Help: Racially Insensitive?

[Thaius]

Hello Escapists! I need your help on an issue.

I am leading a small team in making a game. It's an RPG in the spirit of classics such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, down to the art style, synthesized music, and basic gameplay concepts. We're currently pretty early in production, and in developing the story we've had some good ideas that we want to make sure aren't crossing any lines.

In this fantasy world, we're basing various nations off real-world countries and cultures. The main reason for this is to lend the world a feel of cultural diversity that's not usually present in these games; most JRPGs tend to have the same basic culture and such across the entire world map.

We have developed one such culture based on third-world African cultures, including skin color of those who live there. We have no intention to be racist or imply all Africa is poor and simple (and of course Africa itself would never be mentioned in this fantasy world), we are simply trying to use real-world examples as inspiration to lend the world's cultures a bit of diversity. The culture itself would be based on some of the more authentic African tradition and culture. We have discussed including things to imply it's an intelligent and fully-functioning society, such as a university and, of course, the presence of people from this country throughout the world, not only in some little isolated village.

We are also doing an area in which magic-users are the high class, and those who are incapable of using magic are enslaved. This location is based on the old west, so the desert-ish climate means we could pretty easily use skin color to draw the parallel to civil war era slavery (since, let's face it, anything made in America and dealing with slavery will have those parallels drawn). But would that be too much?

It should perhaps also be noted that two of the main, playable characters (two very different characters, for that matter) are from this same place.

When it comes down to it, I'm just not that great at this stuff. There are of course actual, negative stereotypes that should be avoided, but I've also seen so many little meaningless things spark such controversy on this subject that I'm scared to trust my own judgement on this. Again, we mean no racism or stereotyping by any of this, but are worried it could be interpreted otherwise.

So what do you all think? Would these story elements be interpreted as racially offensive, or are we in the clear?

 

[DannyJBeckett]

Well the first thing to make sure is that you don't do a Resident Evil 5, where they portray African tribes as a bunch of spear-chucking savages, WHICH OF COURSE THEY ARE NOT [/coveringmyarse]. You should look at Sonic Unleashed, which portrays a bunch of different nationalities, including an African tribal village. Granted, they do it very cartoonishly, and all with sort of childish innocence, but let me put it this way: they didn't receive any controversy from it.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Its sounds like you've got it pretty well thought out and have went to some lengths to avoid having it come across like this in your game because either A) you're racist or B) for shock value... So yeah, sounds fine to me.

Although to twist it around have you thought about making the people of this culture white? Im not even sure how/if/why that would make any difference but oh well.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

It's weird, and you should ignore any thoughts you have about it. If you have a race of people in your alternate-reality who are poor and underprivileged, then it shouldn't matter, and people who would be 'offended' can go jump.

It's ridiculous in a fantasy setting to have the choice of making them White or Black. Make them Black, and people will be "RABBLE-RABBLE-RABBLE-RABBLE!!-ing" about it being racist or whatever. Make them White and you'll have white, overly sensitive pseudo-intellectuals saying how brilliant it is and not being offended at all. Wtf?! White people can be poor too? God.

So, I recommend, you ignore the bullshit, ignore what people think or say or how they feel. If you make them Black, good for you, if you make them White, good for you, if you make them Asian, good for you. Do what feels right for the GAME. If people want to be offended, they can be offended, it's okay, nothing actually happens.

 

[Darkmantle]

I think it would only be racist if you portrayed the enslavers as right in their assumptions about the slaves culture, because that would draw more parallels to the propaganda of the time, than to the actual situation.

but your set-up seems fine

 

[Thaius]

Its sounds like you've got it pretty well thought out and have went to some lengths to avoid having it come across like this in your game because either A) you're racist or B) for shock value... So yeah, sounds fine to me.

Although to twist it around have you thought about making the people of this culture white? Im not even sure how/if/why that would make any difference but oh well.

Considered it, just not sure if we should keep the skin color true to the cultures they're based on, and as I mentioned, if we're having racial diversity in the game, it would only make sense for people of darker skin to be in certain areas and climates. Plus there will be ways in which this inspiration by cultures will be obvious, especially in the names, so it might just seem weird. I'm not sure.

 

[Saltyk]

Well depends on how you portray them. And what is the basic level of world technological development? Do some of the major cities have flying cars while this "Not African" nation is stuck in the middle ages throwing spears at "not elephants"? Because that would probably be seen as pretty racist.

More importantly how do the people act? Do you have any major NPCs or characters that join your group from either place? How do they behave?

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

It's weird, and you should ignore any thoughts you have about it. If you have a race of people in your alternate-reality who are poor and underprivileged, then it shouldn't matter, and people who would be 'offended' can go jump.

It's ridiculous in a fantasy setting to have the choice of making them White or Black. Make them Black, and people will be "RABBLE-RABBLE-RABBLE-RABBLE!!-ing" about it being racist or whatever. Make them White and you'll have white, overly sensitive pseudo-intellectuals saying how brilliant it is and not being offended at all. Wtf?! White people can be poor too? God.

So, I recommend, you ignore the bullshit, ignore what people think or say or how they feel. If you make them Black, good for you, if you make them White, good for you, if you make them Asian, good for you. Do what feels right for the GAME. If people want to be offended, they can be offended, it's okay, nothing actually happens.

THIS!

So long as they don't start jabbering and throwing spears at you when you come near them, and they're not all eating fried chicken, then you're fine. Anyone who still wants to attach some notion of offence based on nothing but the skin colour is actually being more racist than you are.

Just out of interest, does this race have mages, and if so, how heavily does their magic draw from the voodoo which is still practiced in some tribal regions of Central Africa?

 

[Darkmantle]

Its sounds like you've got it pretty well thought out and have went to some lengths to avoid having it come across like this in your game because either A) you're racist or B) for shock value... So yeah, sounds fine to me.

Although to twist it around have you thought about making the people of this culture white? Im not even sure how/if/why that would make any difference but oh well.

Considered it, just not sure if we should keep the skin color true to the cultures they're based on, and as I mentioned, if we're having racial diversity in the game, it would only make sense for people of darker skin to be in certain areas and climates. Plus there will be ways in which this inspiration by cultures will be obvious, especially in the names, so it might just seem weird. I'm not sure.

well it just doesn't make sense for white people to come from a desert, you get tanned there.

I think you are making the right choice

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Its sounds like you've got it pretty well thought out and have went to some lengths to avoid having it come across like this in your game because either A) you're racist or B) for shock value... So yeah, sounds fine to me.

Although to twist it around have you thought about making the people of this culture white? Im not even sure how/if/why that would make any difference but oh well.

Considered it, just not sure if we should keep the skin color true to the cultures they're based on, and as I mentioned, if we're having racial diversity in the game, it would only make sense for people of darker skin to be in certain areas and climates. Plus there will be ways in which this inspiration by cultures will be obvious, especially in the names, so it might just seem weird. I'm not sure.

Whatever you choose to do, it doesnt really matter. Anyone who gets offended by it will be offended no matter what, its your game so just do what feels right.

Also remember that you can have racist characters in your game, without your game being racist. If you havent seen this episode of Extra Credits before, i'd recommend you watch it.
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/call-of-juarez-the-cartel
Basically as long as the game and its mechanics dont reinforce racism (like one of the examples in the video where you get an achievement for killing a bunch of black dudes in Juarez.) then you can pretty much do whatever the hell you like in your game.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

While I can understand wanting diversity in your games universe, and that is an absolutely fantastic thing, use the real-world simply as inspiration, not as a template.

The problem with some stories in any medium is the fact that they mistake a template for inspiration. Now, is this simply an alternate version of the world? Is that area for all-intents-and-purposes Africa in all but name?

As for the second culture that you state which will likely involve slavery, sounds much more imaginative. Lets face it, there are going to be some things that happen universally, slavery is unfortunately going to be something that will come up at one time or another regardless of culture, whether it comes up from the inside-out, or the outside-in.

What you should NOT do, is add something simply to shock and awe, or to reflect a personal prejudice. It happens much too often for someone to come out and say that something controversial is in their game, simply to advertise it.

In the end, you cant help people seeing racism in a game like this, whether its intentional or not, implied or not. People in general can be exceedingly stupid and will jump to conclusions at the drop of a hat, meaning that, some people, will mistake just about anything for racism. It depends on the person.

My advice, don't stay so close to real-world cultures when it comes to basing your game universe. Cookie-cutter cultures aren't nearly as interesting or varied as something you come up with on your own. There's nothing wrong with using the real world for inspiration, but there is with copy-and-paste, intentional or otherwise.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

As long as everything suits the context of the story and you're not portraying the slavery of that particular race as a positive thing then I see no reason why it could cause controversy. Of course that won't stop someone from blowing it out of proportion.

 

[Thaius]

Well depends on how you portray them. And what is the basic level of world technological development? Do some of the major cities have flying cars while this "Not African" nation is stuck in the middle ages throwing spears at "not elephants"? Because that would probably be seen as pretty racist.

More importantly how do the people act? Do you have any major NPCs or characters that join your group from either place? How do they behave?

Different parts of the world are at different technological levels due to magic. Some countries develop technology, but others focus on magic. The most technologically developed nation is based on Japan and achieved its technological prowess by combining magic and technology, but this has not spread to other parts of the world, mostly due to traditionalism keeping magic in a more prominent and respected place than technology. The society based on African culture is a bit more primal, but in this case that will still involve magical ability, which is more of a driving societal force in this world than technology. We also aim to make them plenty intelligent and seen around the world in all sorts of different places.

As for the society with the slavery, we have one major, playable character who is an escaped slave and another who is from the same place, but left before the whole slavery thing started. And there will be major NPCs in both; both places are very important to the story. We have not gotten so far as to write them in specifically yet, so I'm not sure exactly how they will behave; the game is still in pre-production, and we're lining out the exact story progression so we can soon get to the actual writing.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

One thing that I found a bit questionable, and no one has brought this up, is the black African soldiers in MW3's survival mode. They're basically just cannon fodder, with no tactics and can't hit the back side of a barn at 20m. They're also subbed out at about wave 4 to make way for the much better trained and equipped white, Russian soldiers. I know they're trying to differentiate between a local Somali militia and the Russian Spetnaz, but a bit of diversity wouldn't hurt.
Now admittedly the highest wave I've got to is wave 30, so they may make their triumphant return after this but I highly doubt it.

 

[Dr.Panties]

Seriously, you sound as though you are approaching it in the right manner. Avoiding insensitive stereotyping, portrayals and generalisations should be the key concern. Resident Evil 5 was a prime example of failure in this regard...and this is coming from someone who quite enjoyed the game otherwise. The fact that you are even asking these questions would indicate that you have a good idea of the boundaries, so stress less, and continue to bounce your concepts around, taking note of particularly positive/negative reactions.

Good luck!

 

[Saltyk]

Well depends on how you portray them. And what is the basic level of world technological development? Do some of the major cities have flying cars while this "Not African" nation is stuck in the middle ages throwing spears at "not elephants"? Because that would probably be seen as pretty racist.

More importantly how do the people act? Do you have any major NPCs or characters that join your group from either place? How do they behave?

Different parts of the world are at different technological levels due to magic. Some countries develop technology, but others focus on magic. The most technologically developed nation is based on Japan and achieved its technological prowess by combining magic and technology, but this has not spread to other parts of the world, mostly due to traditionalism keeping magic in a more prominent and respected place than technology. The society based on African culture is a bit more primal, but in this case that will still involve magical ability, which is more of a driving societal force in this world than technology. We also aim to make them plenty intelligent and seen around the world in all sorts of different places.

As for the society with the slavery, we have one major, playable character who is an escaped slave and another who is from the same place, but left before the whole slavery thing started. And there will be major NPCs in both; both places are very important to the story. We have not gotten so far as to write them in specifically yet, so I'm not sure exactly how they will behave; the game is still in pre-production, and we're lining out the exact story progression so we can soon get to the actual writing.

Okay, about the "Not African" nation. Please don't use voodoo as the basis for their magic, or anything similar. If you do include voodoo make it some crazy old man that even the other members of the nation that we see disregard as crazy. Making their magic voodoo based would NOT go over well. Remember the RE5 controversy? You'd be begging for that.

As for the nation of magic users that enslave the people unable to use magic, make certain that you show race has nothing to do with it. Show people of various races both as magic users and slaves. Otherwise you are begging for comparisons to Old South slavery.

I'd make the characters act pretty reasonable. Paint the "Not African" culture as primitive, but intelligent and logical. Perhaps they value nature and the place and roles of themselves and the animals? Though, that might be making them more like Native Americans. I'm not sure about the slave owners, though. Perhaps some should see it as being their right, while others claim the slave live better this way? Though, that's dangerously close to actual Old South slave owners so you might not want to go there, either. Is the Japanese based culture the main driving force/Big Bad for the story? It sounds like it is set up for that.

Honestly, I had an idea for a similar story. Two nations at perpetual war with each other. One used magic and one focused on technology, but no one used both. Largely due to magic being something you were born with and magic users can't use technology because their powers interfere with it. The main character I thought up was to be a son to people from both nations. Of course, I only ever make up ideas for this kind of stuff in my head and never write any of it down. Lol.

Anyway, this sounds intriguing. Are you making it as a console/PC game for a studio? Or can you say anything about that?

 

[Iron Mal]

Hello Escapists! I need your help on an issue.

By all means I'll try my best to advise but feel free to take my advice on board or ignore me as you see fit.

I am leading a small team in making a game. It's an RPG in the spirit of classics such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, down to the art style, synthesized music, and basic gameplay concepts. We're currently pretty early in production, and in developing the story we've had some good ideas that we want to make sure aren't crossing any lines.

Fair enough, sounds like a good project so far.

In this fantasy world, we're basing various nations off real-world countries and cultures. The main reason for this is to lend the world a feel of cultural diversity that's not usually present in these games; most JRPGs tend to have the same basic culture and such across the entire world map.

I understand the desire to include diversity into your world but you need to be careful about how you do this, when you choose to include a character of a particular background or culture you need to make sure that there's a reason for them to have this detail about them (otherwise you risk running into the issue of having the much dreaded 'token minority' which is sometimes seen as just as bad as omitting the character altogether).

Rather than worrying about the diversity of your cast just stick to making characters who are appropriate for your narrative and setting first, if mentioning that a particular character is Black, Hispanic or Arabic adds to a character in a significant way and allows you to do more with them then by all means feel free to (you can make some really interesting stories that way) but if you're doing it just for the sake of 'diversity' then odds are on that they'll just feel flimsy and out of place.

We have developed one such culture based on third-world African cultures, including skin color of those who live there. We have no intention to be racist or imply all Africa is poor and simple (and of course Africa itself would never be mentioned in this fantasy world), we are simply trying to use real-world examples as inspiration to lend the world's cultures a bit of diversity. The culture itself would be based on some of the more authentic African tradition and culture. We have discussed including things to imply it's an intelligent and fully-functioning society, such as a university and, of course, the presence of people from this country throughout the world, not only in some little isolated village.

The use of real-world influences based on actual research and observations ought to spare you from any accusations of racism (and to be fair you shouldn't really have a problem with people calling you out on that unless you include something outragously offensive and suggest the people in question are subhuman or otherwise inferior, based on your descriptions so far I have no reason to believe you would).

We are also doing an area in which magic-users are the high class, and those who are incapable of using magic are enslaved. This location is based on the old west, so the desert-ish climate means we could pretty easily use skin color to draw the parallel to civil war era slavery (since, let's face it, anything made in America and dealing with slavery will have those parallels drawn). But would that be too much?

That might be going a bit close for comfort for some people but, again, as long as it's done in a respectful manner that avoids stereotyping and token characters then I can't see any immediate problems with a setting like this (usually material that is racially offensive tends to come from those who holds views that are racist, you don't sound like that so, again, you shouldn't have anything to worry about).

When it comes down to it, I'm just not that great at this stuff. There are of course actual, negative stereotypes that should be avoided, but I've also seen so many little meaningless things spark such controversy on this subject that I'm scared to trust my own judgement on this. Again, we mean no racism or stereotyping by any of this, but are worried it could be interpreted otherwise.

To be frank, people will complain about anything if given the chance, does this mean they have a valid point?

Not always (in fact, more often than not you'll find examples of people making mountains out of molehills when they have too much free time on their hands, especially on the internet).

If you put care and thought into the project (which is evident seeing as you're actually having these concerns) then no matter what controversy or shit-storm some weekend warrior tries to throw your way you have the unassailabe counter-arguement of 'well that wasn't my intent, no offense was meant'.

So what do you all think? Would these story elements be interpreted as racially offensive, or are we in the clear?

I'd say you're in the clear.

Good luck with the project and I hope it turns out well.

 

[Thaius]

Well depends on how you portray them. And what is the basic level of world technological development? Do some of the major cities have flying cars while this "Not African" nation is stuck in the middle ages throwing spears at "not elephants"? Because that would probably be seen as pretty racist.

More importantly how do the people act? Do you have any major NPCs or characters that join your group from either place? How do they behave?

Different parts of the world are at different technological levels due to magic. Some countries develop technology, but others focus on magic. The most technologically developed nation is based on Japan and achieved its technological prowess by combining magic and technology, but this has not spread to other parts of the world, mostly due to traditionalism keeping magic in a more prominent and respected place than technology. The society based on African culture is a bit more primal, but in this case that will still involve magical ability, which is more of a driving societal force in this world than technology. We also aim to make them plenty intelligent and seen around the world in all sorts of different places.

As for the society with the slavery, we have one major, playable character who is an escaped slave and another who is from the same place, but left before the whole slavery thing started. And there will be major NPCs in both; both places are very important to the story. We have not gotten so far as to write them in specifically yet, so I'm not sure exactly how they will behave; the game is still in pre-production, and we're lining out the exact story progression so we can soon get to the actual writing.

Okay, about the "Not African" nation. Please don't use voodoo as the basis for their magic, or anything similar. If you do include voodoo make it some crazy old man that even the other members of the nation that we see disregard as crazy. Making their magic voodoo based would NOT go over well. Remember the RE5 controversy? You'd be begging for that.

As for the nation of magic users that enslave the people unable to use magic, make certain that you show race has nothing to do with it. Show people of various races both as magic users and slaves. Otherwise you are begging for comparisons to Old South slavery.

I'd make the characters act pretty reasonable. Paint the "Not African" culture as primitive, but intelligent and logical. Perhaps they value nature and the place and roles of themselves and the animals? Though, that might be making them more like Native Americans. I'm not sure about the slave owners, though. Perhaps some should see it as being their right, while others claim the slave live better this way? Though, that's dangerously close to actual Old South slave owners so you might not want to go there, either. Is the Japanese based culture the main driving force/Big Bad for the story? It sounds like it is set up for that.

Honestly, I had an idea for a similar story. Two nations at perpetual war with each other. One used magic and one focused on technology, but no one used both. Largely due to magic being something you were born with and magic users can't use technology because their powers interfere with it. The main character I thought up was to be a son to people from both nations. Of course, I only ever make up ideas for this kind of stuff in my head and never write any of it down. Lol.

Anyway, this sounds intriguing. Are you making it as a console/PC game for a studio? Or can you say anything about that?

Wasn't planning on involving voodoo. Though it would be an interesting idea to have them use magic in such ways since it doesn't actually work the same way at all, that would probably be too much, as you said. And yeah, the "primitive, but intelligent and logical" thing is more what we're going for.

As for slavery, the whole "magic vs. non-magic" thing actually makes it pretty easy; think of it kind of like Magneto in X-Men. Those who can use magic are, according to these people, inherently superior to those who cannot, and have a natural right to rule over them. No doubt there would be some who disagree with that, but moral issues aside, arguing that it's the way the world naturally is can be a pretty convincing argument in this sort of situation. Though I suppose, now that you mention it, there may be a bit of an idea that the poor, helpless people who can't use magic do actually live better when ruled by the superior race of magicians. Hadn't thought of that angle. But either way, it all goes hand-in-hand; those with magical ability see themselves as inherently, naturally superior to those without it.

We're entirely independent; I just wanted to make a game, had a story in my head for a long time, and when I realized I couldn't make it on my own I posted asking for some people on this site and got a team together. These two particular societies are actually just two within a larger world, and no nation in particular is the bad guy. It's kind of complicated (we are, after all, trying to emulate the style of the classic JRPGs), but basically by this point in the game the main characters are essentially on diplomatic missions to various countries. A large battle is looming, and the enemy (a group of people still loyal to a powerful wizard who dies a few decades before) is trying to convince various nations to join them. So the main characters are trying to counteract that influence in various countries. The Japan-inspired country is not inherently bad, simply a bit overzealous; a huge generational change is happening, and the desire for progress at the expense of all else, along with a wholesale rejection of the traditions and values of the older generation, will tempt it powerfully toward the power offered by the antagonist. Really though, this battle for loyalty of nations is just the second half of the game; we're really trying to give it the "start small, then get world-endingly epic as the story progresses" feel of the games it's based on.

We plan on pitching it to Steam once we have enough done to do so. Hopefully if we can get it on there we can try getting on XBLA as well, but if not we'll probably put it on the indie section there. I'd love to get it working for Mac and iOS as well, but that's a bit more intense of a porting job. We'll have to see. In any case, it's coming along, and we've even got someone writing original music that genuinely sounds like it was written for the Super Nintendo.

 

[Thaius]

Rather than worrying about the diversity of your cast just stick to making characters who are appropriate for your narrative and setting first, if mentioning that a particular character is Black, Hispanic or Arabic adds to a character in a significant way and allows you to do more with them then by all means feel free to (you can make some really interesting stories that way) but if you're doing it just for the sake of 'diversity' then odds are on that they'll just feel flimsy and out of place.

You had a lot of good comments; thanks!

As for this bit, this is more about the cultures than the cast. The real-world cultures usually associated with the mentioned ethnicities do not apply, since this is a fantasy game and the world is entirely fictional. We just wanted to use some real-world influence, especially for the names. These cultures are entirely their own, existing within a fictional world, but inspired by cultures in our real world. The unique properties of these cultures will certainly come into play in a big way, since there is essentially a large story quest in each of them (there are more than the two mentioned, ranging from one inspired by Japan to a society of mages living in the ice-covered northern regions), and there are some major characters from a couple of them. All that to say, the nation some characters are from will certainly have an impact on their place in the story, as will the differences between each of these cultures.

 

[Saltyk]

Well depends on how you portray them. And what is the basic level of world technological development? Do some of the major cities have flying cars while this "Not African" nation is stuck in the middle ages throwing spears at "not elephants"? Because that would probably be seen as pretty racist.

More importantly how do the people act? Do you have any major NPCs or characters that join your group from either place? How do they behave?

Different parts of the world are at different technological levels due to magic. Some countries develop technology, but others focus on magic. The most technologically developed nation is based on Japan and achieved its technological prowess by combining magic and technology, but this has not spread to other parts of the world, mostly due to traditionalism keeping magic in a more prominent and respected place than technology. The society based on African culture is a bit more primal, but in this case that will still involve magical ability, which is more of a driving societal force in this world than technology. We also aim to make them plenty intelligent and seen around the world in all sorts of different places.

As for the society with the slavery, we have one major, playable character who is an escaped slave and another who is from the same place, but left before the whole slavery thing started. And there will be major NPCs in both; both places are very important to the story. We have not gotten so far as to write them in specifically yet, so I'm not sure exactly how they will behave; the game is still in pre-production, and we're lining out the exact story progression so we can soon get to the actual writing.

Okay, about the "Not African" nation. Please don't use voodoo as the basis for their magic, or anything similar. If you do include voodoo make it some crazy old man that even the other members of the nation that we see disregard as crazy. Making their magic voodoo based would NOT go over well. Remember the RE5 controversy? You'd be begging for that.

As for the nation of magic users that enslave the people unable to use magic, make certain that you show race has nothing to do with it. Show people of various races both as magic users and slaves. Otherwise you are begging for comparisons to Old South slavery.

I'd make the characters act pretty reasonable. Paint the "Not African" culture as primitive, but intelligent and logical. Perhaps they value nature and the place and roles of themselves and the animals? Though, that might be making them more like Native Americans. I'm not sure about the slave owners, though. Perhaps some should see it as being their right, while others claim the slave live better this way? Though, that's dangerously close to actual Old South slave owners so you might not want to go there, either. Is the Japanese based culture the main driving force/Big Bad for the story? It sounds like it is set up for that.

Honestly, I had an idea for a similar story. Two nations at perpetual war with each other. One used magic and one focused on technology, but no one used both. Largely due to magic being something you were born with and magic users can't use technology because their powers interfere with it. The main character I thought up was to be a son to people from both nations. Of course, I only ever make up ideas for this kind of stuff in my head and never write any of it down. Lol.

Anyway, this sounds intriguing. Are you making it as a console/PC game for a studio? Or can you say anything about that?

Wasn't planning on involving voodoo. Though it would be an interesting idea to have them use magic in such ways since it doesn't actually work the same way at all, that would probably be too much, as you said. And yeah, the "primitive, but intelligent and logical" thing is more what we're going for.

As for slavery, the whole "magic vs. non-magic" thing actually makes it pretty easy; think of it kind of like Magneto in X-Men. Those who can use magic are, according to these people, inherently superior to those who cannot, and have a natural right to rule over them. No doubt there would be some who disagree with that, but moral issues aside, arguing that it's the way the world naturally is can be a pretty convincing argument in this sort of situation. Though I suppose, now that you mention it, there may be a bit of an idea that the poor, helpless people who can't use magic do actually live better when ruled by the superior race of magicians. Hadn't thought of that angle. But either way, it all goes hand-in-hand; those with magical ability see themselves as inherently, naturally superior to those without it.

We're entirely independent; I just wanted to make a game, had a story in my head for a long time, and when I realized I couldn't make it on my own I posted asking for some people on this site and got a team together. These two particular societies are actually just two within a larger world, and no nation in particular is the bad guy. It's kind of complicated (we are, after all, trying to emulate the style of the classic JRPGs), but basically by this point in the game the main characters are essentially on diplomatic missions to various countries. A large battle is looming, and the enemy (a group of people still loyal to a powerful wizard who dies a few decades before) is trying to convince various nations to join them. So the main characters are trying to counteract that influence in various countries. The Japan-inspired country is not inherently bad, simply a bit overzealous; a huge generational change is happening, and the desire for progress at the expense of all else, along with a wholesale rejection of the traditions and values of the older generation, will tempt it powerfully toward the power offered by the antagonist. Really though, this battle for loyalty of nations is just the second half of the game; we're really trying to give it the "start small, then get world-endingly epic as the story progresses" feel of the games it's based on.

We plan on pitching it to Steam once we have enough done to do so. Hopefully if we can get it on there we can try getting on XBLA as well, but if not we'll probably put it on the indie section there. I'd love to get it working for Mac and iOS as well, but that's a bit more intense of a porting job. We'll have to see. In any case, it's coming along, and we've even got someone writing original music that genuinely sounds like it was written for the Super Nintendo.

Glad I could be of some small minuscule amount of help.

Sounds interesting. I might have to take a look for it. You mention XBLA and Steam are you not going to release it on PSN or Origin? Or not yet decided?

Hope it goes well!