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Respawn Supposedly Rejected Calls for a Female and/or Black Lead for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (IGN)

Jaybe

Member
did they just assume Cal's gender??
I know right? Rather bold of him/her/fer/durr to do.

n1ZPmqI.jpg
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
Kotaku right now:

call-the-banners-game-of-thrones.gif




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I'd rather art be created by the people creating it rather than a inclusivity council.

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If people want to be upset at Cal's character be fucking angry at the guy/gal/persons/them/they/thor that created his dog-shit running animation.
 
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TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I know right? Rather bold of him/her/fer/durr to do.

n1ZPmqI.jpg
Off topic
If one of those snow flakes called me a cis person I'd show them what toxic masculinity is.
The arrogance and ignorance of someone creating something they demand to be called while making up a name to call other people is staggering.

Edit: correction on the autocorrect 🙄
 
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Justin9mm

Member
I'm all for diversity in games, the world is a colourful place... but why does Diversity seem to just mean Black people?

Where are the Indian or Asian leeds?

I don't particularly care about the race of a character (I don't project myself on them, same as with female leeds), but diversity is not just Black people.
It goes to show that the people calling for this stuff don't really understand diversity, either it's to make them look good/seen to be doing something or maybe some black feminist is behind this lol.
 
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This is where character creators could be very extended for a more dynamic game. Say you change your main character to be female or black or asian or alien or a robot it would make sense that characters in the world perhaps reflected more of that in real time. What is stopping some basic pre-sets or AI tweaking a bunch of NPC or story main characters to reflect what you created in your character creator. It may be a little tougher on writers/actors etc but doable nonetheless. There's a world of replayability in that and I could see even plot lines altering or NPC dialogue shifting. Think of it as a sort of localisation effort in terms of development.

Who or what you create as your playable character says a lot about that playthrough, developers could really extend their game universes based off that.

Looking at Fallen Order there's really very little that would have stopped Respawn and the story arc of Kal in game/world from being any character really. Why tentpole one specific race or gender over another when gaming, unlike movies or tv, which can provide so much more interactivity and real time world outcomes?
 
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Fatbody

Member
Never mind racial groups skewed to half way around the world.

Where's all the Latino characters? A good chunk of games are made in the US where there's lots of Latin American folks.

Yet some reason in gaming, devs barely even make characters based on people right in their backyard.

That’s because this isn’t really about “representation.” If it was, like you said, you’d see an increase in Latin American characters. Also, you’d still see about a third of the new characters remain straight white males(they make up roughly a third of the US population).

But of course they don’t do that. All they care about is appeasing their fellow upper-middle class white liberals. Male white liberals worship females, and female white liberals worship black people. That’s all we’ll be seeing out of western studios for the foreseeable future, I hope you’re all ready.
 

93xfan

Banned
That’s because this isn’t really about “representation.” If it was, like you said, you’d see an increase in Latin American characters. Also, you’d still see about a third of the new characters remain straight white males(they make up roughly a third of the US population).

But of course they don’t do that. All they care about is appeasing their fellow upper-middle class white liberals. Male white liberals worship females, and female white liberals worship black people. That’s all we’ll be seeing out of western studios for the foreseeable future, I hope you’re all ready.
They grift. It hides their incompetence.
 

Zeroing

Banned
Who gives a shit? There are plenty of games with a female lead.

Why must every game have a female lead?
I always get confused.
When I was at the famous "when will gaming celebrate female beauty again" thread, I though gamers wanted more women and prettier/sexier ones...

Anyway... I dun kerr
Maybe some do, but I think the majority of them actually worship the “protected” groups. Like literal worship of a deity.
They only worship me on Sundays or when they need miracles :D
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I like that move.

Nothing against having a female and/or black leads, but only as long as it's part of the original creative vision, and not to fit in some woke agenda.

And I think we can guess where those "request" came from, and why.

So yeah, good job Respawn, you based.

Now turn Cal into a jedi chad instead of the padawan twink he is, and we might be frens. Like imagine this lad turning into the new Kyle Katarn, that would be cool.
Exactly, do it because it's the vision you see. Not because you think it'll make whatever certain people happier. I hate when choices that are made feel pander-y rather than something passionate.
 

chromhound

Member
They forgot the lesbian part... just make her an alien

fElWiCg.jpg


Why not make a gay male main character. That would be different
 
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Wait what? Can we get an Indian protagonist or even Chinese? No? Okay, let’s move on.

I'm all for diversity in games, the world is a colourful place... but why does Diversity seem to just mean Black people?

Where are the Indian or Asian leeds?
How do you know creators didn't fight get Asian and Indian leads in games?

This specific instance is talking about a black lead because that's what was discussed. But it doesn't mean these same conversions didn't happen for other ethics for other games.

I can't even understand why people would be upset about something like this, we have been seeing white male leads in everything for generations lol
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It's not 2002 anymore. Pretty much every other game has a black or female lead already. Let's not overcorrect so that no one ever makes a game with a white male lead. They are by far the biggest gaming demographic in this country and if we believe this nonsense about how black kids and little girls cant see themselves in straight white leads then by the same definition, we have to assume that white kids wont be able to connect with fat lesbian women.

Here are some of the more recent games with non white male leads: 2020-2022
- Horizon FW
- Returnal
- Ghostwire tokyo
- Deathloop
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Spiderman Miles
- The Last of Us 2
- Ratchet - including this because it has a female lead
- Resident Evil 3
- Metroid Dread
- Kena
- Far Cry 6
- Half Life Alyx

Games with white male leads:
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Final Fantasy 7 remake
- Resident Evil Village - though you never see his face or character model saving everyone the horror of witnessing a white man

So 2 vs 13 AAA games in the last 2.5 years. 1 if you count western devs.

Sony studios are pretty much the only western studios making single player games anyway, and you would have to go back all the way to 2019 to see a white male lead from Sony. Neither Days gone or Death Stranding is getting a sequel so there is that.

If anything, I think we have had enough games with black leads, female leads and black female leads. If diversity for the sake of diversity MUST be done then lets tell some stories about native americans, arabs, indians and hispanics. It's funny how we never hear those demographics ask for more representation. My favorite demographics. It's odd seeing people shamelessly beg for parts.
 
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kingfey

Banned
How do you know creators didn't fight get Asian and Indian leads in games?

This specific instance is talking about a black lead because that's what was discussed. But it doesn't mean these same conversions didn't happen for other ethics for other games.

I can't even understand why people would be upset about something like this, we have been seeing white male leads in everything for generations lol
Most games are being made by white people, which are targeted for white people.
That is why most games have white characters.

Look at japanese developers. You wont see a white character alot. Mostly are asian characters, because they target asian people.

Its the market, which dictates those.
 
Who knows. That Gears female character is Latino, and there will be more, but given how many Latinos there are in the US, they are right there with Native and East Indians for disproportionately low representation. Although I'm sure you get a bunch of Spanish speaking people in games involving drug busts or street thuggery.

Amazing thing too is when you look at every corporate photo (which game studios love doing in the US), it's almost all white people. You get a small number of Asians, but probably 90% white. Somehow these heavily white skewed American studios seem to sure have a lot of knowledge how to make Black characters in games, yet Asians, Latinos, and Native and East Indians are barely shown. I'll give them credit, Arabs get their fair share on stage.... as shooter villain terrorists.

Funny enough you never see Japanese companies do that corporate PR shot in the lobby of their office.
You bring up excellent points all around. And as an American of Latino heritage myself, I would like to be repres...

... No wait, I wouldn't. Because in the end I don't need a video game character to "represent me" or "look like me." I don't give a shit. I put zero of my self worth or value based on what video game characters are doing or what they look like.

So sure, people can lobby for more Hispanic representation in video games. But they shouldn't act like they speak for me, because again I personally don't give a shit.
 

legacy24

Member
I'm sorry but female protagonists in general are just boring and bland to me. Ellie might be my favorite one since we got to see her as a kid and grow up so there was more of an attachment to her.
 
You bring up excellent points all around. And as an American of Latino heritage myself, I would like to be repres...

... No wait, I wouldn't. Because in the end I don't need a video game character to "represent me" or "look like me." I don't give a shit. I put zero of my self worth or value based on what video game characters are doing or what they look like.

So sure, people can lobby for more Hispanic representation in video games. But they shouldn't act like they speak for me, because again I personally don't give a shit.
You don’t but some kids do and some kids would like to see someone that looks like them in a lead role in video games.

As the gaming audience grows we are seeing a more diverse group of people play games so no harm in having these groups represented sometimes in games.

Again, you might not care but stuff like this is a big deal to kids that play these games.

I’ve seen white male YouTubers with big following complain about stuff like this and that’s crazy because they are represented well in most games, so what if every now and then another group is represented. I don’t see what their is to even complain about.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Most games are being made by white people, which are targeted for white people.
That is why most games have white characters.

Look at japanese developers. You wont see a white character alot. Mostly are asian characters, because they target asian people.

Its the market, which dictates those.
Well this is common sense.
If you watch Hong Kong Cinema, you expect to see Chinese actors
If you watch Bollywood Cinema, you expect to see Indians actors
You watch Nollywood Cinema, you expect to see Nigerians
You watch Western/European Cinema, you go on Twitter and complain about all those white folks!
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
You know the thing about these things is they are always more complicated than some "wistleblower" says, nothing is just Black & White...

I am sure they had an Asian and Hispanic option too.
 
You don’t but some kids do and some kids would like to see someone that looks like them in a lead role in video games.

As the gaming audience grows we are seeing a more diverse group of people play games so no harm in having these groups represented sometimes in games.

Again, you might not care but stuff like this is a big deal to kids that play these games.

I’ve seen white male YouTubers with big following complain about stuff like this and that’s crazy because they are represented well in most games, so what if every now and then another group is represented. I don’t see what their is to even complain about.
But why do the kids care? Do they not have role models in real life that they can look up to, so that they have to resort to role models in... video games?

When I was a kid, I didn't care. Mario was just a chubby plumber jumping on mushroom-shaped dudes and rescuing a princess from some sort of Lizard-Man. It was NOT "oh Mario is a white guy, and Peach being the damsel in distress is a problematic statement about our patriarchal white dominated society." LMAO what? No. None of those concepts were even anywhere near my mind. Why? Because I didn't have a society shoving those concepts into me, I was allowed to be a kid and see everyone for who they individually were.

Sonic was an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog that spun fast and got coins and beat up on a weirdly shaped, weirdly mustachioed dude. That was it. It was NOT "oh is Sonic straight or gay or polygamously asexual" or whatever. LMAO what? No.

In that environment around that time, diverse characters organically started being included because they fit with the creators' visions. It wasn't "oh let's make the cast of Street Fighter II diverse because we're being forced to." No, they wanted to create diverse characters to fit within their vision for a game called "WORLD Warrior." Netherrealm introduced Jax in Mortal Kombat II organically; being a black character was part of who he was, but it was not THE defining feature. I can give many examples of this kind.

Let the creators do what they're gonna do, in whichever direction it goes. The people wanting forced minorities are as silly as the people crying "wahhhh SJWs took my lunch money again!" when a developer declares that a minority is the main feature of their game.

By the way "minority" seems to be a very narrow definition, usually limited to black/women/LGBTQ+... where's my Eskimo character of Burmese descent? Where's my Uruguayan chick hanging out in Nova Scotia? Now THOSE are games I would play!
 
Most games are being made by white people, which are targeted for white people.
That is why most games have white characters.

Look at japanese developers. You wont see a white character alot. Mostly are asian characters, because they target asian people.

Its the market, which dictates those.
Yeah you'll just see Asians who look white. XD
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
But why do the kids care? Do they not have role models in real life that they can look up to, so that they have to resort to role models in... video games?

When I was a kid, I didn't care. Mario was just a chubby plumber jumping on mushroom-shaped dudes and rescuing a princess from some sort of Lizard-Man. It was NOT "oh Mario is a white guy, and Peach being the damsel in distress is a problematic statement about our patriarchal white dominated society." LMAO what? No. None of those concepts were even anywhere near my mind. Why? Because I didn't have a society shoving those concepts into me, I was allowed to be a kid and see everyone for who they individually were.

Sonic was an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog that spun fast and got coins and beat up on a weirdly shaped, weirdly mustachioed dude. That was it. It was NOT "oh is Sonic straight or gay or polygamously asexual" or whatever. LMAO what? No.

In that environment around that time, diverse characters organically started being included because they fit with the creators' visions. It wasn't "oh let's make the cast of Street Fighter II diverse because we're being forced to." No, they wanted to create diverse characters to fit within their vision for a game called "WORLD Warrior." Netherrealm introduced Jax in Mortal Kombat II organically; being a black character was part of who he was, but it was not THE defining feature. I can give many examples of this kind.

Let the creators do what they're gonna do, in whichever direction it goes. The people wanting forced minorities are as silly as the people crying "wahhhh SJWs took my lunch money again!" when a developer declares that a minority is the main feature of their game.

By the way "minority" seems to be a very narrow definition, usually limited to black/women/LGBTQ+... where's my Eskimo character of Burmese descent? Where's my Uruguayan chick hanging out in Nova Scotia? Now THOSE are games I would play!
Amen.

People who look up to video game characters or athletes etc.... Never understood it.

As you said, for me even as a kid, games were all about racking up the highest score, beating the game and moving on. Who gives a shit about Italian Mario and the princess? I was never a speedrunner type of gamer ever but I was trying to max out pts doing turtle bopping combos and finding coins.

Sports is the same. I care for the team winning and have my fav players. But that's just for my team winning, not thinking about the guy like he's a father figure. The guy plays sports on TV. Has absolutely zero to do with me doing homework or finishing essays.
 

kingfey

Banned
Yeah you'll just see Asians who look white. XD
That is the new asian obsession, a white face. This is evident in their tv shows, movies anime and manga. South korea is the most extremist for this practice.
 
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