There are far too many quotes and comments that reflect this very opinion, and it is truly disturbing. It is not unheard of or unimaginable for someone to want to feel represented in game. Yes, games may be an escape or diversion from our own reality, but there truly does need to be something to connect to, otherwise it isn't worth playing. And to have access to such a well played game that is hard to replicate or find elsewhere, it is completely reasonable to request representation for your gender/race/orientation/etc.
The whole concept of suspension of disbelief centers around believing this could happen. In a high fantasy world that means establishing and holding onto that connection, and sometimes that means having proper representation and diversity.
Blizzard could at least try to find some balance, and I would definitely side with that request.
"When past and present collide, the fate of all worlds hangs in the balance." -The Prophet Velen
My god, stupidity overload. You mean that the character you barely associate with is a white man who turns into a wolf and not a white woman? The tragedy of it all.
It being written by actual people don't make their vision any less of a deviation from actual reality.
You're literally saying that since there isn't a presence in minority/women characters in a video game that their viewpoints and contributions are absent. This is a bunch of hogwash.
The story of the Orcs overcoming the bonds of their demonic masters and facing a world that doesn't welcome them can easily be seen as synomous to the upbrining and current struggles of African Americans in the United States.
Caring about the sexuality and skin colour of a pile of pixels is serious business!
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Also, it's should HAVE. NOT "should of". "Should of" doesn't even make sense. If you think you should own a cat, do you say "I should of a cat" or "I should have a cat"? Do you HAVE cats, or do you OF cats?
"If you want to control people, if you want to feed them a pack of lies and dominate them, keep them ignorant. For me, literacy means freedom." - LaVar Burton.
Nowhere in my statement implies that demons are synomous to whites. I do suggest that the orcs breaking their demonic bonds can be synomous to African Americans overcoming slavery.
You're gonna pull a muscle if you keep stretching what I say out of context to moronic levels.
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If you are unable to connect even with races of fiction simply because of physical features while ignoring personality traits or internal struggles that resonate with your own then you are just ethnocentric as shit.
Game developers shouldn't spend time appeasing to ethnocentric assholes.
I cant actually believe that this ridiculous open letter got an actual response, yet there are hundreds of extremely constructive posts/ideas on forums that get ignored.
What is so special about this letter, that is clearly written by someone who is listening to far too much Beyonce/Spice Girls, that deserves a response?
When asked why Blizzard didn’t hire more women, Mr. Pardo responded “I just don’t get the applications.” It is difficult to believe that women are not pursuing games development,
So the writer doesn't like or believe a legit response to a question? Why is that hard to believe? I work with a 10 person strong Dev team. 9 males and 1 female. For the record, not that it matters, she is Asian. In fairness she is awesome at her job, probably one of the best devs we have but thats not the point.
We are actively recruiting another 1-2 devs and so far we have had 0 applications from females, and we probably wont get any.
Dev work in general, not just gaming devs is still a young field, which can only diversify with time, but unfortunately at the moment, the stereotype with Dev work, and/or computer gaming in general is that its something for nerdy guys to do with little to no social life. I am not saying that the stereotype is textbook, far far from it, but it is a stereotype that exists.
The response from Mike is nothing more than a PR stunt, but I still think its shite that something as utterly bollocks as this open letter gets a response.
Sure there is applicability, but why do minorities purely have to be represented through metaphors and allegories? That in itself is pretty offensive. Additionally it is not just about exploring the struggles minorities go through it's simply about representing them. For example if Blizzard introduces a major black character he doesn't have to suffer racism. It's just about all of the target demographic being represented. At the end of the day no matter how many parallels you can draw Orcs aren't actually African Americans.
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The reason those applications aren't coming in is because the work environment in the game's industry is probably very off-putting to women. You need to make sure that the industry is more inclusive. And the best way to do that is by writing women better.
The industry as a whole is starting to pay more attention to things I guess you don't understand or want to.
Naturally, when big names start to create more divergent from the norm stuff in their games and for their games, people are want to ask why the biggest one in the room is doing about such things too.
It's a good question more or less. Why is blizzard such a boys club? The answer is pretty easy tho, it's cause the guys at the top got into the situation when it was a boys club, and they have no interest in changing their roster. ( they are also man children)
It's also a good question about diversity in WOW. Let me ask you this. DO you think diverse Npcs will create more "every troll in the hinterlands looks the same" kind of content, or do you think it will cause them to eek out something between totally unique and totally cookiecutter?
You could almost say that the lack of diversity is classic blizzard lazy antics. IF they had to be more diverse in game there would be a lot more work to enrich current content and future content, and what is the golden rule on doing more work then needed?
Last edited by Tastyfish; 2014-07-10 at 10:20 AM.
"If you want to control people, if you want to feed them a pack of lies and dominate them, keep them ignorant. For me, literacy means freedom." - LaVar Burton.
This liberal bullshit starts to be boring. Why can't i play my FICTIONAL game, without making it a perfect copy of the real world? Why is it bad if in this FICTIONAL world there are no gays and transvestites? Why is it a problem if this FICTIONAL game is dominated by males meanwhile it has many female heroine? Stop ruining everything, go and play something else, where these "important" things are part of the game by defult.
Because at the end of the day metaphors and allegories are the ideal way to create art and relate to people in the realm of fantasy. The gripe with most people is that they don't feel like they can relate to the fantasy just because of a lack of skin color (which is inherently racist in itself)
A black character doesn't have t suffer racism. He can lose his entire life, family, best friend, and fellow rebels at the hands of a horrible corporation + carry a pissed off demeanor that evolves into something more tame via character development to equal one of the most beloved characters in Final Fantasy
Because of all of these things, Barrett Wallace is likable by all regardless of his race. Characters and inclusiveness come from the ability to relate to an audience. Race should and has nothing to do with it.
Last edited by THE Bigzoman; 2014-07-10 at 10:22 AM.
And it's also not unheard of or unimaginable for someone to not give a flying fuck about whatever some infantile loafer feels or wants. There is a right for everyone to feel and want and express whatever they want, yes; there is no (hopefully it lasts) right for anyone to force someone else to share in these feels and wants.
Just recently some private bakery refused to make a cake with the gay rights agenda written over it. The owner is getting sued. That's the ridiculous 1984-level distopy we're heading into, where it's not about people being tolerant and accepting of each other but infantile people who want equal results (not equal rights to be able to reach those equal results) and forcing other people to do whatever suits their 'needs and feelings'.
Seriously, it's not 'diversity' and 'cultural enrichment' when a black man plays the role of some Roman Caesar. It's plain bullshit and cretinism.