I mean, the same thing happens in return with Western religious beliefs and mythology. I don't think its strictly just a Western thing. I'd argue that the presence of Angels in Ixalan recently was equally offensive if we take a similar approach. Aztecs don't have claim to Judeo-Christian mythology.
I will agree that it's not specifically a Western thing. But any group that has historically oppressed others, or taken efforts to eradicate someone else's culture and replace it with their own, should probably try their hardest to treat representation of that culture in their work with care.
Japanese media doesn't need to be super careful about their use of Christian iconography, for example (though there are still lines to not be crossed); but they should probably be careful about their depictions of Chinese and Korean people or aspects of their culture.
Your example doesn't quite work by that metric. However, it also doesn't work by a different metric. This set wasn't made by Aztecs. They're all dead, for one. But it also wasn't made by the modern Indigenous cultures. It was made by mostly white people, of a mostly Jewish or Christian background. It's Westerners adding their culture to media that is largely pulled from a different culture. One they're treating with, from my admittedly ignorant eyes, with some amount of respect.
Exactly, words in different contexts mean different things. But the context here is "a group of Magic: The Gathering cards that mechanically care about a specific creature type". There isn't even an implication of painting indigenous real-world cultures in a negative light. So why are we erasing its usage in ANY context, just because it has ONE negative connotation?
Because it's a massive connotation. You'll notice I never said anything about indigenous people with relation to the word. I just said it has baggage.
It's also just, like, more correct to use a different word. Not politically correct, but actually correct. Tribal as a term to collect every single creature of a type is sort of like saying "Well, they're both in the EU, so the people of France and Italy are the same."
Taxonomy groups things (taxonomists realize that the old groupings are increasingly arbitrary, resulting in old order names like Insectivora and Edentata being struck out and eliminated); you'd think the same baggage would apply there. (Granted, you can argue that taxonomy is tone-deaf enough to insist on calling larger groups "kingdoms" that aren't ruled by monarchs...)
Taxonomy has a lot of arbitrary stuff going on, but more what I meant that in scientific fields, the terminology is often distanced from its relationships with people and cultures. Hypochondria has a different connotation to people on the street than it does to a taxonomist, for example.
EDIT: To add to the Rakshsa conversation
Here's a picture of Khumbhakarna, a Rakshasa from the Ramayana.
Here's a statue of Ravana, King of the Rakshasa in the Ramayana.
Here's a Rakshasa from the Monstrous Compendium 1.
And related, here's the Rakshasa from Kolchak, the Night Stalker.
Because words in different contexts mean different things. There's some baggage the word Tribe carries when referring to groups of people, which is largely what it's used for in Magic.
The Rakshasha drop (according to several Hindu posters on Reddit) is likely because Rakshasa are shapeshifters, not explicitly cat monsters. They can take the form of tigers, but they're just as likely to take the form of apes, crocodiles, or other strong animals. They're basically just demons who have a penchant for drinking blood.
The cat version is pretty explicitly tied to D&D and not to actual mythology.
It'd sort of be like putting creature type Goat Demon on a depiction of Satan.
Is that the only pitiless plunderer reprint we’re going to get? I’m a little salty it wasn’t in commander masters or in any of the 10 other possible products in the last year or so. It’s a $10+ uncommon thanks to commander and lack of reprinting.
The Marvel Partnership was only just announced. It's been in the works for a while, likely even longer than the reveal of Lorcana (which was only announced last year).
WotC wouldn't make money from the sale of Lorcana.
Disney didn't pay WotC to use the Marvel license.
It would be some sort of mutually beneficial contract where MtG profits for the set are split, and maybe a base fee from WotC.
Universe Beyond is built with the idea that "This will bring more people into magic, justifying a small cut to profit."
It's not trying to punish boycotters. They don't give a *****. Boycotters can play One Piece, or Flesh & Blood, or Legends of Runeterra, or Hearthstone, or Yu-Gi-Oh, or Pokemon, or the new Star Wars TCG coming out or any of the thousands of card games that have or will exist. For now, MtG is King of the Castle, and not a single one has managed to dethrone it.
As I said, stop taking talking points from dudes who only started caring about hating the character the instant they felt a whiff of a threat to their fragile ego.
Just read some comics. Try "The Life of Captain Marvel" by Maragret Stohl and Carlos Pacheco; the 2012 run by Kelly-Sue DeConnick; or the 2019 to present run by Kelly Thompson.
I was going to go on a long tirade, but I've changed my mind.
Stop confusing relatability with what you personally like, and instead of getting your talking points from chuds, just read some more comics. There's almost 60 years of Carol Danvers out there, you'll find something you like.
I don't think "I had no time to read the article, but I had plenty of time to post virtriolic judgment on said article" is the quantifier of value you want, my guy.
Plus, like, you've responded to my threads, and I'm in no way concise.
I'm kind of baffled by the sheer number of people I've seen across the internet who are angry, and yet their complaints are about things the article directly contradicts.
Like, there's lots of valid reasons to be mad, but at least be mad at things that actually exist.
There's also way too much conflating of Set and Draft Boosters in the comparisons, like saying it's less cards in the same breath they say "and fewer rares."
Honestly, this seems like a perfectly fine compromise. Less product confusion, better for stores, and the price increase for drafting shouldn't be that bad. That said, it's all in the execution.
There's no benefit. It's a drawback. The plane encourages you to roll and try to hit the 4 non-functional sides of the dice for a bonus. If you Planeswalk, you keep the benefit briefly, but if you hit the 1 in 6 chance for chaos, you get nothing.
I will agree that it's not specifically a Western thing. But any group that has historically oppressed others, or taken efforts to eradicate someone else's culture and replace it with their own, should probably try their hardest to treat representation of that culture in their work with care.
Japanese media doesn't need to be super careful about their use of Christian iconography, for example (though there are still lines to not be crossed); but they should probably be careful about their depictions of Chinese and Korean people or aspects of their culture.
Your example doesn't quite work by that metric. However, it also doesn't work by a different metric. This set wasn't made by Aztecs. They're all dead, for one. But it also wasn't made by the modern Indigenous cultures. It was made by mostly white people, of a mostly Jewish or Christian background. It's Westerners adding their culture to media that is largely pulled from a different culture. One they're treating with, from my admittedly ignorant eyes, with some amount of respect.
Because it's a massive connotation. You'll notice I never said anything about indigenous people with relation to the word. I just said it has baggage.
It's also just, like, more correct to use a different word. Not politically correct, but actually correct. Tribal as a term to collect every single creature of a type is sort of like saying "Well, they're both in the EU, so the people of France and Italy are the same."
Taxonomy has a lot of arbitrary stuff going on, but more what I meant that in scientific fields, the terminology is often distanced from its relationships with people and cultures. Hypochondria has a different connotation to people on the street than it does to a taxonomist, for example.
EDIT: To add to the Rakshsa conversation
Here's a picture of Khumbhakarna, a Rakshasa from the Ramayana.
Here's a statue of Ravana, King of the Rakshasa in the Ramayana.
Here's a Rakshasa from the Monstrous Compendium 1.
And related, here's the Rakshasa from Kolchak, the Night Stalker.
The cat version is pretty explicitly tied to D&D and not to actual mythology.
It'd sort of be like putting creature type Goat Demon on a depiction of Satan.
It's also in the Pirate Commander deck.
WotC wouldn't make money from the sale of Lorcana.
Disney didn't pay WotC to use the Marvel license.
It would be some sort of mutually beneficial contract where MtG profits for the set are split, and maybe a base fee from WotC.
Universe Beyond is built with the idea that "This will bring more people into magic, justifying a small cut to profit."
It's not trying to punish boycotters. They don't give a *****. Boycotters can play One Piece, or Flesh & Blood, or Legends of Runeterra, or Hearthstone, or Yu-Gi-Oh, or Pokemon, or the new Star Wars TCG coming out or any of the thousands of card games that have or will exist. For now, MtG is King of the Castle, and not a single one has managed to dethrone it.
Just read some comics. Try "The Life of Captain Marvel" by Maragret Stohl and Carlos Pacheco; the 2012 run by Kelly-Sue DeConnick; or the 2019 to present run by Kelly Thompson.
Stop confusing relatability with what you personally like, and instead of getting your talking points from chuds, just read some more comics. There's almost 60 years of Carol Danvers out there, you'll find something you like.
Plus, like, you've responded to my threads, and I'm in no way concise.
Like, there's lots of valid reasons to be mad, but at least be mad at things that actually exist.
There's also way too much conflating of Set and Draft Boosters in the comparisons, like saying it's less cards in the same breath they say "and fewer rares."