Command & Conquer Changes Up Middle Eastern GLA

[Andy Chalk]

Command & Conquer Changes Up Middle Eastern GLA

​

Command & Conquer developer Victory Games says people found the Middle Eastern makeup of the Global Liberation Army "pretty offensive," and so it's being changed.

In the fiction of Command & Conquer, the Global Liberation Army is a "quasi-terrorist, transnational organization," as the C&C Wiki [http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Global_Liberation_Army] puts it, and while it maintains bases and engages in operations all around the world, it's based primarily in the Middle East. But in response to complaints from gamers who found that to be an offensive stereotype, Victory Games says it will diversify the GLA lineup in the upcoming free-to-play edition of Command & Conquer.

"This is actually a pretty big change for the game," Tim Morten, senior development director at Victory Games, told Polygon. "Anyone who knows this series will know the Global Liberation Army. But at the studio we had a bad reaction from people saying it was pretty offensive to have Middle-Eastern characters as militants."

The GLA in this new incarnation of Command & Conquer will feature five generals of varied backgrounds, which Morten said - humorously - means the game will now "probably just offend everybody."

Victory Games' free-to-play Command & Conquer [http://www.commandandconquer.com/] is being developed for the PC and is expected to come out later this year.

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/11/4421134/command-and-conquer-middle-eastern-militants-changed]


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[Scarim Coral]

This doesn't suprise me as I did wonder how the hell they got away with it in the first place. By all mean I like that faction (got to love the angry mob and the dialogue "Free AK-47 for everyone!") but we all know how sensitive some people can get.

 

[wooty]

Giving in to the PC brigade are we? The world really has become a very sensitive place.

(Note: By PC brigade I obviously mean the Political Correctness brigade. Just felt the need to clarify that before I receive another inbox full of hate)

 

[mjc0961]

"Anyone who knows this series will know the Global Liberation Army."

Sure we will, what with the primary factions in the main games being GDI and Nod for C&C Original and Allies and Soviets for C&C Red Alert.

Who the fuck is the Global Liberation Army and why should I know them when they don't appear in at least 7 of the games?

 

[One of Many]

But I like the GLA being an Arab based terrorist, transnational organization. C&C was always one to have fun with stereotypes.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Right, because the Middle East is a bastion of peace and rational debate and any infidel who says otherwise will have their head chopped off!

I find it an offensive stereotype that all of the factions are human when not all humans are violent. Better get some aliens and funghi groups in there to make it all politically correct.

 

[fix-the-spade]

...the Global Liberation Army are the primary villains of Command and Conquer: Generals, the series that this game is based around. So clearly you DON'T know the series as well as you thought you did./quote]
In all seriousness, it's completely forgivable to be a fan of C&C and not know who or what the GLA is.

I'd go as far as saying that the resurrection of Generals aka the one nobody bought and nobody liked* (except for Zero Hour) speaks volumes of EA's faith in the series (lack of) as well as just how hard C&C 4 screwed the pooch. With this mucking about with factions it's getting to be pretty clear that this is aimed squarely at being as middle of the road as possible, joy!

How long until Planetary Annihalation comes out again?
*Okay that's a bit harsh, but Red Alert 2 this was not, nor is it seemingly remembered at all.

 

[hutchy27]

So who will they become exactly?

 

[generals3]

Oh please, when are we finally get political correctness out of games?! This is getting absurd, what's next removing the soviets from Red Alert because it offends Russians?!

C&C has never been known for its subtlety and I don't think it should be asked to be subtle. It's not like C&C has to power to push RL political agendas. I mean come on C&C Generals was full of so many over the top clichés and stereotypes that no one could possibly take it seriously.

 

[Abomination]

Yeah, it's offensive because it's essentially fucking true.

Next you'll tell me the Chinese army is based on mostly reversed engineered technology and has masses of poorly trained infantry. Or the European armies have highly trained and equipped but expensive forces by comparison.

But we all know that would be offensive... because it's the current fucking state of affairs.

 

[Therumancer]

We can't have the Arabs be terrorists! They might blow us up for it!

I pretty much had the same thought.

To be honest the odds of me getting this game are now pretty much non-existant. I oppose political correctness and pandering in all of it's forms. If the creators originally wanted this to be an Arabic/Middle Eastern based terrorist organization, that is what it should be. It's not like there isn't a precedent for it. Sure maybe not all Arabs are terrorists, BUT not all corporations are super villains either, yet that doesn't prevent the even super-corp and it's attached PMCs from being trotted out as a stock villain because of the companies that do act like that.

Simply put if you get afraid of offending people and back down when you do, your never going to create anything of worth. It's rapidly getting to the point where more time is being spent on the pandering than the actual creative process, and when anything a creator makes is to be adjusted at the merest hints of someone being offended, one has to ask why bother having the creators work at all?

Tell you guys what, for the upcoming C&C keep it to two factions, have one side wear black hats (bad guys) and the other guys wear white hats (good guys) the old cowboy movie alignment system. Otherwise put in no backstory or reason for them to fight, that way nobody will get offended... I mean that is where things are going here isn't it? Oh wait... some fashionistas might object if this morality conflicts with their most recent fashion statement.

 

[generals3]

Tell you guys what, for the upcoming C&C keep it to two factions, have one side wear black hats (bad guys) and the other guys wear white hats (good guys) the old cowboy movie alignment system. Otherwise put in no backstory or reason for them to fight, that way nobody will get offended... I mean that is where things are going here isn't it? Oh wait... some fashionistas might object if this morality conflicts with their most recent fashion statement.

How dare you! That's super racist! Why should white be the color used for the good guys! That'll just perpetrate the stereotype anything black is evil and anything white is awesome! You damn black people hater! (This was an intense portion of sarcasm)

But yeah soon we might get back to stickmen, no one can get offenden by stickmen? Oh no wait, stick-people (shouldn't forget the newly founded "sexusm!" lobby)

 

[Genocidicles]

Surely they could've just had a British or Russian guy manipulating them from behind the scenes? I mean that's how movies and Call of Duty get away with it.

 

[Therumancer]

Tell you guys what, for the upcoming C&C keep it to two factions, have one side wear black hats (bad guys) and the other guys wear white hats (good guys) the old cowboy movie alignment system. Otherwise put in no backstory or reason for them to fight, that way nobody will get offended... I mean that is where things are going here isn't it? Oh wait... some fashionistas might object if this morality conflicts with their most recent fashion statement.

How dare you! That's super racist! Why should white be the color used for the good guys! That'll just perpetrate the stereotype anything black is evil and anything white is awesome! You damn black people hater! (This was an intense portion of sarcasm)

But yeah soon we might get back to stickmen, no one can get offenden by stickmen? Oh no wait, stick-people (shouldn't forget the newly founded "sexusm!" lobby)

Not to mention that being skinny they would both be insensitive to anorexics, and promoting an unfair and unhealthy body image that would upset fat people.

Perhaps they need to use ACSCII, make C&C the first true "roguelike" RTS game... I mean that can't offend anyone. Well unless we start seeing demands that there be versions using symbols from non-English keyboards using the alphabets and symbols appropriate to the nation, culture, and language of whomever is playing it... after all a letter "I" representing infantry would be insensitive to those who only use Kanji....

 

[Still Life]

In all seriousness, it's completely forgivable to be a fan of C&C and not know who or what the GLA is.

I'd go as far as saying that the resurrection of Generals aka the one nobody bought and nobody liked* (except for Zero Hour) speaks volumes of EA's faith in the series (lack of) as well as just how hard C&C 4 screwed the pooch. With this mucking about with factions it's getting to be pretty clear that this is aimed squarely at being as middle of the road as possible, joy!

How long until Planetary Annihalation comes out again?
*Okay that's a bit harsh, but Red Alert 2 this was not, nor is it seemingly remembered at all.

You're quite right, you're being much too harsh. The game holds very high critical ratings and sold decently well. The only reason people tend to forget about it is because it wasn't as good as the Red Alert series nor as awful as C&C4.

Quite frankly, it was a good game. And any self-proclaimed "fan" of the series would know about it.

I'm a long-time fan of the series (grew up playing RA *nostalgia*), and I really enjoyed Generals. It was definitely a departure from a lot of the series tropes. I remember the biggest change for me was the different UI, which took after Star Craft. Overall, it was a really solid game (with an excellent expansion) that had lots of cool units and battles. Also helped that it was a visual powerhouse back in its day.

I can understand if other C&C fans didn't take to it, but it was far from a 'terrible' game.

OT:

Actually, to those chiming 'PC' I would say 'what's the big deal?' In all honesty, I don't have a problem with the devs giving a transnational terrorist org a more diverse cast, ethnically speaking. The nature of terrorism particularly in the Middle East has become this ridiculously homogenised idea based on a lot of barely-cloaked, racist assumptions; it has become easy and meaningless to beat that trope in a new game based on quasi, near future warfare.

When Islamist fueled terrorism has become pretty much synonymous with 'Muslim' because of Western pop culture, I think you can reasonably infer that the punchline would pass over everyone's head and compound a pretty sensitive social issue for a lot of people.

Having said that, it could cut the other way if handled well. I just feel that gaming and Western pop culture in general hasn't tackled religious fundamentalism and Muslim people with any sense of grace and intellect at all, for the most part.

 

[The_Emperor]

TBH being able to train and deploy suicide bombers was a little offensive.

some of the caricatures, making light of the terrorists were a little insensitive.

The chinese voices were slightly racist lol. Hilarious but still slightly racist.