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If Overwatch devs weren't bound by completely greedy cash grabs and weren't COWARDS then they'd put the men in catgirl maid dresses too.

Put Junkrat and Roadhog and Reinhardt and Hanzo and Mizuki and Lifeweaver and that fucking water bending twink Wuyang in the catgirl maid outfits too, cowards

Oh, and Orisa and Moira and Domina. Obviously

#razz rambles #overwatch critical #blizzard critical #fan wank

There’s this weird disconnect that sometimes happens whenever franchises go for too long. I’m specifically talking about IPs that started as dark fantasy or sci-fi or anything with some edge.

As the years go by and new installements come, you see two lines of thought clashing - a) the stakes need to be higher and 2) the franchise needs to attract more people and thus be more accessible.

So you end up with a story that on a macro level is darker and darker, while the micro is focused on the escapism from the real world. The edges get sanded off and coffee shops pop up. The small issues get simple and non-commital, easy to solve and to bear the burden of, while the big bad is commiting unspeakable acts. So unspeakable that the writers dare not explore them further in fear of alienating the audience, now unused to previous levels of grimdark.

The biggest offenders that come to mind as examples are World of Warcraft and Dragon Age.

The “when we stopped putting heads on the spikes” line about Warcraft ages better and better imho. The same expansion that gave us a round two of a beloved villain and his army of industrial orcs also gave us a selfie cam. Expansion of the world soul getting corrupted also gives its players a beach attire set for a filler episode.

And Veilguard… oooh Veilguard. Entire continet gets wiped out, so the stakes are the highest we’ve ever seen. A big chunk of the game is placed in the slave capital of the world, but also we can’t show slavery. We can’t have our MC, who is possibly an ex-slave themselves, react to any of that. And the “steamiest romance scenes in the gaming world” have barely any nudity… for what reason, exactly? We’re all adults here.

As a final note, this is not bashing “the woke”. This is not about Taash and their non-binary identity, which, as awful as the game is at getting its point across, isn’t a bad thing. This isn’t about pride flags and gender neutral bathrooms in settings where they would logically be. This is strictly about two philosophies constantly at odds during writing of games and movies, which actively harm the end product.

I hope I made some sense

#long post #rant post #writing #bioware critical #bioware #dragon age critical #dragon age veilguard #blizzard #blizzard critical #world of warcraft

by Darcy Wallis First published March 2023 Download full article PDF here. Abstract The depictions of the future in videogames are not neutr

Abstract

The depictions of the future in videogames are not neutral. In particular, the way Indigenous cultures and peoples are developed in these settings often reflects constraints of imagination reflective of settler colonial ideologies.

The most prominent depictions of Indigenous peoples and cultures in games, such as Red Dead Redemption II and Assassin’s Creed III, usually position us in the past. Portrayal of Indigenous people in the future is mostly achieved through self-representation in games of a smaller scale, such as the works of Anishinaabe game developer and academic Elizabeth LaPensée (2021). In the games examined here, Indigenous cultures are more present than Indigenous peoples. Comparing the depictions of Indigenous peoples in Overwatch, inFAMOUS Second Son, and Horizon Zero Dawn, I examine how the mentalities of settler colonialism impact the imagined futures depicted in these games.

All three games take different approaches to portraying Indigenous peoples. Overwatch touches on Māori, Australian Aboriginal, and Native Americans peoples in ways that can be considered appropriation or erasure, though they have improved from the depictions at release. In inFAMOUS Second Son, the player can make choices that lead to the eradication of a fictional Native American nation, the Akomish. The game’s setting of Salmon Bay, Washington, has its own history of occupation by the Duwamish people that is subsequently erased (Thrush, 2017). Horizon Zero Dawn is set further into the future, using aspects of current cultures to give depth to future societies. However, they all demonstrate a reliance on stereotype and a separation of Indigenous cultures from Indigenous people. None of the depiction of Indigenous people or Indigeneity in these works are inherently bad. Within the narrative, to varying extents, there are justification or condemnation for events of Indigenous oppression. In some cases, the more problematic elements can be avoided depending on player input.

While justified within the dystopian narrative of the games, each of these games displays a continuation of the logic of “elimination of the native” (Wolfe, 2006). Elimination is achieved through redefinition as well as outright erasure. The complexity of Indigenous existence is subordinated to the use of Indigeneity as a tool to convey certain messages to a contemporary audience. Developing an understanding of these constraints and their effects are necessary to envision a more radical Indigenous future in games.

This was first published in March 2023 - I'd be interested to hear this (Dharug - Aboriginal Australian) writer's thoughts on HFW.

#horizon zero dawn #infamous second son #overwatch #guerilla critical #sucker punch critical #blizzard critical #indigenous peoples

Echo’s design with the pinched waist, the hyper-feminim body and even a buttcrack just once again shows Blizzard’s devs are sexist bastards

#yuck #overwatch #echo #Áine talks #video games #blizzard critical

To be petty for a minute, the fact night elves get burn scar customization in the new wow expansion is kind of hilarious to me. Sure, you lost your home to an army that later got near blanket amnesty from your so-called allies, but at least now you have a painful permanent reminder of it!

#World of Warcraft #Night elves #Burning of Teldrassil #Blizzard critical