The reason this sort of thing is so alienating to ‘consumers’ is because it commits the number one sin fiction can make – it breaks immersion. This is especially important in a fantasy setting, because to become immersed in a fantasy setting requires you to suspend your disbelief about the fantastical elements, making the contrived introduction or assertion of real-world concepts and values all the more jarring.
It’s like if rather than Aragorn receiving the sword Andúril from the elf lord Elrond at the mouth of the mountain pass, it was delivered in a package by an Amazon drone instead.
To use a recent example, I was playing a game called Night in the Woods, the premise of which is basically that an early-20s college dropout returns to their small-town childhood home and uncovers a dark plot to summon eldritch beings. The gameplay predominantly consists of talking to your neighbours and friends, who in their “real” conversations about ordinary life, money troubles, mental health and so forth, reveal the supernatural antagonisms that are creeping into everyday life. It’s supposed to be an allegory for the economic and social woes of small-town America. Sure, it’s political, but in a way that could be interpreted and embraced by either side.
I spent about 5 hours in the game, getting to know the characters, buying into their stories – the old lady who drip-feeds you information on your dead grandpa so you’ll keep visiting her each day; the call-centre employees who spend their breaks dosing up on coffee and nicotine to get by; your best friend, who has no opportunities to leave the town and resents you for throwing away the one you got. Interesting stuff. Subtle. Believable.
And then, out of nowhere… the priest refers to God as they/them. Instantly, I’m taken out of the game. This piece of dialogue is so obviously contrived and deliberately signposted and reinforced that it’s impossible to integrate as an honest representation of the setting. In a game about listening to characters talk about themselves, you’re suddenly hearing the thoughts of the writers instead.
I turned it off and never played it again. Fortunately, it was free as part of a subscription service, so I didn’t lose anything but time. But had I known about this beforehand, I wouldn’t have played it, and I definitely wouldn’t have bought it. It is to be hoped that more and more games with these elements are made financially inviable by gamers actively not buying them, like Veilguard has been. Developers will learn, in time. We'll make them learn.
Yes that’s exactly it, and the same applies with a medieval equivalent setting village where everyone has the attitudes of modernity and the racial diversity of a modern city. It makes no sense even in a fantasy context and as you say a fantasy context requires all the OTHER elements to be particularly believable.
Brilliant! I don’t play computer games or donate to liberal anythings. But, I can empathize with the poor schmucks who invested, donated, or bought into either corruption. Sigh. Onward and upward.
So much for fantasy. They don't mean to alienate their majority straight audience; they mean to convert them to perversion. The Left doesn't care what YOU WANT; they only care about what they want to make you. The current obsession is to convert heterosexual males so that they accept homosexual males as appropriate partners. They like to lecture us on how they were born homosexual, but refuse to believe the majority of males are born heterosexual. "Trans" doesn't even come into play, because this is just an exaggerated form of homosexuality. Poll transsexuals and you will find that they have as partners, same sex (as they were born) people. It's also a war against women, as they see women as their main competition for the attention of heterosexual men. If you were part of an enemy nation, castrating males would be a good thing, as it tamps down the competing nation's population. If you can get that nation to do it to themselves, through brainwashing, all the better. All this "woke" bullshit is a long term effort. Think about it. This game is just another weapon of brainwashing, aimed at adolescents, who are about to become men. Convince them now that they are homosexual, and prevent a lot of procreation.
You know, in general I also don't like Wokefication of our entertainment, especially when historically white characters are played by Black actors, or all kinds of genders and sexualities are included just for the sake of it.
However, in this particular case of game industry I beg to differ. Hear me out why. Yeah, you're right that gaming is mostly for straight boys but have you given some thought to the whys of it? Perhaps men, particularly straight men, are somewhat more inclined to gaming overall. But another reason is that this game industry catering solely to straight males which you approve of, actually prevents female and gay male players from entering the market! For example as a gay boy I like fantasy games but if all I see here is boobs, it puts me off, and I'm sure it puts off female players as well. So you just don't let gays and girls to even enter the gaming, gatekeepibg it from us with boobs.
That's why I believe it's essential there should be male erotics option for gays and girls, or no boobs then either. And mind you I don't think it should put straight male players off, they'll still have their boobs option, there would be just more options for us. Why is this bad? In many games there are different options you can choose, not just one line of playing.
Well early Dragon Age answered that point. It had gay options in relationship dialogue choices. But they did it cleverly back then. Straight gamers could totally avoid that content and get through the whole game without experiencing it, so straight and gay gamers had these funny relationship options they liked (neither of them featured lectures). With the latest game, you have to do the trans storyline to unlock certain areas of the map, and you have to sit through the lectures with no dialogue choice to disagree.
Well, you should have clarified it better then. If there are no options to choose from but everyone has to do a trans line to unlock the next level, it's different. I might still not mind it as some new experience but I can see how it could put other people off.
And lectures on anything political have no place in gaming overall I believe, so here I'm 100% agreed.
I basically thought the essay was long enough so didn’t have time to put in a discussion of the early games in the franchise that clarifies the difference. Possibly that’s an improvement but as we have discussed it here everyone can see it anyway. Thanks for raising the point.
I don't think your criticism is really valid, because games that feature overt feminine sexualisation are in the minority. For every Stellar Blade, there are 10 Ghost of Tsushima. For every Overwatch, 10 Skyrims. For every classic Tomb Raider, 10 Hollow Knights. Every racing and sports game. Most puzzle platformers. What's stopping you from playing the best game of the last decade, Elden Ring? Or God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, or Hogwarts Legacy? There's literally thousands of options.
Well, here I agree, I don't mind neutral with this regard games, it's fair to everyone.
However, if games with more erotic touch are made, I believe there should be male erotics option too to make it fair, likely as an option so everyone can choose.
The reason this sort of thing is so alienating to ‘consumers’ is because it commits the number one sin fiction can make – it breaks immersion. This is especially important in a fantasy setting, because to become immersed in a fantasy setting requires you to suspend your disbelief about the fantastical elements, making the contrived introduction or assertion of real-world concepts and values all the more jarring.
It’s like if rather than Aragorn receiving the sword Andúril from the elf lord Elrond at the mouth of the mountain pass, it was delivered in a package by an Amazon drone instead.
To use a recent example, I was playing a game called Night in the Woods, the premise of which is basically that an early-20s college dropout returns to their small-town childhood home and uncovers a dark plot to summon eldritch beings. The gameplay predominantly consists of talking to your neighbours and friends, who in their “real” conversations about ordinary life, money troubles, mental health and so forth, reveal the supernatural antagonisms that are creeping into everyday life. It’s supposed to be an allegory for the economic and social woes of small-town America. Sure, it’s political, but in a way that could be interpreted and embraced by either side.
I spent about 5 hours in the game, getting to know the characters, buying into their stories – the old lady who drip-feeds you information on your dead grandpa so you’ll keep visiting her each day; the call-centre employees who spend their breaks dosing up on coffee and nicotine to get by; your best friend, who has no opportunities to leave the town and resents you for throwing away the one you got. Interesting stuff. Subtle. Believable.
And then, out of nowhere… the priest refers to God as they/them. Instantly, I’m taken out of the game. This piece of dialogue is so obviously contrived and deliberately signposted and reinforced that it’s impossible to integrate as an honest representation of the setting. In a game about listening to characters talk about themselves, you’re suddenly hearing the thoughts of the writers instead.
I turned it off and never played it again. Fortunately, it was free as part of a subscription service, so I didn’t lose anything but time. But had I known about this beforehand, I wouldn’t have played it, and I definitely wouldn’t have bought it. It is to be hoped that more and more games with these elements are made financially inviable by gamers actively not buying them, like Veilguard has been. Developers will learn, in time. We'll make them learn.
Yes that’s exactly it, and the same applies with a medieval equivalent setting village where everyone has the attitudes of modernity and the racial diversity of a modern city. It makes no sense even in a fantasy context and as you say a fantasy context requires all the OTHER elements to be particularly believable.
I've never even seen a computer game, let alone played one, but that was such a good article that I feel your pain.
Thanks Bettina. Tbh I’m showing my age by calling them computer games. 😂 they are probably called something cooler now. 😂
Brilliant! I don’t play computer games or donate to liberal anythings. But, I can empathize with the poor schmucks who invested, donated, or bought into either corruption. Sigh. Onward and upward.
Thanks Doug 😀
So much for fantasy. They don't mean to alienate their majority straight audience; they mean to convert them to perversion. The Left doesn't care what YOU WANT; they only care about what they want to make you. The current obsession is to convert heterosexual males so that they accept homosexual males as appropriate partners. They like to lecture us on how they were born homosexual, but refuse to believe the majority of males are born heterosexual. "Trans" doesn't even come into play, because this is just an exaggerated form of homosexuality. Poll transsexuals and you will find that they have as partners, same sex (as they were born) people. It's also a war against women, as they see women as their main competition for the attention of heterosexual men. If you were part of an enemy nation, castrating males would be a good thing, as it tamps down the competing nation's population. If you can get that nation to do it to themselves, through brainwashing, all the better. All this "woke" bullshit is a long term effort. Think about it. This game is just another weapon of brainwashing, aimed at adolescents, who are about to become men. Convince them now that they are homosexual, and prevent a lot of procreation.
You know, in general I also don't like Wokefication of our entertainment, especially when historically white characters are played by Black actors, or all kinds of genders and sexualities are included just for the sake of it.
However, in this particular case of game industry I beg to differ. Hear me out why. Yeah, you're right that gaming is mostly for straight boys but have you given some thought to the whys of it? Perhaps men, particularly straight men, are somewhat more inclined to gaming overall. But another reason is that this game industry catering solely to straight males which you approve of, actually prevents female and gay male players from entering the market! For example as a gay boy I like fantasy games but if all I see here is boobs, it puts me off, and I'm sure it puts off female players as well. So you just don't let gays and girls to even enter the gaming, gatekeepibg it from us with boobs.
That's why I believe it's essential there should be male erotics option for gays and girls, or no boobs then either. And mind you I don't think it should put straight male players off, they'll still have their boobs option, there would be just more options for us. Why is this bad? In many games there are different options you can choose, not just one line of playing.
Well early Dragon Age answered that point. It had gay options in relationship dialogue choices. But they did it cleverly back then. Straight gamers could totally avoid that content and get through the whole game without experiencing it, so straight and gay gamers had these funny relationship options they liked (neither of them featured lectures). With the latest game, you have to do the trans storyline to unlock certain areas of the map, and you have to sit through the lectures with no dialogue choice to disagree.
I had no problem with gay options I could ignore.
Well, you should have clarified it better then. If there are no options to choose from but everyone has to do a trans line to unlock the next level, it's different. I might still not mind it as some new experience but I can see how it could put other people off.
And lectures on anything political have no place in gaming overall I believe, so here I'm 100% agreed.
I basically thought the essay was long enough so didn’t have time to put in a discussion of the early games in the franchise that clarifies the difference. Possibly that’s an improvement but as we have discussed it here everyone can see it anyway. Thanks for raising the point.
And I in the contrary enjoy your long essays and this was a bit shortish for me lol but maybe it's just me xD
Thinking about it I’ve added in a paragraph reflecting this discussion. 😀
Thanks, and I believe it would be useful for many!
I don't think your criticism is really valid, because games that feature overt feminine sexualisation are in the minority. For every Stellar Blade, there are 10 Ghost of Tsushima. For every Overwatch, 10 Skyrims. For every classic Tomb Raider, 10 Hollow Knights. Every racing and sports game. Most puzzle platformers. What's stopping you from playing the best game of the last decade, Elden Ring? Or God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, or Hogwarts Legacy? There's literally thousands of options.
Well, here I agree, I don't mind neutral with this regard games, it's fair to everyone.
However, if games with more erotic touch are made, I believe there should be male erotics option too to make it fair, likely as an option so everyone can choose.