Man Who Claimed Dungeon & Dragons’ Depiction Of Orcs Is Racist Admits “D&D Is Overwhelmingly Not My Game of Choice”

Jorge Arenas |

May 5, 2020

Quinn Welsh-Wilson, the person who started the recent controversy surrounding orcs’ depiction in Dungeons & Dragons recently admitted that the roleplaying game isn’t even their game of choice.

Welsh-Wilson, who is the host of the Arms of Tide podcast, claimed the description of Orcs in Dungeons & Dragons is racist.

Cw blatant racism

I’m in genuine awe that this shit came out for THIS edition of D&D holy shit pic.twitter.com/RcAGY73BzZ

— Quinn W-W (Blasted by Time Ghosts) (@MonkipiQuinn) April 25, 2020

Following Welsh-Wilson, a number of others including ComicBook.com, Monkey’s Paw Games, Riot Games writer Dante Douglas and others would pile on accusing orcs of being racist.

Not only would Welsh-Wilson accuse Dungeons & Dragons’ description of orcs of racism, but he would also accuse Professor of Psychology Chris Ferguson of being a “slavery defender.” The accusation came after Ferguson penned a piece in Psychology Today arguing against the idea that Orcs are racist.

Slavery defender is not a slur https://t.co/ed2d91L4U6

— Quinn W-W (Blasted by Time Ghosts) (@MonkipiQuinn) May 3, 2020

But maybe more telling is that Welsh-Wilson admits that D&D isn’t their game of choice.

After detailing some other critiques of Dungeons & Dragons, Welsh-Wilson wrote, “This is also why D&D is overwhelmingly not my game of choice.” (Archive link: https://archive.md/n1lR8)

Its Cool when they succeed, but the game often seems to resist that at a level

— Quinn W-W (Blasted by Time Ghosts) (@MonkipiQuinn) May 1, 2020

This is also why D&D is overwhelmingly not my game of choice

— Quinn W-W (Blasted by Time Ghosts) (@MonkipiQuinn) May 1, 2020

As Twitter user @Lyde15 points out, Welsh-Wilson appears to be the latest in a string of individuals who decide to attack hobbies and franchises that they don’t really care about in order to radically alter those hobbies and franchises in order to adhere to their vision of what they should be.

AND OF COURSE THE GUY WHO STARTED ALL THIS SHIT DOESN’T EVEN LIKE DND THAT MUCH

Every damn time, kids.

This is why creatives shouldn’t listen to SJWs. pic.twitter.com/h2xN7oj5zO

— Lyle 🇨🇳➡️🦠➡️🌍➡️☠️➡️😠 (@Lyde15) May 3, 2020

And we’ve documented a number of these individuals here at Bounding Into Comics. Probably the most prominent are Star Wars creators. Recently Star Wars The High Republic author Daniel José Older promised that he would introduce more gender nonbinary characters into Star Wars canon.

Marvel Comics has also fallen prey to this ideology. They let the wolves inside the hen house and they are now creating characters named Snowflake and Safespace.

Even once successful franchises like Terminator and Charlie’s Angels have been beaten down and killed as seen with their recent box office returns just last year.

In order to combat individuals like Welsh-Wilson who decide to attack franchises they don’t even appear to care about, journalist Sophia Narwitz called for gatekeeping of hobbies and franchises.

In an op-ed at RT, Narwitz wrote, “The inclusivity experiment has failed and it’s time to admit that gatekeeping served a purpose. Let’s bring it back!”

Narwitz goes on to point out how a number of hobbies and franchises have been compromised by the woke including Magic: The Gathering, Star Trek, and Vampire: The Masquerade.

Narwitz argues, “Everything cannot be made for everyone, no matter how much some people try. Popular media with decades of history should not be trashed just so individuals who didn’t even like it in the first place can feel at home.”

She notes that since corporations and businesses have failed to gatekeep their own franchises, it’s up to fans to do it:

“And since most companies don’t have the balls to stand up to internet outrage, it’s up to long-term fans to shut down those who want to forcefully enact change. So, for as much backlash as the woke crowd is already receiving, they need to get even more of it. These people don’t deserve to feel welcome in our hobbies. There is no place for them here.”

Orcs are racist! Well, some think so, & they want them changed. A theme of recent years as ppl invade hobbies not to enjoy them, but to forcefully alter elements deemed ‘problematic.’ This has to end. Stick to what you actually like

My op-ed for @RT_com https://t.co/YbjjPCk0b0

— Sophia Narwitz (@SophNar0747) May 2, 2020

Narwitz would add on Twitter, “Gatekeeping keeps your hobby healthy. The last thing you want is people like this invading it. Pass it on.”

Gatekeeping keeps your hobby healthy. The last thing you want is people like this invading it. Pass it on. https://t.co/WaPzRqfCKP pic.twitter.com/zCnX8etPl2

— Sophia Narwitz (@SophNar0747) May 5, 2020

These attacks on hobbies and franchises don’t seem to be slowing down. They appear to be going full steam ahead, revenue and profits be damned.

As Narwitz mentions in her op-ed gatekeeping shouldn’t be seen as a dirty word. How many times have we seen our beloved hobbies, games, and pieces of entertainment bastardized for the sake of “wokeness?”

A prime example is Star Trek. Patrick Stewart’s attempt to paint the Federation as modern-day fascists as a middle finger to Brexit and Trump has taken a character that many, such as myself, loved and looked up to, and turned it into a hallow bewildering shell of itself.

My friends experienced this as well with what was done to Luke Skywalker in the new Disney sequel trilogy films. Taking a character that many looked up to and turned him into a bitter old man; a failure who thought murdering his own nephew was the way to go in a story that was supposed to be about combating the ties people are faced with based on who they’re related to.

Thus, in the end, gatekeeping should not only be seen as a good word, but as new action to be taken. Not to keep truly interested people from our culture, but to keep out the real orcs and villains of the world, the Social Justice Warriors who care only about re-writing the world into their own image.

Today, they are attacking the depiction of orcs in Dungeons & Dragons, yesterday they were going after Warhammer 40,000, Star Trek, Star Wars, Magic: The Gathering, Marvel Comics, and more.

Who knows what they will go after tomorrow, but rest assured they will go after it, and attempt to warp it to fit their own vision of what it should be. That’s their end goal. All media must reflect their own world view, whoever that hurts be damned.

Even while most of the world is quarantined, the culture wars are still raging. And they don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

What do you make of Welsh-Wilson’s admittance that D&D isn’t their game of choice? What about the idea of gatekeeping fandoms and hobbies?