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Polygon: COD WWII’s ‘diversity’ is nothing more than marketing

P

Prototype Viktor

Member
You guys don't get it! They talk about the mostly white movies shaping the idea of WW2 and they are doing the same with the development team. We all know there was at least 1 PoC involved in both!

Genius
 
S

Sesha

Member
Aside from the complaints about "all-white production" or whatever, this reads more like a rant on r/KotakuinAction or GameFAQs about "forced diversity".
 
S

SkyOdin

Member
Neptonic said:
It turns out that white people write the history books
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No, I don't think it is an issue with actual history books so much as it is due to the fact that too many people don't learn history from books at all. They learn it from television, movies, and videogames. But most movie directors, television writers, and video game developers are not historians.
 
ZeroGravity

ZeroGravity

Member
I mean, they're not wrong here. It's the same reason why corporations donate to charity. Hint: It's not something they do out of the goodness of their hearts. It's all in service of selling a consumer-friendly image.
 
K

Kyrios

Member
"But we won't know if any of the shit we're accusing the game of is true until November 3"

xn2XBAp.gif
 
E

ElBoxyBrown

Banned
ZeroGravity said:
I mean, they're not wrong here. It's the same reason why corporations donate to charity. Hint: It's not something they do out of the goodness of their hearts. It's all in service of selling a consumer-friendly image.
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Ok but so far from what we've seen we still don't know everything about the new COD. And COD has had a good track record with including women and PoC in their games unlike other shooters like Battlefield. This piece just came out of nowhere with unnecessary cynicism.
 
X

xch1n

Member
ZeroGravity said:
I mean, they're not wrong here. It's the same reason why corporations donate to charity. Hint: It's not something they do out of the goodness of their hearts. It's all in service of selling a consumer-friendly image.
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Corporations donate to charity for the tax deductions. But yeah, you're kind of right. Though in all honesty I bet most of the people that presented today believe that what they're doing is for all the right reasons. You don't have to get 500 people to buy into the idea of manipulating the consumer. You only need to market to them that it's not manipulative.

Is this how nihilism starts?
 
G

Green Ninja

Banned
ElBoxyBrown said:
Here's some historical accuracy: Women and PoC fought in WWII.
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Yes and?

They already said both would be in the game. So I don't understand what people are looking for. It was still primarily fought by white soldiers so other than including those groups there isn't anything more they can do.
 
G

Gnome Scat

Member
Dongs Macabre said:
Issue at Hand is also pretty good and Please Retweet is the best new YouTube series of the year.
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Oh didn't know about those, I'll check them out.

I should rephrase and say it's their journalism and opinion pieces that have been sloppy as of late, their entertainment content is on point.
 
E

ElBoxyBrown

Banned
Green Ninja said:
Yes and?

They already said both would be in the game. So I don't understand what people are looking for. It was still primarily fought by white soldiers so other than including those groups there isn't anything more they can do.
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There actually is a lot you can do with diversity in WWII.
 
G

Garrett Hawke

Member
Green Ninja said:
Yes and?

They already said both would be in the game. So I don't understand what people are looking for. It was still primarily fought by white soldiers so other than including those groups there isn't anything more they can do.
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No it wasn't, you should read about the conflicts in Asia.
Sesha said:
Aside from the complaints about "all-white production" or whatever, this reads more like a rant on r/KotakuinAction or GameFAQs about "forced diversity".
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This really is true, and sad.
 
O

Orca

Member
Fury451 said:
I read it. Doesn't make their points any less moronic and shallow.
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I think so too, but it being a bullshit article doesn't make this kneejerk 'hurrr durrrr here's a black guy, dumb Polygon' stuff any less annoying. Argue the actual points, which means actually reading and understanding the article in the first place.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
Green Ninja said:
Yes and?

They already said both would be in the game. So I don't understand what people are looking for. It was still primarily fought by white soldiers so other than including those groups there isn't anything more they can do.
Click to expand...

How can you be arguing against the idea of diversity in the game when, in the same post, you acknowledge that there is going to be diversity in the game?
 
K

koss424

Member
SkyOdin said:
I don't understand why you would think having a historical setting would be an obstacle to diversity. World War 2 was a big conflict that involved a lot of people from a wide variety of nations fighting across the entire world. That is why we call it a World War. People have a tendency to focus entirely on the fighting in the European theatre of the war after the Normandy invasion as if that was the entire conflict. But there was a ton of fighting in North Africa, the Middle East, and across East Asia in World War 2. If you actually take a look outside the D-Day invasion army, there was no lack of diversity. Even in Europe, you ahd the 442nd Infantry Regiment, a unit of Japanese-American soldiers mostly from Hawaii, which was the single most decorated infantry unit of its type in the history of the US Army.

In general, history itself is diverse. However, most people only seem to be familiar with white-washed accounts of history.
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I don't have a problem with a historic setting using historic stories. In fact, I hope the game nails it. The WWII setting has been done to death so a fresh outlook on the setting along with telling stories that may have been overlook and done well would be fantastic.

I was just saying when you pick a setting as important as WWII and along with a diversity message you will have detractors such as this article. and if you insert diversity into stories where none existed you are doing no one any favors. But as I said I will reserve judgement and hope that the game does a great job.
 
I

Interficium

Banned
HP_Wuvcraft said:
How can you be arguing against the idea of diversity in the game when, in the same post, you acknowledge that there is going to be diversity in the game?
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It's gotta be the right kind of diversity*

*to be determined at random, per franchise, by Polygon writers, or not (if it doesn't generate clicks)
 
K

Kalentan

Member
PeakPointMatrix said:
Oh yeah? Where's a black FEMALE, huh??

that's what I thought

*spits*
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While obviously not a developer but just to show an example of some of the diversity of CoD.

latest
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Ebele Yetide, an African Female SATO member. While I won't spoil it for those who didn't complete Infinite Warfare. (Though read on if you don't care)

In the Credits, 8 of the characters who died have have audio recordings in case of their death. Yetide's involves her talking to get girlfriend/wife back on Earth. It's really sad and touching.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
This is like the worst studio to target with this complaint.

website-imageljo69.jpg


kiqlw.jpg


10446111_1015220399369vqq2.jpg
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"More inclusive development is better for everybody" - Sledgehammer
Sledgehammer Games co-founder and studio head Michael Condrey on creating more diverse teams

...

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, we asked Condrey what he thought about the notion that some studios may feel "forced" to become more diverse and may not always hire the best candidates in an effort to reach that goal. He didn't buy into that argument, however.

"We want the best talent to bring the best ideas. I don't think that goal is mutually exclusive to hiring a more diverse development team," he countered. "There is no hard rule or policy at Sledgehammer Games to force any hiring actions that are aligned with this goal, but we are actively working to ensure that we understand how hiring biases exist within the industry, and our own culture, and then being critical of addressing it within our recruitment and promotion policies."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...elopment-is-better-for-everybody-sledgehammer
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G

Green Ninja

Banned
HP_Wuvcraft said:
How can you be arguing against the idea of diversity in the game when, in the same post, you acknowledge that there is going to be diversity in the game?
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Oh I'm not arguing against diversity. This discussion just reminds me of last year when people were yelling that WW1 shouldn't be glorified in a video game because it was too violent or whatever. I just kind of see it as the same people now yelling that a WW2 game isn't diverse enough. I just wanted to interject my 2 cents that I felt this is being overblown.
 
G

Ghostmaster

Member
I just don't understand how you can type this out
Activision and Sledgehammer Games pulled the wrapper off their glamour franchise today, and despite the exclusively white and male makeup of those doing so on stage, they want you to think this is a more inclusive tale of World War II. It may yet be. We won’t know until Nov. 3.
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and still post the article.
How?

This isn't even lol gaming journalism level of reporting, this is teenage journal level of reporting.
 
M

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
ZeroGravity said:
I mean, they're not wrong here. It's the same reason why corporations donate to charity. Hint: It's not something they do out of the goodness of their hearts. It's all in service of selling a consumer-friendly image.
Click to expand...

Thats not alwaus the reason. In fact often celebs and athletes actually profit from charities and whatnot since the amount they donate can actually save them money in taxes. Not to mention theyre paid for appearances.
 
X

xevis

Banned
Green Ninja said:
Yes and?

They already said both would be in the game. So I don't understand what people are looking for. It was still primarily fought by white soldiers so other than including those groups there isn't anything more they can do.
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Oh hey look, it's our old friend Historical Accuracy Non-sequitur! G'day HAN! How's it going mate? Shut down any good debates lately... ?

Seriously, this argument is such a non-starter. If they wanted diversity then make it diverse. Not "white guys and friends" but like proper diverse. Single and Multiplayer. Prominently advertised, right there on the box: "Attention dudebros! This person here doesn't look like you! Deal with it!"
 
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