Yeah, That is Better

It looks like D&D (and, actually, RPGs in general) are moving away from using the term 'race' to describe non-human characters. Which is fair enough - it's enough of a pain point that an alternative is preferable. Unfortunately, the two alternatives that had previously been mooted don't really work terribly well - 'species' has rather too much of the veneer of science to it to fit well, though it is ideal for sci-fi, while 'ancestry' just sucks.

Fortunately, it looks like D&D is moving towards using 'people' as the chosen term, which fits really well. 'Folk' would also have been a good choice - as in "Durin's folk".

So, yeah, I applaud that change. I also, mostly, applaud the steps they're taking towards showing a more nuanced culture for some of the intelligent humanoids. I don't think that's a requirement for all, or even for all 'humanoid' creatures - I think it is valid to suggest that at least some humanoids are indeed monsters. To quote "Babylon 5", "while we may sometimes look like you, we are not you." Just because a gnoll walks on two legs doesn't mean that its thought processes should in any way resemble those of a human; conversely, just because its thought processes don't in any way resemble those of a human doesn't mean it shouldn't be 'humanoid'.

But, all in all, this is a very positive step.

One more thing: there is an argument that the uses of different races, peoples, or whatever is itself problematic. The argument hinges on the fact that that means they are being 'othered'. And there is a lot of validity to that, as an awful lot of hate a pain has been spawned by the categorisation of various groups as being less than human.

I can't really fault that argument, though I don't entirely agree with it. But if it is accepted, then the consequence of that, I'm afraid, is that the non-human peoples would really need to be removed from the settings entirely. Which would be a shame... but may yet prove necessary. (And, of course, those non-human peoples may be desirable, but they're not necessary. At least, not in fantasy games - sci-fi may be a different issue.)