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“Generic white dude video game protagonist.” How does this trend/phrase make you feel?
- Thread starter Spring-Loaded
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I'm not sure how to approach this comment directly, it is like a bomb needing to be diffused. It is unfortunate that you are sick of lead characters that are white males, as there will continue to be white male protagonists for as long as there is a market for them. Hopefully the demographics of your choice will become increasingly represented as the videogame industry continues to expand, without the need to detract from others. I am unsure why my comment about white men having played a notable role in nurturing the industry does not sit well with you, I did not imply that they are the only demographic of importance within the industry, who would say such a thing, especially when a large amount of the best games come from Japan. Next, you seem to expect me to say that women and minorities don't buy games? You're starting to lose me here, minorities buy games in proportion to their population in the west, they are obviously a smaller market due to their numbers though they do indeed buy games and should be represented more fairly.
Women also buy games, is that statistic claiming that half the population that regularly plays retail titles are women or women who have tried a game of some sort at some point? I would need some clarification to decide if it is a relevent stat. Would a more frequent output of console and mid-high budget games, aimed towards women, have an audience large enough to support development costs as reliably as their counterparts? If so, then there should definitely be more titles marketed towards them. Would this reduce the level of "sickness" you have towards white male characters, or do you simply want less white males in games altogether? My initial comment in no way minimalizes the efforts of minoritises, such a projection only serves to antagonize. Animosity has no place in the videogame industry, regardless of how underprivelaged you feel. If half the people from these 'spaces' speak with such disrespct it is no wonder they are allegedly not being heard (listened to).
Same for me. It's a stereotypical male character look in dystopian games, and it's starting to become tiresome. You're telling me you can find an abundance of bullets and gasoline in the post-apocalyptic world, but not a razor to shave your face?
It's an accurate trope, no problems with it.
What was the default option in most of those game's character creators?
What was the default option in most of those game's character creators?
I'd love to see a dull asian Sam Worthington take a shot at Hollywood, maybe we could draft Sam Worthington himself to China for one of their mediocre actors whilst we are at it. My main point is that the entertainment industry as a whole should expand to meet demand, that is how any business should be run. And just because there is a steadily increasing demand from other demographics doesn't mean that white men should be represented any less, and especially not ridiculed for their 'generic' portrayal it is minorities that should be represented more.
white guy has nothing to do with it imo, what makes characters boring and generic is if the acting/writing is boring and generic.
give me all the white dudes you want, I aint a white bald dude but ill play as one. Same way that I play as Chloe in Uncharted Lost Legacy even tho I am not even a woman.
I have never been turned away by having x thing not have someone that looks like me hell I like Peter Parker a million times more than Mile Morales hes my guy.
give me all the white dudes you want, I aint a white bald dude but ill play as one. Same way that I play as Chloe in Uncharted Lost Legacy even tho I am not even a woman.
I have never been turned away by having x thing not have someone that looks like me hell I like Peter Parker a million times more than Mile Morales hes my guy.
Man ill be so disappointment if in the next game peter dies and is replaced by miles...
smh, commander Shepard and in the bottom Booker Dewitt my guy. get it right next time
The over abundance of white man roles is part of what makes them generic.
Its like eating nothing but burgers. Sure you can make burgers alot of different ways and not all burgers are the same. But they are still burgers. And a well prepared gourmet burger tastes really good but even gourmet burgers begin to taste samey if you are only eating burgers. And i like burgers but sometimes it just feels good to have something different. And a more varied diet will also make me appreciate burgers more than if all im offered is burgers.
I take whatever character as long as the story is interesting. I think the story(telling) this gen has really gotten better overall.
As a generic white dude, I'm not only fine with the criticism, I feel the same. It's gotten so drab playing games with such samey prescribed white guys that it's actually gotten weary on me if the game does not offer another option.
GTA San Andreas is one of the most successful PS2 games. Producers can ignore advices from the marketing department and shareholders.
I wish there was more variety in the origin of protagonists. What about characters that grew up in Israel or Iran? But I think that's too risky for big companies.
Bald space marine will be bald space marine if they're black, white or green or female.
Treasure hunting western guy/gal will still be Lara or Nathan if they're a PoC unless they're written differently - I.e. not plundering ancient ruins.
In fact ND already did this with Chloe, and while the writing was better than TR, she's still from a wealthy background with daddy issues same as Lara. Likes shooting people too.
Treasure hunting western guy/gal will still be Lara or Nathan if they're a PoC unless they're written differently - I.e. not plundering ancient ruins.
In fact ND already did this with Chloe, and while the writing was better than TR, she's still from a wealthy background with daddy issues same as Lara. Likes shooting people too.
San andreas came riding the tail of GTA 3 & Vice city which featured exclusively a white guy as a playable character, a departure from GTA 1, 2 and London which had multiple selectable characters.
47's look perfectly suits his character. He's all about blending in and looking like a generic white guy makes that much easier. That said, I wouldn't call him a generic character. The contrast between his cold and clinical demeanor and the absurd situations he can find himself in gives him a very distinct feel.
The weird thing I've noticed, is that almost as prevalent as them being, white, male, and having some typical short haircut, is that the vast majority also have brown hair. Black hair is also fairly common.
I'm having trouble thinking of games starring blonde or red headed white dudes. I noticed this when playing Wolfenstein and seeing BJ with blonde hair and blue eyes.
I'm having trouble thinking of games starring blonde or red headed white dudes. I noticed this when playing Wolfenstein and seeing BJ with blonde hair and blue eyes.
I don't like "Generic white dude" or "generic white man" expressions because I think it's bad to dislike or hate someone due to his/her skin color or gender.
Other than that, to dislike generic character is normal. An iconic and charismatic character is always better, but sometimes they choose generic characters because they use as reference other very successful games and characters that happen to have white man main characters, or simply don't have enough talent to design interesting and iconic character.
Another main reason of why they often choose male or white main characters for AAA games is because they know that the majority of their customers are white males from NA and EU so they make characters like their target user to make sure players identify better with the character.
Now that the AAA market grew a lot since decades ago the amount of women (female market grew a lot specially in mobile and web games) and non-white players is becoming a big enough market so we're seeing more and more characters like that in videogames, something they also use to grow these niches.
Other than that, to dislike generic character is normal. An iconic and charismatic character is always better, but sometimes they choose generic characters because they use as reference other very successful games and characters that happen to have white man main characters, or simply don't have enough talent to design interesting and iconic character.
Another main reason of why they often choose male or white main characters for AAA games is because they know that the majority of their customers are white males from NA and EU so they make characters like their target user to make sure players identify better with the character.
Now that the AAA market grew a lot since decades ago the amount of women (female market grew a lot specially in mobile and web games) and non-white players is becoming a big enough market so we're seeing more and more characters like that in videogames, something they also use to grow these niches.
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Generic
dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/browse/generic
Merrium-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/generic
- relating to or characteristic of a whole group or class
Cambridge Dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/generic
"shared by, typical of, or relating to a whole group of similar things, rather than to any particular thing"
dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/browse/generic
Merrium-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/generic
- relating to or characteristic of a whole group or class
Cambridge Dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/generic
"shared by, typical of, or relating to a whole group of similar things, rather than to any particular thing"
Its disgusting that nearly every game protagonist is a white man, in the real world heroes have all shapes and colors.
I'm conflicted. On the one side I'm totally OK with gender and/or colour diversity in games. On the other side the « white » tag makes the argument racist so I can't agree with that. If you discriminate based on skin colour, that is racist. Period.
Let's just ask for more diversity, there's nothing wrong with that.
Let's just ask for more diversity, there's nothing wrong with that.
How exactly do you propose people ask for more diversity without pointing out that the majority of protags are white?
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simply saying the word 'white' to highlight a problem and speak to it is not racist. The fact that you think it's racist to simply put a word on something very real speaks to the cocoon you live in
It's a useful phrase. I've avoided lots of games in the last decade because I'm so tired of bland games about a heroic murderous white dude.
Even though Mass Effect let you redesign your character, I was definitely put off by all the marketing material or reviews featuring Captain White-Bro. I never bought or played Mass Effect as a result.
Boring white guy protags feel like code for 'we don't think the players have much imagination'.
Give us some trans characters and POC, you cowards.
Even though Mass Effect let you redesign your character, I was definitely put off by all the marketing material or reviews featuring Captain White-Bro. I never bought or played Mass Effect as a result.
Boring white guy protags feel like code for 'we don't think the players have much imagination'.
Give us some trans characters and POC, you cowards.
I've worked on projects in the past where the concept artists literally forgot to design any female characters and had to scramble to add them towards the end of the project.
I also worked on a project where the optional female player character had critical control bugs that went unnoticed because the Mr. Whiteman was 'default'.
I also worked on a project where the optional female player character had critical control bugs that went unnoticed because the Mr. Whiteman was 'default'.
Bioware is a great example of this. Just look at the animation work on both FemShep and for any female Inquisitor in Dragon Age Inquisition.
Don't care at all. Skin colour or sexuall orientation doesn't make a character more or less interesting for me.
Marcus Holloway (watch dogs 2) and Bayek of Siwa (AC:O) were just as bland and murderous as Aiden Pearce (Watch Dogs 1). They are typical, mediocre UBI characters.
We are all humans with emotions, feelings, desires, motivations. Those are the things that make good, fictional characters and not skin colour. couldn't care less if ciri is black or white for example (as long as she's has her trademark white hair, lol). I just want a good story.
Marcus Holloway (watch dogs 2) and Bayek of Siwa (AC:O) were just as bland and murderous as Aiden Pearce (Watch Dogs 1). They are typical, mediocre UBI characters.
We are all humans with emotions, feelings, desires, motivations. Those are the things that make good, fictional characters and not skin colour. couldn't care less if ciri is black or white for example (as long as she's has her trademark white hair, lol). I just want a good story.
I don't love it, but I don't hate it
Generally it's refreshing to play as more diverse characters as over the last few decades a majority of games (which feature human protagonists, anyway) have tended to be white males, but I don't automatically mark a game down if the lead is a white male character, and I'm not going to shit up a reveal thread just because a new game has a white male lead.
I'm happy to see we're getting more diverse characters in games though, and I will often play as a character who isn't a white male if there is a choice. Progress has unquestionably been made over the last decade, even if there is still a long way to go
Generally it's refreshing to play as more diverse characters as over the last few decades a majority of games (which feature human protagonists, anyway) have tended to be white males, but I don't automatically mark a game down if the lead is a white male character, and I'm not going to shit up a reveal thread just because a new game has a white male lead.
I'm happy to see we're getting more diverse characters in games though, and I will often play as a character who isn't a white male if there is a choice. Progress has unquestionably been made over the last decade, even if there is still a long way to go
Gets mentally exhausting opening threads like these and watching the "don't care" crowd tell people who actually DO care about equal representation in regards to at least the color of a MCs skin that "the skin color isn't the problem"...my eyes can not withstand this much rolling...
That gorilla-walk doesn't even work for the QUNARI females, it's crazy how that ever got greenlit...
LMAO man I wish they would bring Prototype back, loved those games.
OP
OP
I don't doubt that you don't care about it, but what about the effects that character nationalities/races have on the game industry?
The latest Tomb Raider tries to criticize colonialism yet the player plays as an English white person who's still collecting and stealing artifacts from indigenous cultures—that has a tangible effect on the game and how the gameplay's contextualized. When stuff like that happens repeatedly, it shapes the industry
White people don't like to be called white people. They're accustomed to be seen as the default aka only "people". It's just another part of white supremacy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/22/has-straight-white-male-become-an-insult-slur
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/22/has-straight-white-male-become-an-insult-slur
I think we lack just black programmers in general, I don't know anyone outside of my self who likes the gaming side of programming. If we had enough to make a AAA game maybe we could see change. I would love to see more black main characters.
I definitely get this sentiment, and I think it's good to be more aware of it, that being said I definitely think that a character such as Nathan Drake was far more compelling than Bayek. Not because of their skin color or appearance, but because of how they are written. That being said, if we could get the level of personality of Nathan Drake in the form of more characters of color, I think that would be ideal.
OP
OP
That white dudes take offense to the reality of the advantages/privilege that demographic gets?
Even if you personally find Bayek less compelling, that doesn't dictate how the existence of that character in the AAA gaming space affects the industry as a whole. The significance of a big budget game starring a character who's black is not affected by the subjective quality of their writing/characterization. It's always better to have better characters, obviously, but that's not the lone meaningful metric.
There are a handful of Nate Drake-like characters out there too, he's just one that has received the resources and talents ND has to offer. There's a huge difference between "we finally get a really fleshed out version of this common vg character archetype (the white American/English person explores 'exotic' locales)" and "we finally get this character archetype, full stop."
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I see the phrase as a mildly abrasive way to call out a couple of issues: the dull uniformity of many mainstream game protagonists, and the industry's representation problem.
I'm not all that bothered the trope in practice. I just kind of focus on other things if the protagonist is generic. I'd love to see more and better diversity in main characters, of course.
I'm not all that bothered the trope in practice. I just kind of focus on other things if the protagonist is generic. I'd love to see more and better diversity in main characters, of course.
