I wouldn't describe Roller Derby Nova as hyper sexualized. She looks like what a female roller derby player looks like.
I would agree that videogames and MOBAs have way too much female hyper sexualization and comicbooks are even worse.
But to pin this on HotS is silly. It's a much wider topic. LoL's characters are way worse in the female exploitation area than his reference.
How about those big, cut and sometimes shirtless male protagonists? Nobody seems to take offense at them being objectified...
Number of people dead from playing video games with sexual characters? 0.Out of context it's fine. But games exist in context. The amount of objectification of women that goes on causes real harm. And Blizzard is particularly guilty, doing it non-stop with almost every female character.
RockPaperShotgun has got to be the most wheels within wheels, fires within fires publication ever.
Also if you seek empowerment through videogames let alone a fucking MOBA rather than standing on your own two feet, you really have to go outside and stop being a slacktivist. Not to mention Heroes of the Storm isn't sending any particular message, it's about Blizzard characters beating the shit out of each other.
What does that even mean? The goal of a game isn't necessarily to send a message.
This "drivel" is one of the core tenets of MOBA design, actually.I have never heard such fucking drivel in all my days. Empowerment? If you're deriving self-empowerment from a fucking MOBA, all I can say is you're missing out on some wonderful other things in life.
But to pin this on HotS is silly. It's a much wider topic. LoL's characters are way worse in the female exploitation area than his reference.]
Male power fantasy, bro. Men can't really be objectified in the same way.
It's so unusual coming from gaming journalists that nobody even recognizes it.
It causes about as much "real harm" as violent video games do. It's not real.
Number of people dead from playing video games? 0.
I'm all for better female characters but at least make the arguments more sound. It's almost as bad as when Kotaku called the Dragon's Crown artist "a 14-year old".
I would love to read a romance novel. Every time I'm in Barns and Noble and go into the Romance section, I see highly objectified men gracing the covers of romance novels. I wonder who buys the majority of romance novels.
How do you people like you still exist
Male power fantasy, bro. Men can't really be objectified in the same way.
WAIT!? THIS IS WHAT HE BROUGHT UP AS THE MAIN EXAMPLE OF FEMALE OBJECTIFICATION!?
Fuck RPS, I'm ready to take back everything good I've ever said about them.
That doesn't mean it isn't sending messages consciously/unconsciously to the players
So have a reasonable interview with the artists, under the expressed intent of character design and empowerment fantasy, you don't just throw that fucking curveball in at the end to the lead developer when the clock is running out.
It's ridiculous.
Just like how me playing Call of Duty and other power-tripping FPS games sends messages to me consciously/unconsciously to shoot people dead?
Yeah, but until I see bodies falling after playing Dead or Alive, I don't think a developer should be held accountable for "harm" or accused of such.I know this might shock you, but sometimes nobody dies and it can still be a problem.
WAIT!? THIS IS WHAT HE BROUGHT UP AS THE MAIN EXAMPLE OF FEMALE OBJECTIFICATION!?
Fuck RPS, I'm ready to take back everything good I've ever said about them.
That doesn't mean it isn't sending messages consciously/unconsciously to the players
To be fair to Blizzard, neither Riot's LoL nor Valve Dota are different from them. If it's an issue, it's a genre issue.
People who apply the same criteria equally to each side?
People who apply the same criteria equally to each side?
They can and are. You just have to look at magazines, posters, movies...
It's just that the male audiance doesn't give a damn about it!
normalises violence yeah, sure
Also, I've said this before, but I really wish some of the equality would be given with more male sexualization, instead of just making everyone wear "realistic clothes".
Not gonna lie, some fanarts and artworks got me interested in LoL's female characters, but I'd love if we had some sexy motherfuckers as well.
Eyecandy for everyone.
To be fair to Blizzard, neither Riot's LoL nor Valve's Dota are different from them. If it's an issue, it's a genre issue.
Hmm yes equating centuries of gender inequality with "shirtless dudes" is the rational and normal thing to do
I think this is fair position (although I think "pulp" gives them far too much credit), and his answer kind of went in that direction. I wish they'd sit down and have that conversation. I don't believe Blizzard would be as open about it as you're implying they are.I think the Blizzard guys are a little bit too much in their own bubble and what they think is cool, but Dustin Browder is good people.
Blizzard is pulp and they openly admit it. They're not the ones you can look forward to leading the charge in this industry towards less misogyny and more female representation.
Gamers need to get consistent. Anytime someone gets on the news and blames the latest violent outburst on video games we often all say "video games do not cause violence" if that is the case then we really cannot say that they do cause all of these problems if they are currently in vogue to be offended about.
So it's a contributing factor since it causes desensitization to real-life violence?
Sounds like a good excuse to ban violent videogames, since people cannot realize the difference between fantasy and reality.
Why is RPS giving creative advice to Blizzard on how to make their game? Blizzard can do whatever they want with the characters male and female. If you don't like it, don't play it.
Just like how me playing Call of Duty and other power-tripping FPS games sends messages to me consciously/unconsciously to shoot people dead?
Hmm yes equating centuries of gender inequality with "shirtless dudes" is the rational and normal thing to do
Yes, objectification of men occurs. But objectification of women happens a lot more, to the point that we don't even question it when it happens in games and are astonished when we find an exception.