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JWeinCom on 09 June 2024
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JRPGfan said:
JWeinCom said:

Either representation doesn't matter, and there's no reason to care what the race/gender/w/e of the characters are, hence no reason to complain. Or...representation does matter, which would be a good reason to consciously add more of it. 

It should represent the society the games are made in right?
So like if 13% of america is black, roughly that amount of lead characters should be so as well right?
If then half of that is black women (~6-7%).  If you notice like 5 games in a row with a black female lead.... it stands out right? like its oddly many.


Ooooh Gears is back.
E-day.. a prequel?

First, there were by my count 2 black female leads. Apparently that is 2 too many for you. Actually, I think it's probably one, one African American and one Arabic. There were at least 3 white men, so you'll have plenty of them to ogle if that's your thing.

Second, neither of the games are made by US studios. One is being developed by compulsion games in Montreal. The other is by A44 games in New Zealand. Also, these games are going to be sold to a worldwide audience.

Third, the games are not set in locations where people are 83% white. Flintlock seems to feature the Sumerian pantheon, so presumably takes place in a steampunk version of the Middle East. Hence, a Middle Eastern Character should be logical. The other game takes place in the Bayou, and the state of Louisiana is 35% black overall and predominately black in many areas. And the population is about 50% female, so having a black female seems to make perfect sense.

Finally no. There is absolutely no reason there should be a racial or gender quota for game characters. Setting aside any altruistic desires, there are plenty of perfectly business oriented reasons to intentionally make a diverse roster of characters. For example, believe it or not, many people like to hear stories about backgrounds outside of their own. In fact, that's pretty much the entire purpose of the fiction genre, to explore experiences outside of the norm. 

All that said, why should some sort of quota only apply to race? I mean, out of the general population of the US, what percentage of us are secret agent spies? I would wager somewhere close to 0%. Surely there are less super spies in the United states than women of color. Yet, there are an equal amount of each in this showcase. You didn't complain about that did you? 

The average American is obese or overweight. Yet, I didn't see many overweight characters. Don't think I saw a single one actually. Again, you didn't see fit to complain about that. 

The median age in America is 38.5. 18% of Americans are senior citizens. I don't think anywhere near 1/5 of game characters are senior citizens, and most of them surely aren't near 40. Definitely not in this showcase. Again, no complaints. 

The characters shown in the showcase did not in any way shape or form reflect the general population of the United States, or really any other country. And yet, the only aspect in which they diverged which seemed to upset you was when it came to black girl leads. That's curious. 

Last edited by JWeinCom - on 10 June 2024