Okay, let me further clarify some things I said in the OP. I’m reading charitably here and assuming you did read it, although I feel like it’s going largely ignored.

That designer whose work is being pre-emptively slagged? My first example? That designer squarely belongs to the culture addressed by the work. And that designer is also getting slagged for not being “X” enough (where X = the culture in question). 

How is that not fucked up? How is that an okay use of silencing? 

Further clarification, regarding the “oh just do the homework and engage with the community in question, you’ll be fine” reassurances. I can tell you from personal experience — and this is where the generally young-trending audience here shows itself (challenging games came out prior to 2005, kids!) — that engagement may not be adequate. I’ve done that kind of design work and I’ve gotten cultural representatives involved. Aaaaand other cultural representatives did not feel my efforts were adequate, and two decades later I still get to hear about what a godawful racist I am. And that’s what I’m talking about when I refer to radical misuse of good concepts.

I had a similar sentiment shared with me in a hangout yesterday: maybe silencing is okay. And I have no idea how to respond to that. I mean, back it up far enough and you’re left with elfgames, pure unthreatening unchallenging fucking fantasy, as the only “okay” subject matter. And, I suppose, games directly derived from one’s personal experience.

What do you think the audience is for The Paul B Game, anyway? I’ve played it, and I’m here to tell you it’s got a lot of downtime and handling time problems.

History is off-limits. Societies other than your own are off-limits. Skin color other than your own, strictly off-limits. Religions and other belief systems? Take it all away, someone might get offended, surely there’s someone else better qualified to tackle these subjects, the mob is working exactly as intended.

So I dunno. Maybe the “silencing is good and necessary to make room for new voices” folks are totally right, that these are the tools available and this is the fight at hand and boo hoo, suck it up cishetwhiteguy your time is up. But I gotta say, that feels perilously close to culture war talk, and I’m generally quite skeptical about that shit when it comes out of the mouths of politicians in the Real World who profit/benefit from drumming up said culture war.

And that’s my last thought on this subject: Who benefits from promoting the idea that there is a necessary culture war coming/here? I think the answer probably goes beyond social points-scoring for being seen to be on any particular “side.”