Interesting question. I have worked and/or lived in a few places where the percentage of homosexuals was probably higher than the national average, and some places where it wasn’t. Over time I picked up signals in dress, speech, mannerisms, etc. Which is fine; we all do this and have our favorite shibboleths. I offer Monty Python fans as Exhibit A, m’lud. Doing this is one possibility, but these will vary in time and space, and who knows how they’d translate to other cultures here in the real world, let alone to another world. And even if you do get an obvious one, SOMEone will find it offensive. So you can’t be too subtle.
But if you are too UNsubtle, like the writng for one or two fictional characters I can think of, it looks forced, pretentious, and clumsy. I guess it comes down to the writer and the writer knowing her strengths. I would never presume to be able to write a good character who is Native American simply because i don’t know many. But I could probably write a decent African American blue collar guy, as one of my best friends is African-Ameriacn and has worked for forty years in construction.
All I can say is, if @David_Gaider is willing to do it, great.
EDIT: altered for less inflammatory wording. Thanks, @BelleSorciere
Couple of things, here:
1) If you are capable of writing a decent character, you can write a decent character who is Native American or African American or, really, of any ethnicity, no matter who your best friend might be. What you cannot do is write a Native American whose story is *about* the Native American experience. You also can't write an African-American characters whose story is *about* the African American experience, best friend or no. Point being: having a minority represented and actually writing about their experiences are two different things, and the former does not have to include the latter... but not being able to include the latter does not mean the former should never happen.
2) Including characters with a different sexuality is slightly different from ethnicity, as it's more difficult to show (not always, but some aspects certainly can be) and sometimes might be explained... and that's not a casual thing in all settings and situations. Speaking personally, while I wouldn't want to force such explanations in, I wouldn't want to use that as an excuse to never do it either. If a character's a lesbian, it's going to come up, and worrying about those who only feel a gay character's inclusion is "natural" if they never show or mention that fact ever is not exactly high on my list of priorities.
@David_Gaider Thanks for responding! I would just like to clarify a couple things:
I am sure you could do a good Native American character, but I can’t. There are nuances is phrases, word selection, speech patterns, etc, that I simply cannot get right unless I have enough personal experience with people
I am not a professional writer — okay, the checks cleared, so maybe I am technically, but I am not a writer by profession. I wrote comedy, which can be harder than drama, but I mostly wrote gags for one-dimensional characters and relied heavily on single-entendre. Fun, but not difficult.
And I agree, race is easier since it’s more obvious. At least, you think it is until you start watching Henry Louis Gates, Jr’s, shows. But as I said, you are a professional and I am a hack. I know my limits. I hope.
It's entirely possible to accurately portray the experience of another person, as another person. It's just that you'll probably need a certain amount of research to fill in all the stuff you don't already know, and erase some of the preconceptions you probably started out with.
You might not know exactly what it's like to be every single member of a minority, but you don't have to--you just need to know what it's like to be your character, who is an individual in their own right.
You can only write what you know, no matter how good a writer you are. I can think of several times I've been reading books by high profile writers, and they wander into an area about which I know more than they do and "bam" I'm taken right out of the story, and usually can't continue.
@Fardragon: True. But I think too many people take that information and conclude "X people who want to write about Y shouldn't do it" instead of "X people who want to write about Y should first learn about Y."
@Fardragon: True. But I think too many people take that information and conclude "X people who want to write about Y shouldn't do it" instead of "X people who want to write about Y should first learn about Y."
Yes, whilst first hand experience is the best way of knowing, research is a good alternative.
And usually, when an author gets it wrong, It's because the didn't know they where ignorant.
I guess I have a question about this, hopefully it doesn't go down the Mizhena road, but I didn't really get any reasons as to why he felt diversity was necessary, other than the fact that it adds more interesting stories, which I can agree with.
@Shandaxx Maybe you could tell me why it matters to you?
My gaming credo is as follows:
"Immersion may be highly personal, but gaming joy should be for all."
I can give you a series of straightforward examples, from which I derive my empathy and support for those whose immersion does not coincide with mine, particularly when not readily available - but whose joy of gaming in my view deserves to be equally profound.
I am an unconditional high-fantasy PC RPG fan, with tendency to go for a hero that is "alike" - i.e. human female.
If there were only shooters, my gaming immersion would be materially diminished. No reason for that, surely? There is space and demand for diversity of gaming genres.
I strongly prefer to play a female CHAR, simply because I feel stronger connection to such a lead hero. M!Hawke of DA:II being the sole exception because of the superbly nuanced voice work. I actually was really thrilled there was a male lead I could immerse with to that extent!
I am sure some gamers could live with nothing but male leads, but I don't think anyone seriously thinks it will improve gaming. This is, btw - diversity.
I always roll a human CHAR, unless I multiclass in BG - but on the other hand, I am annoyed with The Elders Scrolls that after Morrowind, the stories have felt really human dominated, even if I want to roll my imperial. Yet, the very idea of removing, say, beastie-races to write more of "my stuff" is preposterous to me.
But I still think the same courtesy and tolerance must be afforded to in depth CHARs like Hawke, but I think people were more griping about it not being DA:O all again in truth. Very little criticism is levied after at Torment for having but one choice of hero. And Inki was diverse only in a cosmetic sense, IMO.
Having races, be it within human class or fantasy races - is diversity, and at the very core of "high fantasy" genre from my perspective.
Romances are seminal to games these days, and again I project my heteronormative or at least male-preferring tendency for my own gaming choices. But once I switched to M!Hawke, Isabela became my preferred romance in DA2, and also male-to-male works for me, like I've rolled male Inki just because I like Dorian so much.
I really enjoy romances, but I would never be so selfish as to demand, say, Dorian be bi, because it happens to cater for me. That's basic gamer solidarity, I would guess.
So when I imagine world with nothing but first-person shooter male-CHAR in a universe inhabited by only heterosexual humans in high-tech setting, I would despair when compared to a world with Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls or BG for immersion.
From mere premise I would not want that for myself, why should I want that for others? I've used very seminal categories for diversity here, but I don't find it difficult to understand why more nuanced ones are wanted too, by our fellow-gamers. It's Jesus's golden rule really: do unto others as you would wish for yourself.
The best "world writing" does seem to come from nuanced lore which caters a wide array of gaming preferences in any case - but even if I cannot get into same sort of immersion, I still immensely like the idea that others enjoy gaming as much as I do, in their own individual way.
He also said that, while ‘allies are great and all’, he believes the game industry should be prioritising ways to support minorities in getting work within studios and ‘amplifying their voices’. As he put it, ‘We need to change the industry, not just tell it what to do.’
We absolutely need to turn video games into more of a political battlefield than they already are. I identify as an attack helicopter and I find the lack of my representation appalling, affirmative action hires for attack helicopter developers must be immediately implemented to rectify this unforgivable injustice. And when was the last time we had a transabled demigender otherkin hero? Their voices have been silenced too long. Do the right thing and end this literal oppression. Nothing bad happens when we do this.
We absolutely need to turn video games into more of a political battlefield than they already are. I identify as an attack helicopter and I find the lack of my representation appalling, affirmative action hires for attack helicopter developers must be immediately implemented to rectify this unforgivable injustice. And when was the last time we had a transabled demigender otherkin hero? Their voices have been silenced too long. Do the right thing and end this literal oppression. Nothing bad happens when we do this.
For what it's worth, it's not the pro-representation folks who made video games into a political battlefield. It was the folks who were enraged by the presence of She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Contrary to all of the rage over her, she never actually made a political statement in the game in the first place; her only crime was existing. I don't think representation is vitally important, but it's hardly a bad thing. I wouldn't bother putting a minority character in a story just for the sake of having a minority character in a story, but it wouldn't piss me off if I saw one.
But I'll give you points for saying "transabled," because that was pretty awesome. I might borrow that word sometime.
I dunno man, I think there were behaviors on BD's end that were bound to cause hostility. The Gamergate quote, for one, and the claim that Baldurs Gate is sexist added a massive amount of fuel to the fire because it felt like it corroborated the narrative the anti-Mizhena crowd was trying to set. I made my account in December of last year, so I wasn't here for the height of the controversy. But from what I know I feel very much like people felt, justifiably, that a culture war was brought to the doorstep of their favorite games.
I have every desire in the world to see Beamdog succeed in making new things for all of the games that I grew up on and that gave me an everlasting love for the worlds of DnD. I do not want to see old mistakes repeated.
Cloaking your meaning in enough subtext and metaphor that modern parallels don't slap you in the face > Hamfisted attempts at making a statement about modern day issues/artificial attempts to fill diversity checkboxes is all i'm saying.
Long threat is long and I wanna go to bed soon, but here is a bit I wanna ad for everyone who is against the idea of "diversity for diversity's sake" (which is something I myself took quite some time to realise):
Most people can not identify themselves with the average (main) characters in fiction. I remember Pokémon Crystal, Harvest Moon 2 and Tomb Raider being insanely important games to me for the simple fact that I could play as a female character in them. I loved Xena and Fantaghiro back in the 90s because they had female main characters who fought and kicked ass but still where seen as beautiful and desirable (sometimes even more so for that). This has been back then and still is hugely validating for me. A lot of kids don't even have these few pieces of media they see themselves or their power fantasies reflected in.
Think about the child that shows you it's new favourite game and goes "This character is me!" instead of "This character is Cloud Strife/Raziel/Duke Nukem!"
It is important for kids - and for everyone, actually - to have rolemodels they themselves can identify with. And having the diversity in our media for this across media for all different age groups creates a ripple effect that over the short or long of it will make more people more happy.
If you can't accept more diversity for your own sake or for that of your fellow adults, sure, but if you can't accept it for the long lasting positive effect it will have on children, then you are a very very pitiful person.
Personally I just can't understand why people do not want this kind of diversity/new experience. It's like eating pancakes for breakfast every day, every week year after year. Even though pancakes are super-tasty, sooner or later you'll wanna try out some waffles.
You just had to go with that metaphore, hadn't you
I think its worth reminding the thread that the OP requested not mentioning the big m in this thread. This is a discussion on diversity in games, not of past "scandals".
Oh yeah, btw, great article. I especially find the bit interesting about how David wasn't even aware at first that queer characters where even allowed at BioWare.
Can you guys imagine what BG2 would have looked like if the writing team would have gone all out in that regard back then? On the media drama surrounding that?
Long threat is long and I wanna go to bed soon, but here is a bit I wanna ad for everyone who is against the idea of "diversity for diversity's sake" (which is something I myself took quite some time to realise):
Most people can not identify themselves with the average (main) characters in fiction. I remember Pokémon Crystal, Harvest Moon 2 and Tomb Raider being insanely important games to me for the simple fact that I could play as a female character in them. I loved Xena and Fantaghiro back in the 90s because they had female main characters who fought and kicked ass but still where seen as beautiful and desirable (sometimes even more so for that). This has been back then and still is hugely validating for me. A lot of kids don't even have these few pieces of media they see themselves or their power fantasies reflected in.
Think about the child that shows you it's new favourite game and goes "This character is me!" instead of "This character is Cloud Strife/Raziel/Duke Nukem!"
It is important for kids - and for everyone, actually - to have rolemodels they themselves can identify with. And having the diversity in our media for this across media for all different age groups creates a ripple effect that over the short or long of it will make more people more happy.
If you can't accept more diversity for your own sake or for that of your fellow adults, sure, but if you can't accept it for the long lasting positive effect it will have on children, then you are a very very pitiful person.
Pokemon Crystal is my favorite Pokemon game largely because it was the first title in the series where I could choose to play as a female trainer. As a little girl, that had a lasting impact on me.
Also Suicune. And blue hair. And everything else that made Gold and Silver amazing, but better.
I do remember being especially delighted by Ocarina of Time and the fact that I could play as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy who looked just like me and was about the same age. Being represented does feel good.
I dunno man, I think there were behaviors on BD's end that were bound to cause hostility. The Gamergate quote, for one, and the claim that Baldurs Gate is sexist added a massive amount of fuel to the fire because it felt like it corroborated the narrative the anti-Mizhena crowd was trying to set. I made my account in December of last year, so I wasn't here for the height of the controversy. But from what I know I feel very much like people felt, justifiably, that a culture war was brought to the doorstep of their favorite games.
I have every desire in the world to see Beamdog succeed in making new things for all of the games that I grew up on and that gave me an everlasting love for the worlds of DnD. I do not want to see old mistakes repeated.
Cloaking your meaning in enough subtext and metaphor that modern parallels don't slap you in the face > Hamfisted attempts at making a statement about modern day issues/artificial attempts to fill diversity checkboxes is all i'm saying.
Nearly every video game I've ever played has had modern (for the time it was made) pop culture references and references to current events. Or for that matter past pop culture references or historical events. It would have been ridiculous if some game, somewhere HADN'T addressed Gamergate. And, once again, we are talking about people (the Gamergate crowd) whose SOLE ETHOS IN LIFE is that no one should be offended by anything. And they hit the fainting couches over a line of dialogue and a single NPC merchant in a expansion to a niche 20-year old game.
There are so many damn video games out there that being upset about anything in any given one is the absolute height of absurdity. Most people here know my politics. I play Grand Theft Auto with no qualms. It's over the top absurdity in the way a Tarantino movie is. I don't think there is anything wrong with the way video games have been. And I ALSO don't think there is anything remotely wrong with how they are now. I literally remember watching a video when "Prey" was announced that had most people in the comment section bitching about the fact that you could choose to be a male or female at the beginning of the game. As if that option is something new feminists just invented and hasn't been around since the first Wizardry game.
It would seem that I'm in the minority in that I just don't care about finding representation beyond the morality of characters. I can accept that. Oddly enough, that is a huge reason that I love Drizzt and all of his Mary Sue antics, his moral compass really resonated with me. Regarding games, it's the story and the gameplay that draw me in. I'm not against diversity and representation, I just really don't care. I am glad, however, that people who have struggled to find acceptance have been able to do so in these games, and I'm glad that people have shared their positive experiences with finding representation in Baldur's Gate. Good thing for us that we have adept writers like Mr. Gaider who can add that variety to games in a way that resonates with the fans. I'm going to retire to my Fortress of Utter Apathy on the 420th layer of the Abyss. Watch out for nalfeshnee if you ever stop by for a visit.
@Chidojuan That is an absulutely valid opinion to have. There is an important difference between not wanting to have diversity and being fine with whatever.
We absolutely need to turn video games into more of a political battlefield than they already are. I identify as an attack helicopter and I find the lack of my representation appalling, affirmative action hires for attack helicopter developers must be immediately implemented to rectify this unforgivable injustice. And when was the last time we had a transabled demigender otherkin hero? Their voices have been silenced too long. Do the right thing and end this literal oppression. Nothing bad happens when we do this.
I understand you are trying to be witty, but you just aren't. Your obvious lack of empathy for what others have brought up just make you ignorant. Not funny. Not witty.
Being white, straight, middle-age(ish), western european and having a good economy makes me the very epitome of the normative guy. The first thing I had to learn was to stop talking and start listening, no matter the topic at hand. When I started to listen, I started to learn, and when I started to learn, I started to understand. With understanding comes acceptance. Try it, you might like it. I consider myself upgraded to a whole new level nowadays.
When talking about "representation checkboxes", people seem to forget that writing with diversity and representation in mind is to get away from checkboxes that have been in place for decades in movies, video games and literature. Checkboxes like having a heroic male, a female love-interest and a happy ending.
Just look at Guillermo del Toro's attempt to do a live-action adaptation of Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness. The very reason that nothing came of it is that they couldn't cram those things into a Lovecraft story (of all things!).
So no, diversity and representation doesn't create bland stories that are only there to please some vocal minority. It's a way to explore so many more stories that just aren't told much today.
And that's just story reasons. I think @Shandaxx really explained representation wonderfully in the first page of this thread. The only thing I can add from my experience is that I love when I am allowed to see things from someone else's perspective in games. Stories like Dorian's, Mazzy's and Viconia's are great because they show experiences that I've never had and never will fully understand. But that other people (including people close to me) are having every single day.
Whenever you ask yourself "Why is this character not white, male, cis and/or hetero?" in return ask yourself "Why not?"
It's perfectly normal to find it weird or maybe off putting at first when encountering an NPC who you initially believes solely exists for pandering reasons, if you yourself grew up in a homogenic or even intolerant environment. We are all the products of our upbringing. The difference is learning to be able to conciously look past your initial prejudices, to jump over your own shadow and try to take a character as they are, in the context of the game itself, without thinking about any external social or political influences.
The key word is learning. But once you get there you'll realise that it's usually really no big deal and you might even learn to like that character. And at one point you'll lose those initial prejudices at all.
I personally had this experience when I first found out Krem in DA:I was trans, because my intial thought was "oh god, here we go with the tumblr social justice cartman bullcrap" but things turned out fine and I ended up really genuinly enjoyed talking to him and his experiences. Especially that the game allowed for an in-depths conversation about his personal views and how it fits into the overarching world building and narrative was really great and imo one of the most interesting parts of the game over all. Krem and the way he is written turned out to be very enriching.
Especially the contrast between Qun society to Fereleden and Orlais did a lot for the immersion. Especially Iron Bull's personal conflict greatly profited from this, enhancing the aspect that things are indeed not black and white in this world, that every society has it's good and bad aspects. And even the Qun has despite the lack of personal freedom some aspects that are great about it.
I get it. The internet environment is extremely hostile when it comes to social/political opinions and look outs. People attack each other over the most petty bullshit. Been there, done that. It takes time to get over that. But getting there is oh so worth it.
Please don't ever feel like reevaluating your own views is a bad thing or that it's not worth it because other people don't want to do it either.
Female representation has become much much better since I was a kid.
What I do still find lacking though are diverse looking women, especially when it comes to body types. Most positively depicted women are either "the cute girl next door", basically Pamela Anderson or a hybrid of the two. And by now I am too old to see myself properly reflected in child characters like back in Pokémon Crystal.
I personally can't really identify with either of those. Most women who kinda look like me (tall & broad shouldered) are either depicted as evil or as a joke. Which is also why I enjoy D&D style fantasy settings so much, because thanks to the fantastical racial diversity we also get characters of more diverse body types. Except for in WarCraft. Screw WarCraft.
But yeah, things have gotten gradually better, especially since the 90s where most women in videogames where only sex objects.
We absolutely need to turn video games into more of a political battlefield than they already are. I identify as an attack helicopter and I find the lack of my representation appalling, affirmative action hires for attack helicopter developers must be immediately implemented to rectify this unforgivable injustice. And when was the last time we had a transabled demigender otherkin hero? Their voices have been silenced too long. Do the right thing and end this literal oppression. Nothing bad happens when we do this.
I understand you are trying to be witty, but you just aren't. Your obvious lack of empathy for what others have brought up just make you ignorant. Not funny. Not witty.
Being white, straight, middle-age(ish), western european and having a good economy makes me the very epitome of the normative guy. The first thing I had to learn was to stop talking and start listening, no matter the topic at hand. When I started to listen, I started to learn, and when I started to learn, I started to understand. With understanding comes acceptance. Try it, you might like it. I consider myself upgraded to a whole new level nowadays.
@Buttercheese I am pretty sure as for now, that it is just about seeing yourself in the media, not about general deiversity in stories and among characters. Sorry, that's the impression you just gave.
Buttercheese I am pretty sure as for now, that it is just about seeing yourself in the media, not about general deiversity in stories and among characters. Sorry, that's the impression you just gave.
A lot of other media, such as television and movies have made a more gradual move away from women stereotypes. However, these medias are also older and had more time to find audiences when they do.
Think Rosanne from the 90s. In a world of polished superfluous sitcoms, the grit and humour, plus the fact the lead actors were models, allowed more people to relate to the show on a personal level.
I am indeed being disrespectful and rude, by quoting a comment being disrespectful and rude, and not taking it seriously. I suppose disrespect and rudeness are issues only when done to members of the tribe. I didn't even say anything.
Comments
1) If you are capable of writing a decent character, you can write a decent character who is Native American or African American or, really, of any ethnicity, no matter who your best friend might be. What you cannot do is write a Native American whose story is *about* the Native American experience. You also can't write an African-American characters whose story is *about* the African American experience, best friend or no. Point being: having a minority represented and actually writing about their experiences are two different things, and the former does not have to include the latter... but not being able to include the latter does not mean the former should never happen.
2) Including characters with a different sexuality is slightly different from ethnicity, as it's more difficult to show (not always, but some aspects certainly can be) and sometimes might be explained... and that's not a casual thing in all settings and situations. Speaking personally, while I wouldn't want to force such explanations in, I wouldn't want to use that as an excuse to never do it either. If a character's a lesbian, it's going to come up, and worrying about those who only feel a gay character's inclusion is "natural" if they never show or mention that fact ever is not exactly high on my list of priorities.
I am sure you could do a good Native American character, but I can’t. There are nuances is phrases, word selection, speech patterns, etc, that I simply cannot get right unless I have enough personal experience with people
I am not a professional writer — okay, the checks cleared, so maybe I am technically, but I am not a writer by profession. I wrote comedy, which can be harder than drama, but I mostly wrote gags for one-dimensional characters and relied heavily on single-entendre. Fun, but not difficult.
And I agree, race is easier since it’s more obvious. At least, you think it is until you start watching Henry Louis Gates, Jr’s, shows. But as I said, you are a professional and I am a hack. I know my limits. I hope.
You might not know exactly what it's like to be every single member of a minority, but you don't have to--you just need to know what it's like to be your character, who is an individual in their own right.
And usually, when an author gets it wrong, It's because the didn't know they where ignorant.
My gaming credo is as follows:
"Immersion may be highly personal, but gaming joy should be for all."
I can give you a series of straightforward examples, from which I derive my empathy and support for those whose immersion does not coincide with mine, particularly when not readily available - but whose joy of gaming in my view deserves to be equally profound.
I am an unconditional high-fantasy PC RPG fan, with tendency to go for a hero that is "alike" - i.e. human female.
If there were only shooters, my gaming immersion would be materially diminished. No reason for that, surely? There is space and demand for diversity of gaming genres.
I strongly prefer to play a female CHAR, simply because I feel stronger connection to such a lead hero. M!Hawke of DA:II being the sole exception because of the superbly nuanced voice work. I actually was really thrilled there was a male lead I could immerse with to that extent!
I am sure some gamers could live with nothing but male leads, but I don't think anyone seriously thinks it will improve gaming. This is, btw - diversity.
I always roll a human CHAR, unless I multiclass in BG - but on the other hand, I am annoyed with The Elders Scrolls that after Morrowind, the stories have felt really human dominated, even if I want to roll my imperial. Yet, the very idea of removing, say, beastie-races to write more of "my stuff" is preposterous to me.
But I still think the same courtesy and tolerance must be afforded to in depth CHARs like Hawke, but I think people were more griping about it not being DA:O all again in truth. Very little criticism is levied after at Torment for having but one choice of hero. And Inki was diverse only in a cosmetic sense, IMO.
Having races, be it within human class or fantasy races - is diversity, and at the very core of "high fantasy" genre from my perspective.
Romances are seminal to games these days, and again I project my heteronormative or at least male-preferring tendency for my own gaming choices. But once I switched to M!Hawke, Isabela became my preferred romance in DA2, and also male-to-male works for me, like I've rolled male Inki just because I like Dorian so much.
I really enjoy romances, but I would never be so selfish as to demand, say, Dorian be bi, because it happens to cater for me. That's basic gamer solidarity, I would guess.
So when I imagine world with nothing but first-person shooter male-CHAR in a universe inhabited by only heterosexual humans in high-tech setting, I would despair when compared to a world with Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls or BG for immersion.
From mere premise I would not want that for myself, why should I want that for others? I've used very seminal categories for diversity here, but I don't find it difficult to understand why more nuanced ones are wanted too, by our fellow-gamers. It's Jesus's golden rule really: do unto others as you would wish for yourself.
The best "world writing" does seem to come from nuanced lore which caters a wide array of gaming preferences in any case - but even if I cannot get into same sort of immersion, I still immensely like the idea that others enjoy gaming as much as I do, in their own individual way.
But I'll give you points for saying "transabled," because that was pretty awesome. I might borrow that word sometime.
I have every desire in the world to see Beamdog succeed in making new things for all of the games that I grew up on and that gave me an everlasting love for the worlds of DnD. I do not want to see old mistakes repeated.
Cloaking your meaning in enough subtext and metaphor that modern parallels don't slap you in the face > Hamfisted attempts at making a statement about modern day issues/artificial attempts to fill diversity checkboxes is all i'm saying.
Most people can not identify themselves with the average (main) characters in fiction.
I remember Pokémon Crystal, Harvest Moon 2 and Tomb Raider being insanely important games to me for the simple fact that I could play as a female character in them. I loved Xena and Fantaghiro back in the 90s because they had female main characters who fought and kicked ass but still where seen as beautiful and desirable (sometimes even more so for that). This has been back then and still is hugely validating for me. A lot of kids don't even have these few pieces of media they see themselves or their power fantasies reflected in.
Think about the child that shows you it's new favourite game and goes "This character is me!" instead of "This character is Cloud Strife/Raziel/Duke Nukem!"
It is important for kids - and for everyone, actually - to have rolemodels they themselves can identify with. And having the diversity in our media for this across media for all different age groups creates a ripple effect that over the short or long of it will make more people more happy.
If you can't accept more diversity for your own sake or for that of your fellow adults, sure, but if you can't accept it for the long lasting positive effect it will have on children, then you are a very very pitiful person.
You just had to go with that metaphore, hadn't you
Can you guys imagine what BG2 would have looked like if the writing team would have gone all out in that regard back then? On the media drama surrounding that?
Also Suicune. And blue hair. And everything else that made Gold and Silver amazing, but better.
There are so many damn video games out there that being upset about anything in any given one is the absolute height of absurdity. Most people here know my politics. I play Grand Theft Auto with no qualms. It's over the top absurdity in the way a Tarantino movie is. I don't think there is anything wrong with the way video games have been. And I ALSO don't think there is anything remotely wrong with how they are now. I literally remember watching a video when "Prey" was announced that had most people in the comment section bitching about the fact that you could choose to be a male or female at the beginning of the game. As if that option is something new feminists just invented and hasn't been around since the first Wizardry game.
There is an important difference between not wanting to have diversity and being fine with whatever.
Being white, straight, middle-age(ish), western european and having a good economy makes me the very epitome of the normative guy. The first thing I had to learn was to stop talking and start listening, no matter the topic at hand. When I started to listen, I started to learn, and when I started to learn, I started to understand. With understanding comes acceptance. Try it, you might like it. I consider myself upgraded to a whole new level nowadays.
Just look at Guillermo del Toro's attempt to do a live-action adaptation of Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness. The very reason that nothing came of it is that they couldn't cram those things into a Lovecraft story (of all things!).
So no, diversity and representation doesn't create bland stories that are only there to please some vocal minority. It's a way to explore so many more stories that just aren't told much today.
And that's just story reasons. I think @Shandaxx really explained representation wonderfully in the first page of this thread. The only thing I can add from my experience is that I love when I am allowed to see things from someone else's perspective in games. Stories like Dorian's, Mazzy's and Viconia's are great because they show experiences that I've never had and never will fully understand. But that other people (including people close to me) are having every single day.
It's perfectly normal to find it weird or maybe off putting at first when encountering an NPC who you initially believes solely exists for pandering reasons, if you yourself grew up in a homogenic or even intolerant environment. We are all the products of our upbringing. The difference is learning to be able to conciously look past your initial prejudices, to jump over your own shadow and try to take a character as they are, in the context of the game itself, without thinking about any external social or political influences.
The key word is learning. But once you get there you'll realise that it's usually really no big deal and you might even learn to like that character. And at one point you'll lose those initial prejudices at all.
I personally had this experience when I first found out Krem in DA:I was trans, because my intial thought was "oh god, here we go with the tumblr social justice cartman bullcrap" but things turned out fine and I ended up really genuinly enjoyed talking to him and his experiences. Especially that the game allowed for an in-depths conversation about his personal views and how it fits into the overarching world building and narrative was really great and imo one of the most interesting parts of the game over all. Krem and the way he is written turned out to be very enriching.
Especially the contrast between Qun society to Fereleden and Orlais did a lot for the immersion. Especially Iron Bull's personal conflict greatly profited from this, enhancing the aspect that things are indeed not black and white in this world, that every society has it's good and bad aspects. And even the Qun has despite the lack of personal freedom some aspects that are great about it.
I get it. The internet environment is extremely hostile when it comes to social/political opinions and look outs. People attack each other over the most petty bullshit. Been there, done that. It takes time to get over that. But getting there is oh so worth it.
Please don't ever feel like reevaluating your own views is a bad thing or that it's not worth it because other people don't want to do it either.
What I do still find lacking though are diverse looking women, especially when it comes to body types. Most positively depicted women are either "the cute girl next door", basically Pamela Anderson or a hybrid of the two. And by now I am too old to see myself properly reflected in child characters like back in Pokémon Crystal.
I personally can't really identify with either of those. Most women who kinda look like me (tall & broad shouldered) are either depicted as evil or as a joke. Which is also why I enjoy D&D style fantasy settings so much, because thanks to the fantastical racial diversity we also get characters of more diverse body types. Except for in WarCraft. Screw WarCraft.
But yeah, things have gotten gradually better, especially since the 90s where most women in videogames where only sex objects.
Think Rosanne from the 90s. In a world of polished superfluous sitcoms, the grit and humour, plus the fact the lead actors were models, allowed more people to relate to the show on a personal level.