SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
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.
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.