Gamers Are Getting Upset Over ‘Forced Diversity’, But This “Straight White Dude” Shuts Them Down In A Viral Twitter Thread
Back in the day when I was into video games, the issue of diversity never occurred to me. I played games like Tekken and Mario Kart, happily changing between a variety of characters from an Italian plumber to a kickass Japanese woman, a mushroom and a Russian robot commando.
I was spoilt for choice for diversity, and never once thought that I needed a character ‘like me’ to feel represented. The idea of playing video games was to escape to a fantasy world and be ‘someone else’ for a while.
Image credits: Fightincowboy
But perhaps that’s because I was a young white male, and had an infinite number of role models to look up to in all areas of media and western culture. I took representation for granted, and so the thought that others might long for their own heroes to relate and aspire to never crossed my mind. Luckily, we now live in more enlightened times. Or do we?
Ellie (The Last Of Us)
Image credits: thelastofus
Apparently, these days there is “a lot of fuss over gaming “forcing diversity” and people getting upset that a character is gay, trans, etc.” In a viral Twitter thread, self-described “straight white dude” gamer FightinCowboy decided to explain why this fuss is unjustified and give his opinion on why diversity in gaming is important.
Image credits: Fightincowboy
Billie Lurk (Dishonored: Death of the Outsider)
Image credits: dishonored
Image credits: Fightincowboy
Dorian (Dragon Age: Inquisition)
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Battlefield 1 – In The Name Of The Tsar
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Chloe And Rachel (Life Is Strange: Before the Storm)
Image credits: lifeisstrange
Image credits: Fightincowboy
Image credits: Fightincowboy
Image credits: Fightincowboy
But perhaps one has to look beyond fictional characters to find the real problem. According to the games industry trade body TIGA, just 14% of people working in the UK games industry are women. Over in the U.S., the International Game Developers Association suggests that only 3 percent of game developers are African-American, a figure that has risen by only 0.5 percent in the past decade. In comparison, 76 percent of developers are white.
Image credits: FaeLalune
Image credits: FaeLalune
Image credits: yorimashigatari
So while this booming industry is giving a whole generation of people cultural cues and nuances, telling stories that are avidly followed by millions and millions of fans, these stories are being told from an overwhelmingly white, male perspective. Is it any surprise then that efforts to introduce diverse characters that better reflect our everyday lives appear forced? If we want true diversity in gaming, we need more diversity among the people that make them.
Image credits: yorimashigatari
Speaking to Bored Panda about the reaction to his posts, Fightincowboy himself seems to be a little worn out by the experience of going viral. The content creator, who himself loves games like Sekiro, Bloodborne and Dark Souls, has clearly received quite a bit of hate over it, sadly.
“I knew it was gonna be a hot take but didn’t expect that much engagement on it,” he told us. “More than anything, I blame it on politics. As much as I try to keep politics out of my content it is inevitably part of culture, and to that extent I think the current political administration has policies that empower and embolden those who embrace hate over love.
“People can debate and argue all they want but when white nationalist hate groups are using “Make America Great Again” as their battle cry, it’s pretty f**king obvious there’s a problem.”
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Image credits: NachoBlueYT2
What do you think? Do you feel that there is ‘forced diversity’ in gaming? Are videogames inclusive enough? Should they even have to be? Scroll down to read the rest of the reactions below, and let us know what you think in the comments.
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I think complete character customization would solve all the diversity related problems, since each player gets to build their own individual character, their own avatar. Like it was the case in Morrowind, for example, and one of the Mass Effect games (if not all) Anywaaaaaaaay...... Personally, I've been playing as a semi-Japanese straight male for most of the time. ♥
Yeah his problem is he wants a straight white dude then custom player himself with one or just don't play the games that he thinks offends him.
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I hope that as diversity increases, so does clothing and armour choice. It gets boring running around in boob plated bikini armour.
One of the reasons I cherish some of the Elder Scrolls games: they don’t sexualize all of the armor.
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I giggled when I read this "If Thor starts stomping around in high fashion and pumps, I don't think it qualifies as Thor anymore". Well.... I don't play those kind of games, but I'm very into mythology, and if it is the god Thor he is talking about, then Thor actually dressed up as a woman in one of the myths. So high fashion and pumps, is exactly like Thor.
I think a lot of people think Marvel came up with Thor and don't realize he was an actual god.
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I!! Want!! To fly!! And burn stuff!! Part of why I loved the Spyro games.
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Welcome to our world, bros! It really astonishes me how straight white males can seriously complain about it. They always argue that it feels forced. I can just say that it feels forced that in most of the movies, series, comics and games straight while males are the focus. The f*****g hubris in those guys. It is even that forced that it feels weird to me when there is a group of people with more than one token gay/female/non-white character.
Not in 2019. Most are minorities. If a black person wants to play as a black character its cool. But if a white guy wants to play as a white one, he is racist. Thats how 2019 works lol
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There're so many games released today that everyone should be able to find the one to their liking. If you don't like some character, well, just pick another one, or some other game altogether.
White characters and straight characters are 'forced' on us way more than characters with other sexualities or skin colour. But most people only care about sexuality and skin colour being 'forced' on them, when it's different from their own. Most characters on TV, movies, games etc. are straight, but you don't care that straight characters are 'forced' on you (or even notice it!), because it fits who you are and therefore it feels like the normal, 'default' state. You don't notice white characters being 'forced' on you, when you yourself are white and live in a predominantly white country, because to you that feels like the 'default' state of humans/characters. But people with different sexualities or skin colour, are being 'forced' to play a character with a different sexuality/skin colour than them most of the time, I think people forget that, and only notice when THEY themselves are being 'forced' to play a character that's different than them.
I just think its b******t to say one race can choose, but if a white person chooses he or she is racist. I never used to think there was a anti-white sentiment...but im starting to believe it.
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I was reading similarly weak, self-centered arguments against the new Subnautica game, with whiny man-babies complaining about the main character being a black woman. How it 'wasn't necessary' for the MC to be a black woman. In the first game, it truly didn't matter since your character didn't have any voiced lines, no personality, and even the name was pretty gender neutral. The creators could have given us the choice NOT to be a white male and it would not have impacted gameplay. But in the new game, the MC is fully voiced, and honestly, she's a delight. I love her, even though the game is still in super early access. If your enjoyment of a game is 'ruined' by the MC not being a straight white male... you've got some issues and need to take a good, hard look at yourself and ask why it bothers you so much.
the only thing that struck me as odd about any of this is, why is there sex in a video game? i wouldn't expect ornamentation to come up while slaying a dragon or killing whoever you must kill.
People like well rounded characters and romances in their storylines. If you haven't played them, I would recommended the Witcher 3, Mass Effect or Dragon Age for games with good stories and good reasons for including sexuality as an option for the player to explore.
Load More Replies... It wouldn't even occur to me to be upset over something like this...I don't understand people.
Yes straight white man! YES!!! Honestly I don't care what my character is. Girl, Dude, Gay, Alien, Fairy. Hell one of my favorite games as a kid was Kirby's Dreamland and he's a cloud/bubble/pink blob that has a huge appetite?
I choose my character depending on the games style (for games that allow you to design your character i.e. Mass effect, Skyrim, Fallout etc. For instance if the game required a stealth based character I would use a young athletic black female. For full on battle games a black or white male with massive muscles(skin colour depending on what suits the character best. In space? Average build guy, what ever skin colour suits the character. Sometimes I gender swap the roles just for fun but I don't really care what gender, male or female, I play as. When it comes to sex in the game... if there is nothing to be gained from it then why bother putting it in the game? Fallout 4 gave you perks for getting romantically involved with other character and that included a male ghoul and a female robot! Unlike Mass effect where diversity is spread even further where you can jump into bed with aliens and humans regardless of their sex but you do not really get any bonus perks. Just play the damn game!
I think Thor would look great in high heel pink pumps. He's a God, why should he be defined by midgard fashion rules?
In our culture people who are not straight guys are too often expected to act like straight white guys or just be left out and treated as not-quite-human. Growing up my choice of heroes in tv shows and movies was almost exclusively straight white guys (actually the question about being straight was never brought up 'cause that was assumed). Women were handy for being rescued. It would have been nice to have someone more like me who played the hero. I'm glad that's finally changing. (Side Note: Why are white male candidates for the Dem primary getting a lot more press than the fems?)
Many of us gamers play mmorpgs, which have hundreds, if not thousands of players on at the same time. Generally, you can select your gender, various hairstyles and skin tones. Many that I have played, have men playing female characters and everyone playing characters of again > varying skin tones. Some games allow clothing to be worn regardless of gender and some have something for everyone. I think the only games that force gender, race or etc.. and the console ones - but this is because you are playing a pre-made character with an identity > instead of one you create and build up it's virtual self.
The default for games to almost exclusively straight white male.
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I love games that you can choose to make your own character, that way I can put myself into a game, but if the characters already chosen for me that's great too, i get to live someone elses life, the more diversity the better, I don't want to be playing the same worlds and games or I would just stick to not buying more games.
30% of Gen Z don't identify as straight?! Where on earth was that random made up statistic pulled from, apart from that this is a great thread and message!
On average, most surveys show about 5% of people don't identify as straight. But some have lower or higher numbers, in the last decade some say around 10%, and higher for young people. When you're talking about being EXCLUSIVELY straight (100% straight, 0 on Kinsey scale), there's even some that say 30 or 50% for young people. So this person probably used one of those surveys as their source? (By the way, you can find them on Wikipedia, I didn't look into them, so I don't know how reliable the different surveys are, I usually just stick to the 5%)
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games are about having fun, and if you don't like them because a character is a certain way, then don't play them, find another game that supports your sexist, homophobic beliefs.
You have to love the way the same people who get all salty if they think an Elf, Dwarf, Dragonkin, or some other part- or non-human character looks or acts wrong, get all bent out of shape because they are put into a human character who behaves in a different manner to which they are accustomed. I'll bet the people who complain about this the most are also the most ardent Role-Playing Gatekeepers >_<
Some of the comments from Twitter as well as here bring up the best point about this, which is that yes, if a character is a minority or LGBT or whatever, and their entire storyline and personality revolve around that aspect, THAT'S where the problem is. If you put a gay character in a game and then have that character's gayness as a major plotline (unless it's something like Dorian in DA:I, where his parents didn't approve of his inclinations), that's a problem. If you have a black character and then fall back on stereotypes, you've done the equivalent of "see, this is my black friend, so clearly I'm not racist!" We all do the same things, every day, we sleep, we eat, we use the toilet, we fall in love, we argue with people we care about, etc. There's no functional difference in the way a lesbian functions on a daily basis and the way a black man does, IMO. Include minorities of all types, but don't make that their sole character trait.
I don't care about the characters representation, I am playing because I love to know the story line and what's the game play. And the old era of just making a the same idea for the main character is already gone we now love how diverse and have the option what we want to be in game.
Hmm to be honest, i don't like playing with female characters that much. I get more invested in male characters, that's just how it works for me (you don't choose these kind of things. You are who you are). Just like i don't quite get into games when a character is gay, trans or bisexual. I can enjoy games with these type of characters with these types of genders (loved Tomb Raider and BG&E) as long as it fits and game is a good game to begin with. I just prefer hetero males more because i am one myself. Just like i bet gay men would rather like it to play as a male gay character and that's oke. I love the fact that there is diversity in genders in games, please keep this going, i just have my own preferences that's all :)
Thank you for being a person who just explains it like that, without getting up in arms over how your straight masculinity is being threatened by other options, lmao.
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And in Assasin's creed Odyssey DLC they complain that character is forced into straight relationship :,D people are never happy :D
Why do videogames have to tell kids ( Its okay to be gay ), why doesn't his/her parents tell them its okay to be gay and leave videogames to tell a story ?
I didn't know dragon age had two men kissing, now i might not play it anymore. I am normally ok with gay stuff in videogames but after the trans activist BS, i want nothing to do with the gay community and this is coming from a straight male. PS: Its sexual preference .
Let the market decide. Again, it should be down to the creator (in a single player game) or the player (in multi) what the background of a character is. Representation is about having the option, not forcing it.
I'm a 31 y/o female and I'll admit: having a character that's more relatable is amazing. Wild Arms back in 1997/1998 was great because I could play a female for once in an RPG. I remember feeling absolutely giddy about it. As time went on, I got more and more disappointed because all the "cool" characters were all white, straight men. The women in the fighting games were usually inappropriate because of the lack of clothes and "jiggly" animations. I love the games that let you create your own character more, I guess... That way: no one is fighting over anything. It gets exhausting after awhile trying to prove your point over and over again. It's like trying to convince someone that they're a narcissistic a*****e with facts and anecdotes but they're still in denial. It is literally that exhausting most of the time...
Is there a connection between the butthurt straight white males who don't want to be forced to play a non white, non straight, non male (like the rest of the world were previously forced to play straight white males, Lara excepted) and the fact of white males being told that they now make up less than 50 percent of the American population? Just curious.
I just won't play crappy 5 Edition rules. I don't advertise my sexual fetishes in my games and I certainly don't want to read about yours.
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I think that this isn't completely right. People want to play characters that are interesting for them, but they don't want to be forced to play characters they aren't interested in. So even if it's not affecting the gameplay, this would affect the experience. It's like chosing a class in a rpg, if i don't want to be a bard, i dont't want to be forced to play one.
And now you know how every minority has ever felt playing a video game. Why should they be "forced to play" as someone that doesn't represent them? Should they just not play at all? If you don't want to play as one of these characters, then don't. There are still plenty of straight, white males to play as.
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the only real problem with this isn't just "ooOO heS GaY" the main issue is that people or game developers use that as their selling point or advertise look at us we have the gay people. i personally don't have a problem with different types of characters but when you use it to seem either more "diverse" or "woke" than other game developers it really makes most people dislike that. a good example would be overwatch not just because they announce a new gay character each week but because they literally used it to turn drama of how they mistreat theyre workers and that is not right with me.
idk why you got downvoted for this when it's true.
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I don't understand this. I play video games to get away from people. I want solitude not diversity
One of the most amazing thing about games is inmersing in the story, puting yourself in somebody elses shoes. Who you dont want diversity?
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I never gave a rat's a*s about what type of character I played. I feel like this is a non-issue made an issue by some Bored folks at Bored Panda, and I have been playing games since the Atari days.
The fact that he swore ultimately lost the meaning of his words and feelings. If he hadn't had swore at all then even the people with anger issues wouldn't have had something to attach for their anger. Now instead of giving us a feeling of shame for our thinking and generally a positive outcome you made it worst. Congrats... not really. You lost your point.
Swears are just more words, there's nothing wrong with them.
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Forced diversity for the sake of it is always always bad there are and never have or will be any exceptions. Worst of all is that it's a f*****g joke. Diversity is not and has never been an unnatural gathering of twats. The groups represented are the scum that b***h the loudest or the popular condoned mental disorder of the day. If people actually gave a s**t for diverse groupings then they would have to stop being full of s**t and put aside politics religious connotations and other things that people can't put down
So.... You are playing a fantasy game in a world that doesn't exist, in situations that don't exist, for goods that don't exist..... but you NEED to have a real character? While I'm swinging my sword fighting off a dragon, the last thing on my mind is 'huh, sure wish I was a white dude under this ton of armour'.
Cant we just play the damn games and enjoy them? Were so "enlightened" that we cant even sh*t right. Relax yo!
Representation... IMHO game characters should be totally customizable so anyone can enjoy them. Anyone should be what they want to be, BUT to some certain extents. I believe that it's the IMPOSITION of a gay character to a straight player (or vice versa, straight character to gay player) that doesn't work out well for some people. And before you start tagging those people as racists, fascist or whatevers, let me ask a question. Would you feel the same while reading this article if instead of gay/black girl etc the character was e.g. a pedophile/necrophile/someone who enjoys b********y? I am reffering to those categories because they also don't choose whom to be attracted to . They are born this way. Should a game with a necrophile hero exist? So that necrophile gamers have a "role model" as OP said? I disagree with that.
You are really comparing being a woman,not being caucasian or not being straight with b********y necrophilia and pedophilia? Is it really the same for you than to rape animals, kids or corpses? If yes, please seek pscological help. :(
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i totally agree with this guy but the thing that most gamers hate is how its sometimes forced down peoples throats that a character is gay. playing games for a while i have seen games slowly start adding more and more gay characters to their game and even after 2 to 3 years thinking they are straight. and when that happens article writers go straight on the subject and continues for the next few weeks, even games have been told they are bad unless they have a black, gay, etc. i saw an article stating that overwatch is down in time cause it doesnt have a black female character but apex has them already. i mean, why does it matter? if a game doesnt have the character you want, its not the games fault you think its bad, its you when you can't accept what they add. if a new game came out and it had gay characters in it, i still would play it if it had a good story, but if its trying to throw it down my throat and only cares about that rather than story, then thats what makes a bad game.
It matters because not everyone is or wants to be a straight white man. That's what we get forced down our throats. Welcome to reality.
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I think a problem only occurs when diversity is overly pressed toward people. That e.g. happens when like 1% of the population has done diversity stuff going on and in video games or films and series like 50% of all characters are divers.
But those numbers are not actually happening, waaaay more than 1% of the population is 'diverse', waaaaay less than 50% of the characters are. LGBTQ+ is about 5% of the people. Different ethnicities depend on the country, in the USA for instance it's over 20% (and if you would count female characters as 'diverse', obviously women are about 50% of the population).
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Create content specifically for Lesbians. 1 for Gay men, 1 for Blacks, 1 for Bisexuals and 1 for trans. See how each one of those sells. 3% of 3% doesn't make sales. So of course it needs to be injected into the majority that do play these games. It's like Satanists. There aren't that many, so they need to inject their religion to try and look popular. They force it wherever they can. This is not how marketing works, nor should it. Hasbro would not sell very many LGBTQ games as the LGBTQ crowd do not provide a good revenue. They need to turn white guys into emasculated men, in order for that to be more beneficial to the corporation.
Just give players a choice. I am straight white male and I don't wanna play as gay or girl. Just give me a choice in character and be done with.
Then why we (no straight white male people) needed to be forced to play a straight white male?
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Diversity in gaming is fine to a extent. But only if you get to pick your character. It's has actually cost many game developers hundreds of millions of dollars when they force this c**p on people. Battlefield for instance, it's a WWII game, and for some reason they thought it was a good idea to add Blue Haired Cyborg Chicks to it....why in the f**k would that be in a WWII game? People want a authentic experience not some SJW nonsense like that. So people complained the developer said if you don't like it don't play, we didn't. They lost $500,000,000. The CEO was forced to step down. Bravo. Save that s**t for fantasy games.
Don't blame blue haired cyborgs on social justice. No one is fighting for cyborg representation in the world.
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If you quitted bored panda, why are you still here?
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That's not why it's done, fucknut. It is only about representation.
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Yeah same. I got the first game though and it had a glitch that made it not be able to save my progress so I never finished playing it. Although to be honest I kind of had a feeling it would turn out lesbian
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Who is they? The others? There's no us and them, just people. And don't give me any of this 'diversity is great, but not if we talk about it' bs. That's some fragile whiteness right there.
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I think complete character customization would solve all the diversity related problems, since each player gets to build their own individual character, their own avatar. Like it was the case in Morrowind, for example, and one of the Mass Effect games (if not all) Anywaaaaaaaay...... Personally, I've been playing as a semi-Japanese straight male for most of the time. ♥
Yeah his problem is he wants a straight white dude then custom player himself with one or just don't play the games that he thinks offends him.
Load More Replies... I hope that as diversity increases, so does clothing and armour choice. It gets boring running around in boob plated bikini armour.
One of the reasons I cherish some of the Elder Scrolls games: they don’t sexualize all of the armor.
Load More Replies... I giggled when I read this "If Thor starts stomping around in high fashion and pumps, I don't think it qualifies as Thor anymore". Well.... I don't play those kind of games, but I'm very into mythology, and if it is the god Thor he is talking about, then Thor actually dressed up as a woman in one of the myths. So high fashion and pumps, is exactly like Thor.
I think a lot of people think Marvel came up with Thor and don't realize he was an actual god.
Load More Replies... I!! Want!! To fly!! And burn stuff!! Part of why I loved the Spyro games.
Load More Replies... Welcome to our world, bros! It really astonishes me how straight white males can seriously complain about it. They always argue that it feels forced. I can just say that it feels forced that in most of the movies, series, comics and games straight while males are the focus. The f*****g hubris in those guys. It is even that forced that it feels weird to me when there is a group of people with more than one token gay/female/non-white character.
Not in 2019. Most are minorities. If a black person wants to play as a black character its cool. But if a white guy wants to play as a white one, he is racist. Thats how 2019 works lol
Load More Replies... There're so many games released today that everyone should be able to find the one to their liking. If you don't like some character, well, just pick another one, or some other game altogether.
White characters and straight characters are 'forced' on us way more than characters with other sexualities or skin colour. But most people only care about sexuality and skin colour being 'forced' on them, when it's different from their own. Most characters on TV, movies, games etc. are straight, but you don't care that straight characters are 'forced' on you (or even notice it!), because it fits who you are and therefore it feels like the normal, 'default' state. You don't notice white characters being 'forced' on you, when you yourself are white and live in a predominantly white country, because to you that feels like the 'default' state of humans/characters. But people with different sexualities or skin colour, are being 'forced' to play a character with a different sexuality/skin colour than them most of the time, I think people forget that, and only notice when THEY themselves are being 'forced' to play a character that's different than them.
I just think its b******t to say one race can choose, but if a white person chooses he or she is racist. I never used to think there was a anti-white sentiment...but im starting to believe it.
Load More Replies... I was reading similarly weak, self-centered arguments against the new Subnautica game, with whiny man-babies complaining about the main character being a black woman. How it 'wasn't necessary' for the MC to be a black woman. In the first game, it truly didn't matter since your character didn't have any voiced lines, no personality, and even the name was pretty gender neutral. The creators could have given us the choice NOT to be a white male and it would not have impacted gameplay. But in the new game, the MC is fully voiced, and honestly, she's a delight. I love her, even though the game is still in super early access. If your enjoyment of a game is 'ruined' by the MC not being a straight white male... you've got some issues and need to take a good, hard look at yourself and ask why it bothers you so much.
the only thing that struck me as odd about any of this is, why is there sex in a video game? i wouldn't expect ornamentation to come up while slaying a dragon or killing whoever you must kill.
People like well rounded characters and romances in their storylines. If you haven't played them, I would recommended the Witcher 3, Mass Effect or Dragon Age for games with good stories and good reasons for including sexuality as an option for the player to explore.
Load More Replies... It wouldn't even occur to me to be upset over something like this...I don't understand people.
Yes straight white man! YES!!! Honestly I don't care what my character is. Girl, Dude, Gay, Alien, Fairy. Hell one of my favorite games as a kid was Kirby's Dreamland and he's a cloud/bubble/pink blob that has a huge appetite?
I choose my character depending on the games style (for games that allow you to design your character i.e. Mass effect, Skyrim, Fallout etc. For instance if the game required a stealth based character I would use a young athletic black female. For full on battle games a black or white male with massive muscles(skin colour depending on what suits the character best. In space? Average build guy, what ever skin colour suits the character. Sometimes I gender swap the roles just for fun but I don't really care what gender, male or female, I play as. When it comes to sex in the game... if there is nothing to be gained from it then why bother putting it in the game? Fallout 4 gave you perks for getting romantically involved with other character and that included a male ghoul and a female robot! Unlike Mass effect where diversity is spread even further where you can jump into bed with aliens and humans regardless of their sex but you do not really get any bonus perks. Just play the damn game!
I think Thor would look great in high heel pink pumps. He's a God, why should he be defined by midgard fashion rules?
In our culture people who are not straight guys are too often expected to act like straight white guys or just be left out and treated as not-quite-human. Growing up my choice of heroes in tv shows and movies was almost exclusively straight white guys (actually the question about being straight was never brought up 'cause that was assumed). Women were handy for being rescued. It would have been nice to have someone more like me who played the hero. I'm glad that's finally changing. (Side Note: Why are white male candidates for the Dem primary getting a lot more press than the fems?)
Many of us gamers play mmorpgs, which have hundreds, if not thousands of players on at the same time. Generally, you can select your gender, various hairstyles and skin tones. Many that I have played, have men playing female characters and everyone playing characters of again > varying skin tones. Some games allow clothing to be worn regardless of gender and some have something for everyone. I think the only games that force gender, race or etc.. and the console ones - but this is because you are playing a pre-made character with an identity > instead of one you create and build up it's virtual self.
The default for games to almost exclusively straight white male.
Load More Replies... I love games that you can choose to make your own character, that way I can put myself into a game, but if the characters already chosen for me that's great too, i get to live someone elses life, the more diversity the better, I don't want to be playing the same worlds and games or I would just stick to not buying more games.
30% of Gen Z don't identify as straight?! Where on earth was that random made up statistic pulled from, apart from that this is a great thread and message!
On average, most surveys show about 5% of people don't identify as straight. But some have lower or higher numbers, in the last decade some say around 10%, and higher for young people. When you're talking about being EXCLUSIVELY straight (100% straight, 0 on Kinsey scale), there's even some that say 30 or 50% for young people. So this person probably used one of those surveys as their source? (By the way, you can find them on Wikipedia, I didn't look into them, so I don't know how reliable the different surveys are, I usually just stick to the 5%)
Load More Replies... games are about having fun, and if you don't like them because a character is a certain way, then don't play them, find another game that supports your sexist, homophobic beliefs.
You have to love the way the same people who get all salty if they think an Elf, Dwarf, Dragonkin, or some other part- or non-human character looks or acts wrong, get all bent out of shape because they are put into a human character who behaves in a different manner to which they are accustomed. I'll bet the people who complain about this the most are also the most ardent Role-Playing Gatekeepers >_<
Some of the comments from Twitter as well as here bring up the best point about this, which is that yes, if a character is a minority or LGBT or whatever, and their entire storyline and personality revolve around that aspect, THAT'S where the problem is. If you put a gay character in a game and then have that character's gayness as a major plotline (unless it's something like Dorian in DA:I, where his parents didn't approve of his inclinations), that's a problem. If you have a black character and then fall back on stereotypes, you've done the equivalent of "see, this is my black friend, so clearly I'm not racist!" We all do the same things, every day, we sleep, we eat, we use the toilet, we fall in love, we argue with people we care about, etc. There's no functional difference in the way a lesbian functions on a daily basis and the way a black man does, IMO. Include minorities of all types, but don't make that their sole character trait.
I don't care about the characters representation, I am playing because I love to know the story line and what's the game play. And the old era of just making a the same idea for the main character is already gone we now love how diverse and have the option what we want to be in game.
Hmm to be honest, i don't like playing with female characters that much. I get more invested in male characters, that's just how it works for me (you don't choose these kind of things. You are who you are). Just like i don't quite get into games when a character is gay, trans or bisexual. I can enjoy games with these type of characters with these types of genders (loved Tomb Raider and BG&E) as long as it fits and game is a good game to begin with. I just prefer hetero males more because i am one myself. Just like i bet gay men would rather like it to play as a male gay character and that's oke. I love the fact that there is diversity in genders in games, please keep this going, i just have my own preferences that's all :)
Thank you for being a person who just explains it like that, without getting up in arms over how your straight masculinity is being threatened by other options, lmao.
Load More Replies... And in Assasin's creed Odyssey DLC they complain that character is forced into straight relationship :,D people are never happy :D
Why do videogames have to tell kids ( Its okay to be gay ), why doesn't his/her parents tell them its okay to be gay and leave videogames to tell a story ?
I didn't know dragon age had two men kissing, now i might not play it anymore. I am normally ok with gay stuff in videogames but after the trans activist BS, i want nothing to do with the gay community and this is coming from a straight male. PS: Its sexual preference .
Let the market decide. Again, it should be down to the creator (in a single player game) or the player (in multi) what the background of a character is. Representation is about having the option, not forcing it.
I'm a 31 y/o female and I'll admit: having a character that's more relatable is amazing. Wild Arms back in 1997/1998 was great because I could play a female for once in an RPG. I remember feeling absolutely giddy about it. As time went on, I got more and more disappointed because all the "cool" characters were all white, straight men. The women in the fighting games were usually inappropriate because of the lack of clothes and "jiggly" animations. I love the games that let you create your own character more, I guess... That way: no one is fighting over anything. It gets exhausting after awhile trying to prove your point over and over again. It's like trying to convince someone that they're a narcissistic a*****e with facts and anecdotes but they're still in denial. It is literally that exhausting most of the time...
Is there a connection between the butthurt straight white males who don't want to be forced to play a non white, non straight, non male (like the rest of the world were previously forced to play straight white males, Lara excepted) and the fact of white males being told that they now make up less than 50 percent of the American population? Just curious.
I just won't play crappy 5 Edition rules. I don't advertise my sexual fetishes in my games and I certainly don't want to read about yours.
Load More Replies... I think that this isn't completely right. People want to play characters that are interesting for them, but they don't want to be forced to play characters they aren't interested in. So even if it's not affecting the gameplay, this would affect the experience. It's like chosing a class in a rpg, if i don't want to be a bard, i dont't want to be forced to play one.
And now you know how every minority has ever felt playing a video game. Why should they be "forced to play" as someone that doesn't represent them? Should they just not play at all? If you don't want to play as one of these characters, then don't. There are still plenty of straight, white males to play as.
Load More Replies... the only real problem with this isn't just "ooOO heS GaY" the main issue is that people or game developers use that as their selling point or advertise look at us we have the gay people. i personally don't have a problem with different types of characters but when you use it to seem either more "diverse" or "woke" than other game developers it really makes most people dislike that. a good example would be overwatch not just because they announce a new gay character each week but because they literally used it to turn drama of how they mistreat theyre workers and that is not right with me.
idk why you got downvoted for this when it's true.
Load More Replies... I don't understand this. I play video games to get away from people. I want solitude not diversity
One of the most amazing thing about games is inmersing in the story, puting yourself in somebody elses shoes. Who you dont want diversity?
Load More Replies... I never gave a rat's a*s about what type of character I played. I feel like this is a non-issue made an issue by some Bored folks at Bored Panda, and I have been playing games since the Atari days.
The fact that he swore ultimately lost the meaning of his words and feelings. If he hadn't had swore at all then even the people with anger issues wouldn't have had something to attach for their anger. Now instead of giving us a feeling of shame for our thinking and generally a positive outcome you made it worst. Congrats... not really. You lost your point.
Swears are just more words, there's nothing wrong with them.
Load More Replies... Forced diversity for the sake of it is always always bad there are and never have or will be any exceptions. Worst of all is that it's a f*****g joke. Diversity is not and has never been an unnatural gathering of twats. The groups represented are the scum that b***h the loudest or the popular condoned mental disorder of the day. If people actually gave a s**t for diverse groupings then they would have to stop being full of s**t and put aside politics religious connotations and other things that people can't put down
So.... You are playing a fantasy game in a world that doesn't exist, in situations that don't exist, for goods that don't exist..... but you NEED to have a real character? While I'm swinging my sword fighting off a dragon, the last thing on my mind is 'huh, sure wish I was a white dude under this ton of armour'.
Cant we just play the damn games and enjoy them? Were so "enlightened" that we cant even sh*t right. Relax yo!
Representation... IMHO game characters should be totally customizable so anyone can enjoy them. Anyone should be what they want to be, BUT to some certain extents. I believe that it's the IMPOSITION of a gay character to a straight player (or vice versa, straight character to gay player) that doesn't work out well for some people. And before you start tagging those people as racists, fascist or whatevers, let me ask a question. Would you feel the same while reading this article if instead of gay/black girl etc the character was e.g. a pedophile/necrophile/someone who enjoys b********y? I am reffering to those categories because they also don't choose whom to be attracted to . They are born this way. Should a game with a necrophile hero exist? So that necrophile gamers have a "role model" as OP said? I disagree with that.
You are really comparing being a woman,not being caucasian or not being straight with b********y necrophilia and pedophilia? Is it really the same for you than to rape animals, kids or corpses? If yes, please seek pscological help. :(
Load More Replies... i totally agree with this guy but the thing that most gamers hate is how its sometimes forced down peoples throats that a character is gay. playing games for a while i have seen games slowly start adding more and more gay characters to their game and even after 2 to 3 years thinking they are straight. and when that happens article writers go straight on the subject and continues for the next few weeks, even games have been told they are bad unless they have a black, gay, etc. i saw an article stating that overwatch is down in time cause it doesnt have a black female character but apex has them already. i mean, why does it matter? if a game doesnt have the character you want, its not the games fault you think its bad, its you when you can't accept what they add. if a new game came out and it had gay characters in it, i still would play it if it had a good story, but if its trying to throw it down my throat and only cares about that rather than story, then thats what makes a bad game.
It matters because not everyone is or wants to be a straight white man. That's what we get forced down our throats. Welcome to reality.
Load More Replies... I think a problem only occurs when diversity is overly pressed toward people. That e.g. happens when like 1% of the population has done diversity stuff going on and in video games or films and series like 50% of all characters are divers.
But those numbers are not actually happening, waaaay more than 1% of the population is 'diverse', waaaaay less than 50% of the characters are. LGBTQ+ is about 5% of the people. Different ethnicities depend on the country, in the USA for instance it's over 20% (and if you would count female characters as 'diverse', obviously women are about 50% of the population).
Load More Replies... Create content specifically for Lesbians. 1 for Gay men, 1 for Blacks, 1 for Bisexuals and 1 for trans. See how each one of those sells. 3% of 3% doesn't make sales. So of course it needs to be injected into the majority that do play these games. It's like Satanists. There aren't that many, so they need to inject their religion to try and look popular. They force it wherever they can. This is not how marketing works, nor should it. Hasbro would not sell very many LGBTQ games as the LGBTQ crowd do not provide a good revenue. They need to turn white guys into emasculated men, in order for that to be more beneficial to the corporation.
Just give players a choice. I am straight white male and I don't wanna play as gay or girl. Just give me a choice in character and be done with.
Then why we (no straight white male people) needed to be forced to play a straight white male?
Load More Replies... Diversity in gaming is fine to a extent. But only if you get to pick your character. It's has actually cost many game developers hundreds of millions of dollars when they force this c**p on people. Battlefield for instance, it's a WWII game, and for some reason they thought it was a good idea to add Blue Haired Cyborg Chicks to it....why in the f**k would that be in a WWII game? People want a authentic experience not some SJW nonsense like that. So people complained the developer said if you don't like it don't play, we didn't. They lost $500,000,000. The CEO was forced to step down. Bravo. Save that s**t for fantasy games.
Don't blame blue haired cyborgs on social justice. No one is fighting for cyborg representation in the world.
Load More Replies... If you quitted bored panda, why are you still here?
Load More Replies... That's not why it's done, fucknut. It is only about representation.
Load More Replies... Yeah same. I got the first game though and it had a glitch that made it not be able to save my progress so I never finished playing it. Although to be honest I kind of had a feeling it would turn out lesbian
Load More Replies... Who is they? The others? There's no us and them, just people. And don't give me any of this 'diversity is great, but not if we talk about it' bs. That's some fragile whiteness right there.
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