i went back and forth on speaking on the natlan issue (in detail) because i like to keep this blog centered only around writing and less of the fandom related stuff, but honestly fuck it because it’s insane what hoyoverse is doing right now. i think it’s important everyone is aware of this and willing enough to help try to change it before natlan is released. i’ve already shared my opinion on a few other posts, but here we go:
so, in case you weren’t aware, natlan is primarily based on latin/mesoamerica with some indigenous and african influences. i’m not 100% educated on each and every culture that the characters and region are each based on, but i think it’s abundantly clear that they aren’t supposed to be white. and as a white person myself, some of these characters are paler than me. that is absurd.
they’ve once again made npc’s and enemies darker than the in game characters. here’s a screenshot of an npc from natlan versus the playable characters:
speaks for itself doesn’t it?
if you’re interested in a more detailed comparison of the characters and the cultures they’re derived from, here’s a twitter thread that covers each of them in depth: the link
anyway, hoyo issued a statement today that really showed where they stand here (in case the colorism wasn’t enough). this is from their official twitter page:
they’re paying attention. natlan has been trending on various apps, specifically from people calling out hyv. yet, yesterday when they changed neuvillette’s charged attack, people were so quick to call them out on the nerf that they backtracked within 12 hours and have decided to issue everyone a 1,600 primos (a ten pull) because of the outrage. so they can change something that won’t even affect most players, but not the skin tones of their characters which have been complained about for not just natlan’s release, but sumeru two years ago, and even at the start of the game which came out four years ago now.
interested in helping change this problem?
here’s a link to a post that has lots of information and options on what you can do to help bring more attention to the problem. i’m also going to reblog it (should be the post before this one).
the more we speak out and let hyv know this is an important issue that’s making players less inclined to play the game, the more they’re going to be willing to change it.
there is still 6 weeks left until the release of natlan. it’s not hard to change the skin tone of their characters. we still have time and i highly encourage you to take action if you actually care about this game
