# Use of slurs(non-racist) in COGs and HGs **URL:** \ **Category:** Plaza\ **Created:** [January 24, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/use-of-slurs-non-racist-in-cogs-and-hgs/50347 "2019-01-24T22:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 29
**Author:** ![HarrisPS](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/harrisps/32/240120_2.png) [@HarrisPS](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/HarrisPS)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/use-of-slurs-non-racist-in-cogs-and-hgs/50347/29 "2019-01-25T06:13:31Z")
I can’t speak for specific rules about slurs - I strongly suspect that it would be a case by case basis, and highly context sensitive. I very much doubt that they would be used in a CoG game. But I can offer my opinion. Including real-world prejudice is a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly, and it’s worth considering what effect you’re trying to create with it… and what unintentional effect it may have, whether to a player who may be thrown out of enjoying the game, or making unintended implications about your setting. Sure, misogynistic slurs show a misogynistic setting. But they harm real people in the real world, and can alienate a female player and make it feel like a game wasn’t written with them in mind (yes, not every female player will feel this. No, this isn’t a reason not to consider it very carefully). Does the setting _need_ to be misogynistic? What does that achieve? Does calling a sex worker character a slur achieve anything other than making the character, or player, feel small? Is there another way that a villain character can be shown to be a jerk? Fantasy and scifi discrimination has its own issues. But it has the advantage of not using words and concepts that directly harm people in the real world. Weyrwood handled this well, weaving class commentary and fantasy prejudice together in a setting that strongly evokes Regency social mores - without using real-world-harmful language. Isabella Shaw’s [interview](https://www.choiceofgames.com/2018/11/author-interview-isabella-shaw-weyrwood/) is recommended related reading. Finally, this topic seems related to the question of how to handle discrimination in games, so if you haven’t read the following topics I’d recommend having a look: > [@LGBTQ vs Realism](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/lgbtq-vs-realism/27311): > > I have noticed, in quite a few threads, a rather worrying tendency for people to assume that a realism automatically makes a story good (often with LGBTQ issues, but I’ll get to that later). The first thing I think we should ask is not “Are realistic stories good?”, but rather “Are good stories realistic?” and I don’t think they generally are. A good story will have an intriguing beginning, a compelling middle, and a satisfying end. Real life has a generic beginning, an unplotted mess of a middl… > [@Discrimination and Escapism in Interactive Fiction](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/discrimination-and-escapism-in-interactive-fiction/25323): > > This is a spinoff from a subject that came up in “Should Hosted Games be vetted more thoroughly.” Generally, I am curious to hear people’s preferences and perspectives about the balance of writing content that deals with topics related to discrimination. I can certainly understand that when I just want some light, potentially escapist entertainment, this isn’t a theme I’d want to deal with then. But it’s also such a major theme that it can be a valuable part of literature… and interactive fic… --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/use-of-slurs-non-racist-in-cogs-and-hgs/50347)._