It's nice to be included. Being able to play as or even see a character that you can relate to in a medium you like can be nice. Because there's a lot of people who are not straight, white, guys who happen to enjoy the hell out of videogames, and according to many they do not exist. We're in a really odd place, and I don't even know what this means, but from what I see there are more women who are uncomfortable to admit they like playing videogames than there are straight white guys who are uncomfortable to admit they like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Because when there is a default setting and it has become as common as the straight white male character with trimmed brown hair and a decent muscular structure, and most of them do not seem to have much in the way of character development, or personality, the word bland starts coming up, and if game makers can take a little more effort, put some more thought into their characters, flesh them out, define them, let them BE a part of the story then we might get some better story in games, even if the protag is a white straight male, with brown hair, and muscles. Just sometimes making a character other than straight, white, male, makes the writers think a bit more, and then we get characters instead of stand ins for the player. To hopefully help push the idea a little more that we're in a default setting, why brown hair? Why do we not see as many blondes or redheads? I think it's because we're stuck in a mold. And it may be because of two parts, the first being laziness, and the second being the reinforcement of the idea that a gamer that is not white, male, and straight does not exist in numbers.
Because when most of your videogame minority characters are background, and not important to the story or game, they're either bland or lazy stereotypes. And would you want a crate of games where almost all depictions of straight white male characters beat their wives, rape any woman they see, and play nothing but Call of Duty and Madden?
Because getting more people into gaming can give game makers more money. Because when we do get a good case of a minority character done well it's swallowed in the sea of those that are not. Because those who are ignorant of videogames, or lack a more indepth understanding of videogames and videogame protags keep regurgitating inaccurate "facts" about games, and there are not enough of us who are more informed to keep correcting these mistakes and help people understand games better, so it helps to have more mainstream, public eye released games that do fit in with those that already exist though in small numbers that keep getting forgotten or overlooked.
Because if Lee was white would Kenny ever come off as mildly racist? Sometimes a character being different can affect other characters around them.
Because sometimes as a straight white brunette male with short trimmed hair I happen to enjoy playing a game as a character who is not.
Because I do not like nor care for Gone Home, Tomb Raider(remake), or Remember Me. However I'll happily play Dino Crisis, Parasite Eve, Fatal Frame, Lollipop Chainsaw, Tomb Raider Underworld, and Syberia, to name a few.
Because there is a lack of interesting characters in videogames, to the point that when the topic comes up people list characterless Gordon Freeman, "their Sheppard", and their Skyrim character as great characters in gaming. And no, diversity alone will not fix that, but it can help, by getting devs to think more about the characters they are creating, how the affect the story, and how the story affects them, and by focusing on these a white straight male and a black straight female can co-exist in a videogame, both be dynamic, engaging, have personalities, fight enemies both in game and in themselves, and can both be well adjusted individuals from caring, loving, middle class families, or they could be completely different, from different backgrounds, and well thought out and written, and affect the game world different if giving care. But we're we are right now, we're not getting much of any of that.
Because we've entered a trend in games where talking OF something has become a common substitute for talking ABOUT something.
Because sometimes people don't know what they're talking about and say really stupid things without realizing it, and if more games were around to show them they might have a better understanding and gaming might be seen in a better light.
Because we're not a hive mind and should never become one.
Because we are so stuck in this mold of white male protag that people have started asking the wrong questions at the wrong time, like the initial question of why no womens in Assassin's Creed Unity?
Because sometimes, in answer to these ideas, some people respond with the idea of playing with a strange weird creature as opposed to a black guy, but some how they never quite say they'd also rather play as this strange weird creature instead of a white guy.
Because if all you do is surround yourself with those like you and media based on characters like yourself you as an individual may be limiting yourself to other experiences, thought processes, ideas, and inspection.
Because there's a demand for it.
Because having more games with minority characters, and ones hopefully well written, might give certain youtube celebs less to talk about and shut up and go away sooner. Because no matter how many games have already done it well, there's not enough and they'd just refuse they exist and twist the damn facts to suite their flavor of bullshit. But what 'ev.
Because we're a few years into a new wave of indie, and hopefully more people are getting into gaming, and why shouldn't they feel welcome?
Why does it matter to you that games exist that you don't like? There are many games that I'm aware of that do not interest me, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm not interested in Madden, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gone Home, FarCry, Dark Souls, Spec Ops The Line, Bastion, Journey, Divinity, Titanfall, Watch Dogs, and I'm sure there's at least one hundred of them, and that's okay.
