The Female Gaming Experience [Safe Space]

Oh he most definitely is, Pyxi, which is why I was steering clear of it from the getgo.

And I too would love for Ciri to get her own game!

You're right about Kingdom Come Deliverance. Historically accurate or not, the game treats women poorly. The romances in the game are treated like simple conquests to love and leave. Hell, you can't even get a dialog going with one woman after you "romance" her. And there is a condition called Alpha Male that gives you buffs after you have sex with someone. It is juvenile.

Nevin73 wrote:

And there is a condition called Alpha Male that gives you buffs after you have sex with someone. It is juvenile.

You've got to be kidding right? Any time shred of interest I had in this game is now gone. Some people just suck.

Dude, that's just more realism! Just like how the Holy Roman Empire totally had healing potions!

pyxistyx wrote:

Oh, also the lead dev (I think) is/was an ardent 'Gater. So...there's that, too.

Yeah, according to the Waypoint podcast (recommended, btw, very cool discussion), it's even worse. I didn't realize it, but that guy was the creative director for the game. There's no way that poisonous ideology doesn't permeate KCD.

I shall listen to that now! thanks.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

Dude, that's just more realism!

MOD
Dude, be clearer about your sarcasm.

sometimesdee wrote:

MOD
Dude, be clearer about your sarcasm.

Roger, I piled a little more on for emphasis. Also, oops, I thought this was the tropes thread...

BadKen wrote:
pyxistyx wrote:

Oh, also the lead dev (I think) is/was an ardent 'Gater. So...there's that, too.

Yeah, according to the Waypoint podcast (recommended, btw, very cool discussion), it's even worse. I didn't realize it, but that guy was the creative director for the game. There's no way that poisonous ideology doesn't permeate KCD.

Thanks for pointing that out, BadKen. I had no idea they even pulled the "oh, there weren't any PoCs back then" move. That's just delightful....... >.>

Moving on to more crap, look what showed up in my FB feed today:
Richard La Ruina's Super Seducer
Because what the video game industry needs is a game which actually coaches and encourages PUAs. I really recommend flagging the living daylights out of this game. I've already reported it myself, I think it's harmful. This is a game which actually thinks taking a woman's pulse (to show her she's nervous) as a good move. Like no, just don't touch me. And actually encourages strong, constant eye contact to make a woman uncomfortable so that she's making conversation. Which would be a strong deterrent, particularly if you're atypical.

And I can't believe I have to bring this up, but how eff'ing heteronormative..... ***SIGH***

oh, yeah. Heard about that recently. The fragile douche pulled an unwarrented DMCA on a youtuber who slagged it off after getting sent a review copy.

His reason? well.... first he told the youtuber that he WOULDN'T go down the DMCA route (since he's a full-on free speech advocate ..because, OF COURSE he'd be one of those people, too).

When the youtuber responded, thanking him for his restraint, Ol' "Dick Ruiner" somehow translated that as the youtuber "calling him a Pu**y" and, sensing that his manhood was somehow being threatened, he went ahead with the DMCA anyway in order to prove he wasn't.

At the same time, He sent the youtuber an apology email and literally told the youtuber this was the only reason he pulled the DMCA card.

What. A. Bellend.

But, yeah. Flagged his stupid FMV harassment "game".

Okay, so your post made a lot more sense after I'd Googled DMCA. Interestingly enough, the game's page now says:

Streaming/Video Creation Policy: We hereby grant full and unqualified permission to create and monetize videos and streams of Super Seducer, including those that are critical of the game and/or its creator, without any exceptions nor restrictions.

Uh huh. Sure. Now you say that...

Hooray! Sony did something right and the game will not be releasing on PS4:
https://www.themarysue.com/super-sed...
I’m not holding my breath when it comes to Steam, since Valve hasn’t really wow’d us on that front...

Valve literally don't seem to give a sh*t what goes on their store at the moment, so long as it's short of actually being hardcore porn. That store is an absolute mess.

pyxistyx wrote:

Valve literally don't seem to give a sh*t what goes on their store at the moment, so long as it's short of actually being hardcore porn. That store is an absolute mess.

Huh. Ironically this statement is now entirely 100% true given valve's decided that it will no longer police ANY content on their store that isn't technically illegal or deliberate trolling (good luck defining that one!). So...i'm sure that'll work out well for everyone involved.

Anyway... what I actually came here to post was this...

'BattleTech' Developer Accused of Sexual Harassment, Resigns

In the past few days, Harebrained Schemes designer Tyler Carpenter has been accused of sexual abuse and harassment by at least six women on social media. The allegations range from inappropriate groping to repeated expressions of romantic and sexual interest after repeatedly being told to stop. Carpenter, who recently worked as a systems and missions designer on BattleTech, told Waypoint via email he’s resigning over the allegations.

Well good riddance to bad rubbish.

In other news, I’m having a hard time with all the praise I seem to be hearing about Detroit: Become Human. David Cage is just a loathsome creature: https://kotaku.com/david-cage-games-...

Yeah I figured there's be something icky in that game somewhere. blech.

I am 100% with you on the Become Human thing. While it was in development I read about the through line of misogyny in the games of Cage and his studio, Quantic Dream. Even pre-release it seemed like there wasn't a lot of examination of their content, even given the ominous hints in the pre-release trailers.

Now that the game is out, the reviews I've seen (IGN: "Great," Gamespot: "Good," Kotaku: "Meh," for example) fail to mention any of the female-hostile issues with the game and instead basically call it a graphical masterpiece with a silly story and poor characterization.

Fortunately we can still count on Waypoint for an honest look at the big picture.

According to Canard PC’s account of a case about the images, brought to court by an ex-employee, “Sexism and homophobia constitute one of the ‘comic’ springs of choice of the series. Others are bad play on words on surnames, poop, sodomy, overweight, a little bit of Nazis and a lot of nudity.”

Ick. Sounds like a fertile breeding ground for some horrible aspects in their games.

Might I suggest having a look at the AMC/Channel 4 series Humans for a far more interesting and nuanced take on potential android vs human issues. It also includes androids becoming sentient. Sexual exploitation of androids is addressed honestly, and has real consequences. Unfortunately the two exploited characters are both women, but that is just one facet of their characters, and their experiences are not used merely as motivation for male characters. The larger focus of the series is examining real-world treatment of marginalized minorities through a sci-fi lens.

After reading that link, wtf are the labor laws in France about? In the US, that company is done. Capital D

It’s not that simple, Too_Shelf. There are many labor laws in France, more than in he US, I’d argue.
The first issue is hat these things take time, the courts aren’t as lightning fast as they are in the US (which can be a good thing). Also, these cases of harassment can be hard to prove, attorneys turning it into a “he said, they said” kind of thing. Unions have been hearing many allegations against David Cage but nothing has stuck yet.

Also, considering the US’s track record, I wouldn’t be so quick to hold it up as a shining example...........

Just to clarify, that link had hundreds of instances of pornography being displayed in the workplace.

(Your point about the US not being a shining example is well taken.)

Relevant Detroit tweet:

https://twitter.com/GameDesignDan/st...

"We let people free their slave to make a point, but they missed having a slave, so if they want then they can get a new slave no problem."

i lol'd

I lol’d too. Cis het men can be so fragile. Are they not secure enough in their own sexuality? (Never mind, rhetorical question)
It gets so convoluted (that math meme was so appropriate) but it felt so on point.

I laughed out loud also. My wife asked what it was and just had the most befuddled expression whilst viewing. Some people, eh.

What a minefield! How does anyone ever design a game, given all those pitfalls and paradoxes?

Creatives are finally telling manbabies to stay home.

“Battlefield V is a lot about the unseen, the untold, the unplayed,” EA chief creative officer Patrick Soderlund told Gamasutra. “The common perception is that there were no women in World War II. There were a ton of women who both fought in World War II and partook in the war.”

He goes on to state that the development team pushed for women to be included in the game — that his daughter doesn’t understand why people are upset, that both men and women want to play as women and that’s just the way gaming is these days — before he gets to the real point.

“And we don’t take any flak,” Soderlund stated. “We stand up for the cause, because I think those people who don’t understand it, well, you have two choices: either accept it or don’t buy the game. I’m fine with either or. It’s just not ok.”

This has been happening more and more lately; some of the folks behind the pop culture we enjoy are done pretending like the most toxic fans are worth keeping around.

Wow, that's kind of amazing.

Yeah, I’ve been loving Soderlund’s statements on Battlefield V.

I've been more "leave it" than "take it" for the Battlefield franchise post-2142 (the greatest BF of all time, ever, amen... OK, just IMO), and BF1 was completely unappealing to me... but I think I will at least give BFV more of a look than I otherwise would have.

Also, I can't stop watching that how-to-make-a-character video. The delivery is on point. "... he can't fantasize about her liking him being good at video games, because she's gay, and she's kissed a girl and it's too late, she liked it", jesus christ that's good.

This may be off-topic since it's not video games, but I'm always interested to hear women's experiences with this in public play space. At conventions and game stores, playing tabletop games, of whatever type - miniatures, CCG's, RPG's, and board games.

And with that, I will return to lurking.