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[MagnaderAlpha]

They never put me off, considering, as a child, I watched Sesame Street and learned life lessons from fuzzy muppets. I watched Yogi Bear and Snagglepuss, Mickey Mouse, Rocky & Bullwinkle, DuckTales and TaleSpin. Though from the Sesame Street era(Pinwheel too, I'm that old), I learned not judge a person on their looks, because it's what's on the inside that counts. I've pretty taken that to heart and live by it. It's why I don't mind games featuring animals, or non-human alien races(Oddworld). To me, movie/cartoon-wise, it doesn't matter what the character looks like as well as the character's well written and likable. I can care as much about a protagonist if he was a human or a mouse. Game-wise, add that to great gameplay and that's my opinion on anthropomorphic animals in games. Hell, if anything, visually, it adds variety. Sometimes I don't want to play as yet another human. Maybe I'm in the mood for playing as a squirrel-person, or a humanoid shaped glob of slime. Maybe even an anthropomorphic dinosaur character. Hell, even a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

 

[Aokage]

Woo! Someone with sense (*＾-') 乃

They never put me off, considering, as a child, I watched Sesame Street and learned life lessons from fuzzy muppets. I watched Yogi Bear and Snagglepuss, Mickey Mouse, Rocky & Bullwinkle, DuckTales and TaleSpin. Though from the Sesame Street era(Pinwheel too, I'm that old), I learned not judge a person on their looks, because it's what's on the inside that counts. I've pretty taken that to heart and live by it. It's why I don't mind games featuring animals, or non-human alien races(Oddworld). To me, movie/cartoon-wise, it doesn't matter what the character looks like as well as the character's well written and likable. I can care as much about a protagonist if he was a human or a mouse. Game-wise, add that to great gameplay and that's my opinion on anthropomorphic animals in games. Hell, if anything, visually, it adds variety. Sometimes I don't want to play as yet another human. Maybe I'm in the mood for playing as a squirrel-person, or a humanoid shaped glob of slime. Maybe even an anthropomorphic dinosaur character. Hell, even a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

 

[NoirVisage]

Christ, sorry to resurrect an ancient thread, but this entire affair makes me sad.

Full disclosure: I'm furry. Whole deal. Got a fursona, go to cons, associate with other furs. Have been doing so for a decade-plus. Guilty as charged.

I only just noticed this thread, but the very notion behind it is weary. I temporarily extricate myself from my anthropomorphic animal-loving proclivities and declare:

Are y'all nuts?

Think back almost a century, to Steamboat Willie. Try to imagine Disney without Mickey Mouse (or go back a couple years earlier, to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit).

As generations have come and gone since the early 20th century, "mascot" animal characters have become engrained in our cultural milieu, pervading popular taste. I draw a direct line from Disney and Warner Bros. characters to Sly Cooper. (I'm not even going to go back to Aesop, Reynard, or as the OP pointed out, Ancient Egyptian deities.)

Mickey, Donald, Bugs, Daffy, et al.—did you grow up finding them distasteful? Did you associate an anthropomorphized duck with some sort of twisted, forbidden sexuality?

Of course you didn't. These characters are the innocent stuff of fairy tales and amusements. The trope has been with us so long that in a broader, game-centric narrative context, "furry" characters can even serve as proxies to wrap high drama in a softening silken cloth of anthropomorphism (StarFox, Sine Mora, Klonoa, Tail Concerto, Solatorobo).

Anthropomorphic animal characters are innocent. The recent, modern Internets conception that they are distasteful because some people find more in them is hateful and horrific.

I hate deigning to objectify—but do you not think there are ten times more folks out there getting off to Lara Croft? Kratos? Bayonetta? Cloud? Does that fact darken your taste for these characters? Rule 34, friends.

This has been a bit of a rant, but in closing—to find a well-crafted game distasteful because it features anthropomorphized animals? Holy shit. What has net culture done to you?

You don't have a point, you're biased to the point of absurdity and dare ask those without your fetish why they aren't like you? Face it dude, you may be the least rabid (SWIDT?) of the furry collective, but there are those that have ruined the "innocence" of it for good, it just can't be separated from the subculture.

plus very few of those characters you mentioned have completely human proportions and strongly human hairstyles (emo hair rabbits FTL).


The thread took the only route it could take, give up on trying to make this a furry world, at least in Gaf, go home and be a family man..or family dog.

 

[Htown]

The thread took the only route it could take, give up on trying to make this a furry world, at least in Gaf, go home and be a family man..or family dog.

Damn, son.

 

[Platy]

The route it should taken is "good art direction is good, bad art direction is bad" =P

 

[Levyne]

I usually don't care for more anthropomorphic designs but for some reason I really like the general look of Sly Cooper. I don't really care for Carmelita's look, though, skirting the line on that one, in my opinion.

 

[Blues1990]

It ultimately depends on how the game handles animal characters.

If it's an anthropomorphic animal that maintains something of the actual animal's physique, even when walking around on two legs and wearing clothes, then I'm fine with it. If it's done well, an anthropomorphic animal character should be initially visualized as a "human type", then translating those human physical traits and reinterpreting them in the animal design. As long as the facial design and physical body type are very much based on the character's human equivalent, yet never losing sight of the physical design of the actual animal, then it's cool.

If the design ends up being an animals head stuck on top of a fur covered, human-proportioned body, then I'm out.

 

[Aokage]

You don't have a point, you're biased to the point of absurdity and dare ask those without your fetish why they aren't like you? Face it dude, you may be the least rabid (SWIDT?) of the furry collective, but there are those that have ruined the "innocence" of it for good, it just can't be separated from the subculture.

plus very few of those characters you mentioned have completely human proportions and strongly human hairstyles (emo hair rabbits FTL).

The thread took the only route it could take, give up on trying to make this a furry world, at least in Gaf, go home and be a family man..or family dog.

I don't have a point?

My point is that anthropomorphized (though even that clinical and generic word has garnered a stain, thanks to people like you) animal characters are as innocent as every summer film that comes out of Dreamworks.

This has been basic and intrinsic to Western storytelling since Aesop—and therefore the world, since monoculture began to rear its head.

Further, I call you out—throw down the gauntlet, as you will—for calling furry, which comprises a massive part of my life, a "fetish."

You are sadly mistaken. It is a fandom. It is no more or less a fandom than the one you, presumably, insert yourself in: video games. Others may go for Doctor Who, Star Trek, whatever. Is there a sexual aspect to furry? Sure. Shall I direct you to hundreds of thousands of words of Doctor Who slash fanfic? Or Master Chief? Or Tifa? Or... Sonic?

Lastly, don't tell me to go home and be a family man. Or dog. Go down that road, and my fists have your blood of them.

 

[Mozendo]

Maybe.
I have no problem with Dust and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games,

But if the game is similar to modern-sonic in design then I'll stay away. Those humongous legs with those short torsos, ugh.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I think it comes down to tolerance thresholds for human characteristics. Obviously, most people don't have a problem with Disney chracters, but may get creeped out by something like the characters in Dust. Exactly where that tolerance exists is probably an individual thing.

 

[DracoBlade]

Huh? no.

Spoiler

Sly Cooper furries ftw

 

[OmnipotentO]

It really depends on how it's done for me. Hyper sexualized females = nope. Trying hard to make the dudes look stereotypical anime 'badass' = nope.

 

[leakey]

Not really. Glad that DOTA has anthropomorphic aminals tho.

 

[TaroYamada]

I like them fine as far as Donald, Mickey, Sonic, DotA2, etc. I never ended up buying Dust though because the specific art style it had for its anthros reminded me explicitly of the creepy sexual fetish that I associate with the term furry.

 

[G-Fex]

no. Humans are boring sometimes. A lot of the times.

 

[Clawww]

furry/anime style: a turn off, honestly

I much prefer Bugs Bunny/western look to cartoon manimals

 

[G-Fex]

anime style now that needs to go away for a good while.

 

[Fuz]

I would like Dust a lot more if it didn't feature devianart-esque furry art yes.

This.

 

[Son of Cervantes]

The thing about anthropomorphic animals in games (like in Dust: An Elysian Tail), is that I associate it with furry sexuality these days. I can no longer think of it innocently like I did in my childhood with Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny. Nowadays when I see anthropomorphic animals, all that I can think of is "Someone is fapping to this."

Same reason the way I view Sonic has changed, knowing there's a whole sub-community that draws Sonic hentai and writes sexualized Sonic fanfics.

On the other hand, I don't really have anything against Eastern aesthetics in terms of design, like in the Tales or Final Fantasy games, which I'm sure a lot of people dislike for aesthetic reasons (or because when they see those types of characters they instantly think of hentai and the like, lol). In fact, the artwork of folks like Kosuke Fujishima is actually a plus since I like that artistic style.

Further, I call you out—throw down the gauntlet, as you will—for calling furry, which comprises a massive part of my life, a "fetish."

Do you fap to furry stuff? Then it's a fetish, as far as the definition of the word goes.

 

[NewGame]

I'll be damned if I let the "furry" stuff ruin my ability to look forward to games like this.

k what game is this is this like nidhogg 3d + watership down???

 

[JBourne]

The thread took the only route it could take, give up on trying to make this a furry world, at least in Gaf, go home and be a family man..or family dog.

God DAMN.

Lastly, don't tell me to be go home and be a family man. Or dog. Go down that road, and my fists have your blood of them.

Seriously?

k what game is this is this like nidhogg 3d + watership down???

Overgrowth.

 

[PaulloDEC]

The thing about anthropomorphic animals in games (like in Dust: An Elysian Tail), is that I associate it with furry sexuality these days. I can no longer think of it innocently like I did in my childhood with Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny. Nowadays when I see anthropomorphic animals, all that I can think of is "Someone is fapping to this."

It's exactly as Aokage said. This is a case of the internet ruining something for people by adding undesired connotations, not that there's something inherently bad about anthropomorphic animals, or anything else.

Of course, things are much simpler when you remind yourself that someone is either fapping to or has fapped to pretty much everything you've ever seen.

 

[Son of Cervantes]

It's exactly as Aokage said. This is a case of the internet ruining something for people by adding undesired connotations, not that there's something inherently bad about anthropomorphic animals, or anything else.

Of course, things are much simpler when you remind yourself that someone is either fapping to or has fapped to pretty much everything you've ever seen.

 

[mollipen]

Seriously?

Three seconds of Google searching would have made you not ask this.

You don't have a point, you're biased to the point of absurdity and dare ask those without your fetish why they aren't like you? Face it dude, you may be the least rabid (SWIDT?) of the furry collective, but there are those that have ruined the "innocence" of it for good, it just can't be separated from the subculture.

I, as a human being, belong to a subset of society that is heavily fetishized—often times to hugely negative detriment.* When that fetishization is forced upon you, it's not fun.

I'm not saying that there aren't people who are directly a part of the furry community helping in having "furry" be seen as a fetish, but—as an outsider—I can't blame anyone who wants to see the line between fetish and non-fetish drawn much clearer than it currently is. Faulting someone for that is unfair.


* Actually, two if I think about it. But one is a huge f'n problem in terms of society, and one not so much.

 

[waggabond]

Nope, I like playing humanoids usually.

 

[Son of Cervantes]

Three seconds of Google searching would have made you not ask this.




I, as a human being, belong to a subset of society that is heavily fetishized—often times to hugely negative detriment.* When that fetishization is forced upon you, it's not fun.

I'm not saying that there aren't people who are directly a part of the furry community helping in having "furry" be seen as a fetish, but—as an outsider—I can't blame anyone who wants to see the line between fetish and non-fetish drawn much clearer than it currently is. Faulting someone for that is unfair.


* Actually, two if I think about it. But one is a huge f'n problem in terms of society, and one not so much.

Didn't realize Gamefan editors were so heavily fetishized.

j/k

 

[MagnaderAlpha]

Nowadays when I see anthropomorphic animals, all that I can think of is "Someone is fapping to this."

Oddly enough, most people have fetishes, even if they deny it. Something turns them on. Who's to say one's "turn on" is worse or sub-human than another. Even people could lie like dog and say, "Nope, I have no fetish!", and you can do it with a straight face, or online, type it without he luxury of face-to-face conversation and reading of expression. But, remember, we all know the deep dark secrets of ourselves. We all know what gets our knockers off, even if we try to deny to tell people hundreds of times we aren't like that. We aren't "weird" or what the popular consensus deems us to be outside of excepted normality, put on any mask, you're still stuck with yourself and your deep dark desires. You'll never be able to make yourself think otherwise. To see the faults in others and the ways THEY are so "different" are the things we tell ourselves to help us sleep better at night, because if we were to come to the conclusion that, perhaps, we all aren't that much different, we might question if we, ourselves, too belong outside of that which is socially "normal".

Of course, being socially normal is overrated. I've considered myself outside of the status quo book of thinking. I don't subscribe to the law of trend, or what my peers deem is "the way to be" and shun, for the sake of sakes, all that which is NOT considered normal, just because. I tend to be more open-minded than that. And I know others have quirks that they might get off on. I don't judge them for that. As long as they aren't hurting anybody, so fuckin be it, go crazy. It all comes done to tolerance. For such liberated, progressive society, we've made great steps in personal freedoms and more open-mindedness regarding personal expression and acceptance of people for whom they are, but it's also apparent that we have a LONG way to go.

 

[mollipen]

Didn't realize Gamefan editors were so heavily fetishized.

j/k

Well, during the GameFan era, I DID have somebody tell me that I (specifically) was "huge among Mormons". I hear they have some crazy fetishes.

 

[Nimajneb]

I can't play Call of Duty because I know there are people with military fetishes.

Spoiler

This thread is baffling to me.

 

[Esura]

The thing about anthropomorphic animals in games (like in Dust: An Elysian Tail), is that I associate it with furry sexuality these days. I can no longer think of it innocently like I did in my childhood with Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny. Nowadays when I see anthropomorphic animals, all that I can think of is "Someone is fapping to this."

Same reason the way I view Sonic has changed, knowing there's a whole sub-community that draws Sonic hentai and writes sexualized Sonic fanfics.

On the other hand, I don't really have anything against Eastern aesthetics in terms of design, like in the Tales or Final Fantasy games, which I'm sure a lot of people dislike for aesthetic reasons (or because when they see those types of characters they instantly think of hentai and the like, lol). In fact, the artwork of folks like Kosuke Fujishima is actually a plus since I like that artistic style.

There is a whole swath of people that draws hentai and write sexualized fanfics of anything though, not just Sonic or anthro animals in particular. Nothing is safe from the hands of rule 34, not even the girl in my avatar. :3

 

[Aokage]

I like them fine as far as Donald, Mickey, Sonic, DotA2, etc. I never ended up buying Dust though because the specific art style it had for its anthros reminded me explicitly of the creepy sexual fetish that I associate with the term furry.

That makes me very sad, John Smith. You missed a great game. Your association of Dust's art direction vis-à-vis a "creepy sexual fetish" is likely a product of the Internets' miserable demonizing of furry fandom. Furs are fond of animal characters who walk and talk as humans. That is all.

By your definition, specifically regarding Dust, even Disney's Robin Hood would be repugnant to you. Or have I missed something?

Contrary to the accusations and slander furs faced in the post-SomethingAwful era, we are only fans of a narrative and fantasy mode that has likely been with mankind since we first realized we differed from all other species on this planet.

I'm sorry the internet has convinced you that is "creepy."

P.S. — Are brightly-colored animal characters bopping around creepier than the wholesale simulated killing of men? Just a question.

 

[AuthenticM]

I hate deigning to objectify—but do you not think there are ten times more folks out there getting off to Lara Croft? Kratos? Bayonetta? Cloud? Does that fact darken your taste for these characters?

No, because they are human. I don't want anything to do with people who get off from sexualized animal-like characters. Sorry.

 

[LocalE]

Do you fap to furry stuff? Then it's a fetish, as far as the definition of the word goes.

I'm pretty sure that you have misunderstood the definition of fetish.

A person does not have a fetish involving everything that they have fapped to.

I don't have a fetish for 30 year-old, big-booty redheads in pigtails playing the role of naughty schoolgirls. But I can fap to that.
I don't have a fetish for interracial sex. But I can fap to that.
I don't have a fetish for chicks getting double-teamed or gangbanged. But I can fap to that whether they are in bondage or not, no matter what race or nationality they are. It doesn't matter if condoms are being used in the porn or not, or if the penises of the male talent are big, medium or small.
So there's no possible way I could have a fetish for any or all of those things, even though they all were fapped to at some point.

Now, if I said I can only achieve sexual gratification when a petite older Arab-looking lady is receiving golden showers or something like that, then we may be able to find an actual fetish at play.


Anyways, I still just can't see myself being so against anything just because some people have sexual thoughts and proclivities concerning that specific thing,
I also don't understand describing people's sexual desires concerning things like anthropomorphic creatures as "creepy" or anything of the sort.
I could not care less if a person is sexually or non-sexually into anthropomorphic animals, or any other specific interest. I don't care that people are "sexual deviants". I don't see what is supposed to be so wrong with being a sexual deviant in the first place. Most of the time, as far as the vast preponderance of humanity is concerned, it's none of my business, doesn't affect me, and would be a silly reason for me to start actively disliking any certain aesthetic or activity.

Lucky me, I guess,
I'm free to either like or dislike a game with anthropomorphic animals in based on merits such as "is it fun?", "is it annoying in some way?", or just, basically, "do I like to play it?".

TL?R? - Anthropomorphic animals do not influence my buying decisions, and while I can see how some people may be more inclined to buy a game with such characters in it due to their interests, I find it pretty strange that so many people avoid those games because they apparently can't stop thinking about people fapping to animals with people-like qualities and wanting to have sex with people who wear animal suits.
Also, fetish is not a word to describe everything that any given person has fapped to.

 

[Aokage]

Seriously?

If you don't recognize the "GO HOME AND BE A FAMILY MAN" — "MY FISTS HAVE YOUR BLOOD OF THEM" jest, it's not my fault.

 

[Deified Data]

Even if someone does choose to fap to furry hentai, who the fuck cares? The internet is filled with millions of things weirder than that. Seems like a weird thing to get stuck on if you ask me. I'm not exactly calling "projection!" yet but I'm at least one more post like this from doing so:

You don't have a point, you're biased to the point of absurdity and dare ask those without your fetish why they aren't like you? Face it dude, you may be the least rabid (SWIDT?) of the furry collective, but there are those that have ruined the "innocence" of it for good, it just can't be separated from the subculture.

plus very few of those characters you mentioned have completely human proportions and strongly human hairstyles (emo hair rabbits FTL).


The thread took the only route it could take, give up on trying to make this a furry world, at least in Gaf, go home and be a family man..or family dog.

 

[G-Fex]

I can't play Call of Duty because I know there are people with military fetishes.

Spoiler

This thread is baffling to me.

this thread is a complete mess beyond the realm of mediocre

 

[Roto13]

It's often pretty easy to tell which characters are just cartoon dogs and cats and which ones are designed by someone who wants something to abuse him or herself to.

 

[G-Fex]

It's often pretty easy to tell which characters are just cartoon dogs and cats and which ones are designed by someone who wants something to abuse him or herself to.

Where does icecream endorsed love middle school girls fall into?

Or maybe even the half naked chibi things from 'bravely default' that everyone cried about censoring?

 

[Son of Cervantes]

There is a whole swath of people that draws hentai and write sexualized fanfics of anything though, not just Sonic or anthro animals in particular. Nothing is safe from the hands of rule 34, not even the girl in my avatar. :3

The girl in your avatar is supposed to be, like...eight years old. That goes from creepy to downright disturbing and possibly illegal. :/ :\ :/

 

[Village]

No, because they are human. I don't want anything to do with people who get off from sexualized animal-like characters. Sorry.

Why would you care in the first place? There are plenty of people associate with that likes things I do not like. I dunno i'm not 12 years old and I can handle the elementary school notion, I dunno about you.

 

[jnWake]

I couldn't care less to be honest. I don't associate antropomorphic animals to anything sexual so why would I care!

 

[Aokage]

Nowadays when I see anthropomorphic animals, all that I can think of is "Someone is fapping to this."

Someone is fapping to everything.

Do you fap to furry stuff? Then it's a fetish, as far as the definition of the word goes.

You automatically assume I masturbate to furry porn because I declare myself furry? I truly cannot believe you are asking this question on NeoGAF. What do you fap to, Son of Cervantes?

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Why would you care in the first place? There are plenty of people associate with that likes things I do not like. I dunno i'm not 12 years old and I can handle the elementary school notion, I dunno about you.

Yes, we are all children because we don't want to hang out with people who think about having sex with people sized animals.

I don't mind playing these animals in games or anything, but if you can't see why someone wouldn't want to associate with someone who would want to have sex with those characters I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Azriell]

I couldn't care less if someone fantasizes or masturbates to something I'm into. Furries are weird, but they don't take away from my enjoyment of games like Crash or Sly Cooper. I think it's pretty silly to be so caught up by what some people do in private as to be bothered to the point of not being able to enjoy a good game. There's plenty of hentai games that are way more offensive than furries, but plenty of people will play things with an anime art style.

I associate anthropomorphic animals with the mascot platformers of the 90s, although obviously you could put them in any kind of game. I miss 3D platformers, mascot or not, and so, sure, I would happily play a game with anthropomorphic animals in it if it meant the return of mascot platformers. Or even if it didn't. As long as the art style is shit I really don't care what race/gender/species the characters are.

 

[MKP64]

No..but the character designs in Dust:AE are holding me back from continuing it.

 

[Currygan]

why should I give a single fuck about some imbeciles who find talking animals irritating because someone wanks over a digital feminine fox's arsehole? The whole concept of "furries" is so incredibly dumb and typically nerdish. If a game's good, I'll play it. Tim Schaefer is a legend, but he's acting beyond stupid here

 

[Aokage]

Well, during the GameFan era, I DID have somebody tell me that I (specifically) was "huge among Mormons". I hear they have some crazy fetishes.

Oh, you wouldn't even believe it. (NO H8 against Mormons. I just happened to know one very intimately.)

 

[Chettlar]

Personally no.

I mean, what would we do without games like Conker and Starfox?

Not bothered. In fact, think anthropomorphic animals can be pretty awesome. Case in point, fuckin' Space Samurai Bears!


(From Stardrive)

This is the best picture in the whole world.

You don't have a point, you're biased to the point of absurdity and dare ask those without your fetish why they aren't like you? Face it dude, you may be the least rabid (SWIDT?) of the furry collective, but there are those that have ruined the "innocence" of it for good, it just can't be separated from the subculture.

plus very few of those characters you mentioned have completely human proportions and strongly human hairstyles (emo hair rabbits FTL).


The thread took the only route it could take, give up on trying to make this a furry world, at least in Gaf, go home and be a family man..or family dog.

What on earth dude?

 

[Aokage]

It's often pretty easy to tell which characters are just cartoon dogs and cats and which ones are designed by someone who wants something to abuse him or herself to.

Did the guy in your avatar oversee the design of a character who he "want[ed] to abuse himself to?" Someone with an impossible, idealized body wearing nothing but hair? Hmm?

This argument is ridiculous.

 

[Village]

Yes, we are all children because we don't want to hang out with people who think about having sex with people sized animals.

" Hello person we have many things in common, can we be friends "

" But I have a weird fetish, I only get off to planets "

" do I have to have sex with you "

" no"

" Do I have to hear about this "

" unless we get different sort of relationship, then no "

" then why as an adult human being, would I even give a shit about what you jerk off too if we aren't going to do anything or talking about it "

Life is easier when we act older than 12 years old .

I don't mind playing these animals in games or anything, but if you can't see why someone wouldn't want to associate with someone like that then I don't know what to tell you.

I dont understand.

How do you know your anyone in your current friend group doesn't get off to anything weird? If weird porn is your barrier for friendship, you may want to interrogate your friends, family and everyone you ever met ever. Because there is a good chance a fuck ton of em fall under the weird porn category.

You will never EVER have any idea what dudes are thinking about, are you around people? They might be having weird sex thoughts RIGHT NOW. Grow up , as long as they ain't bringing that stuff into your wheel house, you shoudn't have an issue with them. You ain't talking to them about, who gives a shit.