During an interview about Blizzard's upcoming MOBA (dota game):
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11/22/blizzard-on-heroes-of-the-storm-female-designs-in-mobas/
I don't read much gaming press, but this was all over my twitter feed. Seems like some pretty hardball questions for a gaming interview. I kinda feel bad for the director since he obviously didn't expect what was coming, but when you're a public face you have to deal with the decisions of your company.
If you're not running for president, I guess it's anything goes!
Seriously though, when the only two female characters in Hearthstone look like the exact same hyper-sexual thing, it's kind of off-putting. They could do a lot better with regards to this issue.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11/22/blizzard-on-heroes-of-the-storm-female-designs-in-mobas/
RPS: You have some interesting alternate outfits for heroes. Roller Derby Nova, especially, caught my eye. On its own, that’s totally fine – just a silly, goofy thing. A one-off. But it got me thinking about how often MOBAs tend to hyper-sexualize female characters to a generally preposterous degree – that is to say, make it the norm, not a one-off at all – and StarCraft’s own, um, interesting focus choices as of late. How are you planning to approach all of that in Heroes?
Browder: Well, I mean, some of these characters, I would argue, are already hyper-sexualized in a sense. I mean, Kerrigan is wearing heels, right? We’re not sending a message to anybody. We’re just making characters who look cool. Our sensibilities are more comic book than anything else. That’s sort of where we’re at. But I’ll take the feedback. I think it’s very fair feedback.
RPS: I have to add, though, that comics might not be the best point of reference for this sort of thing. I mean, it’s a medium that’s notorious – often in a not-good way – for sexing up female characters and putting them in some fairly gross situations.
Browder: We’re not running for President. We’re not sending a message. No one should look to our game for that.
RPS: But it’s not even about a message. The goal is to let people have fun in an environment where they can feel awesome without being weirded out or even objectified. This is a genre about empowerment. Why shouldn’t everyone feel empowered? That’s what it’s about at the end of the day: letting everyone have a fair chance to feel awesome.
Browder: Uh-huh. Cool. Totally.
[PR says we've run over, tells me I have to leave]
I don't read much gaming press, but this was all over my twitter feed. Seems like some pretty hardball questions for a gaming interview. I kinda feel bad for the director since he obviously didn't expect what was coming, but when you're a public face you have to deal with the decisions of your company.
If you're not running for president, I guess it's anything goes!
Seriously though, when the only two female characters in Hearthstone look like the exact same hyper-sexual thing, it's kind of off-putting. They could do a lot better with regards to this issue.