A few things jumped out at me over the last couple of days that I want to discuss.

  • Dear God, what were they thinking? A cut scene was released for Baldur’s Gate 3 that will have many people on both sides of the LGBTQIA++ struggle ready to boycott Wizards of the Coast. Without getting into the finer details, let’s say the clip depicted a love scene between two consenting men. Had they left it at that, and faded to black appropriately, we wouldn’t have to engage in this discussion.

    Instead, we got two naked men getting ready to have an intimate moment out in the woods together. Not gonna lie, that kinda made me blush as an adult. I mean, their bitz weren’t showing, but one could definitely see both men buck naked. Had they faded to black at this point, we’d probably still be cool. I’m very pro LGBTQIA++.

    Intimacies, sure. Naked smoochies, and I’d ban my kids from playing it until they were 18. What happened in the clip next makes me throw up all kinds of red flags. See, one of the men was a druid. And apparently passion brought out the, uh, beast in him. Without saying what happened next, that sh🦆t is not acceptable as a cutscene in any video game. They don’t show what actually happens, but it’s enough that we can presume what happened. 🤢🤮
  • I think a clear message needs to be sent to the TTRPG and video game industry on this whole “love” scene. It’s not okay. Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PS5, Steam, etc. There’s a very likely probability kids are going to see this thing. Well, my kids sure as Hell won’t, but some might.

    To be honest, it’s not a “grooming” thing for me. I just think a much better example of appropriate behavior can be shown. Again, my issue isn’t that they’re gay. Not at all. It’s that the whole damn scene went too far for any video game or TTRPG. WotC and Larian need to pull the plug on this thing before all of the right wing conservative nuts get a hold of this thing. The clip went live three or four days ago and the uproar has already been loud over this thing. I get that large companies want to show more LGBTQIA++ relationships in a positive way. But let’s keep it positive and not p🦆nogr🦆phic.
  • If the point was to start a new sort of Satanic Panic or set the LGBTQIA++ community back 30 years or more, then it’ll work. If the goal was to utterly crush Dungeons & Dragons as a household name by forever associating their fancy lifestyle brand with a 30 second clip in a video game, that’s gonna work. And if D&D goes down, things are looking bleak for the rest of us in the TTRPG community.

    I understand wanting to show LGBTQIA++ relationships in a positive way. I had something happen along those lines in my group once. The ladies entered the tent together and… fade to black because one of my players threw up a black flag on the play. We got through it without any uproar and a good time was had by all.

    There’s a way to show relationships, even ones involving sex in a positive way. What Baldur’s Gate 3 is planning to do is pretty much the opposite. D&D is aimed at a younger audience. I started playing when I was 10 for crying out loud. Yeah, there were demons and devils, There were spellcasters, and none of the adults could figure out what the funny dice were for.

    I guarantee if my father had gotten wind of anything involving, um… naked gay guys and animals, my books would have been burned immediately. Obviously it was a different time and we’d hopefully never do that now. (I sure wouldn’t.) But things are already hard enough for the LGBTQIA community in some states as it is. What happens when the loonies get this footage in their hands? I shudder to think what we’ll hear.
  • As many times as WotC has messed up this year, Hasbro should invite Renegade Game Studios to take over the D&D brand. They can’t do any worse. In fact, Renegade is doing a fabulous job making Vampire, Hunter, and the Hasbro licensed TTRPGs. Why not D&D, too?
  • I know 99% of what’s happening with Baldur’s Gate 3 has absolutely nothing to do with D&D the game. But how does it look from the outside? If people who are unfamiliar with the brand hear about this, will we ever get them to the gaming table? I worry.
  • Someone on YouTube recently asked what the endgame was for people who promote Pathfinder 2E while berating WotC and D&D 5E. I have no beef with anyone on YouTube or much of anywhere on TTRPG social media. (That goes for you, too G.D.) I want that to be known that I pretty much love everyone. (*excluding haters and bigots, but that’s a huge article unto itself.) I think it’s good to be positive and show up for the games one loves. I would love it if we could focus on that and not finding new or exciting ways to tear each other down.
  • I’m still appalled that some people have run back to support WotC in spite of everything that has happened in 2023. Corporations are not above morality and ethical behavior in the name of making money. They should be held to some sort of acceptable standards. Please continue to vote with your dollars.

    Fans, I beg you, if you are boycotting WotC, please stick to it. Stop “playtesting” and commenting on the UA material. Don’t talk up Bigby’s Glory in the Giants or whatever. (*The urge to make fun of the name is overwhelming at times.) Just focus on the hundred of other game systems out there. Please get off the sinking ship before it goes all the way down.

    Personally, I won’t buy another WotC product or promote anything they make for D&D until serious changes are made. I’ll humor them if they want to grant me an interview like I’ve been asking for. I welcome any sort of open dialogue about WotC, their company, where D&D is headed, wtf is going on in the minds of their leadership, is alcohol served regularly in vending machines throughout the building, etc. I’ve got plenty of nice questions that aren’t seemingly being answered.
  • It’s Indie TTRPG month and I really didn’t want to talk about Hasbro, Wizards of the bloody Coast, Renegade Game Studios, Paizo, Games Workshop or Evil Hat. Yet here we are in the midst of another WotC blunder. I think any game company with a regular revenue in the hundreds of thousands of dollars has passed out of its indie phase. I want to talk about all the games that have one or a handful of people actively working on them. I want to talk about people writing supplements for games that are happy to sell a handful of copies on Itch.io or DriveThruRPG. They’re working hard, and they deserve much recognition.
  • It’s come to my attention that some members of the TTRPG community have me blocked on Twitter. I’m not sure why, exactly and I’d love to have that conversation with some of you. I hope we can be friends again on Threads and elsewhere. I’m very reasonable and understanding. Please message me?

That’s all I have for now. It’s way late here. I’m off to see the inside of my eyelids for a few hours.
Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate you. If there’s ever anything you’d like to discuss, please reach out on any of my socials or by email and I’ll be happy to chat.