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JuliusHackebeil on 30 April 2020
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Xxain said:
JuliusHackebeil said:

Yeah, I think that is one of the points.

Another point is, that diversity is just as important in a game as gameplay and story are. To me, this is wrong on multiple levels.

Diversity, at its most important (not necessarily at its best), is part of the story. When your game (or whatever) is about race, gender, sex, religion, age, ect., you really must have the right, diverse cast. Can't have a game about the struggle through apartheit in South Africa with just an asuan cast. In those cases you have to get diversity right.

What bugs me about Neil is, that he thinks diversity is just as important in games without focus on race, religion, etc. Race is an important issue and if your game is about it, go for it. But if it is not, I cannot see, how a game of only black people is worse than a game with black AND asian people. Race just goes skin deep. If your story is not about it, it should not matter. Is Joel (tlou) a hindu, or a christian? Does not matter. Ellie could have been a boy and/or Joel a Woman and it would have been as great a game.

Honestly, and I don't say this lightly, but everybody who thinks more races in your game (or genders, or other things as trivial as those) makes for a better game, strikes me as somewhat racist.

I think the opposite way. You are infering that unless there is a specific reason to justify it, that diversity should not exist. Why cant there be diversity for diversities sake? I dont agree with diversity being a important part of game, but do I take note of cool enthic characters? Yes I do. Speaking of ethic characters, isn't it strange that Japan is responsible for all the coolest black characters? Thats a damn shame.

Perhaps I was not clear and this is a very complex topic for me but I was not at all trying to infer that there needs to be a specific reason for diversity, or otherwise it should not exist. And maybe our way of thinking about this is not even that different.

Maybe I get it out better this time: A cast that reflects the reality of the setting and context is vital (like a game about apartheit in South Africa with only asians would be broken in my regard). Or a game about the struggle of transsexuals without a trans-person. That would be just silly.

Other than that, diversity is of no importance to me. Thinking that less diversity makes something better, to me, is not okay (like: "I wish there were less asians/homosexuals/etc. in it"). BUT thinking that more diversity makes something better, to me, is just as bad (like: "I wish there were more asians/homosexuals/etc. in it").

It is easy to see, how wanting less diversity is often a bigger problem, since those regards typically (but not always) came from racist individuals.

But wanting more, to me, as I said, is just as much of a problem on an individual basis. Let's be polemic here, just to illustrate a point. In "Family Matters", or "The Cosby Show" the cast was all black. "It would have been better if there were more white character" - to me, that is a racist statement. "Married... with children" was all white. "It would have been better with more black characters" - to me, that is a racist statement. Just as much as to say: "it was so good because it was all white."

Or in another way: diversity has nothing to do with the quality of your product, it is absolutely neutral, unless the setting and context of your product requires a specific set of people.