>> I want to give them the benefit of the doubt on their "no two-spirit" stance? Like, they just didn't want more appropriation of their terms, and then straight up forgot to add an alternative. Which granted, ain't great. <<
I'm pretty confident that their goal was to avoid repeating common conflicts and protect their Native American players enough to be willing to play with non-Native Americans. But they not only forgot to provide alternatives, they forgot that Native Americans can hurt each other too -- and possibly didn't realize that limiting the sex/gender/orientation of characters could hurt non-Native American players. It could come from hyperfocus rather than racism.
However, the American court system holds (when they can be arsed to enforce it, which isn't often) that racist intent is not required to prove a charge of discrimination, only racially divided negative effects.
>> But regardless, I do feel it stands opposed to how a game like this can connect you to and teach you about another culture. <<
Yeah. That part is frustrating, because this game has so much educational potential. So far, I've only seen one instance of "look up these things" and that was on religious aspects. In their defense, I haven't finished the gamebook, so there may be more. But certainly nowhere near as many as it needs by my standards.
If I'd written a game of this type, there would be a whole lot of:
"If you are not familiar with X because it's not part of your personal culture, but you want to try using it in your character or campaign, please look it up and research carefully so you can handle it accurately. Here are a few resources to get you started."
And a huge reference section in the back broken down by topic, which would be useful to players of any background.
And a general warning: "Please bear in mind that, due to the fraught history of Turtle Island / North America, this game touches on a lot of intense and controversial topics. This may bring up strong feelings in players, especially anyone with ancestors involved in either side of the messier parts or who is personally dealing with the modern fallout. Try to be gentle with yourself and each other. Here are some resources on coping with historical trauma."
I've handled some very real, very touchy stuff in games, and the start of that, I was mid-teens and knew nothing about roleplaying. But I wouldn't expect everyone else to achieve that in a fun way, so I would do my best to put the bottom rungs on the ladder.
You can't think of everything, but "If you don't know the answer, look it up" and "Don't be a dick" go a long way toward covering what's left.
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dancing_serpent
Thoughts
Date: 2021-12-09 09:18 pm (UTC)Thank you!
>> I want to give them the benefit of the doubt on their "no two-spirit" stance? Like, they just didn't want more appropriation of their terms, and then straight up forgot to add an alternative. Which granted, ain't great. <<
I'm pretty confident that their goal was to avoid repeating common conflicts and protect their Native American players enough to be willing to play with non-Native Americans. But they not only forgot to provide alternatives, they forgot that Native Americans can hurt each other too -- and possibly didn't realize that limiting the sex/gender/orientation of characters could hurt non-Native American players. It could come from hyperfocus rather than racism.
However, the American court system holds (when they can be arsed to enforce it, which isn't often) that racist intent is not required to prove a charge of discrimination, only racially divided negative effects.
>> But regardless, I do feel it stands opposed to how a game like this can connect you to and teach you about another culture. <<
Yeah. That part is frustrating, because this game has so much educational potential. So far, I've only seen one instance of "look up these things" and that was on religious aspects. In their defense, I haven't finished the gamebook, so there may be more. But certainly nowhere near as many as it needs by my standards.
If I'd written a game of this type, there would be a whole lot of:
"If you are not familiar with X because it's not part of your personal culture, but you want to try using it in your character or campaign, please look it up and research carefully so you can handle it accurately. Here are a few resources to get you started."
And a huge reference section in the back broken down by topic, which would be useful to players of any background.
And a general warning: "Please bear in mind that, due to the fraught history of Turtle Island / North America, this game touches on a lot of intense and controversial topics. This may bring up strong feelings in players, especially anyone with ancestors involved in either side of the messier parts or who is personally dealing with the modern fallout. Try to be gentle with yourself and each other. Here are some resources on coping with historical trauma."
I've handled some very real, very touchy stuff in games, and the start of that, I was mid-teens and knew nothing about roleplaying. But I wouldn't expect everyone else to achieve that in a fun way, so I would do my best to put the bottom rungs on the ladder.
You can't think of everything, but "If you don't know the answer, look it up" and "Don't be a dick" go a long way toward covering what's left.