Disclaimer: This post has been misinterpreted as an attack on DarkGod, which was never my intention. DarkGod is no racist; indeed the narrative of his game already shows a level of social awareness that elevates it above all other roguelikes in terms of depth and realism. I love this game and have enormous respect for its creator; I signed up to be a Silver Donator a couple of weeks ago and am providing ongoing financial support for its development. My concern isn't that anyone involved with the game is a racist, but that certain of the game's mechanics seem to accidentally sponsor racist thought. My suggestion is that the narrative and character descriptions be updated to accommodate these concerns (i.e., "Highers aren't actually a superior race, they just think they are."), thus removing any potential misperceptions.
It strikes me that there's a bit of racism built into this game, though it doesn't appear intentional. It's all fun and games when there are differing races of nonhumans with differing traits, even if some seem superior to others. I think D&D used to divide the elf race into "wood elves" and "high elves," for example. That's fine, because elves and dwarves are not human beings and different rules may apply.
In Tolkien the Men of Middle Earth are not to be confused with the human beings of the real world, and Tolkien himself unequivocally denounced racism in all its forms. The Dunedain, controversial though they may be, are therefore little different from high elves. Tolkien intended them as an allegory of Atlanteans rather than Aryans, though given the supposed roots of the latter the distinction may be somewhat fine.
Cornacians and Highers are explicitly defined as different types of human beings, however. Not metahuman, or demihuman, or psuedohuman. Not "Men." Human. They're people, like ourselves. So we run straight into a problem that the fantasy genre has so often flirted with, which is that we're saying that certain people are inherently better than others from birth. This is the very definition of racism.
Highers are described as refusing to breed with other kinds of humans in order to keep their race "pure," and they possess racial traits such as "Gift of the Highborn ('Pureborn' in their intro)," and "Overseer of Nations." Note the plurality. They are naturally stronger and more agile than other humans, and have greater willpower, stronger senses, and a closer connection to the magical forces of the world.
Highers are so superior to other human beings that to play them necessitates an experience penalty. Cornacians, by contrast, are supposed to be more "adaptable," and can learn different skills more readily, making them the perfect servant race to the longer-lived and more powerful Highers. That the Shockbolt interface literally turns Higher characters' hair blond really drives home the point: Highers might as well be called "Übermenschen," and Cornacians "Untermenschen."
I'm not saying that the Highers should be removed from the game, or that their presence will encourage racist beliefs in the real world. But I know I can't be the only one to have had the thought that they are an inherently racist concept, and that it's probably best to not make it seem as though racist ideas are actually valid. Perhaps a good solution would be to make the racism a part of the narrative, a social problem in the context of the game itself rather than a biological superiority ordained by the laws of the universe.
Highers already refuse to breed with other humans, let's hear what they think about them! Let's hear about what the Cornacians think about the Highers! Let's hear about the history of interaction between the two, and how it has shaped their societies. And instead of simply calling them “Highers,” as if their only distinction is their superiority, let’s call them something else. In this manner, not only would any concerns about racism be removed, but the story of Mag'Eyal would be enriched, and feel all the more realistic.
- wigdaddy's blog
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...You're joking. This is an
...You're joking. This is an elaborate joke. You know what's racist? Dwarves. Dwarfism is a condition that affects literally millions worldwide. It makes life difficult for them, as the world is simply not built for them - houses are too big, cars are too big, clothes are too big. Even a large little person is still relegated to buying clothes from the kids' aisle at Sears, a problem that has plagued, for example, Danny Devito for years. So let's get rid of dwarves. For their sake. Because you know what's more important than a rich fantasy world? Being the internet racism police.
Seriously, they're a different race. They compose an extremely small percentage of humanity, and they have latent magical ability that makes them better at most things. There's dozens of analogs to this in other games. AS you mentioned, elves in D&D. Like the high elves and the drow, which I guess don't count because they have... POINTY EARS. That completely differentiates them from humans. Nevermind that the blonde haired, blue eyed elves have been oppressing the dark skinned elves for years, driving them underground (RAILROADING THEM, IF YOU WILL) with a campaign of genocide and religious oppression because they looked different. That's OK: BECAUSE THEY'RE ELVES.
Not the Dwarves
I was talking about. :P
As far as "policing" racism on the Internet, I'm just voicing my ideas on how to improve the game and why. I'm not trying to accuse anyone of anything, let alone arrest them. I don't believe DarkGod has any racist tendencies; I think the shared history of halflings and humans on Maj'Eyal can attest to that. It was exactly that story that inspired my intial post.
As far as "it being okay because they're elves," the story of the prejudice against the drow is all in the narrative already, which is exactly what I'm advocating for the humans in Maj'Eyal. In terms of the narrative itself, we have to draw the line somewhere where racism is concerned, and for the fantasy genre the line was drawn by Tolkien himself, when he declared in the opening to Fellowship that Middle Earth was not to be taken as an allegory for the modern world, specifically referring to issues of race and international relations. We can draw a similar line for Maj'Eyal, but in the process we should adhere to the level of distinction that Tolkien himself employed. Tolkien said that some Men were born superior to others, but vehemently denied that such was the case with human beings. What's wrong with us doing the same?
You're accusing darkgod of
You're accusing darkgod of supporting aryanism. (Your words, not mine.) That's not 'ideas of how to improve the game'. You even cross-posted it to a major roguelike board which was conveniently linked on reddit moments before. You are trying to drum up controversy over a complete non-issue.
quote:
Cornacians and Highers are explicitly defined as different types of human beings, however. Not metahuman, or demihuman, or psuedohuman. Not "Men." Human. They're people, like ourselves.
^^ So this wasn't you implying the non-human races in Tome are subhuman, despite one of them being based (however loosely) on a real group of people?
Am not.
Dwarves are based on ancient Germanic legends of dwarfs, a species of fairy. They were not human beings, and have nothing to do with Verne Troyer or any other dwarves in real life.
Moreover, just because a race is "nonhuman" doesn't mean it's "subhuman." The only one who's using that word is you, belmarduk, and you're being a bit trollish about it. (Not to be racist against trolls - they must be people too, right?)
I haven't accused anyone of anything. Read my last post above; I was still adding to it when you responded. I do not consider DarkGod a racist at all, let alone a "supporter of Aryanism." I never said any such thing. I don't think you were really paying attention when you read my post, you just jumped to conclusions when you saw the word "racism," and they happen to be wrong.
I'm not trying to stir up controversy, and I don't know what "reddit" is. It just strikes me that there's an opportunity for a powerful addition to the narrative here, and a good reason to take it.
>Dwarves are based on ancient
>Dwarves are based on ancient Germanic legends of dwarfs, a species of fairy. They were not human beings, and have nothing to do with Verne Troyer or any other dwarves in real life.
So it's not racism because it's fantasy fiction?
You just defeated your own argument. Congratulations.
I have no idea what you're saying right now.
If you want to have an argument with yourself, that's your privilege, but do it in private. Stop putting words in my mouth. Or at least buy me a drink before you do.
Re: Racism
The 'racism' in the game is deliberate, and though subtle there are some evidences of tension. The reported "superiority" of Highers is by their own definition - in truth most players seem to prefer Cornacs. The "Analysis of the Races" is stated as being written by a Higher, and shows biases based on that. Similarly the lore pieces in the game written by halflings look down on humans and show clear racism, and the same for Rhaloren lore and Zigur lore. Don't take everything the game says to you as a fact of the world - the lore pieces are all opinions of their in-game writers.
More evidence of the racial tensions through lore pieces is a good suggestion and already intended. But in a world with many tensions (magic/anti-magic, various racial histories, etc) it's hard to fit them all in without diluting some things.
I'd say it's good that the game can raise such questions. Many games approach racism in a very simplistic way (elves hate dwarves! everyone hates orcs!) I think ToME4 has many nuances if you look at everything in detail, with no one race coming out as truly black or white.
That's more like it.
I'm relatively new to the game, and hadn't yet discovered the Analysis of the Races; I was basing my own analysis on the way the Highers are initially presented in the setup screen and on the talents they have access to. I'm gratified to hear that there's more to it than that.
I had seen some hints as to the discord between Halflings and humans in the statues at Last Hope, and from that I was able to discern readily enough that DarkGod was no racist, as I mentioned previously. Quite the opposite, he seems to have a keen sense of the ways in which people interact that grants his game a social awareness unlike any I've seen in a rougelike before. It breathes life into his work, and I find it quite remarkable.
Here's hoping we get more of the same. B]
So, your thrilling analysis
So, your thrilling analysis of "darkgod must be a member of the aryan nation because he put blond-haired blue-eyed ubermenschian variants of humanity with an exp penalty and bonus stats in the game" was from you only playing the game for five minutes and becoming enraged?
Seriously, you are backpedaling now that your new clothes have been revealed so to speak, but the orignial post was pertty thick with the implication that Highers was racism on the part of the game and it's creator, and not a piece on how darkgod has fleshed out a real world complete with a realistic and poignant portryal of racism.
edit; In fact, you even took pains to make sure that the percieved racism of highers/cornacs was removed from the context of the game world, by saying the only reason it was relevant was because they were human and that the conflicts between the other races were unimportant because they only existed in a fantasy context. you can change the dialog now in the direction of how racism is portrayed in this fantasy world, to which most of us would argue 'very well', but let's not lose sight of exactly what was said in the original, indefensible post.
Lol. I can't believe you're still talking.
The only change I made to the original post was to break it up into paragraphs to make it more readable. That's how it was made to begin with, it just removed the line breaks when I tried to post it using the "Filtered HTML" setting. All I did was restore the formatting to its original state.
I have stated from the very beginning of this little argument with you that I didn't consider DarkGod a racist, belmarduk. I said in the first line of the original post that the racism I saw in the game did not appear intentional. I was never angry about anything, let alone "enraged," and I really don't know why you now suddenly think I was. Where do you see anger in anything I wrote?
You wrote that "quote" about the Aryan Nation yourself. I never said any such thing, and you know it full well.
What I did write is all still up there, in its full context for everyone to see. If you cannot find another tactic to support your position besides man-of-straw arguments, you might want to find yourself a new position.
As it stands, your brutish attempts at debate are merely inspiring mirth in me and several of my friends. If you wish to continue to argue with yourself, then by all means do so. I'll just go and make some popcorn so we can at least get some nutrition while we watch you stimulate your own ego.
I don't agree with your
I don't agree with your opinion in this blog, but I don't agree with the way belmarduk chooses to criticize you either. From what I can see you didn't explicitly use the term "Aryan Nation" or anything similar to that in your OP.
You did however say, and I quote: "Highers might as well be called "Übermenschen," and Cornacians "Untermenschen.""
The implication behind that statement is incredibly serious, and it's hardly surprising that it would be offensive to a lot of people, likely including belmarduk.
In terms of pure game-mechanics that statement would be false, by the way -- cornacs are arguably better than highers in most ways. And from a narrative perspective it should be noted that considering (and expressing) oneself or ones' kind to be superior is not the same thing as actually being superior.
He used 'aryan nation' as a
He used 'aryan nation' as a tag on the blog linking to this post.
He really didn't.
I used the word "Aryan." It's a completely different term. The Aryan Nations are a white supremacist group started in Idaho in the 1970s. The Aryans were the supposed ancestors of the Germans in Nazi ideology, descended from the people of Atlantis. You might want to read things more carefully before responding to them, belmarduk. You've had the wrong idea about me from the beginning.
I agree.
Some of this has already been covered in my response to Grey and others, but I'll go over it again anyway for clarity. it was certainly never the narrative depiction of racism that I was concerned with. Quite the opposite, I consider that laudable and would like to see more of it, particularly where the Highers and Cornacians are concerned.
The game mechanics and presentation were what I felt bore some examination, not because I felt they were intentionally racist, but because I think they may have ended up looking that way accidentally.
Not everything about the Highers' superiority is presented as simply being their own opinion of themselves - some of it seems to be presented as objective reality. They really do have many traits that make them superior to Cornacians, which is what necessitates the experience penalty for playing them. Some of them are even called "racial" traits explicitly.
Your quote is accurate, and you're correct that the implication was quite serious. That made it all the more important, however, for me to establish a productive dialogue on the matter. I believe I have succeeded in that goal. I do apologize if anyone was offended by my remarks; such was not my intention. For what it's worth, I signed up to be a Silver Contributor to this game weeks ago. Obviously I must not hate this game or the wonderful man who created it, I have a voluntary monthly autodebit straight from my bank account to his!
As I've stated explicitly a few times now, I wasn't accusing DarkGod or anyone else of being a racist. He really obviously isn't. Full stop.
I was pointing out that some of the material in the game could be *perceived* as racist because of the way in which it is presented, particularly at the very beginning. This was probably something that should at the very least be looked at, don't you think? Like I said in the original post, I know I can't be the only one to see these similarities.
It's even clear to me where the accident occurred; the Highers are based on the Dunedain, who are in turn based on Atlanteans. The Aryans themselves were likewise supposed to be descended from the people of Atlantis. One of the discrepancies, however, was that the Dunedain, unlike the Aryans, were not blond; when the Shockbolt interface made the Highers' hair blond, it accidentally increased their resemblance to the Aryan race. Is this resemblance intentional? Of course not! But if I saw it, others will too, and doubtlessly these concerns will be raised again.
At some point, someone even more inexperienced with the game than me will come along and accuse DarkGod of racism for real, exactly as belmarduk imagines I am doing. And then the media might get ahold of it and turn it into something bigger than what it is, and all kinds of fallout will result.
I personally would not like to see that happen, because this really is a wonderful game with an uncanny level of social awareness, and for it to have its reputation slandered in that way would be unforgivable.
Racism? Yeah that's kind of the point...
I don't see why this would be such a sore point to be honest. Isn't the purpose of all modern media to deal with and approach the various issues of our society? To serve as an outlet for discussion and contemplation of said issues?
Racism is definitely among the worst -- and possibly one of the most persistent -- of those problems. Why do you think shying away from that fact is going to help even one bit? If we can't accept and acknowledge the burden that racism surely presents to us all at this very moment, then how are we going to fight it? By avoiding the subject and sneaking around what would soon become the elephant in the room?
If we can't even handle the topic in a work of fiction, then:
How the hell are we going to handle it in the actual, real world?
I also don't see why racism would be out of place in a fantasy world with the technology and sciences being roughly equivalent to what we had in Europe during the 1300's. You don't even have to go farther back than South Africa in the early 1990's to find a state that still enforced racism by it's own laws, now imagine what you'd find if you'd turn the clock back a couple of hundred years instead...
Racism is probably not any more ethical in the world of Maj'Eyal than it is in our world, but then again we had institutes for studying so called "racial biology" around 50 years ago, so what's to say that the denizens of Maj'Eyal wouldn't make the same mistakes we made (and made quite recently at that)?
And as a side note, racism is hardly the only controversial subject that ToME's lore deals with, there are tons of other things that in my opinion are at least as thought provoking and in some ways more disturbing. (The orc breeding pits come to mind, whoever wrote that stuff did a very good job!)
I don't mean any disrespect towards you personally, I hope you understand that, and I truly believe that you only meant well -- I just wanted to clarify that at the end of this far too lengthy post.
Now I really didn't mean to rant or go on some personal crusade against you here :p It's just that this is such a complex issue and I feel very strongly about the right to express one's feelings on the matter. Perhaps even more so since I'm an aspiring writer.
Cheers,
-- TehRei
Thanks for your insights,
Thanks for your insights, TehRei, and for your politeness. Not everyone here has been able to display that level of maturity. And I don't think your post is too lengthy; I'm a bit long-winded myself. B]
To address your concerns, I actually agree with you completely, on every point you make. The concern I had was not that there was racism present within the fiction itself. Quite the opposite, I think it's laudable that this is the case, and shows an unprecedented level of social awareness for a roguelike.
My concern was rather that the game itself appeared to *sponsor* racist thought a bit, however unintentionally, by providing an option to play a type of human that really was inherently superior to others from birth, a "master race" if you will. Grey, above, has since pointed me in the direction of additional material on the subject that I was unaware of, which has really gone a long way towards addressing all that.
Expressing racism as a social issue within the context of the game world has been exactly my suggestion from the start. I was glad to hear that it it is already on it's way towards that goal, and I'm gratified that so many others seem to share my perspective. I'm just sorry that there's been so much contention stirred up by my post; I really wasn't trying to offend anyone.
It's so easy to misunderstand
It's so easy to misunderstand people and their intentions over the internet, it happens all the time. I do appreciate your point a lot more now that you clarified it though, because it's not at all certain that the lore should be considered polished and final, it might very well have some flaws.
The game and its' mechanics are still in beta, and in a way I think the lore should also be considered a work in progress. This might need some looking at, I mean if you got a very negative impression when starting off with the game it's pretty likely that there's gonna be other people who feel the same way -- especially since the games' audience seems to grow bigger and bigger.
I don't know what changes might be necessary, but it's good to bring this to the attention of darkgod and his fellow devs, so they're at least aware of how you (and likely others as well) perceived racism to be depicted in the game's lore.
It's a bit unfortunate that the comments started such a shitstorm, but as I said earlier it happens all the time ^^
Anyway have a nice day~~
-- TehRei
(edited for clarification/grammar)
I think you're right. Thanks
I think you're right. Thanks again for all your valuable insight, TehRei. I'm going to go ahead and put up a disclaimer at the top of my post to prevent any further misunderstandings.
Edit: I'm trying to, anyway. Anyone know how to get around the line break error when using the Filtered HTML setting? I like all the formatting options, but turning my long-winded post into one big unreadable paragraph again is simply not an option. :P
Other Edit: Decided to learn how to use MediaWiki instead. Guys, if nothing else, it's been educational. B]
Don't worry, it's because of ~magic~
The thing about Highers is that it's not that they were selected from birth in a litter of cornacs, it's that they have innate magic in their veins, and they want to preserve it, hence the refusal to breed with Cornacs. If the game was being racist, it would have something along the lines of 'Highers were going to be Cornacs, but they were born blond and they are better then the dirty Cornacs because of it'. They're a different race of man, and need to be treated as such. The blond hair in the Shockbolt tileset is there to distinguish the race, and I think it's pure coincidence.
Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but I wanted to voice my opinions on this, even if they might be a little unclear. To clarify, my point is that Highers, even if they're humans, they have the magic in their blood that makes them different enough to separate from Cornacs.
Separate but equal?
That's basically what your point sounds like to me. Not that it isn't partially a valid point -- but it seems very contradictory to me.
They have magic in their blood, yes, and they don't want to intermingle with Cornacs in order to remain "pure". However, I believe the definition of racism is to classify certain ethnicity's as you put it: "a different race of man". That's the part that made wigdaddy uncomfortable, and that's certainly racism.
Now you could say that keeping the two races separate would not mean racism, much like a law that was in force in the US until 1954. I suggest you read up on that in order to get some understanding about why that philosophy is today considered flawed (in addition to racist).
As I said in a previous comment however, Highers are likely not as superior to Cornacs as they perceive themselves to be. What I mean by that is that Highers are sort of racist, but the setting of Maj'Eyal is not.Anyway I'm getting fed up with this debate now, so I'm probably gonna leave this topic alone for now. I do agree that Highers being blond Caucasians is likely a coincidence though.
Have a nice day
--TehRei
Ditto, for the most part
The point that everybody seems to agree on is that Highers are explicitly a different race of humans; if they weren't there would be no point in having a discussion about racism to begin with. Yes, they are supposed to have magic in their blood, as did the people of Atlantis and Númenor.
TehRei is right; the "separate but equal" concept of avoiding racism doesn't work. The Supreme Court itself weighed in on this one, and if my history degree is functioning properly the phrase "'separate but equal' is inherently unequal" was employed in the majority opinion. If someone has to sit at the back of the bus because of their race, it's racism, pure and simple.
I wholeheartedly advocate the idea that Highers only think they're superior, and that's why I suggested the narrative be expanded to reflect this in my original post. I'm just not seeing it in the game mechanics or narrative as they now stand. The narrative says little about the Highers' opinions of themselves outside of the Analysis of the Races, and even that is explicitly retrained by scholarly neutrality. Everything I'm seeing in the game mechanics appears to indicate that they really are correct in their self-assessment.
Highers get positive modifiers to two thirds of their attributes and a full suite of racial superpowers, necessitating a 15% experience penalty for balance. They're blond-haired, grey or blue-eyed, have fair complexions and average six feet tall.
Cornacs get an extra category point, the second-lowest life per level and (by far and away) the worst overall stat modifiers in the game, at least based on what I've personally unlocked so far. As if this weren't bad enough, they're also the only race to receive no special abilities whatsoever. They have brown hair and eyes, ruddy complexions, and average 5'9". About the only other thing I can see that they have going for them is that their overall weakness makes them immune to the experience penalties the other races must contend with. So at least they learn fast, which is a good thing, because they tend to get beaten up by halflings a lot.
Sorry the debate is annoying you, TehRei. Your input has been quite valuable to me, as has your polite and balanced approach to the topic at hand. I thank you for both.
Thoughts
Wow...I didn't expect this. Found it by chance through googling, I was looking for info on the ToMe setting change...
I can't resist commenting however, since I feel that unfair accusations of racism shouldn't be passed over.
Not only are they wrong in themselves but they are damaging in that they might make justified accusations of racism be taken less seriously.
The fact that Maj'Eyal is a fantasy world *IS*extremely relevant.
For one, the existence of different human races with significant differences makes it a world where *racialism* is true - which is required by, but does not imply or by itself justify *racism*.
I'm saying that being able to envision different 'human races' with different 'abilities', while a necessary component of racism, is not by itself racist, just like being able to think of sex differences does not make one a sexist.
Look at it this way - if in the real world there was a small ethnic group were EVERY member possessed a specific special powers other groups didn't have - please look to the Higher base talent for an example of , and then the advanced ones - then our discussions of racism involving that group would likely be very different, don't you think?
Luckily, our world doesn't work like that.
Which is actually why I think that exploring racism in this kind of game would be, while not offhand wrong, something to do very carefully.
Because fantasy races DO have significant, obvious differences, which is usually the point from a game design perspective.
I'm saying that while racism in Maj'Eyal wouldn't be good(well, duh, it's racism), it could certainly be more *understandable*(less obviously wrong?) than in the real world...hence using it as a metaphor for THIS world racism could be, well, dangerous?
Because Highers *are* different and not just because of culture.
They're NOT people like ourselves - hell, Cornacs aren't that either when you look at what some of them can do with the proper class(and that doesn't count as magic - look at Zerkers and Unstoppable, for example).
Yes, the hair color difference is a bit annoying, I have to say, it was a lazy way to differentiate them.
Oh and don't forget that playing someone inherently superior 'just because' IS a significant part of many fantasy games - yes, you may train very hard, but often you are some kind of fated/predestined hero...ToMe is nice and very 'progressive' about that, as you're just an adventurer.
Also, 4 things to consider if you really care about 'race' in ToME:
1)Highers aren't really superior, and this was already brought up. Being superior would imply being better in every way, hence they would have an extra cat point(and perhaps no exp modifier - if you believe it represent learning difference and not simply balance)
It is true that the 'Higher' name is then deceptive, but then that might be simply how they call themselves or are called by Cornacs.
2)Halflings technically would likely be
Human, as there is a mention of a Higher and Halfling breeding with no magic involved, and we have no reason to believe this 'hybrid' is unfertile.
3)If you *MUST* see Highers as equivalent to a possible real world human group, I feel the closest match would a genetically altered bloodline to have slightly superior physical and remarkably superior healing abilities and eyesight- but which ended having a slight learning impairment(loss of the cat point).
Would their *existence* by itself make the world racist, or racism justified?
4)There are technically another two human subraces which aren't playable. One would be described as 'dark skinned'(the Sholtar).
While I think having them playable would be nice, I suspect that them becoming available as PCs and having different racial talents than Cornacs and Higher would cause even more complaints, wouldn't it?
Highers are racist, the game ain't
The in-game lore deliberately shows Highers as being racist, being obsessed with pure blood and occupying higher positions in society through unfair means. But then pretty much every race has some elements of racism to them - the only difference with Highers is that they are racist against other human types, which has unfortunate parallels with the real world. But those parallels are still deliberate, and are not meant to be any stronger or weaker than the racism and segregation shown in other races. All races in Maj'Eyal are meant to be "human" in personality, to reflect the thoughts and motivations that drive us in the real world, both the good and the bad. If the game makes one think of racism in the real world then job done, I say. Just have to realise it's meant as a reflection, not a statement.
I remember this type of thing with LotR...
Well, it's hard to call them racist when they truly are superior in many ways. They simply want to preserve their bloodline- and in the fictional world of ToME (as in most fantasy worlds), blood and race do a lot more than physical features and whatnot- race gives significant powers and abilities, many of which are directly linked to each race's unified culture. Not being very racially-aware in such a world would be a serious drawback.
Yep.
This is exactly my point. Highers are physically superior to Cornacs in nearly every way, and tend to rule over them as a result. Beyond what the raw numbers tell us, outlined in my most recent comment to TehRei above, our sole informant Greynot tells us that Highers tend to be nobles and scholars (and vice versa), whereas the only careers we see described for non-adventuring Cornacs are "manual laborers" and "bandits." Is there any other point in the game where we see Highers making disparaging remarks about Cornacs? Do Cornacs themselves dispute the demonstrably greater abilities of the Highers? So how can we call Highers "racist" if all they're saying is that they're superior to Cornacs?
Racism is an irrational sentiment based on xenophobia and hate; the Highers seem to be basing their beliefs instead on indisputable and obvious physical facts. This is why I think it's so important for the Human narrative to be expanded in this game: although it's not on purpose, it's the game that ends up looking racist, not the members of the race itself. If the narrative would incorporate more racial tension between the two human groups, and perhaps make Highers' abilities appear more artificial, this effect would vanish. "Higher" would just become an affectation, rather than a simple, accurate description.
'Greynot' is racist
Keep in mind that in the opening chapter of the Analysis of the Races we are given Loremaster Greynot's assurances that as a Higher human he would attempt to remain neutral - the hint here is he does not. He is disparaging towards Cornacs and praising of Highers. The lore itself is not to be trusted, as also follows with the lore from the halfling, Rhaloren, orc and Zigur perspectives.
Also note that the socio-economic differences as well as the biological differences will have an effect on both races. Cornacs tend to have less wealthy and educated upbringings compared with Highers. But harder lives make them more adaptable (hence the category point and lower experience requirement).
The Higher "special powers" are mostly biological (due to magic blood and selective breeding), but they're for gameplay purposes. If Highers were gameplay wise identical to Cornacs there'd be no reason for them to exist in game. For the same reason the other humans races mentioned in the lore can't be played - there is no gameplay imperative for them. And generally the Cornac power is considered superior to the Higher special abilities, with most players choosing Cornacs over Highers. The social situation in the game declaring Highers as better is partly a lot of hot air enforced by discrimination.
I'll give some thought to adding some more lore to balance out the opinion of Cornacs. So far my main concentration has been on emphasising the racial divides between the other species.
My solution
I'm going to keep playing the game and forget I read this. Such absurdity never even crossed my mind until now.
Thanks for sharing.
Though it's not really clear as to which side of this rather robust debate you consider absurd.
For what it's worth, I hope everyone keeps playing. ToME is the finest roguelike I've seen in thirty years.
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Considering any RPG race racist in real world context is absurd.
Its like in fallout games where humans consider themself superior above all, supermutants consider themself above humans, ghouls are just target for extermination for most humans groups. Even thougha ll of them are/were humans at some time. Hell few ghouls were borned to "normal" human or been created trough local radiation.
Did any fallout game got baned for this straight out played racism ?
Nope cause it does not strive to be real world simulator, its just a game.
And yes from time to time some random ppl acuse some random game from racism but it never goes past one headline.
[Last what I remember was Battlefield 3 for making standart grunt [asault/medic] template being Afro-American.]
ToME4 vs Battlefield 3
I like to think that ToME4's approach to racism is a little more mature than Battlefield 3's.