make friends".
Generally - doubtful. Such games exists, woke mobs are aware and many of them prefer them, D&D as general gist is criticized there, or at least disliked.
However you can only move as far. I skim various D&D streams, and all those pinko-haired wokesters somehow still love punching baddies in the face.
I'd rather expect menagerie of baddies to change somehow. White supremacist dragons, Ku-Klux-Cthulhu, hypocrytical clerics of paladin gods, hypocrytical paladin gods, greedy industralist elves (never gnomes), evil race of orange skinned sexist people, and so on.
The perfect scenario is that WoTC goes spectacularly broke, and the D&D Trademark gets released from its clutches and a glorious new era begins of truly open source D&D.
Of course, that's not likely to happen...the D&D brand will no doubt be acquired by someone (it's probably still worth a pretty penny), who will hopefully get rid of all the parasitic wokeness that's been incorporated into it.
Quote from: Osman Gazi on November 23, 2022, 05:39:17 PM
The perfect scenario is that WoTC goes spectacularly broke, and the D&D Trademark gets released from its clutches and a glorious new era begins of truly open source D&D.
Of course, that's not likely to happen...the D&D brand will no doubt be acquired by someone (it's probably still worth a pretty penny), who will hopefully get rid of all the parasitic wokeness that's been incorporated into it.
The better scenario would be that the D&D brand/IP gets run into the ground and shelved.
Let someone else use the various OGL's and make a alternate fantasy RPG that replaces it.
It will never get to WotC D&D's heights, and that would actually be a good thing for the hobby.
Quote from: Jaeger on November 23, 2022, 09:10:39 PM
Quote from: Osman Gazi on November 23, 2022, 05:39:17 PM
The perfect scenario is that WoTC goes spectacularly broke, and the D&D Trademark gets released from its clutches and a glorious new era begins of truly open source D&D.
Of course, that's not likely to happen...the D&D brand will no doubt be acquired by someone (it's probably still worth a pretty penny), who will hopefully get rid of all the parasitic wokeness that's been incorporated into it.
The better scenario would be that the D&D brand/IP gets run into the ground and shelved.
Let someone else use the various OGL's and make a alternate fantasy RPG that replaces it.
It will never get to WotC D&D's heights, and that would actually be a good thing for the hobby.
the best case scenario is that someone makes a truly setting agnostic fantasy centered RPG system like I talked about once on this forum.
Quote from: Jaeger on November 23, 2022, 09:10:39 PM
Quote from: Osman Gazi on November 23, 2022, 05:39:17 PM
The perfect scenario is that WoTC goes spectacularly broke, and the D&D Trademark gets released from its clutches and a glorious new era begins of truly open source D&D.
Of course, that's not likely to happen...the D&D brand will no doubt be acquired by someone (it's probably still worth a pretty penny), who will hopefully get rid of all the parasitic wokeness that's been incorporated into it.
The better scenario would be that the D&D brand/IP gets run into the ground and shelved.
Let someone else use the various OGL's and make a alternate fantasy RPG that replaces it.
It will never get to WotC D&D's heights, and that would actually be a good thing for the hobby.
Isn't this in effect what the OSR is already doing? I can see WOTC D&D withering away (3 sensitivity readers today reviewing every word, going up to 9+ by 2030 will crush any valid creative output in any IP), but I don't see a need for anyone specific to then create the alternate RPGs to replace it. I see it in progress with the OSR, where I see way more creativity and excitement. None of the OSR entities will likely become the center of gravity that WOTC D&D was, but that's to the good. At some point D&D may just become used more as a term for generic d20 fantasy, and not limited to only referring to official D&D. That'd be similar to how 'band-aid' has become a generic term despite 'Band-Aid' also being a specific brand.
Quote from: RPGPundit on November 19, 2022, 07:00:57 PM
Quote from: Tasty_Wind on November 18, 2022, 11:39:36 PM
Just when you thought D&D couldn't get more bland and sterile....
But seriously, by the end of the decade, I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of conflict entirely and turned it into a Steven Universe simulator where the the goals are "be queer" (whatever that means) and "make friends".
That seems to be the end goal of the people currently in charge.
They and the worst of the storygamer nuts were pushing this during the 5e playtest.
"Wwah wah wah! D&D is all about conflict and nothing else because it is mostly rules about conflict! waaaah!"
"Um... you just, you know, role-play talking to the NPCs?"
"Wahhhh! No! There are combat ruuuuules and I can NEEEEEVERRRRRRRRR talk to an NPC!"
ad nausium.
We ran into this with the 90s iteration to on a much lesser, though no less annoying, scale.