Let’s test that out.

”yet another gruff Asian female protagonist!”

”yet another gruff black female protagonist!”

”yet another gruff Indian female protagonist!”

Yeah no, those don’t seem to have the same bite that the white male one has, mostly because the very idea that you’d be tired of seeing gruff Indian or black or Asian etc etc women lead video game characters is laughable at best because there pretty much aren’t any. Yet gruff white male makes sense because the vast majority of less characters are white, and the vast majority of bikers in entertainment media are portrayed as scruffy.

If we were to get a game with a scruffy Asian lead character and someone said “I originally wrote this character off as just another scruffy Asian male protagonist then I’d not only question the motives of that writer but also the credibility because it’s so out of whack with reality.

"Are you saying "black minstrel character are racist"

well yes obviously

" And just so we are clear, fictional characters aren't real."

were your statements directed at the creator's of the characters or the characters themselves? 

i mean obviously i'd naturally assume that it was at the creators but i could only interpret this to be an implication of the latter so maybe you can clarify

"As a side note, criticizing tired stereotypes is not "attacking" anyone"

if the character in this game was asian no one would give a fuck, which means that simply a change to his race would make him acceptable

how is that not racist?

"You can argue that it should not (or that it doesn't in you personally), but you cannot argue that it does not. As previously stated, that would be an argument from ignorance, not from reality."

and the solution to that is what exactly?

increase the focus on race? or decrease it? personally i'd think the former would be the way but maybe i'm missing something

the only end result i can envision for harping about race constantly is to further the divide between people in terms of race

Mostly male, mostly white, often gruff - that's what is on offer in video games. Too me, that is not a bad thing. And only playing charakters that are white and male for the rest of my life - I probably would not mind. White and male are so broad, non-descriptive descriptions, that characters fitting into that, could still really be anybody.

But I can see why people would want something different, just for the looks. It is superficial, but good graphics can also be seen as superficial, and I for one am a total sucker for those.

And maybe its not just superficial. Men and women are often profoundly different, and not just because how they were socialised. I think the wohle spectrum of charakter is open for both sexes, but there are tendencies.

I often like playing as a woman. Hellblade left a huge impact on me. I never knowingly played as a black character. Would be cool, if the game was cool. If the charakter is compelling, i like playing them.

And this is, where I take issue. The IGN reviewer assumed a trope. He/She saw white, male, gruff and rolled his/her eyes. That is not okay. I dont see a woman in a game and assume: wow, I bet she cries a lot. I dont see a black men in a game and think: well perfect, another thug. Those preconceived notions about charakter based on race, that is wrong.

Be against done to death tropes all you want. I know I am. But please dont assume a trope just by looking at somebody.

Looks like the reviewer thought this was going to be another starring role for Blandy McAverage, but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t Blandy after all.

Naturally, some readers were triggered snowflakes and couldn’t help themselves from playing Identity Politics.

/thread

"Naturally, some readers were triggered snowflakes"

who are you talking about? can you give an example?

I don't even know what the term identify politics means. I just made a thread and gave my opinion. It's what this forum is for. Not sure why you have an issue and reply in such an insulting manner? 

No. He isn't listening. Because No one is calling a skin colour a stereotype. 

a) See below.

b) When I was talking about "colorblindness" I was criticizing the arguments brought by certain posters here. When speaking about stereotypes, I was primarily speaking about the characters in the abstract but you could draw from that a criticism of the author now that you mention it (however "criticism" in not equivalent to "attack"). That being said, your previous comment "f you(not you specifically) continue using race to attack one group of people what do you think they'll do" still doesn't apply, because no one (or no "group") is being attacked by race...

c) Alternately, if the black minstrel character wasn't black, no one would give a fuck.

Like, yeah, this has already been addressed. Race is part of the stereotype. If you change the stereotype, it isn't the stereotype anymore.

d) The solution is this: Write better characters.

Thats it. If your character is a lame stereotype, it is going to be called out for being a lame stereotype, and rightly so. Don't make all your black characters thugs, all your asian characters math geeks, and all your Indian characters taxi drivers or convenience store owners. Just write better characters. This isn't complicated and it has nothing to do with "focus on race" (whatever that means).

to reiterate if this guy was asian no one would have a problem... do you agree with that?

Probably true. And that's a worrying development for white people. I wonder does this happen in bollywood. "Oh not another Gruff Indian playing the roll of an Indian for a film based in India." open to correction but I doubt it.