The last year has been a strange one for Dungeons & Dragons, after massive controversies swept the tabletop RPG giant because of its DEI pandering initiatives.
Brand and IP control is why. Those things have trademarks attached. Trademark, unlike copyright, has to be actively asserted and defended; this means maintaining operations indefinitely in order to do so.
It was 1970. There were no safe spaces, or safe words. There were no BIPOC, no LGBT representation, no modern sensitivities. Men were men, women were women, and D&D was a game. Drow were evil, Black Dragons were evil. Orcs were evil, etc.
We didn't think of race when we played D&D, we thought of it as good vs evil, and we cleaned out dungeons for fun and sport.
In other news: water still wet.
There's no change on the horizon for D&D. Just don't buy the slop.
Why doesn’t Hasbro just shutdown Wizards of the Coast, already? Wizards of the Coast is clearly going to learn, nothing, from the layoffs.
Brand and IP control is why. Those things have trademarks attached. Trademark, unlike copyright, has to be actively asserted and defended; this means maintaining operations indefinitely in order to do so.
As someone who's been working with Autarch (of ACKS II & Ascendant fame), I for one approve of these changes at WotC.
It was 1970. There were no safe spaces, or safe words. There were no BIPOC, no LGBT representation, no modern sensitivities. Men were men, women were women, and D&D was a game. Drow were evil, Black Dragons were evil. Orcs were evil, etc.
We didn't think of race when we played D&D, we thought of it as good vs evil, and we cleaned out dungeons for fun and sport.
Orcs will always be ______.
She looks fat and gross. Walk away.