Just about everyone wants to see themselves in the main player character of an RPG. It’s one reason character creators exist. Why we can choose between male and female Shepard and then toggle their appearances. But why is it white men yell the loudest when they don’t see themselves in a fixed main character?
It’s a valid question. Sure there was an ask for female assassin play, but it wasn’t anything like this crude, angry, and off the rails epidemic we see far too often. Why is this population so loud and rage filled?
I happily play Witcher, and enjoy Geralt for who he is, including those tired sighs and the long hair that blows in a wind that’s not there. Geralt looks like he’s been torn off the cover of an old bodice ripper novel, which is a bit of an eye roll but adds to the humor. Even so. As a woman I had no problems with it or the game. I’ve played W3 through twice.
Enter Ciri as the main for the next game. Suddenly there’s a huge problem even though she’s the logical next Witcher. I’d like to know how she plays as a character outside the premade with gimped UI. The preview to 4 was nicely nuanced as well, a lot of detail packed into that clip apart from just simple spooky monster fighting. She clearly has a chip on her shoulder about life choices, and fair enough given her history.
Again, no raging outcry regarding Geralt or the way he looked for 3 installments. Now there’s outcry.
I’m not Japanese or Black and yet I’ll happily play this latest AC (but only after its old and goes on sale).
I made my character in XCX a woman for the same reason. I’m a boring ass white straight cis dude. Games are a fantasy and escape from real life, maybe I wanna play as a chick or black guy or trans person or alien or something, fucking who gives a shit. I played Persona 5, and I wasn’t mad that I’m not actually a 16-year-old Japanese boy.
White, cis, and male has been the default for hundreds of years. When a piece of media presents an alternative, some white cis males consider it an attack on their very being. They see faces that are not their own and think that this ‘correction’ of centuries of oppression means that the media is saying that being white or male is inherently wrong.
It’s narrow-minded and selfish, but in a way that’s akin to a toddler who has never had to share their toys before. Hopefully they will eventually grow up and understand that the world does not revolve around them. They’ve just never had to experience that fact before.
I do recall some people being upset that they basically “yassified” Geralt from the witcher 2 and onwards. According to the books he’s supposed to look “weird” or something like that. Like, not repulsive but definitely not sexy, with slightly “unnatural” proportions and beast-like traits, etc. Which I think they nailed in the first game, through the low definition textures and models probably help a lot with the uncanniness.
I find that people crying about non-white male and/or non-bimbo female MCs are outrage tourists pushing their stupid gamergate agenda 99% of the time. At this point I don’t know why we are even acknowledging them anymore.
I’m not a samurai or a ninja and it would be fairly weird to see a white man in Japan at that time especially in those roles. I don’t need to see myself.
Also have these people never read a book where they aren’t represented by the main character? ( pre-edit: true, they probably don’t/can’t read)
I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of the Witcher series and honestly it’s a series far more about Ciri than it is about Geralt. Garalt is only important because of his connection via destiny to Ciri (and of course he was the main character of the short stories that preceded the longform books) but as Ciri grew up and became capable of protecting herself he became less important until even destiny stopped caring about Geralt.
Also Ciri never received the full Witcher mutations because the process for performing the mutations was lost not long after Geralt became a Witcher. She received a partial mutation via a witcher’s diet at Ker Moren (i imagine that’s like HRT for trans people in that the hormones are what does most of the heavy lifting, and the surgeries just round out the transition) but that’s it. The rest is all her being a bad-ass on her own. I’m excited to play as her and see the kinds of bad-assery and moral quagmires she finds herself the center of
Thankfully this isn’t ubiquitous, at least in my experience. The Hades franchise has its second game in beta (is it still in beta? I haven’t checked in in a few months) with a female lead and I haven’t noticed a peep about that. Hopefully that’s not just the communities I’m part of and it’s actually been received as well as I’ve perceived
Basically “not all gamers” but not in an asshole way haha
Just about everyone wants to see themselves in the main player character of an RPG. It’s one reason character creators exist. Why we can choose between male and female Shepard and then toggle their appearances. But why is it white men yell the loudest when they don’t see themselves in a fixed main character?
It’s a valid question. Sure there was an ask for female assassin play, but it wasn’t anything like this crude, angry, and off the rails epidemic we see far too often. Why is this population so loud and rage filled?
I happily play Witcher, and enjoy Geralt for who he is, including those tired sighs and the long hair that blows in a wind that’s not there. Geralt looks like he’s been torn off the cover of an old bodice ripper novel, which is a bit of an eye roll but adds to the humor. Even so. As a woman I had no problems with it or the game. I’ve played W3 through twice.
Enter Ciri as the main for the next game. Suddenly there’s a huge problem even though she’s the logical next Witcher. I’d like to know how she plays as a character outside the premade with gimped UI. The preview to 4 was nicely nuanced as well, a lot of detail packed into that clip apart from just simple spooky monster fighting. She clearly has a chip on her shoulder about life choices, and fair enough given her history.
Again, no raging outcry regarding Geralt or the way he looked for 3 installments. Now there’s outcry.
I’m not Japanese or Black and yet I’ll happily play this latest AC (but only after its old and goes on sale).
I always wanted to see anything else. I’m a human male every day. Give me a female and/or an alien or some other strange thing. Let’s be different!
I never understand this need for people to mimic themselves.
That’s how I see it too. It’s fun experiencing different things.
I made my character in XCX a woman for the same reason. I’m a boring ass white straight cis dude. Games are a fantasy and escape from real life, maybe I wanna play as a chick or black guy or trans person or alien or something, fucking who gives a shit. I played Persona 5, and I wasn’t mad that I’m not actually a 16-year-old Japanese boy.
White, cis, and male has been the default for hundreds of years. When a piece of media presents an alternative, some white cis males consider it an attack on their very being. They see faces that are not their own and think that this ‘correction’ of centuries of oppression means that the media is saying that being white or male is inherently wrong.
It’s narrow-minded and selfish, but in a way that’s akin to a toddler who has never had to share their toys before. Hopefully they will eventually grow up and understand that the world does not revolve around them. They’ve just never had to experience that fact before.
I do recall some people being upset that they basically “yassified” Geralt from the witcher 2 and onwards. According to the books he’s supposed to look “weird” or something like that. Like, not repulsive but definitely not sexy, with slightly “unnatural” proportions and beast-like traits, etc. Which I think they nailed in the first game, through the low definition textures and models probably help a lot with the uncanniness.
I find that people crying about non-white male and/or non-bimbo female MCs are outrage tourists pushing their stupid gamergate agenda 99% of the time. At this point I don’t know why we are even acknowledging them anymore.
I’m not a samurai or a ninja and it would be fairly weird to see a white man in Japan at that time especially in those roles. I don’t need to see myself.
Also have these people never read a book where they aren’t represented by the main character? ( pre-edit: true, they probably don’t/can’t read)
this is beside your point but nioh 1 had a white samurai based on a historical figure. i bet the chuds werent upset about that when it came out.
I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of the Witcher series and honestly it’s a series far more about Ciri than it is about Geralt. Garalt is only important because of his connection via destiny to Ciri (and of course he was the main character of the short stories that preceded the longform books) but as Ciri grew up and became capable of protecting herself he became less important until even destiny stopped caring about Geralt.
Also Ciri never received the full Witcher mutations because the process for performing the mutations was lost not long after Geralt became a Witcher. She received a partial mutation via a witcher’s diet at Ker Moren (i imagine that’s like HRT for trans people in that the hormones are what does most of the heavy lifting, and the surgeries just round out the transition) but that’s it. The rest is all her being a bad-ass on her own. I’m excited to play as her and see the kinds of bad-assery and moral quagmires she finds herself the center of
Thankfully this isn’t ubiquitous, at least in my experience. The Hades franchise has its second game in beta (is it still in beta? I haven’t checked in in a few months) with a female lead and I haven’t noticed a peep about that. Hopefully that’s not just the communities I’m part of and it’s actually been received as well as I’ve perceived
Basically “not all gamers” but not in an asshole way haha
There’s no such thing as always or never when it comes to people, except death.