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Gears 5 Is 'Grounded in Diversity' Says Director as Players Praise LGBT, Disability Representation

Feels like one of those people on Twitter who have the obnoxiously long, sniff my own farts, they/them bios just so they can let everyone know how "important" they are.

Just don't understand why people think it's so important to tell others what they do with their genitalia.

Also, on an unrelated note, I thought pride was supposed to be a month of celebration? So far it seems to have been every fucking month this year, at what point does it start losing its purpose?

All I am going to think if I see one of these flags being used in the game is that this person makes their sexuality their entire identity, even when playing a game.

I honestly think it's these flamboyant gay people with the whole "fuck you" attitude that ruin it for all the normal gay people that aren't shouting from the rooftops about their sexuality and who just get on with life like heterosexual people do.

I don't mind the game having a pride flag, I just think it's pointless virtue signalling personally, if they had a "I am straight flag" I wouldn't use it as my banner, as a matter of fact, I would think it's pretty fucking cringe.

The disability features are fantastic though, great work in that regard.
 
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Hudo

Member
I feel that there isn't much overlap between the vocal minority that really gives a shit about stuff like this and the people who actually buy Gears games.

The real question is whether this is still a Gears game and wether this is fun to play. Is it still a "vertical platformer" (as CliffyB desribed it once) and can I chainsaw people to death?
 
C

Contica

Unconfirmed Member
Maybe they should diversify what the player characters say too? Listening to Kait, Del or any of the new faces repeating everything Marcus said in Gears 1 is just embarassing.

The only Marcus is Marcus, leave his one liners alone.

#freedomformarcus
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
I feel that there isn't much overlap between the vocal minority that really gives a shit about stuff like this and the people who actually buy Gears games.

The real question is whether this is still a Gears game and wether this is fun to play. Is it still a "vertical platformer" (as CliffyB desribed it once) and can I chainsaw people to death?

The flags are just a minor silly thing. The game itself is really good and a lot of fun.
 

Nickolaidas

Member
lmao no. All this diversity shit is just marketing. These people only care about profits. They know the average person won't say anything against it so why not put all this stuff in it to sell 3 more copies?
This is closer to home than most may realize. In the end, the inclusion of pride flags isn't done because companies 'matured' or want to be 'less offensive' towards minorities. They simply want to increase their target audience. The previous Gears of War have the 'straight male's' attention and money, so now they venture to other target audiences (gays, trans, non-binaries, etc.). It's simply more money for them.

The casual straight male gamer (and most hardcore straight male gamers) aren't going to stop buying Gears just because someone in multiplayer is going to be holding a rainbow flag, so Coalition's profits are safe.

If, (not when, IF) the straight male gamer is going to be pissed off with these inclusions to the point that he doesn't want to buy the product, then the company will re-focus on him and realize that pandering to the minorities is not profitable. But I don't see that happening, because the majority of straights do not have a problem with a game pandering to the minorities (as long as it doesn't detract from the main experience).

I don't mind the inclusion of minorities to video games, as long as the developers don't overdo it to the point where the minorities are majorities and majorities are minorities. For example, if Gears of War 8 has six main characters and three of them are trans, the other two are lesbians and only one of them is a straight male, then the pandering has gone too far.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
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I mean, again?!? Some notes:

First, no-one has issues with changes and enhancements that allow those who are differently abled or with profound disabilities to play a game. This is because they are actual problems and the majority of people who play games are not assholes;
Second, I don't think this is an issue seperate to Microsoft or Sony and extends beyond them, but includes both;
Third, this sounds like a stock response after the inclusion of said art was found by someone playing the game and shared on twitter. And though it's the usual PR response I do think it's different to a pre-announcement and waving it all over the place for points;

On a wider scale, intellectually this probably let a few interns or junior artists get a credit in the game so I don't really have an issue with it. If it eventually helps the new generation of creators some through then it's all good. However, is this stance really so important now when Mexicans and Brazilians were getting chewed out on GeOW multiplayer for years?

If you're going to make sexuality part of an identity and plug integration, diversity and acceptance then you have to cover all parts of that spectrum. But that would require these people to have self awareness, of course the biggest complaint being that the 'default straight white male' is the default character perspective. And yet, in their idiocy to make a point, actually underpin and strengthen that point themselves.

Lastly, does any fool actually believe this is

1. Going to entice people of a different sexuality to try this game?
2. Based on any market research or wider data gathering from the complete gears community that placed these banners as a priority for inclusion?;
3. Not going to cause further headlines as already alluded to earlier and the FO76 incident this year?
 

MMaRsu

Banned
The disability options = awesome

The pride flags = ugh. Don’t get the point of broadcasting to the world what kinds of people you like to fuck or what your downstairs situation is like but I guess that’s just my C I S W H I T E M A L E P R I V I L E G E

XBox Live in 2009: “Hahah you’re gay”
XBox Live in 2019: “Hahah I’m gay”

So what you are saying is, it's okay to use it as an insult but not as something to be proud off?

Fuck off
 

petran79

Banned
Hey Microsoft and Epic, if you care about disabled people and their families, make xbox live subscription free for them. As if they could afford an Xbox and gow5 with all their existing problems
 
I imagine that if there wasn’t dev made banners and you had the tools to create your own, people who are using the pride banners would be using the tools to make their own pride banners. If that makes sense.

The inclusion makes sense. I’m sure they’d have sport teams for you to fly if they didn’t have to pay for the license.

If they had a Nationals, yes I’d buy it. I don’t look at the pride banners any differently than sport teams or whatever people fanboy over (auto makers, consoles, shoe brands).
 

HeresJohnny

Member
It's not in the game, but should be. If gay people can be proud, and why can't straight people?
Wait, you mean they made a statement on diversity and the importance of inclusivity and forgot to put a pride flag in for straight people? ROFL. Those stupid bastards.
 

HeresJohnny

Member
Just re-read Ferguson's statement and all I could think was:

Achievement Unlocked: Virtue Signal to Your Audience 0 Points
 

bryo4321

Member
Why would not having your “flag” in multiplayer make the game uninclusive? Why do people care if they can telegraph to everyone what type of people they like to bang? It’s so silly.
 
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HeresJohnny

Member
Why would not having your “flag” in multiplayer make the game uninclusive? Why do people care if they can telegraph everyone what type of people they like to bang? It’s so silly.
It's stupid, really. All it's going to do is make targets out of these people. And let's face it: the shooter fanbase isn't exactly a bastion of diversity to begin with. I mean, people already avoided playing online shooters because they got called all kinds of shit BEFORE they wanted to put a flag over your head announcing which hole you put your dick in. I don't see this making things better.
 

Dane

Member
>player puts pride flag
>chats become spammed with for lulz "ha gay" messages.

What are the chances of this happening a lot?
 
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Boss Mog

Member
Props to them for the accessibility features, but I don't support the "representation" part . They're just checking off boxes to make sure the usual suspects don't come after them on social media. That's what diversity and representation comes down to in gaming these days.

"We believe gaming is for everyone": That's great, but it doesn't mean that everyone should be in every game. People that say they can't play a game unless the protagonist looks like them are full of shit or they're not gamers. A gamer doesn't give a shit if the protag is a white male, a black female or a blue hedgehog, only that the gameplay is good and the game is fun to play. We need to stop catering to these people and let creators make the games they want to make with the characters they want to create. If a guy wants to make a realistic game that takes place in Eastern Europe during the middle-ages, he shouldn't be forced to include black people just because a twitter mob is demanding it in the name of diversity and representation.
 
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ExpandKong

Banned
Props to them for the accessibility features, but I don't support the "representation" part . They're just checking off boxes to make sure the usual suspects don't come after them on social media. That's what diversity and representation comes down to in gaming these days.

"We believe gaming is for everyone": That's great, but it doesn't means that everyone should be in every game. People that say they can't play a game unless the protagonist looks like them are full of shit or they're not gamers. A gamer doesn't give a shit if the protag is a white male, a black female or a blue hedgehog, only that the gameplay is good and the game is fun to play. We need to stop catering to these people and let creators make the games they want to make with the characters they want to create. If a guy wants to make a realistic game that takes place in Eastern Europe during the middle-ages, he shouldn't be forced to include black people just because a twitter mob is demanding it in the name of diversity and representation.

Beyond gaming too, what kind of media do these people consume?

Do they only read books whose main characters are exactly like them? Do they only watch movies whose main characters are exactly like them? How does one go through life like that?

For real though. I’m going to use the gay pride flag. Because I’ve always sucked dick at Gears.
 
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GrayChild

Member
"We believe gaming is for everyone".

Hey, I have an idea. Distribute the game under "pay what you can/what you want" model so that you can be actually inclusive towards all poor/3rd world gamers who cannot afford the game at full price. That would be fair and truly inclusive while ensuring you're not doing this for cheap PR.

Oh wait...
 
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