Hopefully I'm not opening up a huge can of worms with this, but I figure it's going to pop up eventually, so might as well get it over with.
How 'period accurate' is the game universe going to be when it comes to gender and racial issues? This is going to be relevant to any fiction that applies to the game, whether it be stories or just background fluff.
Actually it is a pretty big can of worms. And we had a huge email discussion over it several months back as it came up in the writing of some fiction. I refuse to ignore it as it was a historical reality. At the same time, I won't allow Leviathans to be filled with offensive material. As such, we're trying very hard to strike a balance of not being offensive and yet not ignoring the realities of this time period.
What that means, especially for those that want to write some fiction (and are perhaps considering the CC angle and wondering if Catalyst might want to co-opt your fiction), is there are no hard an fast rules for 'what works' and what 'doesn't work.' In the fiction that started the whole discussion we found an appropriate choice of words I felt was not offensive and yet didn't ignore the racism involved. In other words, like the politician's comment about art vs. pornography, I can't tell you what's going to be offensive, but I can tell you when I see it.
I know it's a little vague, but it's the best way to handle it at this time, IMO. Regardless, I hope it helped answer your question.
Thanks.
Randall
