So I've talked before about how D&D is mediocrity by design in that it offers an "it works" attempt at every system, and this concept of adapting the systems as needed empowers it in staying hegemonic, but let's talk about how this can be real harmful actually

The purpose of mediocrity in design is to offer *just enough* for everyone to see something they want in the game, and rely on their industry dominance, branding, money, and sunk-cost fallacy to drown out the competition. And unfortunately, it really does work.

It's why the discourse is "You can run anything in D&D" and not "Here's other systems to do the thing you want." (and yeah, there are some accessibility concerns esp in trad games, but the indie scene has built tools around them. Check this thread out:

https://twitter.com/ammourazz/status/1206700798614425601?s=20)

And here's the thing: mediocrity in system design is *fine*. It's not what I want in my game, but it's created to feel familiar, it's easy to modify because it's straightforward, and it lets you choose how much you actually care about the game. And some of it is subjective.

The shitty part of it is how WotC branding and decades of being the major player in the scene makes folks believe that this is how games MUST be. Or when it's marketed as a full game but your lead designers just shrug and say "Our 60 dollar rulebooks are optional sorry not sorry"

Harmful content, on the other hand, is the opposite of that. When you have narrative, worldbuilding, mechanics, rules, etc that push forward harmful tropes, it's not a matter of mediocre design; that shits outright bad, and shouldn't even be in your game as an option.

But here's the real truth about mediocrity in design: Its purpose is to make the most money on the least effort and risk. And so, to WotC, that allows it to extend to mediocrity in handling shitty content. They talk without meaningful action because they want low effort money.

And when your foundation is a shitty racist mess, nothing less than a complete overhaul is gonna fix all your problems, and that's exactly the thing WotC doesn't want to do. Instead, they recognize that currently, they have the attention of the part of the fanbase which is...

toxic, racist, and overall shitty. The part that not only doesn't want change but will actively fight against change. The part that got a mild criticism of orcs onto fucking Inf*W*rs and spent weeks harassing folks on end acting like the very depiction of orcs they defend as evil

Or he part of critters who abuse anyone who dares speak out about their beloved sparkling mayonaise CR.

WotC also knows that a large chunk of the fanbase are "Liberals," willing to bring up the criticism but accept compromise or hollow words, allowing them to do the bare minimum

The last part of the consumer base are those actively lobbying for change. And maybe WotC might make more money appealing to us, but that also involves investing the most effort and maybe losing the first consumer base, and to them, that risk is not worth it. So here we are.

And thus comes the problem; much like the US, D&D is built on a history of racism and conservative values. And much like centrists in the U.S. uttering that "both sides" have valid points, the WotC staff saying "the game is what you make of it" is a cop-out of the highest order.

When one of your options is a history of shitty racism, when alignment is still brought up in the text of your games, when you make a supplement with optional non-racist trope orcs, when you still reference fucking karatour, your presenting racism as a valid option in your kit.

And hey, if that's the position you're comfortable with. Fucking go for it, aight. Show us your whole ass if you're comfortable showing us your whole ass, but like don't be offended when we balk cause it smells like farts and mediocrity alright?

But if that's not what you meant, then you gotta fucking fix it. Not just talk about fixing. Not hiring diverse freelancers but having all white cis-het male leads and designers while making shitty work environments for marginalized folks. Actual, meaningful, work. Do it.

Until then, you're gonna get flak. And if you're a designer or freelancer working for WotC and you're just trying to get a paycheck and go home, that's your business. I'm not gonna harass folks for making ends meet. But if you go on social media to defend those choices...

Then you're not just getting a paycheck and going home anymore; you're actively promoting, defending, and enabling harmful content. You're just as complicit in it as Gary was when he wrote it in the first place. So yeah, before talking, make sure you stand by what you defend.

And if you do defend those racist shitty things as a valid optional rule, I point you back up like 5 tweets to the point on mediocrity and farts.

Anyway, I don't have a poignant end here. If you're a consumer trying to fix things, follow and support creators who do better.

Folks like @nicholasmasyk, @AjeyPandey, @Magpie_Mirror, @TheDovetailor, and @diwataMANILA and so many more who make awesome as fuck games that challenge all the shitty parts of D&D and do so much more than WotC ever could.