Push for diversity now gaining traction in the video game industry

originally posted by: Kali74
a reply to: peck420

Right...

It actually is right.

The reason the extreme ones were on 4chan and 8chan is because the ludicrous reactionary attitudes that they elicited are against the Terms and Conditions of most other sites. The level-headed GGers stayed on twitter.

The discussion was not about people getting mad at gaming companies for making decisions based on a broader audience base. It was about games receiving high ratings from game reviewers when the purchasers of the content were horribly unimpressed with the game itself, and then finding out that the developer of these games was literally in bed with the reviewers.

It was also about the small groups lashing out at gaming companies for being within their umbrella term of "misogyny". E.g. being able to assault women in sandbox games (regardless of the fact that you can assault ANYONE in a sandbox game, and that most games exclusively only allow you to assault straight white men). This aspect of it was not about games being more diverse to pander to a certain market. It was about small "feminist" groups going after gaming companies for making games as they wanted to, and demanding that they censor ALL of their games to appease their fragile emotions.

a reply to: Kali74

I came away thinking what a stupid bunch of conservative little children.

Hell, if a game is good, it's good.
Nothing else matters really, but I suppose to some it has become a scene, membership of which is guarded jealously by initiates.

People doxxing and threatening rape need their net switching off for a whlie to teach them a lesson. It's how I deal with my kids when they are bad.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

I have absolutely no problem playing a game with a gay, black female protagionist as long as it's a quality, immersive but more importantly fun game.

For me, this one depends on what context I am playing her in.

If I am playing a game that has an immersive plot line and involves a romance, I would just as soon not have a gay protagonist. I just have that squick factor with watching gay intimacy especially if I'm trying to personally identify with the character in question. It's a personal revulsion. Now, playing a straight character with gay companions is no issue. It doesn't even bother when those gay companions hook up with each other.

Likewise, if I am playing something like The Sims, it doesn't bother me there, either. I can and have played gay Sims in gay relationships, but then again, I am not personally invested in my Sims like I am in an RPG-style game protagonist.

And it also has to do with the visual medium of a game too because I get invested in the protagonists of my favorite books similar to how I get invested in a game's protag and I have several series that feature gay main characters in romances there that doesn't bother me.

As for sex or race ... I do prefer females heavily. I never could get into the Mass Effect trilogy with a male character after playing it with a female one. It just seemed "wrong" somehow. I am slogging through a play of Dragon Age with a male, but I'm just not into him as much. However, one of my favorite characters ever was a male one I created for an MMO.

Race is not an issue either.

a reply to: ketsuko

A mate told me he always chooses a female char for an mmo because people give him more stuff.

a reply to: ketsuko
I find that rather interesting.

I play immersive games specifically to NOT be me. I am me often enough.

Not that you are wrong, I just find it interesting how we all want some rather different things, and the poor producers and developers have to figure out how to make all of us happy.

originally posted by: SprocketUK
a reply to: ketsuko

A mate told me he always chooses a female char for an mmo because people give him more stuff.

That definitely happens, just remember that if you do it for loot, you're a prostitute.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: SprocketUK
a reply to: ketsuko

A mate told me he always chooses a female char for an mmo because people give him more stuff.

That definitely happens, just remember that if you do it for loot, you're a prostitute.

Yeah, no shame in game lol

a reply to: DeadFoot

That was the part about GamerGate that got my attention - the incestuous relationship between triple A developers and the gaming press.

That part was hitting along the same time as the whole Mass Effect 3 endings debacle when every industry publication out there rated the game the "best EVAR" and one popular gaming booth babe got herself an exclusive character in the game ...

Then we were treated to those endings which very few of the game's fans liked and made absolutely NO sense in the context of the game's story thus far and the company's defense was "yeah, well, ART!"

Sorry, but it sort of gave the GamerGate thing with the press some credibility, especially when it all got boiled down the usual, "We don't want to address your legitimate points so you're a bunch of misogynists ... " It's just like so much else. If you can't debate then, belittle them enough so that everyone thinks they're a bunch of goons.

Or in other words, construct the Kafka trap.

It doesn't help that 4Chan is, well, 4Chan.

a reply to: ketsuko

You probably also wouldn't be surprised to find that the current anti-GG narrative is that Omar Mateen shot up a gay club because of Grand Theft Auto, then.

originally posted by: SprocketUK
a reply to: ketsuko

A mate told me he always chooses a female char for an mmo because people give him more stuff.

I may have been playing the wrong ones, but I never found that to be true.

I only ever had one character who seemed to trigger an impulse in other players, and I actually designed her to be a more nerdy character. I think I successfully hit the "sexy librarian" vibe with her.

At any rate, that one kept getting hit on by random male characters ... usually all of the bad boy sort.

originally posted by: peck420
a reply to: ketsuko
I find that rather interesting.

I play immersive games specifically to NOT be me. I am me often enough.

Not that you are wrong, I just find it interesting how we all want some rather different things, and the poor producers and developers have to figure out how to make all of us happy.

I guess for me I have to emotionally invested. I can't just sit down and shoot for long periods of time and stick with it. That's empty and ultimately unsatisfying, but if that shooting is tied to a story that I can get emotionally invested in - saving the galaxy, surviving the zombie apocalypse, etc. - with characters and narratives I can find believable, I will shoot any number of aliens or zombies or enemy soldiers to advance the story on step further.

It's not about not being me. It's all about the emotional pay off.

Not to mention being part of something I can make a difference in.

a reply to: ketsuko

I suppose that must be a strange dynamic to get your head around.
I shy away from mmorpgs as I just don't have the time and would soon get fed up of being the weakest link all the time amongst a group that are always dozens of levels above me.

The thought strikes me though that done properly, such things could be a useful way of exploring our relationships and feelings when interacting with others. Sorta walking a mile in someone else's shoes...

a reply to: peck420

They could make me happy by offering games which do not cater to kids, and therefore feature realistic wounds on bodies, which precisely match the impact angle of bullets, blunt objects and blades aimed at the sprites, and which detail unflinchingly the damage associated with thermobaric detonations used in an anti personnel setting.

They could make me happy by spending a bit of time getting the gory details perfectly right, to a forensic degree of accuracy.

Good luck to them pushing for diversity with all the twelve year old gamer gaters going to get up in arms against anything that doesn't conform to their stereotypical, white, male, fantasy view of the world. Meaning no gay, or female characters, programmers or game developers.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Yes and no.

It is, in a sense, a meritocracy. It's very difficult to hide your ability or lack thereof, and since no one can actually see who or what you are behind the keyboard, you could be teamed up with any mix of races, religions, orientations, ages, etc.

At the same time, there can be some strange dynamics that go on in the game that create is weird sort of discrimination. Conversations on forums that create the impression that certain character class/race/build dynamics are sun-optimal can lead to very fine players being cut from teams in favor of the so-called golden builds even though those 'toons are played by n00b players. In the end, it's anyone's guess which would have served the team better - a primo build whose player can't play or a sub-par build whose player can play rings around everyone else.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Absolutely.

a reply to: DeadFoot

There's so few women in the gaming industry it just so happens they all slept their way to the top huh?

a reply to: Kali74

Yep, that's definitely what I said.

"All".

I plastered that generalization everywhere.

Please.

The issue was isolated, and spurred question about how ethical gaming journalism is.

Nathn Greyson wrote this

Every day, approximately 43 billion new indie games spring into existence from mysterious ethers far outside the realm of human comprehension. We approach these portals into The Beyond with great apprehension, then we scuttle away with our bounty, arms and hearts full of excitement and terror. We call this process “game development,” and it will probably bring about the end of the world. Until then, though, someone needs to curate these things, so Valve blasts new finds with its organizational death laser, Steam Greenlight. Yep, that’s exactly how it all works and this is not just me filling space because I’ve written far too many Greenlight posts at all. Anyway, standouts: powerful Twine darling Depression Quest, surrealist Thief usurper Tangiers, and sidescrolling epic Treasure Adventure World.

And this is the "game". It's worse than most html-based games that kids make as a 2-day high-school comm tech project.



I suppose it's just a "coincidence" that they were sleeping together.

a reply to: ketsuko

Kind of like life then.

originally posted by: LifeMode
Some games it would not work so well like a black PacMan.

Blac-Man?

(do not google this if you're prone to cultural sensitivities).