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I don't know why you think it's a fake outrage campaign. I obviously don't know the mind of other people who agree with me, but for my part, there's nothing fake here. Just a sincere request to try an d turn the public dialogue less hostile towards marginalized groups. And sure, complaining about the joke has definitely brought more attention to it. But really, staying quiet about it isn't going to change anything. Actually you have to consider that staying quiet in THIS particular case would have left that tombstone just as an obscure part of the game that only a handful were aware of, but no, the trend today is to make gigantic issues out of nothing and for people to ask removal of content that many many people that pledged for the game are not bothered by. While at the same time I see a lot of folk plugging their patreon account, and tweeting about #killallmen. this is ridiculous, this is not about justice this is about a handful of people that want to be relevant and profit from scandals. Yeah, I meant staying quiet won't change anything in the wider context of society. As PrimeJunta somewhat facetiously mentioned, at the very least this might result in Obsidian (and other developers who are paying attention) to be mindful of this kind of thing in the future. Having a Patreon account or tweeting a silly hashtag doesn't discount an argument, nor does it necessarily mean your opinions aren't sincerely held.

In this cultural context, the transphobic interpretation of the poem seems to me the more likely, and that's why I favour removing it from the game. Especially because I don't see it as in any way integral to the developer vision, so I don't see this stifling Obsidian's creativity in any way worth mentioning. Why remove it? why not just ignore the tombstone and play the game? if you think this joke is harmful in real life I'd like to see some evidence for this claim, but usually people just shy away when evidence is asked. Also if this joke was so harmful, this little fake outrage campaign just drew much much more attention to the joke and made it famous, so... good job? The game is part of the same cultural context I mentioned in my post - transphobic jokes help perpetuate a culture of transphobia. It's the same reason I try to avoid media with racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise oppressive content. I don't want my money to contribute to turning the media tone even further hostile towards marginalized groups. The point of speaking up then, is to make the people who want my money aware of it, so they have a chance to cater to the consumer segment that I represent. Not much different from asking for other stuff. I'd like more frequent autosaves, some more interesting looking equipment icons and the absence of transphobia. For some reason people really don't like it when I ask for that last one. I don't know why you think it's a fake outrage campaign. I obviously don't know the mind of other people who agree with me, but for my part, there's nothing fake here. Just a sincere request to try and turn the public dialogue less hostile towards marginalized groups. And sure, complaining about the joke has definitely brought more attention to it. But really, staying quiet about it isn't going to change anything.

There is no discussion. People organize with mob tactics to get something removed they do not like. This is exactly censorship. Mob tactics? I haven't seen any threats of violence or anything like that, have you? Threatening to withdraw your business from a company that does things you disagree with looks to me like the free market solution. Telling the company that you disagree with their decision cannot in my view reasonably be seen as censorship.

Let me be the one to burst your bubble by pointing out Obsidian hasn't removed it, at least not yet. Also, please show me the evidence the memorial WAS transphobic. I can quote it to you, if need be. No, but as I understand, they've stated that they're planning to? Obviously, if this is not the case, then my original message is no longer applicable. I'm not really sure how I could provide you with "evidence" that it was transphobic. You've seem it the same as I. If you want, I can provide you with my reasoning. First of all, I don't think that the poem was necessarily intended to be transphobic. I can't really speak to the author's intent. However, I do find that the most obvious interpretation of it would be transphobic, and that's why I applaud Obsidian taking it out of the game (assuming that's what they're planning on doing). The pertinent lines of the poem are these two: The last woman be bedded, turned out a man and crying in shame, of a cliff he ran If we read it at face value - he had sex with a cis man who he thought was a woman, then it doesn't make much sense. Why didn't he notice the genitals differing from what he would expect? I mean it's not impossible or anything, but it seems like the author might have elaborated with some sort of explanation if this was the case. The other, transphobic, interpretation though, is fairly straightforward. Firedorn had sex with a trans woman, realized it after the fact and ran off a cliff in shame because he considers trans women to be men (and having sex with men is suicide-level horrible, apparently). The reason that this interpretation seems more likely to me, is that it doesn't seem like it requires elaboration to make sense, and that the situation of having sex with a trans woman unknowingly is a fairly common trope. Disclosure - the idea that trans women have an obligation or at least really ought to inform all their sexual partners that they are trans is a common topic in the public discourse. Hell, there's even a Trans Panic Defense occasionally used by people who commit violence against trans people. In this cultural context, the transphobic interpretation of the poem seems to me the more likely, and that's why I favour removing it from the game. Especially because I don't see it as in any way integral to the developer vision, so I don't see this stifling Obsidian's creativity in any way worth mentioning.

Just popping in to applaud Obsidian for taking out the joke. I'm having a lot of fun with the game so far, and it makes me happy to know that one of my favorite developers are willing to take a stand against transphobia, even with the huge backlash that inevitably entails from the dudebro crowd. Having a dialogue about content and agreeing to take out problematic content isn't censorship. There's nothing being imposed on Obsidian by force. Good on them for doing the right thing anyway.