Hey, it seems I’ve started a greater Troika discourse.

Or at least some people are treating it as such.

So let’s talk a little bit about it, because I wanna talk about what I said, the various reactions, and the overall goal.

For those who don’t know, I put out this tweet yesterday outlining backgrounds in Troika that I found racist and ableist which left me feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

Initially, my anger was more towards the fact that no-one had warned me about potentially upsetting content. https://twitter.com/ammourazz/status/1319762965793542144

People then pointed out that it could be European coding, and that’s how they’d read it.

So I put out a statement with a correction discussing why this is still a problem, and that replicating racist language and structures unironically is still harmful. https://twitter.com/ammourazz/status/1319852705473495042

What is my goal in saying this?

Initially, I just needed to vent some emotions, and I wanted folks who recced troika and other game with problematic content to stop and think before they do so. And to warn other folks who might be triggered by this content to be careful.

When I saw the correction and saw that the creator had decided to address the problem, my goal there was to try to explain why doing a racism against white people is still doing a racism, and to help clarify for folks who may not understand why it’s a problem.

That said, my goodwill for Troika kinda evaporated when I saw that, because it means the recognised that it was potentially a problem, and decided to address it by not addressing it. That is to me, even worse, as it shows a lack of care and consideration for the root of the harm.

So the question: Am I here to “cancel” troika?

I mean the real question is who the fuck do you think I am? I wish I had the power to cancel a problematic thing. WoTC would cease to exist. WoD would be overhauled. So much shit would be changed. I’m just a person with a voice.

So what is my goal?

My goal is to raise awareness of problematic content in a game, ask folks to do better, and help warn others to be safe.

I also would love it if the troika creator saw it and addressed the issues. I might personally still have issues with it, but...

I also believe in growth and second chances.

If the creator showed any inclination towards seriously addressing or treating the problems, I would 100% love that.

Unfortunately, his response so far amounts to “it’s just a Friday” and “discourse will happen”

That’s not great.

So yeah, I will gladly slap a statement on every one of my threads saying “steps are being taken to address this” if the creator says and follows up on that.

Based on the reactions I’ve seen so far, I don’t think it will happen, but I’ll gladly eat my words.

End thread.