"Racism" and "Speciesism" (?)

[Howlando]

In the real world, I think it is important to behave in a tolerant, respectful, non-racist, non-prejudicial manner. Making judgments about other people due to their ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, etc. are not good things to do.

EFU is not the real world.

The terms "racism" or "speciesism" should really not ever be used IC'ly. These are words that should not really have any meaning whatsoever in EFU and serve only to break immersion. It makes me cringe. Would a character call Trenada... a fascist?

It is incredibly easy and frankly potentially rather bland to play a character that acts as our enlightened selves, and does not incorporate a degree of realistic prejudice.

I don't think every character, or even a majority of characters, should necessarily have strong opinions about people from Chult, or Calimshan, or Thay, or Cormyr, or whatever. But it's fine and even good if they do.

But I do think it is important that a majority of characters have some kind of strong feelings and assumptions about other races (i.e. elves, dwarves, etc.).

Maybe elves are wondrous creatures to be revered and admired, or maybe they're a dangerous threat.

Maybe you respect halflings for their orderly and good-natured societies, or maybe you've met too many pesky lightfoot adventurer-thieves and distrust all of them.

And so on.

Maybe even you're playing a high-wisdom PC with a lot of experience meeting different races and inclined to judge individuals as individuals, but if so this should be a part of your concept and be somewhat rare.

In light of this post, I'd like to promote The Order of the Shining Hammer as an example of a good pc-initiative that successfully incorporates fresh, non-bland points of conflict. And although I fully expect demi-humans/nature-based PCs/druids/etc. to oppose their actions, it would be disappointing if players use our enlightened perspectives as basis to oppose their "racism" because it's "ignorant."

[Thou tun'st this World]

Know thy place, xenian!

(PS. It's "Society of the Shining Hammer", not "Order". But <3!)

[Arch Rogue]

PSS rip IMO. :o

Jokes aside, racist sentiments are always excellent on EFU.

[Drakill Tannan]

You sure ignorance can't be a reason? I think it would be percectly resonable for druids to use the "ignorance" argument, maybe elves too.

[Aethereal]

It is yet another aspect of how we push ourselves to truly embrace the uniqueness of this communal story. The fact we can take on a character in a fantasy setting with its own cosmology; it is wondrous.

We should of course remember not take character conflicts -too- seriously, creating just the right amount of tension whilst not, as mentioned, breaking immersion or becoming personally involved as a player.

[Ebok]

Druids can be racist too. Just cause they all might support a balance doesn't mean there are not heated contention or outright mistreatment among them. Spice it up, imo. Spread some hate, use sterotypes. I think it's fun when people get all up on my character's case for being fat. Helps me stay immersed.

[HaveLuteWillTravel]

Leave personal opinions at the door. This is fiction, and most fun if you don't drag modern opinions into the game with you. Personally, I find the further a character is from my own opinions and personality the more fun they are to play.

[Barber]

Burn the heretic! Kill the mutant! Purge the unclean!

[Drakill Tannan]

Druids can be racist too. Just cause they all might support a balance doesn't mean there are not heated contention or outright mistreatment among them. Spice it up, imo. Spread some hate, use sterotypes. I think it's fun when people get all up on my character's case for being fat. Helps me stay immersed.

Druids tend to be wiser and older than most PCs, as well as understand there is no moral hirearchy in nature seeing they understand it better than any ther PC with maybe the exception of nature rangers and natrue clerics.

I don't see how somone with this kind of knowledge could be racist, at all. Druids could hate a specific group, faction or whatever, or consider a racial type a danger, but given what i've said above, they should have a reason beyond prejudice.

[Mort]

Druids are probably the most isolationist groups of people in Faerun.They are suspicious of every non-druid, never to talk about druidic secrets to them. They could certainly despise / fear people from civilization, in fact, it's very easy to picture...

[Howlando]

Not to mention, in EFU, racism is correct. There are inherent differences between racial groups. Goblins/drow/etc. are essentially always evil, but even half-orcs are inclined to more likely be violent. Elves do almost always wish to limit the spread of human civilization. And so on.

So it really depends what the character is trying to say. A truly wise druid would be aware of these inherent differences.

[Thou tun'st this World]

There are many points that could be discussed here. I think one that Howland was raising, though, is that it's possible to introduce shiny *NEW* forms of conflict/hate/strife on the server, instead of just the same old obvious (Boggs is fat, half-orcs are ugly, rogues hate Paladins, et cetera).

Anyone who reads the manifestos of the Shining Hammer Society, or talk at length with its exponents, will, I hope, quickly realize that there is infinitely more thought behind their Weltanschauung than merely "gnomes are stupid" or "druids are backwards".

It's really extremely more complicated than that, and it ties into everything else they think and do. It ranges from Tycho Welbruch's youth in Hillsfar during Maalthiir's revolution, to the history of Rufus Descreza's ancestors in Amn, to the problems of expansion into the Chondalwood during the early 14th century, to the persecution of druids in Turmish during the 1350s, to the theological disputes on Lantan following the Time of Troubles, even to the design of the specific machines and engineering solutions that are being developed in Faerûn in the 1370s. And, of course, good old-fashioned, natural xenophobia, the same that has Elves, in their own language, calling themselves "The People" and everyone else "Not of the People".

Finally, it may surprise some to learn that this aspect of the Society's worldview - their "racism / speciesism" and "anti-druidism" - is probably the least important and significant in the Society's own eyes; a mere consequnce or side effect of their more important views and beliefs. Things they would hardly even have thought about before coming to Ymph.

Of course, this may well be percieved as, and called out as ignorance or prejudice, or even just being philosophically wrong, and no-one minds that. The point is that it's not conjured out of thin air. Nor is it there just for the sake of picking fights.

I'm flattered by Howland using us as an example, and I take him to approve of precisely this elaborate and worked-out nature of the Society's expressions. So don't be shy! Come up with new forms of hatred and discrimination! It's fun!

[Decimate_The_Weak]

I personally love racism on EfU. It should occur more often in our game world IMO.

I don't think elves would claim that humans are "ignorant" for the humans displaying racism against elves, for elves are generally more racist than humans themselves. Same as dwarves.

I always looked at humans (though there are exceptions), as a more cosmopolitan race, whereas all the more exotic races of FR happen to be more racist, elitist, xenophobic, etc.

DTW

By the way... do I see Zarus? :O

[GoldenArrow]

This thread has convinced me to read more about the Order (ORDER LOL) of the Shining Hammer.  It's something to do while I wait for this darn hunk of iron to find its way slowly home.

Racism is good.  Racism is great.  Hell, racism is half the reason I play the game.

Am I racist IRL?  Nope.  I just enjoy the challenge.  If people just shrug off the obvious it's more than disappointing for me.

+1.  Moar racism!

[Westgate Blues]

I play Clyde.

Some of you may have met him and experienced his rants about authority, or his comments on the various freaks that wander into town unhindered, his derisive nicknames for non-human races, and women doing men's work.

Most of the time he's met with derision for his views which most PCs sadly consider antiquated. Now don't get me wrong, sexism actually is antiquated given the relative gender equality in the Forgotten Realms, but that doesn't mean it can't still be a valid part of a PC, or the setting.

So people ought to consider when they're creating their PC's story, that given their tragic past, or hometown, or any other facet of the PC; whether there would be some normally benign racial group they might just feel paranoia and superstition towards. Or whether your PC may have abused their wife when they were married. Or at least whether you just don't like someone that's different from yourself. I guarantee you it will make your character a lot more interesting. Don't just insert it into your character though, you need to build their personality to encompass the sum of their traits, not just tack them on.

And while your PC may not feel the same way, it doesn't mean that you'd suddenly call out a person for their bigotry. Remember, racism is not some minority opinion. Its a pervasive part of the Forgotten Realms. To act like you were born and raised apart from it and were not affected by it just breaks immersion for everyone else.