Why Straight White Guys Shouldn't Always Play Games As Themselves

[Lovely Mixture]

I will respectfully disagree a tiny bit with the article author and repeat myself from similar threads: We dont need more diverse protagonists, we need more INTERESTING protagonists. Interesting characters are not interesting because they are white or black, or a dwarven princess. They are interesting because of the situation they are put in and the experiences they have had/have.

Perfect, this is exactly what I wanted to say.

The problem that we have now is that creativity is being stifled by corporate demand for something that will appeal to a broad demographic. The answer is not to change the demand, but to give freedom to the artists who make the games in the first place.

 

[marioandsonic]

This is going to seem a bit odd, but if the option is given, I sometimes tend to play as a fat guy.

Maybe that's because I'm overweight myself...

>.>

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Neah..I tend to play myself as a character in RPG's because that's what I identify the most with really.

Maybe if the game is worth replaying then on subsequent playthroughs I will bother changing my race.

 

[ace_of_something]

for reasons I can't truly explain, when given the option to make a customizable character I almost always end up making a smallish average built black guy, I've been doing this since... when did baulder's gate come out?

I think it's because in my mind the character is more fun if they're NOT me a giant blonde man.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I think it is in fact strictly gameplay optimal to be a gay man in Fallout New Vegas.

Reason being that there are more male NPC enemies than female, and almost all of the very strong ones are male, so the 5% bonus damage to male NPCs is better, and Confirmed Bachelor actually has the most unique dialogue options of all the four gender preference perks.

 

[Vigormortis]

Do you know who disgusts me just as much as those that think it's okay that the industry effectively 'white-washes' most game protagonists?

Those that think playing a game as a fiction character of a different sex, race, sexual preference, etc somehow enlightens them to the real world plight of those sexes, races, sexual preferences, etc.

I mean, seriously? For fuck's sake...

That said:
Diversity isn't inherently a bad thing. In fact, in most cases, it's a truly beneficial thing. As such, we should have more of it within the industry. Not always at the cost of artistic expression, mind you, but certainly far more than we have.

 

[the December King]

Aw. Look at the babies.

xD They will destroy their mother's enemies.

She is amazing- and look at all the little babies! Melts my heart, it does...

I mean, I get that, on topic, a different point of view for a nuanced character, set in a relatable/comparable world narrative to ours, would make for inticing and engaging story-telling and subsequent role playing. A character that offers a different point of view and different values or priorities would be appreciated, especially if it is presented or handled in a competent manner.

 

[Narcogen]

"Understand, I'm not saying games starring minority groups should be created to educate straight white men"

That's OK. I'll say it.

 

[SNCommand]

Articles like this always seem like such projecting, I've never experienced acting differently just because of the race or gender of the character I play as, the only limitations are those the game puts in my way, when I play a male Shepard in Mass Effect for example, I play as a renegade infiltrator that romances women and yells at politicians, when I play as a female Shepard, I play as a renegade infiltrator that romances women, and yells even more at politicians, if I had played an alien I would probably be a renegade infiltrator romancing the female aliens and yelling at politicians

I always play games the way I find the most entertaining, in Last of Us for example I play as an stealthy murderer who takes down groups of enemies one by one, while in GTA IV I played as a loud, but still tactical mobster, and in Sims 3 I tried playing as a family consisting of a mother and three kids

 

[Imp_Emissary]

As for games made with human/humanoid protagonist. Making them female, a different race, or whatever shouldn't be nearly as challenging as making a game about a spider. Unlike non-humanoids, all you have to do most of the time is change the story a bit/plan the story out with this in mind.

Nah. You're not going to have an Interweb full of spiders telling you how wrong you've written your spider story. I'm sure 'Goat Simulator' got all kinds of things wrong, but on the Face of it, Tumblr is not all a'Twitter. >

.>

I should go.

Spoiler: -_-....

[http://s105.photobucket.com/user/ihatephotob1/media/e4109f267bf84a972e57e74f5ed8be9b-dog-punches-man-in-the-face_zps829df0e3.gif.html]

I'll let you off with a slap to the face this time, but next time...

I won't be a dog! ;p

Aw. Look at the babies.

xD They will destroy their mother's enemies.

She is amazing- and look at all the little babies! Melts my heart, it does...

I mean, I get that, on topic, a different point of view for a nuanced character, set in a relatable/comparable world narrative to ours, would make for inticing and engaging story-telling and subsequent role playing. A character that offers a different point of view and different values or priorities would be appreciated, especially if it is presented or handled in a competent manner.

xD Well that's true of pretty much everything though. Do all you can to make it good and baring unfortunate, or unforeseen events, it will be good.

No guarantees, but you don't get many of those on things that don't come in boxes, and, well...

That's one of the reasons many games publishers want to move to digital distribution. ;p

Diversity isn't inherently a bad thing.

Friend of mine once pointed out that there's a spectrum: Community on one end, Diversity on the other.

Community ain't all that bad either.

I run into someone at work, we both have service time, we bond. Doesn't matter color, creed, gender, or sexual preference. Dunno, maybe I'm atypical, but that's my experience.

We spend all this energy on 'zomg! appreciate the differences!'

People should focus more on how we're *alike* rather than how we're *different*.

Would make a better world.

"The best and worst thing you can say about someone is that they're human."

I think Mark Twain said that, but I'm not 100% sure. Correct me if you know please.

 

[SNCommand]

Articles like this always seem like such projecting, I've never experienced acting differently just because of the race or gender of the character I play as, the only limitations are those the game puts in my way, when I play a male Shepard in Mass Effect for example, I play as a renegade infiltrator that romances women and yells at politicians, when I play as a female Shepard, I play as a renegade infiltrator that romances women, and yells even more at politicians, if I had played an alien I would probably be a renegade infiltrator romancing the female aliens and yelling at politicians

Dude! WTF is wrong with you!?!?!?

Vangard, baby; embrace the shotgun and feel the buuuuurn!

The Shotgun/teleport jump can't compete with lining up a dozen headshots in a row, pulling out the giant caliber sniper rifle and sending a headless body flying down the corridor

 

[SNCommand]

Try it in ME3.
Granted, it will be hard to post back here while you're giggling hysterically, but...

Tried playing as a Krogan vanguard in multiplayer, punching brutes to death is fun, but I've always preferred stealthy precision in Mass Effect, if not I choose the Turian Havoc Engineer and let loose with the N7 Typhoon machine gun combined with the deployable machine gun ability, nothing can escape the hellfire

 

[Nurb]

Gamers have never tended to care what gender or race they played as long as the game itself was good.

This article does a lot of finger pointing and finger waggling at a generalization of an entire race/sexuality combo within a sub-culture and it's rather frustrating because this sort of stuff usually comes out of Kotaku or Cracked, which is why I've been with the Escapist so long.

I'm really disappointed.