59 réponses à ce sujet

[Linkenski]

I feel like ever since 2013 or something the entire world (and especially over there in the murica) feminism is suddenly hot and almost proactive I'd say, and it has affected gaming in quite a huge way too.

 

I like it. I've always liked it. Every time I played Metroid I would constantly think of how unique and cool it was that I'm playing as this badass space-suit character... and it's a woman! Likewise, one of my favorite games back when I had a PS2 was an action/RPG called Drakan: The Ancients' Gates. It looks like this, just to give you an impression of what it's like (and to make you read the rest, cuz... pictures and stuff)

 

 

Similarly, you play as a female lead named Rynn in it, and she had quite a charismatic vibe about her too (I don't think it holds up anymore but I thought she was "a great character" back then.

 

Yet, as I'm skimming accros the headlines of Kotaku, IGN, NeoGAF and other gaming related news today, I'm just reminded constantly of how amazing and cherished and celebrated it is that we have so many new games out of E3 with STRONG FEMALE LEAD ™ and I just... I don't wanna deliberately disrespect anyone, but to me this is ****** groan-inducing.

 

I feel like half the people who say this or write articles about it are just jumping on a bandwagon. They're equivalent to the third-wheel in a social situation who just goes with what they can hear is appropriate or popular, and in a sense, they do it out of fear. A fear of not being aknowledged or something.

 

...aaaand before I go more down that road let me just roll back a little bit.

 

My point is very basic: I used to cherish the fact that we had some good games with female leads ever since I began being a gamer, but as everyone is making a fuss over this and hyping it up nowadays, I feel like it's a trend that's being forced and that, increasingly, the creative developers who decide to have a female lead do it out of attention-seeking rather than out of creative thought and it basically pisses me the hell off. I feel like this whole STRONG FEMALE LEAD™ (I'm gonna say SFL from now on) is so dishonest at this point and so blown out of proportion that it's become a bastardisation of art and female prominence, in itself.

 

I want to like this feminist touch but it's so ****** forced in more than half the games we see nowadays. Does anyone also feel like they can no longer truly appreciate when games have female leads because of how the industry and games media hype it up and popularize it?

[Liamv2]

Meh whatever I don't care if the lead is female or male as long as they are well written. If they are bland as hell i'll hate them regardless of gender.

[SafetyShattered]

I can kind of understand to be honest. I have no problems at all with female leads, as long as they are well written. So many games now that have them try to push it as a selling point. Like rather then just let the game and character speak for themselves they constantly bombard you with the fact that you're playing as a female and "we're so progressive blah blah we have a female lead." Where that shouldn't be an issue. Having a female lead shouldn't be some mind blowing wow moment anymore. It should just be looked at as a normal occurrence.

[EarthboundNess]

Her name is Nah.

 

Spoiler

[Naughty Bear]

Never cared. Male, female, dodo. Good story, gameplay and world. I'm happy.

[Riven326]

As opposed to the generic Nathan Drake characters we continue to see on the front cover of every Triple-A game? I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm happy these developers are finally realizing that female characters can also sell games.

[Isichar]

Meh whatever I don't care if the lead is female or male as long as they are well written. If they are bland as hell i'll hate them regardless of gender.

Well said Liam.

[Commander Rpg]

I couldn't and can't play a game where the protagonist is a woman and the game itself requires self-identification with the character. Commonly, rpgs with a woman protagonist are the games I skip entirely, but that's just an example.

[BroBear Berbil]

In all honesty, I don't care if the character is male or female. Growing up I never had a problem with playing Lara Croft, or the Sorceress in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the hero in Legend of Mana, or any other female character. I never gave it any thought. In games where I can play both I play both.

 

Now I only give it any thought because, as you said, everybody is making such a big deal about it and constantly drawing attention to it, so naturally I'm looking for some motive behind having these characters be female now. It's especially annoying because people are acting like women have never been playable in games before.

 

Like during the Fallout 4 presentation at E3 when Todd Howard says you can play a woman. You could always play a woman. Why did he need to say this? Why did the audience go so wild over it?

[Isichar]

In all honesty, I don't care if the character is male or female. Growing up I never had a problem with playing Lara Croft, or the Sorceress in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the hero in Legend of Mana, or any other female character. I never gave it any thought. In games where I can play both I play both.
 
Now I only give it any thought because, as you said, everybody is making such a big deal about it and constantly drawing attention to it, so naturally I'm looking for some motive behind having these characters be female now. It's especially annoying because people are acting like women have never been playable in games before.
 
Like during the Fallout 4 presentation at E3 when Todd Howard says you can play a woman. You could always play a woman. Why did he need to say this? Why did the audience go so wild over it?

There was a rumor that you wouldn't be able to I guess. A lot of people got upset over it.

[L. Han]

It's a risk when they make main characters female. Just look at the recent "controversy" with Black Widow. The problem really comes from the fact that everyone expects a female character (especially leads) to represent everyone. While they all will say the character shouldn't have to be perfect and should be written in the same way male characters are, they ultimately will criticize writers who make a female character look weak or have some flaws. Accusing them of being sexist or a misogynistic jerk.

 

This applies to characters who aren't Caucasian. People will complain if the character acts like 'white' people. People will also complain if said character has slight exaggeration to their personalities that borders stereotyping.

 

If you people really want to 'fix' this issue, slamming and harassing writers isn't the way to go. Go out and make your own arts that fits in your image. Encourage other demographics of people to come out and participate.

 

Most writers are taught to write what they know. If they happen to be a white/slavic/whatever and raised in a white/slavic/whatever culture, it would be a bit unrealistic to expect them to be a master at writing stories about being a peasant of the Aksumite Empire.

[Liamv2]

It's a risk when they make main characters female. Just look at the recent "controversy" with Black Widow. The problem really comes from the fact that everyone expects a female character (especially leads) to represent everyone. While they all will say the character shouldn't have to be perfect and should be written in the same way male characters are, they ultimately will criticize writers who make a female character look weak or have some flaws. Accusing them of being sexist or a misogynistic jerk.

 

Ignore it. Tell them to ****** off if need be it's not like it's hard to outsmart such morons.

[Obadiah]

...
I want to like this feminist touch but it's so ****** forced in more than half the games we see nowadays. Does anyone also feel like they can no longer truly appreciate when games have female leads because of how the industry and games media hype it up and popularize it?

Well... advertising and hype isn't going anywhere. Like everything else, you just have to tune out the messaging and figure if you like what you bought (female lead or not).

[In Exile]

As opposed to the generic Nathan Drake characters we continue to see on the front cover of every Triple-A game? I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm happy these developers are finally realizing that female characters can also sell games.

 

I'm not sure the generic look of the protagonist somehow sells games more. It would be one thing if the female leads are of a different trope, but it's all "conventionally attractive athletic people". Not sure a different gender changes the blandness of it all. 

[Simfam]

People love overcomplicating their lives by thinking of these things and getting bothered over nothing.

 

If it's a good character, regardless of sex, race or religion I'll 8/10 times really like it.

[Akrabra]

Meh whatever I don't care if the lead is female or male as long as they are well written. If they are bland as hell i'll hate them regardless of gender.

This /thread.

[Jorji Costava]

In response to the OP, my suggestion is that it's best to let go of the tribalism; the mentality of "Well, I like X, but there are other people on the internet who also like X, and they suck, so I'm not allowed to like any of the same things they do" is just not constructive.

 

I'm not sure the generic look of the protagonist somehow sells games more. It would be one thing if the female leads are of a different trope, but it's all "conventionally attractive athletic people". Not sure a different gender changes the blandness of it all. 

 

I don't think it's just about the look though; most AAA protagonists tend to be very similar in terms of their basic psychological characteristics as well: 30-something grizzled, stoic hardasses (with a code, of course), usually with a military background. The industry is so risk-averse that we don't even have a diverse array of white male protagonists, let alone diverse characters of different ethnicities and backgrounds.

[DEUGH Man]

Honestly, the best way for me to enjoy anything nowadays is just to ignore the press on it and take it in as it is. Everybody has these motives that I just don't care about. I wanna be entertained. You do that, and I don't care if the protagonist is a giant grey blob. Just do what you need to do to make the vision come alive.

[ruggly]

The PC could be a teacup, so long as they're interesting.

[Giantdeathrobot]

In response to the OP, my suggestion is that it's best to let go of the tribalism; the mentality of "Well, I like X, but there are other people on the internet who also like X, and they suck, so I'm not allowed to like any of the same things they do" is just not constructive.

 

 

I don't think it's just about the look though; most AAA protagonists tend to be very similar in terms of their basic psychological characteristics as well: 30-something grizzled, stoic hardasses (with a code, of course), usually with a military background. The industry is so risk-averse that we don't even have a diverse array of white male protagonists, let alone diverse characters of different ethnicities and backgrounds.

 

At least video games are better than movies. Big movies with a lead actress are very few and far between, last I saw was Lucy I think, with dear Scarlett Johanneson (or however you spell it). At least there are a few game/series with female PCs, and lots of games where you can choose a gender. 

 

It also slighly amuses me when people say ''I don't care as long as the character is well written''. While I agree with the sentiment and will never look down upon a character just because they're a 30-something grizzled white dude, let's be completely honest here; how many of those are actually that well written, that any departure from ''the norm'' needs to justify itself with superior writting?

 

It's not that white dudes can't be well written, obviously. If nothing else, Breaking Bad has shown that they can take that basic mold and do wonderful things with it. It's just that most media, be they shows, films or games, simply do not go anywhere near that far and simply use completely generic protagonists in an effort to please everyone. And it gets mighty boring at times.

[bmwcrazy]

The PC could be a teacup, so long as they're interesting.

Exactly this.

I really don't have a preference and I have no idea why it is such a big deal to some people.

[Get Magna Carter]

I couldn't and can't play a game where the protagonist is a woman and the game itself requires self-identification with the character. Commonly, rpgs with a woman protagonist are the games I skip entirely, but that's just an example.

I don't think I could play any game which REQUIRED self-identification with a character in a game - unless the character was a cowardly wimp who avoids combat.and dies in the first dangerous situation in the game...

Fortuanately, I don't think I've encountered any game which truly requires self-identification