The sensible solition? (Destiny)

by RaichuKFM , Northeastern Ohio, Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 13:27 (2708 days ago) @ Harmanimus

While I think you have to account for how something is likely to be received, I think it's going too far to say that the entirety of the meaning is on the part of the one receiving it. I don't think we can throw out intent as completely irrelevant, and I don't think it's fair to put every interpretation as on par on all the others.

Now, I think it's probably for the best that Bungie removed this. Because it doesn't seem very important, and so it's in the best interest for the proliferation of their vision that they remove it, so that the game remains an inclusive and fun experience for the playerbase. Because that's what Bungie wants it to be.

Had they knuckled down, kept the symbol, delineated that it was not related to the whole Kekistan thing, denounced the connotations that they didn't intend, and made their case for artistic integrity, I would side with them. It's a delicate balance on what should be done, but ultimately it would have been their right to do that. (Which, of course, nobody is disputing.)

So I can see where Ragashingo is coming from- it's a shame that an artistic vision has to suffer because some jackasses are ruining things by association. And it feels a little like we're letting them win by caving like this, that everything they're even close to has to go poof in the name of sensitivity.

And I can see where you're coming from- it's important to respect others' feelings, and it's an important part of proper communication to consider how your message is likely to be received, whatever you intend by it.

While I mentioned something elsewhere to the effect of a pragmatic point of view on the matter, with respect to what Bungie should have done, I think compassion is the best answer. But that goes both ways?

I'm getting pressed for time now so basically my point is that a good faith effort on everybody's part is important; I'm not saying that people shouldn't take offense to things that weren't meant to offend, but it's important to be able to delineate between something that makes you uncomfortable on accident by reminding you of a symbol with negative connotations and something that makes you uncomfortable because it is actually intentionally such a symbol. Obviously there's room for uncertainty in telling which something is, and you can still want the former category to be removed, but mutual understanding just helps everything along.