Now generally speaking, the politically correct crowd have been fairly hush hush about this. Is it because there's no offensive content in this game? HA HA! NO! There's TONS of offensive content in this game and the stuff that I've seen is only the tip of the ice burg I imagine. The reason the usual internet whiners have not been getting riled up about Stick of Truth is because attacking Matt Stone and/or Trey Parker is a good way to get their attention so they write an episode about you and expose how much of a fucking moron you are.
However, it finally happened on Polygon with an article written by some tosser and was about how she was upset that she couldn't "pick a female character". I'm not going to link the article because Polygon is a piece of shit but this writer had very little to say about the game itself, and it was just paragraph after paragraph of her whining that she couldn't be a female. Luckily when she contacted Ubisoft she was told to fuck off and play the game (in much nicer terms) but we all know for most gaming writers that actually playing the games they are moaning about to the end is way, WAY too hard.
This isn't the first time this shit has happened either. I saw an equally stupid article and got into a huge Facebook argument myself about the game Deep Down which is coming soon to PS4
Now I know I've chosen 2 examples of the same issue, but I'm not going to rant about it may or may not be sexist or whatever stupid bullshit. No, my problem with this is like the title states, you aren't the developer or the writer for these games so shut the fuck up.
If a developer creates something then you are more than welcome to criticise their game or their choices for character and story but crying "misogyny" at something just because it doesn't suit your "needs" or agenda should not fly, ever. If Matt and Trey don't want you to play as a little girl in Stick of Truth, then that's THEIR creative decision from a story standpoint and you have no right to complain about that. It's their story, not yours, and if they want an all male cast then they are allowed to write a story based around an all male cast.
The same goes for Deep Down, if the developers don't want any playable females in their game, then that's THEIR decision and who are you to tell them they can't or shouldn't do that? Why shouldn't they do that? Just because women exist, doesn't mean that you have to be featured in every single piece of media ever created.
The same thing goes for anything. If a developer or writer wants to have an all female cast, then I don't have any right to tell them that's wrong because that's the story that THEY want to write. You can argue about it being a bad story all you want, but telling them they aren't allowed to do that is wrong and stupid.
Imagine if a game had a cast that was made up entirely of animals, you don't see people complaining about how "humans are underrepresented in this story" or whatever stupid bullshit. It's their story and while you absolutely have the right to criticise the decisions of the creative team, you have NO right to tell them it's wrong or that they should change it just because it doesn't fit in with your way of thinking. If games are supposed to be heading towards becoming some kind of art form, then these people just have to realise that not all art is made for them and they just have to deal with that.
So, if you want a game with equal representation of all genders and walks of life, go play a game that does so, and if a game like that doesn't exist, then get off your stupid whiny arse and MAKE ONE. Don't go around slagging off other peoples work because you have the imagination of a goldfish with brain problems.
So play the game and criticise it by all means, but unless you're going to say something of value then just shut the fuck up.
I agree with you 100% in saying that people who claim a game is sexist purely because it doesn't offer a playable female character are generally pretty ignorant.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, you say if games don't exist with female characters that whoever wants such a game should go out and make one. Well, you and any gamer with an IQ over 5 knows that it's not easy making games, especially when you have school, work or family (or all at once) to take care of.
I don't think it's unreasonable for people to cry out for more of what they want in games. Why even attempt to make one when I might (with enough numbers) be able to convince a gaming company giant to make one that will probably be 100x better than what I (an average person with an average amount of free time on their hands) could make?
Again, I agree with the "sexist" whining being bullshit, but I think someone with a fanbase of any size should PUSH their fans to be outspoken about what they want. That is our job as consumers. Even if, at the end of the day, it's a bunch of herpderps saying they want something unreasonable, there will be enough constructive criticism and suggestions for a game developer to pick up great ideas from.
Just some constructive criticism and opinions, no offense or rudeness intended.
I don't agree with the notion that making a game is difficult anymore. Sure, making a GOOD game with all the polish and dressing is very hard, but we now live in an age where things such as RPG Maker and Game Maker exist. These are the kind of programs where you could learn to create something in an afternoon and yet have enough features to produce something really cool (Hotline Miami in Gamemaker for example) if you have that extra time to sink into independant game development.
ReplyDeleteYou are totally correct when you say fans should push for what they want, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about doing it. The right way would be something along the lines of "hey, it would be totally cool if you included X in your game". The wrong way to go about it is the way these game sites are going about it, posting crap like "No females?! BAN THIS SICK FILTH! THIS DEVELOPER IS SO SEXIST!"
Criticism is important to any medium, that's how it gets better. But what we have in the case of Stick of Truth, Dragons Crown, Killer is Dead, Deep Down and MANY others isn't legitimate criticism, it's just pointless whining from people who have played the game for about an hour, or worse, not at all.