General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA popular video game now randomizes your race and gender — and many white men are furious
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/17/11442730/rust-experimental-race-gender-randomBut it's not the betrayal and tension that has gamers upset with Rust. Instead, it's a new feature recently added to the game, which has 500,000 players each week, by developer Garry Newman: Your character's gender and race are now randomized. So even if you're a white man in real life, you now may be forced to play a black woman....
What's odd, instead, is that these same complaints from male, white gamers would very likely fall on deaf ears if they were made by another group by, say, a black, Hispanic, or female gamer. After all, originally, everyone on Rust was forced to play a bald white man and there was no similar uproar....
Take this feedback Newman received from one male gamer: "I just want to play the game and have a connection to the character like most other games I play." What this misses is that this male gamer is able to have a connection to the character he plays in most video games because he's a man. Meanwhile, minority and women gamers have for a long time just grown to accept that they're probably going to be stuck playing white male heroes if they pick up a mainstream triple-A game.
Too bad, so sad! Someone call the poor widdle boys a
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)randomize ethnic origin and gender.
I thought it added a depth to the roleplay.
I may give this game a try.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)From MW 1. It made players that much more careful. We tried that too as well
Stryst
(714 posts)Has a great life path system as part of character creation to generate random backgrounds, kind of like 'previous life' part of character creation in Traveler.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)...because they thought she had something to do with the removal of a "boob size slider" in the character customization screen in the newest version of the anime-themed RPG Fire Emblem in the American localization. These people also threw a fit because Nintendo decided to make a 12yo girl character in the game have less revealing clothes.
Archae
(46,337 posts)The woman was pro-pedophilia, using Japanese culture to try and justify her views.
MynameisBlarney
(2,979 posts)That's insane!
IronLionZion
(45,455 posts)any google news search of teacher and sex will reveal more insanity than you knew was possible
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Made up Gamergater crap.
Archae
(46,337 posts)I read about the pedophile stuff on a -chan board.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Those fuckers will claim anything to destroy any techie women they don't like.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)So I don't think being forced to play a woman character or another race is the issue. I think the issue is these gamers think this is being pushed down their throats for the purpose of social justice and not for being some part of the game's story.
Quackers
(2,256 posts)That character isn't white. Game players spend lots of money for these high-tech games that include multiple customizations. If a developer suddenly took away your ability to customize, I think you would have a right to be mad. It has nothing to do with racism and sexism.
TroubleMan
(4,859 posts)When we mentioned, hey you guys didn't ask for a black Tommy mod in Vice City, out come the closeted racists.
Orrex
(63,215 posts)Male and female of different ethnicities, body types and professions. It was a "cheat" code, but the player was able to choose at will.
The randomizer doesn't bother me in the slightest, as long as gameplay isn't adversely affected. Heck, I could even see an interesting effect whereby a tall, hugely muscled character doesn't (for instance) fit in an aircraft's cockpit as readily as a smaller character.
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)GTA VI is rumored to have a woman protagonist.
romanic
(2,841 posts)As a gamer myself and one who regularly attends game conventions (very diverse I may add), I hear the same complaints about contrived "social justice" being inserted in video games.
And no this has nothing to do with Gamergate, Anita Sarkeesian or that lady from Nintendo who got fired; people just want to play games without the politics or some forced agenda.
whathehell
(29,067 posts)just like in the real world.
Crash2Parties
(6,017 posts)Most games do have politics and forced agenda...if the player is not a white male.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)In Rust the random race and sex do serve a purpose in the type of world the developers wanted to create. It gives a more realistic proportion of male and female avatars, and combines with the other permanent randomized physical traits to give the player a permanent identity. The end goal is in part at least to make your avatar recognizable to others based on look rather than a name floating above your head. Also, going by the type of game they made and other interviews I've read, I think they find the social aspect (negative reaction and all) particularly fascinating.
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)...and I've got the chat logs to prove it.
Lazy Daisy
(928 posts)What's a SHART? I take it it's not the messy drawers thing
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)The double entendre with liquid flatulence certainly is apropos.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)What if some of these he-man masters of their universe and domain ever had to face an actual hardship? Would they dissolve in a pool of bitter tears? Curl up under the bed, sobbing, clutching their wubbie and sucking their thumb? Spontaneously explode in a shivering, quivering, ragegasm?
Volaris
(10,272 posts)AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Wait, is that good or bad?
I'm not sure if I want to sign up for this event.
Quackers
(2,256 posts)ronnie624
(5,764 posts)He makes it clear that most of the complaints came from white males, with most of the complaints about race coming from Russia, and that the complaints about gender were "geography-free", clearly meaning that they were more widespread, geographically. He also said that women were the most accepting of the change.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)about possibly ending up black, something that had been part of the game previously.
Democat
(11,617 posts)So that statement means nothing on its own.
Do you dismiss the complaints from transgender people?
ronnie624
(5,764 posts)Your question is illogical in this context. Clearly, I acknowledged their complaints.
Are you attempting to imply that I'm bigoted against transgender people? If so, few things could be further from the truth.
Democat
(11,617 posts)There are some people on DU with selective outrage.
ronnie624
(5,764 posts)And why would you ask me about the complaints? The little bit of information about them is right there in the article, and I neither dismissed them nor disagreed with them. The only point in my initial post, is that most of the complaints came from white males about race and gender. I made no comment whatsoever about the specific complaints from transgender people.
I don't know what your motive is, here, but your posts are pure hokum.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)They're not being singled-out for selective treatment or being imposed upon more than anybody else. The system assigns you an arbitrary gender and race that is durable and permanent within the game. I get their disappointment over not being able to choose their gender in-game...but they hadn't previously been able to either and it's not material to the gameplay.
Equality isn't always freedom...sometimes it's just being shat-upon equally and in the same ways as everybody else.
ronnie624
(5,764 posts)There are none more insecure than the hyper-masculine.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,007 posts)FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)There is still a lot in the U.S., but not nearly the degree that there is in Russia, the Middle East, and Africa.
EllieBC
(3,016 posts)Just so they "have something nice to look at".
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)and I've seen it expressed with countless other games...
The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)whatever they want to play as, and a choice to randomize whatever they want to play as? I've played a few games before, and you can usually do either one. I mean, it's not a big deal, at all, either way, because it's just a time sink video game, but no press is bad press I guess.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)It has to do with enforcing a diversity of appearances necessary to the function of the game. If they let people choose...disproportionate numbers will choose to be male and white in a way that harms gameplay. They need players to be visually differentiated in a diverse enough fashion as to be immediately visually identifyable to peers in the same way that people are. Because of that and how people's choices cluster, player-model choice was never going to be totally possible.
Perhaps there was a better way to do this...such as making everybody purple or green and fat or skinny with androgynous player models...but there wasn't one that was going to allow players to choose race or gender.
alarimer
(16,245 posts)I swear, white guy gamers and nerds are the whiniest bunch of idiots.
How about making gaming more welcoming to people WHO ARE NOT YOU? Sorry, yelling at the gamer-bros, not the OP.
I love video games and I don't particularly care whether or not I play as a man or woman. If there is an option, I do whatever suits my fancy that day. But there often is no choice. A man (human or otherwise) is the default option. Sort of like life I guess, where white men are the default human beings, everyone else is "other". But I digress.
I'm old enough to remember the hissy fit guys threw when they found out Samus Aran (Metroid, SuperMetroid, the Metroid Prime franchise) was a woman.
yuiyoshida
(41,832 posts)Asian female in the new game of Mirror's Edge
Its great an Asian Female finally in a lead role in a major game!
alarimer
(16,245 posts)I liked the previous one, but had a hard time playing it on PC.
yuiyoshida
(41,832 posts)the main one will be out some time this month!!
Response to KamaAina (Original post)
CompanyFirstSergeant This message was self-deleted by its author.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)I suspect that clothing as a modifier has an impact on gameplay...as in naked people freeze or sunburn or...well, you've been in the field, I assume. You don't need me to tell you that nature and climate are often as much of an enemy as opposing forces.
That said...I don't think BDUs and tee-shirts are protecting anybody from a hell of a lot.
Response to Chan790 (Reply #39)
CompanyFirstSergeant This message was self-deleted by its author.
valerief
(53,235 posts)MisterFred
(525 posts)As a gamer, I can tell you that one thing just about ALL gamers want is to be able to customize their avatar. And yes, there HAVE been outcries when female or minority avatars are not available. This article is lying when it says that wouldn't be the case.
arithia
(455 posts)... so I decided to stop lurking for a hot minute.
I have played this game since a month after initial alpha release. I currently have over 1200 hours logged, which does not include the 1k+ hours logged (and wiped by steam) in the first year of alpha (this game is still in alpha... not even beta, folks!).
Yes. I've played a lot of this glorified Lord of the Flies video game, but there is a lot more to it than that. Its a great "building" game- houses, towns, communities, alliances... you can even role-play a painter on a Dark Ages themed server (courtesy of in game paint tools and canvases) if you aren't into beating each other over the head with rocks.
When I logged in after the "lady" update went live (admins could be female models for months now), the vitriol coming from (primarily) young, white, male players has been horrid. I mean like, groups of men roaming around and ranting in voice chat about how they are going to "rape" female avatars. And then they DISCUSS it in detail, like it's some kinda twisted audio book from Hell.
I hope Garry doesn't bow to the whims of the masses on this one and keeps it randomized. The people complaining about having lady bits are the same jerks I see using gendered insults and racial slurs in general chat.
I suspect they are ultimately afraid they will be subjected to the same hostility and abuse that they heap upon others.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,829 posts)Reincarnation Karma
tritsofme
(17,380 posts)Seems pretty easy to me. Markets work pretty well in this regard.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)but the only reaction I've heard firsthand from a twenty-something, white, man that I know was that he was thrilled at this development. As for the rest, f#$k 'em.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)When I was playing Rust's evil cousin, DayZ (also an open-world survival-horror game in development with no rules or objectives beyond those we create for ourselves), I remembered my beloved "asshole filter," as I called my long flowing locks, and how they worked for me. Judgmental bigots avoided me, and I rarely had to deal with their low-information ways.
So I started playing DayZ as a black woman.
Why? Because asshole racists in the game simply tried to kill me on sight. And since I cannot hunt them in real life, I really like hunting racist scum in DayZ.
Just like in real life, racists are non-rational, unethical, low-empathy people who cannot be trusted, and it's even more true in-game where players are willing to risk more to be dicks. For me, the point of the game is to experience the emotions of having to risk all in interactions with other players.
It also made deciding who not to kill easier. People who were willing to interact with me in non-murderous ways were usually more trustworthy, fun to partner with and, duh, better players in general because they don't go through life guided by stupid beliefs.
So being a black woman made it easier for me to find the kinds of people I wanted to play with, and easier to kill those I wanted to hunt.
Don't know if there's a point to this story, but for those of you who don't play a lot of video games I thought you might find it interesting to hear the perspective of someone who likes to use racism against people, since it's an inextricable part of this sort of game.
stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)I play WOW. I have a black Dwarven hunter, a white female paladin and a female worgen (werewolf) death knight. Where is my connection to the game?
Grow the fuck up!
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)...players felt the male Blood Elf designs were "too gay".
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)trumad
(41,692 posts)He doesn't care if you are orange. White guys getting pissed about this are morans.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)Average users per month according to steam is around 27k. That is not by any stretch of today's gaming standards a popular game.
That aside I don't know of any other multi user game that forces your appearance on you.
Still out of that 27k I wonder how many are actually upset about it.
I would bet it isn't many
Locrian
(4,522 posts)a "survival game" where the main goal is to survive difficulties - war, zombies, food shortages, etc but your own ingenuity and creativity as a test of your skill.
But add an extra dimension of being "different" (does it factor challenges based on size, ethnicity, gender, ? - that could be interesting ) and people suddenly lose their shit?
I guess it could just be people want to fantasize an "image" - to me that seems less interesting and challenging.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)I know a LOT of male gamers and they all pick female avatars because they 'don't want to look at a dude's ass all day', which I find kind of creepy and weird.
I wouldn't be bothered by a randomization system, if it applied to all accounts. But normally I try to make my character look like me. Sometimes I meet people in meatspace from gaming communities, and it makes me a little bit recognizable.
I generally want people to see me as me, so I make my representation in a game more or less as close to me as I can.
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)I imagine that would put them completely over the edge.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)But I have to admit that I have killed a lot of little green people. I'm like the Walter Dornberger of KSP.
MillennialDem
(2,367 posts)I hated having to play games as a dude. It's why I won't even bother playing the Witcher.
I like character customization and choices.