Quote Originally Posted by Larsaan View Post
Well, I don't know, this is the part I don't quite agree with, and it's that Show versus Tell thing again. As far as we've been shown in this comic... goblin(oid)s actually seem to do pretty well for themselves when the conflict between the Sapphire Guard and the Crimson Mantle isn't around to ruin things for everyone. We've only been told that they live in uniquely poor conditions, and even then, only by Redcloak (who we all know has a myopic streak). We've never actually seen goblins suffer from their living conditions, only from armed conflict.

Except for the bugbears, I guess, they live in fairly harsh conditions. But considering they've been shown to do stuff like attack people for the purpose of feeding them to monsters, I can hardly blame the other races for not wanting them to hang around.
This was a big focus of the argument back when Durkon was talking to Thor about goblinoids' situation in the world: lots of people felt the same way, asking if the hobgoblins were *really* all that disadvantaged, etc.

I agree it's hard to show that kind of info meaningfully in the comic. But I also don't think "Tell" is the dirty word that some literary critics pretend it to be. Telling is necessary, quite often, especially in visual media. Sure, Telling might come from the mouth of an unreliable narrator, but I think people often abuse that leeway. If facts are stated and other characters hearing it don't dispute them, I don't see a reason to doubt it unless there's significant refuting evidence.

Also, the Giant answered this one directly in the most recent Patreon post, saying that yeah, the goblinoids really do have it bad, and that single wood-palisade fortress in the mountains was likely the pinnacle of goblinoid achievement and still paled in comparison to any of the half a dozen human cities we've seen.