Fatalmasterpiece Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 So I'm not trying to cry racism or QQ about how it's unfair... I just don't understand, after playing through NV, why there are no black, native american, asian or any other minority companions... besides Raul who is kinda err ghoul-hispanic but not overtly. Not only that there aren't even any of these minority races which play a major role in the story line, at least that I can remember. To top it off there isn't much of a native american or hispanic cultural presence in the area, such as pueblo or adobe buildings, artwork, businesses, language etc. I know the Khans live in some vaguely native american style dwellings... but that seems more attributed to being on the move from the NCR than a cultural choice. Do any of the prospective DLCs cover this or is Obsidian just kinda oblivious to the fact that these cultures play a major role in the region. As a multiracial but mostly white person myself I don't find it offensive but just laughably ignorant and one dimensional. :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evertaile Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 So I'm not trying to cry racism or QQ about how it's unfair... I just don't understand, after playing through NV, why there are no black, native american, asian or any other minority companions... besides Raul who is kinda err ghoul-hispanic but not overtly. Not only that there aren't even any of these minority races which play a major role in the story line, at least that I can remember. To top it off there isn't much of a native american or hispanic cultural presence in the area, such as pueblo or adobe buildings, artwork, businesses, language etc. I know the Khans live in some vaguely native american style dwellings... but that seems more attributed to being on the move from the NCR than a cultural choice. Do any of the prospective DLCs cover this or is Obsidian just kinda oblivious to the fact that these cultures play a major role in the region. As a multiracial but mostly white person myself I don't find it offensive but just laughably ignorant and one dimensional. :confused: I have to say I agree. However, I also understand that most of what was used for Fallout New Vegas by way of concept was derived from existing fallout universe graphic novels, literary works, essays, and fanfics from the original creators and gamers over the years. So whether Obsidian or Bethesda are really to blame? Ultimately, yes, even if the entirety of the game world had been set in stone by a tyrant and overlording author, at play test, someone should have said - 'can't we put in a few different skin coloured extras' --- The world is a diverse and multi-coloured place now in our universe --- but maybe the bombs fell mostly on China? Perhaps in the alternate universe as described in Fallout, the quasi 50's menality that is core to the backstory meant that racial equality toward the end before the bombs fell still wasn't where it should have been, and only (or primarily and predominately) whites were taken into the vaults. We have to surmise that all wastelanders and peoples non-Ghoul are descended from vault dwellers at some point, whether they came out early or only had makeshift ones - the state of humanity otherwise would be quite shocking. So, logically...is there an argument either way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatalmasterpiece Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 You make some good points but there are some strange inconsistencies... As you say, the 50s USA wasn't exactly racial equal. If Obsidian was meaning to reflect that, it is strange they do it in such a background, passive manner rather than actively showing characters as having closed minds. As far as I know, every faction in the game has a least some racial diversity, so it leads me to believe this isn't "back of the bus" type casting going on here. I'm not sure if I can recall any black Legion soldiers off hand, and they seem to be the most likely to reflect this kind of racial discrimination. Then again, it may be as you said, something from the past and not necessarily reflected in the "present" despite impacting it through less racial diversity being present. I'm not sure the amount of population present in Wasteland USA who were not from vaults and not turned to ghouls. This would be a great contributing factor... but who knows how many survived without shelter. There may be some details on the wiki somewhere. It still doesn't account for the lack of physical evidence of these peoples even existing though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evertaile Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 You make some good points but there are some strange inconsistencies... As you say, the 50s USA wasn't exactly racial equal. If Obsidian was meaning to reflect that, it is strange they do it in such a background, passive manner rather than actively showing characters as having closed minds. As far as I know, every faction in the game has a least some racial diversity, so it leads me to believe this isn't "back of the bus" type casting going on here. I'm not sure if I can recall any black Legion soldiers off hand, and they seem to be the most likely to reflect this kind of racial discrimination. Then again, it may be as you said, something from the past and not necessarily reflected in the "present" despite impacting it through less racial diversity being present. I'm not sure the amount of population present in Wasteland USA who were not from vaults and not turned to ghouls. This would be a great contributing factor... but who knows how many survived without shelter. There may be some details on the wiki somewhere. It still doesn't account for the lack of physical evidence of these peoples even existing though... The new world dwellers would not have the same mentality as their forefathers - seeing as survival in the early years after re-emergence would have been a key factor - so closed mind attitudes could very logically have diminished. It's like the other Fallout question which really does my head in - 'if they can make/repair guns, why don't they have TV or cars?' - another question easily answered by the actual state of survival and the role it plays. Priority is the reason for everything post-war - guns were already there, people needed to survive and protect themselves against the horrors of a world filled with abominations, so working weaponry took priority. TVs require not only a receiver but also a transmittor. So they learnt to repair and eventually make their own weapons, the other side of that tech means that now as the wasteland redevelops radios are introduced - the forefathers of TV. Working mechanics are another issue that is also starting to emerge by way of trains and the newly introduced resurgence of electricity. Basically we shouldn't base our opinion of a post-apocalyptic world and the routines and attitudes within it on our own. However, the lack of existence with regards to sub-cultures prior to the apocalypse is startling - BUT again with 50s derivative politics and mentalities: the world as we have it is a diverse and open place, a smelting pot of cultures and sub-cultures due to how we've allowed for other nations to enter our own by way of trade, guest laborers, students and professionals. The paranoid, cold-war world had very little of this - a world in a constant state of that would have even less, even over a 100 year period. So the introduction of other cultures into a static and unwilling, paranoid and narrow minded society would have been met with much scrutiny. It really is quite logical then that by the 21st century next to no settled expats or immigrants would have had the opportunity to lay roots on American soil. The Great Khans worry me the most - originally a band of brigands and raiders, rapists and murderers, why are they now tribal nomads? As for minor racial diversity...without doing it, there may very well have been people crying racism! I agree though that there should be a Race makeover mod or something along those lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luthienanarion Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Why does this remind me of the complaints I heard about the lack of black people in the Lord of the Rings movies? The Fallout universe is not meant to be an accurate representation of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihilisaurus Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 The NCR officer who gives you 'three card bounty' is black, and I'm pretty sure there are some other guys dotted around. Like the black dude in the white gloves, who tips you off to the people-eating. Also the Primm shop owner, I'd say he's pretty major. TBH from what I can gather the US west coast has a lower population of black people, but a bigger concentration of hispanic people. I don't care, there are some people of varying skin tones but I'm more interested in varying factions and equipment TBH. Not like that automatically add a "black person" perk that makes you have an INT of 1 and only able to do quests involving the picking of copious amounts of crops... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatalmasterpiece Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) Why does this remind me of the complaints I heard about the lack of black people in the Lord of the Rings movies? The Fallout universe is not meant to be an accurate representation of the future. That's completely different. Lord of the rings was set in a completely different fictional universe based on myths created by ancient Europeans. There were no black people because there were no black races to be present from the get go for those who created the myths the books were based upon, such as Scandinavians. Fallout is set in a futuristic USA, a place where there are different ethnic groups, and at the very least signs of these groups, like pueblo villages, adobe buildings, use of the Spanish language in old world items... It's almost as if Obsidian got all their information about Nevada and the American Southwest from Las Vegas post cards and Chevy Chase films. Edited February 11, 2011 by Fatalmasterpiece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webster63 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 not sure how it would work but it would be nice to see a mod with something along the lines of: with an average 10 NPC you find in the game you have 1 mutant, 6 white, 1 black, 1 hispanic, and 1 asian i think that would give a good balance to the game but im not sure if the game can be set to spawn in a balanced way like that but then you have to be honest and say people do tend to group together and mutants arent accepted and would be the one group descriminated against most so they would be found in larger groups in locations where they were more accepted but not evenly widespread everywhere so maybe it would be best to add diversity on a town by town basis i think for whatever reason they were better to not try to address any sort of social equality in the game itself other then in generalities because things like that always cause controversy when attempted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercsRus Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) I went to Vegas for the first time about 22 years ago when you could still sleep in The Sands, and there really wasn't anything there. just Imagen it in the fifties, Yes I know its a different universe but really their Vegas and ours hasn't really ever been the center for culture so variation was probably slim in the vaults that were around Vegas and again if you guys manage to find the price per a person to enter a vault you would probably find it was only for the rich. Note I'm not trying to be a B!#@#er I'm just looking at it logically Edited February 12, 2011 by MercsRus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evertaile Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) Yes I know its a different universe but really their Vegas and ours hasn't really ever been the center for culture so variation was probably slim in the vaults that were around Vegas and again if you guys manage to find the price per a person to enter a vault you would probably find it was only for the rich. Note I'm not trying to be a B!#@#er I'm just looking at it logically<--- more or less what I was saying, but more localised to just Vegas... Edited February 12, 2011 by evertaile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts