Thread by @DeeEmSteve

Since joining the D&D Official Discord (run by WOTC), I have been doing immense amounts of labour trying to help people understand/deconstruct racist tropes in the game.

I even made a public Discord thread called "Critical Deconstruction of Race in D&D".

Here's what happened:

For those who don't know, the D&D Official Discord (like most public spaces) has a huge problem with racism.

(And transphobia and queerphobia and sexism and all the other tools of oppression that serve wh1te supr*macy.)

2/9

But a few mentioned my "let's grow/learn together" approach was helpful. So I started a thread to specifically have space to talk to this.

I'm not a mod but I knew the space had my name so I started with some ground work. "Prioritize BIMPOC voices. White voices still welcome."

I would say about 50% of the conversations were valuable.

But remember how I'm not a mod? Well, that meant I was powerless against sea lioning, trolls, and bad faith actors.

All I could do was DM participants and ask them not to engage.

4/9

And... that's really tough when you're looking to engage beyond the surface level. We're talking about things that touch on trauma and where feelings get messy.

And trolls thrive in those situations, stoking the grease fire of confusion and frustration.

5/9

We know a grease fire needs a cool head to put out - temporarily take away the oxygen, address the fuel, etc.

But I would never fault someone who panics (especially if they have no exp) and rushes to douse it with water.

This is where you'd hope mods could assist. But alas.

That said, some conversations WERE fruitful.

Some people walked away with new thoughts, some with new vocabulary, and others with just strength.

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But as a whole?

I think that even though WOTC has said they want to do better (e.g. disclaimers on older content on DMsGuild), they lack the understanding, resources, and expertise to bring that to the forefront - like in their own Discord community.

8/9

If I had a magic wand, I'd pay for a team of highly skilled moderators willing to speak to the company's goals of inclusion/diversity and (most importantly) act accordingly.

Support those who want to learn.

Then ban the bigots.

Why keep making space for them?

9/9
✌️🏼💛

Further reading from former mod members at launch:

https://twitter.com/panley01/status/1527917040312496128