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FemFreq: The pregnancy mechanics in Fallout Shelter are super troubling

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SmokyDave

Member
Super troubling, super gross, super problematic, super toxic. Got to add that 'super' modifier nowadays or nobody will listen.

I'll be honest, I really don't get what she's on about. Childbirth is dehumanising? Using it as a mechanic perpetuates widespread sexist ideas about pregnant women?

It's almost as if a bot is spitting out some 'random outrage generator' stuff and then posting it to Twitter. I used to read their tweets and either agree or disagree, but I increasingly find myself pulling a rictus grin and then backing away baffled.
 

Mman235

Member
When the game came out I saw multiple people complaining that pregnant woman becoming useless during certain circumstances was annoying, but apparently someone talking about it from a perspective that isn't purely mechanical is suddenly worthy of outrage?
 

espher

Member
Because since they are immortal it makes sense gameplay wise otherwise you'd just have an army of immortal pregnant women defending your vault.

I'd imagine we'd have an argument of "the best strategy is to make sure you have a harem full of pregnant women all the time" at that point, which I think would send a far more problematic message.
 
Actually, you can send the pregnant women out to the wasteland armed and armored. This depicts them as strong and resilient. Both spectrums of pregnancy are depicted in this game, and I find no issue with it.

Especially when I have them equipped with power armor and miniguns, and the only threat are raiders with swords or large cockroaches. Social implications aside, the whole thing is poor gameplay wise.

Weird that you can send them into the wasteland but not have them help in emergencies. Can they die when they're sent out or are they just full health forever? If the latter, then yeah, probably should have just let them help in emergencies but never die.

calmly exit when your life is in danger and you can't/don't want to fight back?
I'm a man and in a situation like that i would run like the devil itself is chasing me :p

People fight the raiders/fires/roaches calmly enough, not sure why they can't retreat in the same manner too.
 
She has a non stop barrage of criticism levied at the handling of women almost everywhere.

Maybe not a call to censorship but close.

She's a media critic focused on the treatment of women in games. I mean, I don't always agree with her, but it's kind of her paid position to be a non-stop barrage of criticism levied at the handling of women.
 

Riposte

Member
Credit to Sarkeesian for not actually saying "super troubling". It's super annoying when game journos add super to phrases like that. I blame California.

EDIT: SmokeyDave beat me lol

EDIT: I'm an idiot, she does say it. Well, it's all trash I guess.
 

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
I do think she's really gone off the boil recently, which is a shame, because it makes it harder to take her seriously when she does make a good point and just gives the trolls ammo.
 
So Bethesda made the design decision to not allow pregnant woman to die to raiders, etc., thus making them immortal and forcing the AI to remove them from dangerous situations as being immortal would be game breaking and they are penalized in the eyes of some for it?

If they allowed them to die, then people would be condemning this as a baby killing simulator.. Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

Pretty much. I respect her cause but its she's starting to sound loony. You would think Video Games are simply at war with women listening to her and that simply not true.

Its not perfect but the state of women representation in video games is 1000 times better than how it used to be.
 

Platy

Member
Doesn't the Fallout series satirise the culture, politics and tropes of the 1950s pretty heavily? This seems like it.

A "separate but equal" mechanic would be interesting for a strategy game like fallout shelter looks to be and fits perfectly with the satire of culture, politixs and tropes of the 1950s....

Do I create a white bathroom or a black bathroom ? =O
 
How about we stop making threads every time Anita tweets something? Just because she expresses an opinion doesn't make it newsworthy - if she puts out a video or something go ahead, but otherwise it just feels a bit unnecessary.
 

Taker34

Banned
I think those tweets are actually super troubling. There's so much wrong with those statements that I don't know where to start... It's tiring... And it's not the first time either (her Fallout 4 "criticism").
 

kunonabi

Member
This isn't censorship, or even a call to censorship, this is criticism. Show me which tweet says that the game should be removed?

It doesn't have to be a direct call since people now realize that that if they start a big enough whinefest on twitter/tumbler there is a very good chance the material will get changed. It's essentially a call for censorship in practice even if it isn't outright demanding it.
 
Weird that you can send them into the wasteland but not have them help in emergencies. Can they die when they're sent out or are they just full health forever? If the latter, then yeah, probably should have just let them help in emergencies but never die.



People fight the raiders/fires/roaches calmly enough, not sure why they can't retreat in the same manner too.

They can die, if I'm not mistaken. I've also seen lower-level, lower-skill workers flee from emergency fires.

So I feel like her intentions were fine, but she probably didn't play enough of the game or explore enough of the options to craft a working criticism.
 
Welp, can't argue with that. Pack it up guys, she's right.

It's nice to see something other than Anita hateposts in these threads. I get tired of the only other type of post being "she's not wrong" when "she is right" is more accurate and supportive.
 
bellyflop.gif
 

SerTapTap

Member
Well that's kind of the thing, isn't it? I mean, I don't disagree that she goes overboard sometimes specifically in that way, but I also see a hell of a lot of people justifying kind of awful or just regressive shit because its "historically accurate" or whatever without regard for the actual, interesting larger conversation about the tone and framing around both individual elements and a piece as a whole. Just because something is "historically accurate" (it probably isn't) doesn't mean that it necessarily "works"

Here's the thing though--not all historical works deliberately show the bad. The Order 1886 had no need to show racism, it's totally not about that. Fallout is entirely about the bad of the 1950s. The xenophobia, paranoia, recklessness. Fallout is 100% a case where they deliberately make use of the shitty aspects of the past.

To my mind, the general lack of female NPCs in the mainline games is more of a problem. It's really noticeable, so much so that even the gendered skills make it obvious--the male targeted ones have far more effects due to the fact you'll be meeting way more of them. There weren't less women in the 1950s or anything so it's not really "historical" or anything like this case either, just a writing problem.
 

stephen08

Member
The pregnant women not helping out is probably a balance thing as I don't think they can die so if you had a raider attack for example you could just send all the pregnant women in with no risk.

I don't think the claim about it being reflective of 50's value is a good defense though. The game correctly has it so women and men can perform the same jobs with the same efficacy. In fact, I would argue that female dwellers are more valuable as they can be both workers as well as bear children.
 
She's a media critic focused on the treatment of women in games. I mean, I don't always agree with her, but it's kind of her paid position to be a non-stop barrage of criticism levied at the handling of women.

Not maybe and not close. She critizes. Thats it.

To each their own. I'm bouncing the F out of this thread because it will go nowhere and lead to bans soon. No ones opinions will be changed and we will all argue and get hard feeling for like 15 pages before the mods lock it down. Its how this always goes.

I should have never came in honestly but the thread title was so surprising I had to check it out.

Anyways peace and love catch ya all in another more chill thread

It doesn't have to be a direct call since people now realize that that if they start a big enough whinefest on twitter/tumbler there is a very good chance the material will get changed. It's essentially a call for censorship in practice even if it isn't outright demanding it.



Yep, you get it
 

Skele7on

Banned
FYI Antia they also get 100% happiness when pregnant..

Also wouldn't an expectant mother want to protect her unborn child from harm?
 

stupei

Member
lol

I guess she doesn't realize the goal is to "repopulate this great country"

the children also run away from fires, roaches and raiders. so I guess this game is also child-ist?

Wait, your argument is to compare adult women to children? That's what makes it less problematic?

Really?

I don't actually think she's wrong, but it also didn't trouble me especially because of the overall tone of the setting. But this defense is really off base and misses the point by about a mile.
 

Nugg

Member
Pregnant women can't die. Just like kids. And it's a ESRB rating thing, not a statement nor a choice. Even games like GTA won't go down that road. So, as a result, to avoid exploiting that fact, they also cannot take part in any activity where losing health can happen.
 

galvatron

Member
It's beginning to seem like you need a little "/s" watermark in the corner of any digital depiction of parody that when clicked displays the author's actual world view and artistic goals of the project in plain language...
 
She's gone full-PETA. In theory everyone would agree with her base ideas, but after years of saying the same thing people stop paying attention and she has just spout of craziness to get people to listen again.
 

pants

Member
I have similiar issues with Call of Duty and Battlefield. Did you never think "boy, this is a lot of war. This game would be much cooler without kiling nazis."

I've always wanted to play a call of duty game where your duty is to run down to the local grocer and buy milk while avoiding pitfalls such as the pub, the chip shop and or a round of pool with the mates. .
 

Mesoian

Member
Fiction with a strong focus on violence will likely always exist, knowing that how would she like us to represent women in those stories? Or does she believe we shouldn't write violent fiction at all?

If I had to speak for her, which I can't, I can only assume, but if I did, I would assume that she would want violent stories to not be glorified, the act of violence itself not held up as the core foundation of the story you're telling. In real life, violence is something that we are attracted to, but ultimately chastise in society, and there's very little representation of that in games, movies, tv, etc, or if there is that, it is usually because the focus of the story is somewhere else so far removed from the act of violence that the act itself isn't important enough to focus on.

TL:DR - she wants more stories that are specifically interesting not because of the violence but because of how people react to violence.

That being said, Fury Road was fucking rad and everyone should see it.
 

So violence is a male thing by nature? Also as fun as it is to watch her burn the last bit of credibility she has, it's probably a good idea to stop talking about her on GAF. Eventually someone better will come along to continue the cause that isn't quite so... Irksome. In the meantime we're just keeping her IV attached by doing these things.

For those who say it may not actually be Anita running the twitter, isn't it still technically her twitter. If she doesn't support what the crazy is saying, she should probably lock him out of it.
 

MartyStu

Member
She is not entirely wrong. The entire idea behind the game is kind of weird, and a little icky.

And even if you disagree with her, I do not think any of what she says is so unreasonable that the reactions some give her would be warranted.

Then again, I really do not follow her work, so maybe she has been unreasonable in the past?
 

Interfectum

Member
Sheesh... she really needs to learn to pick her battles or her message is going to get muffled by crying wolf way too often.
 
The game depicts people, women and men, as these weird inhuman parodies of the 50s. They all act stupid and like lemmings. It's basically you running an ant farm.
 
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