We are talking about IN-GAME messages and roleplays, in a medieval atmosphere. In those times, women were considered inferior, gays were considered sick or heathen, and racism was an open reason to go to war. The issue I have, is people bringing their OOC attitudes into a game. Its the same issue i have when people judge Shakespeare with a 21st century attitude. It was a different time.
Everyone here approaches Battlemaster through the prism of life in the 20th/21st centuries. Even those of us with some understanding of medieval history would never pretend we can transport ourselves into the mindset of a medieval noble, because the Middle Ages and the medieval mind are a totally alien world to us. The more you learn, the more alien it becomes. Those people who judge Shakespeare with a 21st century attitude are actually being pretty honest and recognising that Shakespeare is reinvented by every era as people reinterpret his work for their own time. I can assure you that you can't put yourself into the mind of an Elizabethen English person living in 16th century London. Unless you've spent many years of your life studying 16th century England, in which case you probably could for a short time before your mind snaps back into the present.
Racism, and other bigotry, should never find a home in this game on the grounds that it went on in the Middle Ages. The bottom line is that this is a
game played by an international community, and the chances are quite high that someone might be offended by anything that skirts too close to modern bigotry. There's also the possibilty that if outright racist RPs suddenly started to appear in BM, and the wrong person took offence, the game may actually fall foul of European laws concerning incitement to racial hatred.
Bottom line - there's no need for it. Play nice as if you were playing a board game at a friend's place where they may have invited people over that you don't know.
