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[useyourfist]

Forgot that being homosexual means you can only be gay (happy) and not evil. If he is gay I think he could be a really interesting villain. Any one who has a problem with it is fundamentally hypocritical, as we have straight generic villains all the time, are only straight males capable of crime.

Yes people who are homosexual and non white humans have had to fight to be considered equal, and there is no denying in many places a lot of people still unfortunately have it hard. But if this is a rascist gay character (I think he's the same ethnicity as the solider but hey ho), we have to remember it's a plot device. It is an 18 rated game so it's not going to make it's intended audience suddenly think all people who are homosexual are racist criminals.

The bandwagon needs to stop being jumped on so quick. Yes rights need defending, and certainly if something is done wrong with how people are depicted then get on to ubi and make a noise, boycott the game. But outrage at a single image with no context...well...just a tad of an overreaction. Maybe I don't get it fully as I'm not from a race or sexual orientation that's been discriminated against, and if so enlighten me. Though the lesbian and black people I know feel the same, and I've seen gay-gaffers post similar views, so yea shtap as I honestly think it actually negatively affects the way discussions form around real issues. It makes everything to reactionary instead of constructively working together to fix issues. Sorry mini rant lol.

 

[FStop7]

Sensitivity Squad, time to ride! To the FeelsMobile!

As soon as I saw the image I thought "I wonder what Anthony Burch will find wrong with this?". I knew it'd be something.

https://twitter.com/reverendanthony/status/466974831700099072

Takes a lot of nerve (and a lack of self awareness) for the dude who penned Tiny Tina to say the above.

 

[Harlequin]

While I agree with the the OP's general concerns, I think it was too early to make this thread. All we can do at this point is speculate and discuss based on assumptions which is only rarely a good thing in my book (if ever). Let's just wait until we actually know what this character and the game's story is all about and discuss it then.

 

[RMI]

Everyone is gay for the Duchovny, it's a free pass.

still imaging David Duchovny. A smile is on my face.

Something good did come out of this thread.

 

[scoobidoo112]

Today I learned:

 

[BlackGoku03]

Is anybody here actually agreeing with this? I don't think I've read a single post here agreeing with OP.

I'm of the opinion that GAF attracts people (more often than not) put thought and care into their threads and posts. There are opinions and topics on the Gaming side that are important, and need to be discussed.

I feel KillerIsJed should have waited before jumping the gun. That goes for the people on Twitter too.

 

[Kerned]

Just because you're offended doesn't mean it's offensive. Those two things are not always equal.

I wish someone would carve this in huge letters on the fucking moon.

 

[Byron Bluth]

I think trying to draw how a game will tackl these possible topics from one piece of art is reaching.

 

[KHlover]

Edit: For those of you asking why I assume he is gay or what not, I don't. Just the words of Far Cry 3's writer, mixed with the way he is depicted makes me concerned that he will be a gay stereotype. So often are gay and trans people only shown as villains or punchlines in games, so you can see how this could be problematic.

So based on the artwork and a statement of an author regarding gay protagonists you assume the villain is gay, gotcha.

Spoiler

OP is a hypocrite in the best case or the actual homophobe, for basing his assumption on a judgemental and outdated image of gay people in his mind, in the worst case

 

[Perfect Blue]

lol OP's thread backfired beautifully. Works well as a parody so it's worth the read.

 

[Sothpaw]

You can not be racist to white people? Ignorant as can be.

 

[Tomat]

OP, that guy you quoted; Veerender Jubbal, just wrote this via Twitter:


This guy is a real piece of work.

Has he said anything about tipping?

 

[WordsintheWater]

Another day, another controversy

 

[The Jason]

I'm calling it now, the protagonist (hero) of this game will not be white.

Also there is a lot of symbolism in that art work. Most notably the head of the statue is cut off and the villain has his foot on the head. The guy on his knees is obviously being held captive. The villain is probably using the natives and destroying their culture as well

 

[d0c_zaius]

that "edit" lol. a hole has been dug.

"Trying to pursue a career in video game journalism. Is 'too polite'."

Vareender hopefully never finds a place for his tripe after this nonsense. Twitter again doing gods work.

 

[Hagi]

My reactions came more from the "loudness" of the picture with crazy colors and all rather than the guys in it.

The whole "it's racist" thing is pretty silly to me. Then again so was the RE5 scandal when everyone was saying that game was racist.

Am i crazy for thinking that's your twitter? tad coincidence if not.

 

[clockpunk]

What a ridiculous out-of-context leap of creative - and biased - judgmental nonsense, in both the OP and posted tweets. Here's hoping all such calls are rightfully ignored.

And this is coming from a holder of a PhD with heavy connections to semantics, stylistic design, and social psychology - not a candidate.

Edit: Just to note that I think the box art is FANTASTIC, and succinctly conveys the spirit of the FarCry series.

 

[Acquiescence]

Today I learned:

You just made the box art even more racist by giving them yellow skin. I hope you're proud of yourself.

 

[Garjon]

Actually something else that's annoying me. Why is the bunting in the foreground blurry? Surely it should be as clear as everything else in the FG. Unless it's actually far away from the camera and is actually 10 miles wide.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Saddest thing about all of this might be that stuff like this makes legitimate critizism and concern about racism/homophobia in games look stupid and exaggerated.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

OP, that guy you quoted; Veerender Jubbal, just wrote this via Twitter:


This guy is a real piece of work.

The dude is having a meltdown. Is not actually funny, I feel bad for him as I get he has good intentions (and some answers in this thread are also pretty bad)... but then again, the game probably didn't deserve the hate because one promotional art.

Thats why I don't particularly like the knee jerk reactionary internet activism, you are always a step close to having a mental breakdown...

Saddest thing about all of this might be that stuff like this makes legitimate critizism and concern about racism/homophobia in games look stupid and exaggerated.

Yep.

 

[nomorenick]

It isn't just gaming, it's everything, and it lessens the impact of actual moments that require a social justice response. Of which there are a lot. But we get caught up with bullshit instead.

This is just perfect

 

[Sothpaw]

Honestly I expected the majority of posters to defend the OP. Glad I was wrong.

 

[Thorgi]

Nevermind.

Your original question was "I literally did not even think about that while or after playing FC3. Maybe I just don't notice these things, but do you actively link real life social issues to games?" Shame that you deleted it, but I found it valuable to still answer it.

Yes, I do link real life social issues to games, because games don't exist in a vacuum from the rest of the world. When I play a game, I don't just run from objective to objective, treating everything else as some meaningless piece of surrounding context. You don't watch a movie and just say "Oh, it's just a movie, all these actions mean nothing and are in no way linked to real life." Why do so with a game?

Engaging with enough media, the way it is made, the lives of its creators, etc. helps you see patterns, or points where a specific choice in a game actually means something. You can ignore it, or say you didn't see it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And media itself affects opinions in the real world. And whether Far Cry 3's story was the result of simply following the arcs from other works or actually came from an intentionally racist perspective, the fact remains that this depiction of a native black culture is troublesome in implication and execution alike.

Thinking critically about the media we consume is important.

 

[Diablo Rosso]

OP knows he fucked up. I'm sure the villain is Asian and is not 100% for certain to be gay.

 

[stufte]

Is it better now?

 

[BeerSnob]

You can not be racist to white people? Ignorant as can be.

That line has been doing the rounds with bigots of all backgrounds for a while now.

 

[Timeaisis]

I surely hope this doesn't become more of a thing. I mean, it already is, clearly, but it seems to be getting worse every day.

 

[Goldmund]

It must be exhausting to be "offended" by something each and every waking moment of one's life.

What is your end game here?

Do you want to force a creator to change a character or an image (which they have the freedom to make any way they choose to make) because it goes against YOUR ideology?

A fictional character.

You want somebody to change a fictional character because that character's fiction goes against YOUR beliefs.

Is THAT your idea of "diversity?" To squash all speech, opinion and expression that goes against YOUR beliefs?

Why are YOUR beliefs so important? Why are YOUR beliefs "right?"

What a piggish, narcissistic way of thinking (and acting).

Wait a minute. Who's forcing their beliefs on whom? Since when is feeling discomfort because resentments might get fed an ideology? Who are you even talking to? You seem to attach great importance to disassociating yourself from that "YOU", whoever that is, and his speech, opinion and expression squashing "beliefs" that leave no "diversity".

I'm sorry, but it's you who sounds like an ideologue.

 

[Gorillaz]

I guess you're right. Wouldn't be the first time golden opportunities like this are missed in gaming.

But still...

It would be nice to see someone talk some shit like this, but like I said the medium itself ain't ready to talk about "gray issues" in general, not just race stuff. The Last of Us hopefully was one of the latest pushes into having better told and more mature style of writing

Until then we will get the constant 80's b level action storylines and or "smart dumb" storylines, which yea are fun, but get old after having nothing that for years. Everyone loves it I guess


Maybe someday, RS....

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Is it better now?

Racist.

All Asians are either victims or victimizers.

 

[Easy_D]

I've discovered the existence of anthony burch and his role today. didn't expect his personality to be like this considering his writing in borderlands.

I think it's fitting (and ironic) that someone who sources the internet for memes to make his jokes also loves to criticise the writing of others.Which I assume is the point Ryan made.

 

[ryuken-d]

that is not purple. havent any of you ever looked at a box of crayons before or a rainbow wtf.

I'm totaly buying this game because FC3 was fun. aslo if I was gay I'd maybe have a problem with this game giving the unwashed mass's a bad view of gay people, but I'm not so I'll stick to hating on the religious nuts and wackos who give a shit about gay people getting married. If you care that much write your local government official..... not about the game, please. you know, the serious shit .

 

[Kerned]

Don't worry OP, NPD numbers are out any minute now and that should take some heat off your disaster of a thread.

 

[PairOfFilthySocks]

A) I don't see anywhere that actually says the bad-guy is gay

B) If he was, I wouldn't care less. Writers are expected to write good characters, not to present positive societal role models.

The whole image is quite blatantly geared towards provoking a reaction for the sake of publicity, and evidently it's gone down like a house on fire. Not that I applaud the tactic - using loaded images like this one to gain attention is cheap as fuck and lacking in both creativity and subtlety.

Generally, I stay away from pre-release material of all forms for games, since they have a tendency to be boring/lies/stupid/etc., and let the actual game speak for itself.

Maybe the game will approach racism and gay characters with all the deftness of a sledgehammer, maybe it won't. The outrage over pre-release stuff only serves to play into the publishers' hands.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Is anybody here actually agreeing with this? I don't think I've read a single post here agreeing with OP.

At this point alarm over the PC Police is a bit in danger of becoming self-satirizing. Always a possibility when a lot of people begin to deploy dismissive outrage in response to other people's assertive outrage. They sort of cancel one another out and everything looks dumb.

 

[Clarkus Darkus]

" you cannot be racist to white people "

Proves his an idiot, As tell that to redheads who get just as victimized on a daily basis and are being described by a color.

 

[Dr.Bergenstein]

The guy looks almost Arab to me.. And people who throw the term "white privilege" out there, especially in this context, don't deserve to be taken seriously.

Ubi is just going to cash in on faux controversy. Not the intended effect, for sure.

 

[Fushichou187]

All Asians are either victims or victimizers.

Can't that dichotomy be drawn about any group of people?

 

[Sciz]

I don't see it. And even if that actually is the artistic intent, maybe the game itself goes on to subvert expectations? Box art's only meant to draw people in. It's the beginning of what the game has to say, not the end.

 

[MattyG]

Maybe it's the eyes or the smirk, but he kind of looks like Patrick Stewart with hair at first glance.

 

[Thorgi]

It must be exhausting to be "offended" by something each and every waking moment of one's life.

What is your end game here?

Do you want to force a creator to change a character or an image (which they have the freedom to make any way they choose to make) because it goes against YOUR ideology?

A fictional character.

You want somebody to change a fictional character because that character's fiction goes against YOUR beliefs.

Is THAT your idea of "diversity?" To squash all speech, opinion and expression that goes against YOUR beliefs?

Why are YOUR beliefs so important? Why are YOUR beliefs "right?"

What a piggish, narcissistic way of thinking (and acting).

That's not the point at all. It's saying what a fictional character represents and criticizing it. Nowhere do either the OP or the tweeters suggest they have to change it, or are trying to force their will onto the creators.

It's called critique, yet the gaming community has shown time and time again that they are not actually ready for their favorite medium to be seen as art. You can't just claim games constitute freedom of speech and art, and violently protest when they're treated as such.

 

[someguyinahat]

Is it going to require Uplay? Because THAT would offend me.

 

[DidntKnowJack]

I just don't understand the notion that if this villain is gay it makes people more likely to view gay people negatively. At any rate I can understand people getting upset if it's handled badly and riddled with stereotypes, but we haven't even viewed any of the narrative in this game, let alone played any of it. But if handled well, I think a gay character who is the villain in a piece can actually be pretty cool. OP, can't you even imagine that being a possibility or have you written off this game based solely on it's boxart?

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

That line has been doing the rounds with bigots of all backgrounds for a while now.

I'm not white and I hate when people do false equivalences about "If it was a minority they would not..." but lets no pretend that you cannot discriminate a white person.

Also remember, white persons can also be racist with white persons.

 

[KillerIsJed]

Assuming the OP isn't parody (and with his quality of logic, it might as well be) that's not his argument. Here is his argument:

Antagonist is bad.
Antagonist is gay.

Therefore, gay = bad.

Antagonist is a bad gay stereotype (which sure some people might be that way IRL), OP doesn't like stereotypes and hopes that this isn't a character based on one.

 

[Gamesadict]

I surely hope this doesn't become more of a thing. I mean, it already is, clearly, but it seems to be getting worse every day.

If you are talking about the overreaction, it is already a big thing, to the point that some people on very specific websites are doing it like it is the cool thing to do: being offended and feeling oppresed by absolutely everything.

 

[Zomba13]

Is it going to require Uplay? Because THAT would offend me.

Of course it will. Ubisoft are obviously Steamaphobes. Yeah, they will let you buy the game from Steam but god forbid you want to play it only through that "dirty" service. You need the protection Uplay as well.

 

[hohoXD123]

Purple is a color often associated with gay people by choice, at least recently. Though I'd say this is pinkish purple, and pink is considered by many to be an effeminate color. Limp wrists is a stereotype of gays, as is being fashionable. So when you combine all those in one image, I think it is pretty clear why I'd feel like they could be playing off this stereotype.

People are entitled to their opinions and can certainly disagree with me. All I did was voice my concern about what was given to me and my initial feelings.

Except your concerns are pretty much baseless. You've seen one picture of this character and you've immediately jumped to these assertions. Purple is associated with many other things, as other people have mentioned. Pink is often worn by men too, ever seen pink shirts with suits? Limp wrists are also a sign of boredom or superiority. I really hope that Ubisoft makes him the straightest video game character in history to call out these BS preconceived notions.

 

[Uthred]

Is anybody here actually agreeing with this? I don't think I've read a single post here agreeing with OP.

He doesnt need people to agree with him, he's got a handful of twitter responses for that