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[SlimySnake]

Ratchet's Game Director and Art Director wanted Rivet to look feminine. This guy and two others did not. Sounds like any other workplace disagreement but the fact that he publicly throws his bosses under the bus just rubs me the wrong way. There is nothing wrong with what they did. They are the directors. It's THEIR game, but this guy is making it sound like they were sexist and blatantly uses the Blizzard Activision sexual harassments lawsuits to make a point that there are other types of sexual discrimination taking place in the industry that we dont know about. As if making a female character feminine will somehow lead to hostile workplace environments and sexual harassments of women.

Something for my fellow men in gamedev, especially those just now entering the industry:

There are a lot of things you may run into that aren't directly harmful to people in the same way as sexual harassment, but they still contribute to hostile environments and harm.

When I was on the latest Ratchet and Clank game, there was an incredibly heated discussion that happened between the game director, art director, the lead writer, the lead character TD, and myself.

It was about Rivet, the female lead.

The discussion — or argument, really — was basically about whether we should make Rivet look more stereotypically feminine looking. That is, should she have wider hips, visible breasts (or bumps in her suit), and other physical traits we normally associate with cartoony women.

The argument basically broke down like this:

The game director and art director wanted her to have a visibly, fairly stereotypically feminine look.

The lead writer, the lead character TD, and I wanted to keep her as-is.

We believed that:

1. It went against the message of the game, which is that anyone can be a hero regardless of how they look
2. You don't need to be stereotypically feminine to be a woman
3. RIVET IS A FUCKING ALIEN SPACE FOX, JUST LIKE RATCHET

The argument had been going on for about half an hour before I finally pulled one of the framed Ratchet and Clank posters down from the wall, put it in front of both leads, and told them to look at the damn thing and tell me how much Ratchet looked like a human man.

The argument largely petered out after that point, with all parties leaving incredibly frustrated, and myself leaving the company a few weeks later.

So.

Fellow men in gamedev.

This is an example of one of the VERY SMALL THINGS that build up over time to make life miserable for women and marginalized people in our industry.

Something as simple as putting titties on a space rat can harm people.

Pretty shameful stuff. This is why devs shouldnt even worry about female characters imo. You will never please these idiots.

That last quote is something. No, putting tits on rivet harms no one. If you are taking offense to it, you have other issues that you need to get sorted out.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Tities no no

Tities vewy scary

 

[THEAP99]

I am blocked on Twitter by him

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I think companies should start discriminating against Blue-Haired people

gaming would be so much better without this utter bullshit insanity

 

[TheGodfather07]

Tities no no

Tities vewy scary

It's not even just that. They even change the faces to be less feminine these days.

 

[kretos]

 

[Cyberpunkd]

The guy just imploded his career airing this in public, but I agree with him - it’s a fucking space fox, why does she has to have tits?

 

[bitbydeath]

Dude sounds like a creeper.

 

[ABrokenToy]

I guess we're never gonna see another DoA Beach Volleyball....

 

[INC]

Thats so ratchet

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

It is not enough to not be sexist. You must be actively anti sexist. Sexism is all around us. It permeates every quark in the universe.

 

[kingpotato]

Someone on the butts thread posted a picture of Rivet

 

[Cyber_hunter026]

 

[Craig of War]

 

[bender]

I'm going to need a furries take on this before I can form a proper opinion.

 

[Bryank75]

Rivet was incredibly endearing and the game was great fun........ what would have resulted from this guys politics is a more boring character design that people simply wouldn't have cared about as much.
In fact people would instantly see through that decision and it would turn them right off the game.

His second paragraph is total crap... I have not seen one negative result from Rivet being designed the way she is. In fact it's been overwhelmingly positive and a mindset like the guy above stigmatizes and shames girls with feminine figures....... will he be only happy when girls are having operations to look less curvy to fit his ideology?

He is either an extreme attention seeker or a moron.

 

[OceanGaming]

HAHAHAHA Western Gaming is TRULY DOOMED if this trend keeps going

Which means, my chances of succeeding are increasing slowly but surely :3

 

[FranXico]

He just made me appreciate Insomniac more.

 

[Terenty]

Another creepy male feminist, police should keep an eye on him

 

[Topher]

 

[squarealex]

Oh no, a woman with boobs...

 

[kruis]

What is that guy on about? He's acting like Rivet was running around the game only dressed in a miniscule bikini with her huge breasts always on the cusp of falling out.

 

[Bartski]

yeah, he was bragging way back about how he made her more "beefy" than Rachet on purpose, I posted about it in the OT but nobody noticed.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Artist Intentionally Made Rivet "Beefier"

Ratchet & Clank artist discusses Rivet's muscles.

screenrant.com

 

[Woggleman]

Men like him are usually the biggest creeps.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

I agree with the dude, but it would have just been a suggestion. Not something I would die in a hill about. But now I cant UNSEE tits on Rivet. This isn’t something I think about. This thread just created atleast three furries. 1 is actively looking for Rivet porn as we speak.

 

[Fuz]

Probably last game job of his life.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Bigoted humans trying to speak for a minority race

 

[FranXico]

He is either an extreme attention seeker or a moron.

 

[Nezzeroth]

I like her design as-is. But looking at how mad he gets about this, I'd say this guy has some issues.

 

[Duchess]

There's something truly strange happening in the video game industry where devs are afraid to make women look like women, in case someone gets upset.

 

[NEbeast]

What a moron, comparing how rivet looks to actually sexual harassment - fucking donkey.

 

[Outlier]

Thankfully he left the team.

Everyone is safer, now.

 

[ozz ex machina]

What an absolute cretin. The weirdest thing is that the kind of dudes who post about shit like this, are the ones most likely to dress up in furry suits and go to stinky nerd orgies.

It’s an animal designed humanoid features. So why the fuck wouldnt the female one have feminine features?

 

[Kilau]

I can’t tell if he is happy with Rivet’s design or not. I do know she’s already made an appearance in the (NSFW) Best Butts In Gaming thread.

 

[SlimySnake]

but I agree with him - it’s a fucking space fox, why does she has to have tits?

They didnt end up giving her tits. Even though everyone who disagreed with the directors is no longer with the company. This is her final design.

She's still a bit curvy but doesnt have an ass of a colombian hooker or tits of a greek goddess. If what he's saying is true and the directors were so fucking sexist and hostile then this would not have been the final design. He implied that they not only overruled those poor women who dissented, but also were responsible for those people leaving the company. Why would they then turn around and go with this design?

This guy is just being a drama queen. He has taken one lousy meeting where people had creative differences and aired out his grievances while accusing directors of fostering a hostile workplace environment over sexism.

 

[SlimySnake]

What an absolute cretin. The weirdest thing is that the kind of dudes who post about shit like this, are the ones most likely to dress up in furry suits and go to stinky nerd orgies.

Funny you should say that.

He was looking forward to Rivet's cosplay just last year....



Definitely a furry.

 

[Barakov]

Ratchet's Game Director and Art Director wanted Rivet to look feminine. This guy and two others did not. Sounds like any other workplace disagreement but the fact that he publicly throws his bosses under the bus just rubs me the wrong way. There is nothing wrong with what they did. They are the directors. It's THEIR game, but this guy is making it sound like they were sexist and blatantly uses the Blizzard Activision sexual harassments lawsuits to make a point that there are other types of sexual discrimination taking place in the industry that we dont know about. As if making a female character feminine will somehow lead to hostile workplace environments and sexual harassments of women.












Pretty shameful stuff. This is why devs shouldnt even worry about female characters imo. You will never please these idiots.

That last quote is something. No, putting tits on rivet harms no one. If you are taking offense to it, you have other issues that you need to get sorted out.

Insomniac is very much in a better spot with him gone. A female character looking feminine? That's only controversial in this day and age.

He's acting like you she's running around half-naked with furry titties bouncing all over the place. Honestly, people like this need to be gatekept.

 

[Dave_at_Home]

Way to throw your fellow developers under the bus. This is nothing more than typical office politics. Nothing about this needed to be shared with the public. I hope nothing comes to the guys that got pushed into the volcano by this clown. Comes off as petty and owes them an apology.

I'll tell you what too, his virtue signaling ain't gonna take him far if he keeps blabbing about internal squabbles the public has no business knowing about. If I worked at a game studio, I sure as hell wouldn't want someone like that working with me. He may be arguing for the right cause, but gassing out minor issues like this can ruin people lives.

 

[kretos]

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

"Ex insomniac"

Thank the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

You know what I can't laugh at him. Poor guy has probably been cucked his entire life

 

[Sleepwalker]

Yup, sounds about right for how I would picture someone that would get into a heated argument over space fox tits.

 

[Dr Bass]

That's something ... to announce to the world you're kind of an idiot while trying to look like a hero in shining armor. Making a female character have feminine traits makes "life miserable for women"?

I can't imagine working with people like that personally, and I really wonder where this trend is heading.

 

[kretos]

You know what I can't laugh at him. Poor guy has probably been cucked his entire life

what's a cis? sissy?

 

[FranXico]

You know what I can't laugh at him. Poor guy has probably been cucked his entire life

A cis white man would not refer to himself as a cis white man. FFS

 

[Nobody_Important]

I'm going to need a furries take on this before I can form a proper opinion.

The guy involved is a furry I think.

 

[FranXico]

what's a cis? sissy?

Means content in self iirc. Hard to keep up. It's mostly used as a perjorative term, obviously.

 

[TransTrender]

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kerlurk]

nvm

 

[SlimySnake]

Rivet was incredibly endearing and the game was great fun........ what would have resulted from this guys politics is a more boring character design that people simply wouldn't have cared about as much.
In fact people would instantly see through that decision and it would turn them right off the game.

As much as I liked Rivet, I cant help but think that politics kept the story from being a bit more interesting. There was a pretty surprising lack of chemistry between Ratchet and Rivet. They were kept apart for pretty much the entire game for some bizarre reason. It's almost like they didnt even want any kind of sexual tension building between the two of them despite the two literally being the only remaining people of their species.

What's bizarre is that Disney cartoons have had romance since forever. Cindrella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion king, Aladdin, etc. If Disney didnt shy from romance in the fucking 50s then why are video game developers creating asexual characters in 2021? The story felt very stale and I think a bit part of that is because these characters werent allowed to interact with each other.