78 réponses à ce sujet

[Riven326]

After looking at many pictures of Inquisition heroes created by users on this board as well as others, I have come to the conclusion that, gamers, once again, are responsible for a great deal of irony in claiming that they hate something while not so secretly loving it.

 

It's ironic, because so many gamers complain about the white 30-something male with dark hair archetype that dominates the front covers of the vast majority of western games, especially in the Triple A space. This supports my preconceptions that the industry does this because of the results it gathers, namely that, this particular image resonates with people in a way that others do not during focus testing. But one doesn't need to go very far or even spend that much money to see that this archetype is very popular among gamers, who publicly claim that they dislike this supposed generic image, and are in favor of something different, while at the same time posting their heroes, who, if he were a real person, would bear an uncanny resemblance to Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series.

 

It may be true that some gamers really don't like the industry's idea of the ideal hero. Nevertheless, I would conclude that the majority of gamers, especially male gamers, prefer this particular image for their ideal hero over something that's potentially flawed or something that reminds us that were are, in fact, flawed and we all don't look alike. I think, too, that it's just easier to adhere to the boundaries of this archetype, mostly because it's very RPG-friendly, and also because players already have years of experience under their belt after crafting the same character in countless games.

 

Anyway, that's my piece and I would like to hear your thoughts.

[Dreamer]

What you're describing is what most sensible people already understand: pop culture (including video games) reflects the public interest--not the other way around.

 

Some groups will grab their soap boxes and loudly proclaim that "gamers are dead" and that women have been systematically removed from the equation, but they'd be wrong (and I imagine many of them know they're wrong); the chiseled scruffy-looking nerf herder type is ubiquitous not because of any cynical ploy by publishers and marketers to cater to the boy's club, it's ubiquitous because it's what a majority of us seem to like on all sides of the gender and sexuality line.

 

Nathan Drake/Aiden Pearce/Starkiller/Gerault/Rico Rodriguez continue to show up because it sells and this is not because they want it to sell, but because we love it. As you so astutely observed, we fall back to the chiseled scruffy-looking nerf herder even when presented with virtually unlimited choices.

 

It will take generations to change this, and rest assured it will change eventually.

[tmp7704]

After looking at many pictures of Inquisition heroes created by users on this board as well as others, I have come to the conclusion that, gamers, once again, are responsible for a great deal of irony in claiming that they hate something while not so secretly loving it.
 
It's ironic, because so many gamers complain about the white 30-something male with dark hair archetype that dominates the front covers of the vast majority of western games, especially in the Triple A space.

Well, I've checked what seemed like a recent thread for inquisitor pictures: http://forum.bioware...-together-here/

and can't say like if feels it supports that opinion too well. At the least, it demonstrates that there's willingness to play plenty characters other than the dark haired stubbly dudes (the complaint about the dudes is that they dominate as the game protagonists, not that they exist at all)

edit: the other character screenshot thread, http://forum.bioware...inquisitor-herealso appears to have large number of characters who are not male, or not dark haired. Sometimes even both~

[actionhero112]

Maybe it's because I'm a white dude with dark hair and blue eyes. 

 

What? 

 

I'd imagine if I was any other race my go to character would be someone who looks like me.

 

And I think that's the problem. Too many white dudes with dark hair being protags means it's hard to find games with someone who looks like me if I was another race. This used to be a big problem, but now I don't think it's as prevalent as it used to be. 

[Shrave]

I agree 100% with OP. We demand it, they supply it. Nothing sexist or racist about it. 

 

I wanted to add that I am not white, but absolutely do not get disappointed or even think twice about a game that doesn't necessarily feature a look like mine (South Asian). To me it's about the setting. When I think of RPGs, I think of the middle ages. When I think of the middle ages, I just see a bunch of white dudes riding into battle. Woopty doo!

[tmp7704]

When I think of RPGs, I think of the middle ages. When I think of the middle ages, I just see a bunch of white dudes riding into battle. Woopty doo!

When I think of RPGs I think of the elves, dwarves, orcs and dragons. And people flinging fireballs.

The middle ages only invoke a picture of medieval fair. And Robin Hood movies.

[Shrave]

When I think of RPGs I think of the elves, dwarves, orcs and dragons. And people flinging fireballs.

 

Yeah, but they're white and male 

 

On a serious note, can we just agree to "to each his/her own"?

[tmp7704]

Yeah, but they're white and male 

Nope, orcs are green and with the elves you can never tell. In some settings you can never tell with the dwarves, either

[luna1124]

There is no actual "character I always make", but usually I play a female, red or blond hair with green eyes. But I play male and female RPG characters.

[Cyonan]

I think it's not as much that there are tons of gamers saying they hate grizzled white male protagonists as much as it is the internet acting like an echo chamber and a minority of people being very vocal about it.

 

It's like how a lot of people are very vocal about how much they loathe Call of Duty, but the game still sells millions of copies because a lot of other people are buying it.

 

For me having your standard angry white guy as the protagonist doesn't bother me, but variety is still nice. When given the choice I don't tend to create a character that looks like that.

[robertmarilyn]

I'm human,  have dark hair, fair skin, and green eyes and more often than not I make my characters human, with dark hair, fair skin and green eyes (although my last guy has red hair). The guy (I'm about 50/50 whether I play a guy or gal) may or may not have stubble but in real life I'm a female so don't deal with stubble. Basically, I like to play humans that have my characteristics (except I can't fight and I'm not a hero). 

[shazza53]

Some good points.

My first Inquisitor was an older woman, loosely modeled after me. I've since tried a female dwarf, female elf, and human male. The human male (red hair, green eyes) is my go to now. Mostly because I really don't like the swishy walk/trot all of the females have. If I am gonna watch a character's backside for hours, it might as well be a good looking guy. (Note - 60+ yr old grandma here)

I imagine each person has their own bias, and lots of people just roll one of the standard characters. At least we do have some choice, even if they all are having a bad hair day.

[Cyonan]

All these people talking about modelling their characters face and hair after themselves and I'm just sitting here thinking "My hair is naturally two colours, so I've never been able to accurately recreate it in a video game".

[Unlucky 13]

Given the choice, my first character almost always looks something like me.  I'm male, in my 30's, light brown hair and blue eyes, and generally some level of stubble.  I guess I look cliche, lol.     

[Sylvius the Mad]

My first character is always a white guy in his 50s.

My second character is always female.

[Phoe77]

I think that "gamers" is an unacceptably broad generalization.  I personally don't mind the character type you describe because I like to make my males attractive and those are all qualities that I most typically find attractive.  There's really nothing more to it than that in my case.

[k1rage]

Well im male and in games like dragon age I always tend to make female Characters, reason being if im going to spend 50+ hrs on a game I prefer to be staring at a female behind. I mean think about it a lot of the game you spend looking at the back of you character.

 

I know they are just pixels but I prefer shapely female pixels lol

 

Also why cant you ever have a fat character?  

 

Bioware is know for its inclusiveness in its games but the is never a single fat guy in the whole game lol.

 

Cant a fatty save the world lol?

 

I would totally make my main character look like Santa clause if I could, lol Santa kicking ass and saving the world lol

[Sah291]

Well I'm female so I'm very used to playing these 30 something male protagonists by now. I don't mind it much, to be honest....I enjoy playing an attractive male character. It just means I'm used to not self inserting when I play games. Even when I do have the chance to play a female protagonist that I can customize, like in bioware games, I rarely make them look like me, and I'll change it up with different hair/eye color, features and whatnot. So yeah, I would surely enjoy more diversity, but I'm so very used to seeing male heroes, whether in games or in films or other media, perhaps I just learned early on when I was a child to empathize with male characters, to the point I don't really think about it. Maybe that's part of the issue, people (including female gamers) are accustomed to it. If women are generally more open and willing to play a male protagonist than the reverse, then it's always easier and more marketable for devs to just go with a male character.

[Phoe77]

I await the day when I'm allowed to make a fat character in a relatively serious rpg.  I'm sure they'd look as unrealistic as they always do, but the option would be appreciated (by me at least).

[Majestic Jazz]

Nathan Drake/Aiden Pearce/Starkiller/Gerault/Rico Rodriguez continue to show up because it sells and this is not because they want it to sell, but because we love it. As you so astutely observed, we fall back to the chiseled scruffy-looking nerf herder even when presented with virtually unlimited choices.

It will take generations to change this, and rest assured it will change eventually.

I am black and I never create white characters in my games. They are either black or have some bi-racial qualities along witj some black features.

[Exalus]

I hardly ever see a non-white male inquisitor in the screenshot thread that is not qunari.

For females, I rarely see one of color that is not drenched in makeup and rainbow colored contacts. 

 

Its unrealistic to expect the CC to allow you to make fat skinny characters from all nationalities nor would they get used very much anyways. Most people are still going to make nathan drakes and questionably young elven girls.

[Sylvius the Mad]

I await the day when I'm allowed to make a fat character in a relatively serious rpg. I'm sure they'd look as unrealistic as they always do, but the option would be appreciated (by me at least).

NWN allowed it. 13 years ago.

[Nefla]

I think it's disappointing to see that archetype so often even when people have the ability to create their own character. I wonder if people just have it drilled into their heads that "this is how a hero is supposed to look." Personally I like to go for variety in my characters and try to make each one different (the darker skinned characters are darker than they appear and all characters are less orange lol):

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Phoe77]

NWN allowed it. 13 years ago.

 

True, but no character in NWN was anything special to look at and, as you said, that was over a decade ago.  The best examples I can think of that are more recent are the Fable games and TOR.  It's unfortunate that fat Jedi seem so awkward to me.

[Majestic Jazz]

I think it's disappointing to see that archetype so often even when people have the ability to create their own character. I wonder if people just have it drilled into their heads that "this is how a hero is supposed to look." Personally I like to go for variety in my characters and try to make each one different (the darker skinned characters are darker than they appear and all characters are less orange lol):

Spoiler

To be blunt, people lack imagination. Even when given the opportunity to be creative and go for something that is less of the norm...they go for the norm.