Are you serious about all the LGBTQAI+ stuff?
Feb 5, 2021 18:46:59 GMT 10
Troubletcat and Wren like this
Post by Laurnath on Feb 5, 2021 18:46:59 GMT 10
Yes. Yes we are.
We stand by every single human being and their right to respectful treatment, comfort, and enjoyment while gaming.
No. Absolutely not. If you slip up, apologise and do better next time. We'll support people in their effort to change, but we don't sit around allowing lazy jokes that encourage backwards thinking. Being a bigot isn't funny. Jokes like that normalise disrespect and bullying. They are a foot tap under the bathroom stall to check if the person next to you is into being as offensive and racist / bigoted / phobic as you are. We don't allow it.
Just because no one tells you they are offended or affected by what you say, doesn't mean they aren't. Many people are too anxious to speak up about hurt caused by fellow players - in order to not make waves, people will let themselves drown.
This server and community is about ensuring that no one has to do that. There's no need for anyone to suffer if we simply don't allow bigotry or pointless edge to be a norm. Our normal is mutual respect. If that's not acceptable, then the server and its community are not for you.
What you mean is that you don't feel the need to respect somebody's basic right to choose how they are addressed. Either because you don't feel they deserve basic respect, or because you actively wish to alienate, bully, or humiliate them.
If you can't manage to do that, you'll have to find somewhere else to be.
If you want to fight about it, we're frankly not interested. If you have any good-faith concerns about the above server policies, feel free to raise them in General chat on Discord and tag either Laurnath or Troubletcat. We are more than happy to provide clarification if needed and to publicly defend the Core Team's stance on these issues.
Mystara Alternate is a progressive community / server.
If you are already onboard with treating LGBTQAI+ people with love and respect, you're welcome to stop reading here; nothing below is going to be new or controversial to you.
If you've been pointed at this thread by a team member, you might want to review the below server policy on this topic and decide whether or not Mystara Alternate is the community for you.
Server Policies:
Gaming is for everyone.
Bigotry is not accepted.
Regardless of your upbringing, religion, comfort level or edginess, we have a zero tolerance policy towards bigotry. We don't allow sexism, racism, transphobia, slurs, slandering or any other reductive treatment of other humans.
Regarding Names/Pronouns
It doesn't cost you anything to call someone by their correct name and/or use their correct pronouns. You probably already do this for everyone you encounter in your daily life. There's nothing difficult to do, you don't need to calculate anything or remember anything complicated. People tell you how they wish to be addressed, and you pay them the basic human respect of doing so. It's that simple. If you make an honest mistake, simply apologise and do better next time.
If you continually and intentionally make 'mistakes' with such a basic thing, you may be removed from the community due to your inability to provide basic respect to others.
If you need further clarification:
"I'm just making harmless jokes!"
No. Absolutely not. If you slip up, apologise and do better next time. We'll support people in their effort to change, but we don't sit around allowing lazy jokes that encourage backwards thinking. Being a bigot isn't funny. Jokes like that normalise disrespect and bullying. They are a foot tap under the bathroom stall to check if the person next to you is into being as offensive and racist / bigoted / phobic as you are. We don't allow it.
"No one seems that upset by my behaviour."
Just because no one tells you they are offended or affected by what you say, doesn't mean they aren't. Many people are too anxious to speak up about hurt caused by fellow players - in order to not make waves, people will let themselves drown.
This server and community is about ensuring that no one has to do that. There's no need for anyone to suffer if we simply don't allow bigotry or pointless edge to be a norm. Our normal is mutual respect. If that's not acceptable, then the server and its community are not for you.
"But I don't like pronouns."
You use pronouns all the live long day. Every time you say: he, she, it, they, someone, who.
That's what it is. It's not playing Devils Advocate or trying to 'stop the snowflakes'. It's being a jerk. Quit being a jerk.
"RPGs don't need this stuff anyway."
Actually, this one does. The world of Mystara is full of gay, trans, non-binary, ace, and generally queer Player and Non-Player Characters.
Real-world religions/governments/groups and their related strains of bigotry do not exist in the world of Mystara. The religious, legal, and ethical systems present in Mystara are not generally sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc..
Because of this, queer people have little to no reason to hide their identity, and therefore are common and highly visible. As it says on the tin, this is a role-playing game and server. That is the world you, other players, and NPCs are playing roles in.
Some of those roles are going to be: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Asexual, Intersex - Some will be pansexuals, some will be greysexuals. We enjoy representing as many different types of people on the server as we can. We don't just support them, we stan.
"I'm not sexist/homophobic/transphobic/racist etc., my Character is."
There are some examples of societies which are xenophobic in various ways in the world of Mystara Alternate. If you are playing your character in line with a well-established, canonical (to MA) cultural background that includes certain prejudices and portraying these (wrong) views in a purely IC way, that is acceptable.
If you are using your character(s) to play out your real-life prejudices, that's unacceptable. We weren't born yesterday. We can tell the difference between a character following the beliefs of a fictitious society that has certain biases, and somebody using their character as a cover for their very real disrespect or bullying.
"I just want to play the server without politics."
Respecting others is not politics. Showing others basic respect is a normal requirement for participation in a group.
This community is built around mutual respect and joy. We're all about being able to support and hang with each other safely and comfortably.
If you want to fight about it, we're frankly not interested. If you have any good-faith concerns about the above server policies, feel free to raise them in General chat on Discord and tag either Laurnath or Troubletcat. We are more than happy to provide clarification if needed and to publicly defend the Core Team's stance on these issues.