So... So... A Molag Bal branded bed.

owaindraig · October 7

We all have different takes on what crosses the line into being tone-deaf and insensitive, and in the other direction, what’s just making something out of nothing. My initial take would be that the bed recalls a Daedric Prince with a piece of lore and isn’t even a story item — it’s a store item. So my first reaction wouldn’t have been that it crosses the line into insensitivity. For me, there are enough barriers of separation. But it’s still a valid question to raise.

That said, the original poster was very eloquent in what they wrote. I am a survivor, but other survivors might feel it crosses the line. I don’t — but these things aren’t facts; they’re assessments of cultural, moral, and ethical attitudes. There’s no right or wrong final answer. I don’t know whether the original poster was a survivor or not; that wasn’t disclosed. I'm just trying to be clear I wasn't implying they were or were not.

The original poster was extremely eloquent in how they put things, and I’ve always found it odd that geek and gaming fandoms will pile on someone for making a point like that, when those same people will completely freak out if a character’s jacket color in a movie doesn’t match what it was in a comic book twenty years ago.

While I tend to fall more on the side of “it doesn’t bother me,” and the original poster was bothered by it, there was no need for this kind of dog-piling. Some people disagreed respectfully, but others really did that “oh goodness gracious, you’re making something out of nothing” bit.

If you’re not a survivor, maybe defer to people who are. I always presume people who’ve actually lived through something probably know more about what it’s like than I do, and maybe their voice counts a bit more than mine.

It’s also ironic how much their already-censored post was censored. The meta irony is a little crazy in that. If it's not a big deal then why did we have to treat the post like a poison pill?

Not every response was that way — I’m not accusing all the responders of vitriol, but some were. If your response was respectful disagreement, I’m not aiming my lens at you.

Syldras · October 7

owaindraig wrote: »

My initial take would be that the bed recalls a Daedric Prince with a piece of lore and isn’t even a story item — it’s a store item.

It's not a store item, it's a furnishing we can decide to craft ourselves - if we have found the furnishing plan for it. The plan drops from containers in East Solstice which is currently occupied by the Worm Cult. From the roleplay or story perspective this means we can find this plan while rummaging through some boxes or luggage left unattended by some Worm Cultist. It's not sold in a store, it's not advertised, we find Worm Cult stuff in Worm Cult places and then can decide to make something of it - or not. Then we have guild traders where these plans might show up - which would mean another adventurer has found the plan and come to the conclusion that someone else (Maybe just a curiosity collector?) could have interest in it and pay gold to have it. In the end this means that we don't get this sold by ZOS as "the cool thing in the store", it's just an item belonging to the enemy in game, that we can get our hands on. Like we can also find banners of the Sixth House in one dungeon on Vvardenfell, or snatch all kind of enemy flags and artifacts in different zones of this game.

Another point notable to me is that this is clearly labelled and designed as being Worm Cult style, not Molag Bal style. Molag Bal has different aspects, which can be entirely unrelated. One is necromancy, one is domination, one is vampirism, for example. There are different kinds of Molag Bal cults in lore, the Worm Cult (or how it's actually called: The Order of the Black Worm) is only one of them. We also know of the Shadowed Path, the Stonefire Cult, the Bloodthorn Cult, the Cult of the Profane Bond, etc. There are lots, and they all have different foci. We know some clans of Reachmen worship Molag Bal as the "Lord of Lies" and consider him a testing god. We also have the Witches of Molag Bal, for example, who worship Molag Bal as "The Schemer Princess" and focus on aspects like cabals and bribery. The Worm Cult is clearly about necromancy and soul collecting. That doesn't mean of course that there can't be individuals in the Cult at all who might commit other atrocities, but these are not the Cult's purpose. It's a necromancer cult, nothing more.