evertaile Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) Last time I visited Amsterdam, which is really chock full of immigrants, it felt the same way. Interesting you should mention The Netherlands. As a Dutchman myself, I can say that with 100% certainty that Holland and the respecive other 8 provinces are indeed chockah-block with nationalities of a massive variety, but I can also say that the generalisation of my folk being one of the most liberal in Europe is false. Maybe by way of legislation and political mumbojombo we are, but in terms of social and general attitute, most Dutch, especially the older generation are incredibly short sighted in terms of tolerance toward non-national ethnicity. This is something very aparant in our media. Even Larian Studios, probably one of the larger, better known BeNeLux Dev houses seem to follow suit with regard to representing ethnic minorities in game world environs. Take DKS (Divinity 2) for example -- not a black or even slightly tanned face to be seen -- and no option to modify to user preference by way of no actual SDK. I currently live in Wales, UK and the scenario here is totally different again. Perhaps that is a reason also, depending on which culture, social or nation personality the attitude varies so much that to approach the subject in any pre-defined manner might alienate some? But then, what about the game being released in Brazil, or South Afrika, Russia, India or Japan? Switching the tables for a second and speaking as a European, I might be able to connect to a game that is 100% purist only representative of Asian peoples, for example, because of the novelty that initially presents and the virtual intergration of an alien culture is fascinating too - but should every game I buy be that way...would I still be able to? Or would I loose interest? Edited February 12, 2011 by evertaile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netwit2008 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Interestingly enough, there was a big article on this very subject in a recent edition of Game Informer. They discussed not one game, but how many games, with the exception of GTO, seem to have a glaring lack of minority representation. It came down to exactly what I thought it would- what will the gaming community accept and how will it affect the game's profit potential. So the short answer is, it is not always profitable to put minorities in games, just like in movies. Sad but true. I'm glad we at least can make our own characters black, asian or hispanic if so desired. Actually I thought that NV had more minorities than usual. Be nice to see that as the rule, not the exception, that's for sure. Good topic and good, respectful discussion of it as well! :thumbsup: Interesting, might you have a link to that article if it has been digitized? Guessing you mean't GTA?I find it rather humorous that one of the few games which does have racial diversity is also one that capitalizes directly on violence and crime... but, we are in agreement, it comes down to profit and white people with money want to play games with white people in them... Yeah I did mean GTA! Lordy! I kept wondering why that didn't look right, lol And you are so right in your statement above. The one game that did have many minorities- Grand Theft Auto, while fun, just perpetuated the same old tired stereotypes. Living in the larger cities of Michigan most of my life, it is really strange when one doesn't see minorities. I wonder if Bethesda will ever do a future game based primarily on Hammerfell. With the prominence of Redguards, it's interesting to consider what the financial implications would be. I've often wondered the same. I didn't start playing the series until Morrowind. But my assumption was that they did focus on Redguards. It's disappointing to find out Hammerfall didn't. For Evertaile and Fatal- I tried to find the article on Game Informers website. The closest I came was to the discussion section for the article. Naturally no one has commented :confused: Maybe you'll be luckier and can find the article itself. The site seemed a bit convoluted to navigate around. I think that article was in January's issue, but it could have been the Feb. issue, the one the big Skyrim article was in. Here's the link to the article's blogspot: http://www.gameinformer.com/blogs/members/b/yardragon_blog/archive/2010/04/15/video-game-production-and-or-development.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarogath Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 i do agree about the lack of multiple ethnicities in F:NV but then again i think in a post-nuclear society whether in a fictional universe like Fallout nor in our supposedly real world there's no room to stay amongst one's group if mankind plans to succesfully redominate and repopulate this planet. so in my opinion there could well be less racial diversity in terms of "pure" white or black, even if one is locked underground for hundreds of years... mankind is just like that at some point they/we are gonna mingle in privacy... and it did occur to me when a video-game is pushing the limits only a bit too much there is a big media-roar about the situation as seen with the Hot Coffee Mod for GTA:SA (which wasnt really active game content, so they gamer/user had to decide for him/herself whether they wanted such an additon into their game even required a new game thats why i never installed it^^)...my question now is: why is that? why do we neglect such a strong medium like videogames the social importance it could have? buffles me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatalmasterpiece Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Interestingly enough... Interesting, might you have a link to that article if it has been digitized? Guessing you mean't GTA?I find it rather humorous... I've often wondered the same. I didn't start playing the series until Morrowind. But my assumption was that they did focus on Redguards. It's disappointing to find out Hammerfall didn't. For Evertaile and Fatal- I tried to find the article on Game Informers website. The closest I came was to the discussion section for the article. Naturally no one has commented :confused: Maybe you'll be luckier and can find the article itself. The site seemed a bit convoluted to navigate around. I think that article was in January's issue, but it could have been the Feb. issue, the one the big Skyrim article was in. Here's the link to the article's blogspot: http://www.gameinformer.com/blogs/members/b/yardragon_blog/archive/2010/04/15/video-game-production-and-or-development.aspx I am assuming your referring the the game Daggerfall. I didn't play that either but I read it focused both on Highrock and Hammerfall somewhat equally rather than Hammerfall exclusively. Similarly it would be interesting to see a game set in Africa where one takes the role of an African and explored authentic African cultural elements and settings... I doubt such a game exists or would be very popular >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homogenic Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 (edited) I have noticed that there is a lack of Native Americans in the Fallout universe... I know the Khans live in some vaguely native american style dwellings... They are based on Mongolian Yurtshttp://i1.trekearth.com/photos/2674/yurt.jpg What there need to be in Fallout: New Vegas are some real Tribal people(like the people of Arroyo in Fallout 2) and not just idiots in fetish gear. ;D Edited March 5, 2011 by Homogenic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernt Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) What I find REALLY refreshing, is the civility of this discussion. Thumbs up to you all, for keeping that tone. My first thought was that the subject could have the potential to be volatile. You've proven otherwise :thumbsup: As for me, I cannot participate. I love to go on vacation in the states, but doesn't know your country well enough to get into some kind of discussion, about the way things are :smile: Edit 1955: I just remembered a random encounter from FO2 called "Café of broken dreams" where all sorts of people in Vault suits discuss why the hero in FO1 was a black haired caucasian only. Male or female. In the café were the blacks, the hispanics, the redheads! you name them, discussing the stereotyping of player characters. So it seems that at least Black Isle was aware that there was a discrepancy. Not that they addressed it in FO2 though :rolleyes: Edited March 6, 2011 by Bernt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gashjackel Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 A few reasons. Mostly it just doesn't occur to them which in itself is a good thing as "reverse racism" is equally bad. But also because the setting isn't like the modern USA. It's more 1950s USA. The majority of those who got into the vaults are going to be white due to the more prevalent racism of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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