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[WhateverItTakes]

Thought this was interesting:

Druckmann: When I’m introducing and describing a new character to our lead character concept artist, constantly she will ask, “What if it was a girl?” And I’m like, Oh, I didn’t think about that. Let me think, does that affect or change anything? No? Cool, that’s different. Yeah, let’s do it.

It's a simple thing, but it shows how a woman's presence in the industry does actually little to more diversity in the game, plus how easy it can be to implement with a simple conversation. Maybe it can be as simple as swapping out your more usual characters bases to be a little more interesting?

 

[Anarky]

I'm just imagining someone making a thread on reddit about how "Those fucking SJW's at Naughty Dog censored me for challenging their misandrist propaganda".

 

[Death Metalist]

I know someone who reacted similarly about the ending and the possible implications of that for the franchise moving forward.

Spoiler

He said, "We already have fucking Tomb Raider, we don't need a female lead in the future."

lol, it's sad to know that it's all he got about that great ending.

 

[mejin]

Uncharted 5 should star Cassie Drake's black girlfriend.

Not you too Naughty Dog....oh, wait..

 

[Shin-Ra]

and I don't think it even passed the bechdel test until Elena talked with her,

They start off talking about Nate though!

 

[impact]

What if this thread was a woman?

I'd demand Nintendo make Link a woman. I won't relate any other way!

 

[Pompadour]

The schadenfreude is lovely.

I'm curious if this is how Nadine's race was decided since she started out white, I believe, which led her to be cast by a white woman which then led to a backlash over a white VA for a black character from the same community that would be celebrating the change of Drake's son into Drake's daughter (which I think was a good choice).

 

[Moonstone]

The real spoiler is not in spoiler tags. Pls fix.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

You know it really bothers me that people like that tester are in a position to have their opinions be heard by the developers. Obviously it isn't going to be taken seriously but it's actively there in their offices and it is much more present than a shitty twitter post or youtube comment.

It also kind of bothers me that Naughty Dog still feels the need to bother with focus testing uncharted. Like bruh come on, it's the 4th entry in a critically acclaimed and hugely popular franchise. Do you really need focus testing?

 

[vasametropolis]

lol, it's sad to know that it's all he got about that great ending.

It's even dumber because they probably have no intent of revisiting the franchise anyway so it's doubly not worth complaining about.

 

[Atomski]

Not you, too, Naughty Dog!

Man I chuckled at this.

OMG WOMEN ARE INVADING EVERYTHING.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I could see where he's coming from in that he feels maybe that they did this by force because people have been talking about sexism in games for the past few years where as maybe they wouldn't do it if nobody ever talked about such issues? However, here's the thing, nothing feels forced in that game so I don't know what he's on about.

I love it when developers genuinely do something. Not do it after people rail on them for months because I feel by then whatever they do loses it's meaning. This is a case where it's the former, obviously. Good on ND.

The recent representation criticism is meant to get the industry in general to do some self reflection. It's not meant to force anyone to make changes. It's meant to highlight systemic issue that if corrected properly will result in more true to life game worlds that are far from forced.

 

[Quadraphonic]

Pretty funny getting upset about a franchise that was initially called "Dude Raider" because it was just a male Lara Croft.

 

[Boke1879]

I'm just imagining someone making a thread on reddit about how "Those fucking SJW's at Naughty Dog censored me for challenging their misandrist propaganda".

Oh this is going to get attention. Especially on twitter if Kotaku tweeted it out. That said good on ND for even mentioning this. It's about high time devs push back on this. .

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Can't say I'm surprised. Whole cavalcade of folks came out angry at that little thing on certain sites.

Did many manbabies really got angry over making you play as Nate's daughter in the last half hour? Hell you could rush it in 10 minutes on an otherwise almost 20 hour long game. Jesus!

 

[DedValve]

I guess I'm just looking at it from a data is interesting perspective. Hollywood is allergic to female roles to this day for similar reasons, unfortunately.

Yeah but games with female only leads do well, it just depends on the game. Uncharted 5 isn't going to bomba just because they decide to put a girl as the main lead over a guy. It'll probably sell much more than U4 if the sales history is anything to go by.

 

[Ascenion]

Now I'm asking why not both. Why not have a son and a daughter. Given Nate's relationship with Sam you'd think he'd want Cassie to have that too.

 

[georly]

It's absolutely insane to me that someone could be upset at the gender of a character in a game, especially when the gender/sec of that character changes nothing about the game.

I can not fathom what goes on in that person's head. It's insane to me that people like that not only exist, but actually think that stuff out loud. On the internet it's hard to tell if they're trolling or if it's their genuine thought, but to be a focus tester and tell naughty dog TO THEIR FACE that they're betraying the fans by making one character female instead of male is absolutely insane. How? Why? What!?

 

[Hot Coldman]

"Where are they getting these focus testers" was my first instinctual response, but then I realised there's mouthbreathers like that everywhere. Sad.

 

[Boke1879]

Did many manbabies really got angry over making you play as Nate's daughter in the last half hour? Hell you could rush it in 10 minutes on an otherwise almost 20 hour long game. Jesus!

They must have HATED TLOU

 

[Messofanego]

I hope their next IP is a female lead. If nothing else, for the salty tears of this guy.

Yes!

I wonder if Guerilla Games had to struggle to have a woman for their new AAA sci fi project, Horizon.

 

[Freeman]

Thanks for spoiling Uncharted 4 OP. God bless you...

 

[Flame Lord]

I kind of find that hard to believe. Not that someone would hold those beliefs, but that they would act so surprised with it coming from Naughty Dog. They aren't particularly new to having women characters in positions usually held by men.

 

[mstevens]

This is only slightly related, but I wonder if it was a conscious decision to not have any of Sam or Nathan's punches land on Nadine. It seems odd because Nate slams her into stuff, so they weren't avoiding violent images all together, but if I recall correctly he connects on 0 hits. I could definitely see why they chose to do it if it's intentional, but it's interesting then that she was allowed to beat the crap out of him.

Elena (with Sully as a close second) is my favorite character in the series, and I like having the daughter there instead of a son, especially if they decide to carry the franchise further (which I'm not entirely sure they should even do.. But it'd be more interesting with a daughter than a son)

 

[Feep]

Man did I just read a freaking huge spoiler in the OP? WTF? I'm only half way through the game!! WTH, I wasn't expecting spoilers in here. DAMN.

Seriously, what the fuck? Fuck this thread.

God fucking dammit.

 

[Insane Metal]

What an asshole. I'm glad with the choices they made.

 

[Scizzy]

The old woman in the mansion is actually a tough call to me because she serves two parallel roles in the plot, being both a surrogate mother to Nathan's career as well as an ominous glimpse of one of his possible fates. So I could see either gender fitting in well. The latter choice was great though, marking the idea of a new future with new possibilities.

 

[Alpha Phoenix]

Spoiler: Nathan is Lara's brother.

 

[bananafactory]

If that focus tester wrote the ending of U4

 

[Abstrusity]

But if women invade my video gaming safe space, how am I going to openly objectify them from behind the cover of vidya game anonymity without being outnumbered and suffering the consequences?

 

[Death Metalist]

The recent representation criticism is meant to get the industry in general to do some self reflection. It's not meant to force anyone to make changes. It's meant to highlight systemic issue that if corrected properly will result in more true to life game worlds that are far from forced.

Yeah, I agree. You can't do some self reflection without talking about it but I always felt an action would lose it's meaning when people rile up on a developer for doing something, whatever that may be. Like changing Tracer's pose is something I don't understand because what's the point of wanting them to do it when they already presented what they wanted to do in the beginning?

Do I care if that they did or didn't? no. As long as they make a good/great game then I'm in.

 

[BiggNife]

Nadine was awesome and I don't understand why anyone would be mad that she can beat up Nate. They make it painfully clear from the very first appearance that Nadine outclasses Nate and Sam in terms of physical ability.

 

[Dice//]

I thought it was cool to see more women playing games... but some guys really seem to have it in for us.

 

[maverick40]

Yes!

I wonder if Guerilla Games had to struggle to have a woman for their new AAA sci fi project, Horizon.

I can't wait for this game.

 

[Boke1879]

Yes!

I wonder if Guerilla Games had to struggle to have a woman for their new AAA sci fi project, Horizon.

Shockingly I haven't heard much push back against this. The game seems to have lots of interest. Maybe it's because we haven't seen much of it yet. I guess when marketing for it starts to ramp up we'll start seeing the undesirables voicing their shit.

 

[Altered Juice]

"Not you too, ND"

Holy shit Hahahaha.

also missed a spot with the spoiler tagging but honestly people were already spoiling the game with thread titles the first week it was out so I'm not really bothered anymore. It was worth it for the laugh.

 

[Crossing Eden]

This is only slightly related, but I wonder if it was a conscious decision to not have any of Sam or Nathan's punches land on Nadine. It seems odd because Nate slams her into stuff, so they weren't avoiding violent images all together, but if I recall correctly he connects on 0 hits. I could definitely see why they chose to do it if it's intentional, but it's interesting then that she was allowed to beat the crap out of him.

I actually find it weird that there are approximately ZERO female mercenaries in the campaign besides Nadine. They don't have that excuse that they had with PS3 where there's too little memory so I found it to be a bit of a missed opportunity there.

 

[Son Of D]

If that focus tester wrote the ending of U4

He probably hates LGBT people too so not really.

 

[DragonOfWisdom]

But if women invade my video gaming safe space, how am I going to openly objectify them from behind the cover of vidya game anonymity without being outnumbered and suffering the consequences?

These dern feminists censoring our vidya gamez.

 

[Kuraudo]

need NG to just recreate Y: The Last Man in videogame form.

ALL THE FEMALES.

Spoiler

Seriously though.

Only if you play as Agent 355

 

[Hot Coldman]

If that focus tester wrote the ending of U4

"Nate why did you bring us to a gay steel mill?"
"I DON'T KNOW"

 

[MadLaughter]

Nadine wrecking shop were some of my favorite moments in the game.

As for

Spoiler

Cassie

, I think Naughty Dog should pivot and make the next canonical game an extreme surfing/snowboarding game.

 

[Spinluck]

"not you too" what does that even mean?

What a moron.

 

[Boke1879]

I thought it was cool to see more women playing games... but some guys really seem to have it in for us.

The tester mentioned in the OP literally seems like a robot malfunctioning. "Not you too ND"

It's literally like people saying that wouldn't play San Andreas because of the setting and main character.

 

[eFKac]

Yeah it felt like Nadane being a very non stereotype female, Drake's mother

Spoiler

being the successful parent that was the role model for the brothers and Nate and Elena having a daughter

were not coincidences.

I don't mind though.

Spoiler

I didn't like Cassie from the admittedly short time with her compared to the previous ND young heroine Ellie though.

 

[Jeffrey]

I can kinda get some people not being happy that nathan, who's quite proficient in meleeing dudes in all 4 games (at least how I play) gets his ass handed to him by nadine every encounter.


The epilogue thing though? Dude must have some history or something that got him enraged about that...

 

[Hot Coldman]

Nadine beating up Nate handily was the most this series has ever made sense. It's basically the same thing as what would have happened if Lazarevic ever bothered to get his hands dirty, Nate can't compete with military training.

 

[funkystudent]

Speaking of outrage, this reminded me.....

Remember when people where up in arms that Laura Bailey was voicing Nadine? But then Druckmann said some reasonable stuff and that they even have a black person voicing a white character. Did that ever turn out to be true in the end? A quick look at the imdb doesnt seem so.

 

[Death Metalist]

"not you too" what does that even mean?

What a moron.

His reaction is like finding about someone close that got bitten by a zombie or some shit.

 

[Goose_Se7en]

I didn't have a problem with

Spoiler

Nate and Elena's kid being a girl (Cassie) in fact loved it and can't wait for her future adventures on PS6. Moreover I didn't mind that Ellie was gay in TLoU because it felt organic and fit the narrative of the story.

But I wouldn't like it if a dev just uses a token gay, black, female character just so there isn't any backlash from fans. If your narrative in a game is comprised of all white characters because the story calls for it, then fine. Let the story and narrative dictate what characters, races, and genders you use or don't use.