Pregnancy in Video Role-Playing Games

[WizardOfAtlantis]

So, I was on the thread of this wonderful mod the author ported from FO3 into New Vegas, Pregnancy armors, as soon as I saw it listed in the latest files. I thought, "Wow! What a breath of fresh air!" And I filled my lungs with the scent of Realism.

To my immediate dismay, however, once on the thread, I saw almost overwhelmingly that the comments were negative, not so much as towards the technicalities of the realization of the mod itself, but rather along the lines of "Why on earth would somebody make a mod that creates pregnant women in the game? That's so unrealistic!"

My comment trying to point out the in-your-face Realism of such a mod and the incredible short-sightedness of the Naysayers was immediately Hidden From View by an ever-growing crowd of nay sayers, cynics, and wet blankets whose most colorful argument seemed to be, "How can you go around punching death claws in power armor if you're pregnant?!" http://www.thenexusforums.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/teehee.gif But that's okay.

*clears throat*

In the History of Video Games, there has perhaps been no greater desire than to render the game more realistic and bridge that gap between Man and Machine. As technology has evolved, games have forever become the playground for Graphics Wars of ever-increasing subtlety and realistic impact. This Visual Front of War has also given us the possibility to explore the more subtle realms of imagination and reality by including every-increasing level of detail...from the heyday Atari's blocky-tanks we can now wallow in the Majesty of a HGEyecandy or BlackBlossom vehicle for our game-transported Intelligence (our "player character", it in itself an example of a higher concept of Atari's blocky tanks as it mirrors even more so the literal "us" in RL, if we so desire).

Continuing, then, in the Ever-Continuing Battle to make our role-playing games more similar to the "Real World", we find such modders that help us along that trip, who create such mods like Arwen's Realism Tweaks, Active Wasteland (just to name a couple), and now: Pregnancy Armors.

I say, what can be more realistic than seeing Pregnant Women in your video game? Life and death ARE the eternal struggle in life as they form its most notable bounds, even more so in a post-apocalyptic video game where death is around ever corner. How unrealistic is it, then, to play a pregnant woman in said game?

Let's look at the immediate "negatives" from the mod's thread.

1. "Why?" My Answer: I think this should by now be obvious, that in the ever-increasing Game of Realism, which all Bethesda/TES/FO games strive towards, pregnancy, like playable/killable children and activating light switches, holds an important part in convincing one's brain of the Magic of the Irreal.

2. *my favorite" "How can you go around in power armor punching deathclaws if you're pregnant?" My Answer: Well, I think you wouldn't, now would you? I mean, what kind of a childish question is that? Just how far are your perceptual coordinates removed from the reality of pregnancy, may I ask? That certainly wouldn't work, now would it? Only in the most desperate, cast-out-of-the-Brotherhood and about-to-give-birth-to-a-post-apocalyptic-saviour storyline *my idea, ahem* would that work--but maybe that's your thing, and that's great. It IS role-playing here that we are talking about, don't forget.

I imagine the possibilities of playing a pregnant female in a post-apocalyptic world including possibilities such as the woman-on-her-own, trying to raise her daughter/son as best as she can (very modern world, I might add), the npc's that you see thanks to the Pregnancy Armor's introduction of said armors into the Leveled Lists (*great idea*) not only representing the Struggle of Man in a post-apocalyptic environment in a very in-your-face way (an aside on this point: one commentor on the mod thread asked to remove the leveled list aspect as he had tried to save a pregnant woman and couldn't, and her virtual death bothered him greatly....I say, SUCCESS!!!), and even possible (as horrible as it sounds, yet...) rape victims from such mods such as FOOK (FO3 version, at least) that maybe escaped or were rescued by the Lone Wanderer et al, an option that was also wisely pointed out in the mod's comments by a learned gamer, among countless other possibilities.

So, I ask, just how realistic or unrealistic is it to add the concept of Pregnancy into Video Role-Playing Games? Maybe it's not your cup of tea, and I understand that. That's okay. It's like role-playing a Fat Man. Maybe you personally don't want to do it, but by the gods, you can if you want, thanks to Roberts', and you can see them in-game thanks to Waalx. However, I say, regardless of your personal preference, you can't deny that Pregnancy and the mod Pregnancy armors represent Realism.

Can you?

*nice to be back on the Forums*

[grannywils]

Welcome back Wizard. I've missed your clear, rational voice for quite some time.

 

I agree whole-heartedly with what you have to say regarding pregnant women in role playing games. It is quite simple in my opinion. They are "role playing games." One aught to play whatever role best works and have characters available based on real world reality if in fact that is the type game (s)he wants. If (s)he prefers fantasy characters, so be it. However, when you speak of the naysayers, I wonder if these are the same people who have no problem with female characters with size 57 boobs, fighting the good fight in nothing but a G-string and two bandaids. Now, there's reality for you. I personally don't use the aforementioned G-string clad beauties, but I say "to each his own".

 

In conclusion, as usual, I think you have said it lucidly and clearly, and I think you are absolutely correct.

[McclaudEagle]

It actually depends on what their purpose is in a role-playing game. If it's simply as a resident of a town, then that's normal and realistic. However, combat roles wouldn't exactly be recommended by any sane person, and as such wouldn't be realistic. But as you've already said, it's an RPG and as such, it's how the player wants to play, not how others want them to.

[Lisnpuppy]

Why...in a place and time like Fallout....would a woman not fight..pregnant or otherwise. I can see...a woman that was an engineer or something of that kind...scrapping together this prego power suit...in order to protect her home, her unborn child from the things that will surely come.

 

Who else would save her? Even if she lived in or around a town...Fallout is very much a game of "I will save your arse if it doesn't get my arse killed in the process." Woman throughout history have fought and worked to save what they had....I don't think the bad things stop and say, "OH...with child are we? Well carry on then we'll be back in nine months"

 

People need something to *censored* about and they often forget the vision they have is not the same as everyone else's. I find this scenario just as realistic..or un-realistic as anything else out there.

[VictoriaG]

Complaining about a woman showing pregnancy is just ridiculous. Where in 'realism' do deathclaws, huge mutant ants, fantastical weapons, spaceships, ghouls etc etc come in?

[myrmaad]

Why...in a place and time like Fallout....would a woman not fight..pregnant or otherwise. I can see...a woman that was an engineer or something of that kind...scrapping together this prego power suit...in order to protect her home, her unborn child from the things that will surely come.

 

Who else would save her? Even if she lived in or around a town...Fallout is very much a game of "I will save your arse if it doesn't get my arse killed in the process." Woman throughout history have fought and worked to save what they had....I don't think the bad things stop and say, "OH...with child are we? Well carry on then we'll be back in nine months"

 

People need something to *censored* about and they often forget the vision they have is not the same as everyone else's. I find this scenario just as realistic..or un-realistic as anything else out there.

 

 

Right on, Lisa! Exactly this, mygawd I could not have said it better. If I'm pregnant, [profane epithet here] I am a million times more motivated to protect my offspring. A great mod would be to make them more savage and more stealthy than average NPCs.

 

The crocodile, one of the most savage animals in existence, pays great attention to its young. After the young hatch, the mother carries them in her mouth to the water. Until they can look after themselves, she carries them in her mouth or on her back. Her mouth is the most secure place for them, for it is a sack that has been created to carry and protect about six babies. Whenever they sense danger, young crocodiles hurry to this protective shelter. However, given that crocodiles are both savage and unaware, one would not expect them to protect their young, but to eat them indiscriminately.

[LadyMilla]

Story-wise a mod built on a pregnant armor/body could present a few interesting twists - for example, assuming a female Courier, when she recovers she realizes that she is pregnant. Doc Mitchell did not do anything about it, because he was unsure if the pregnancy was related to the assailants or it predated the attempted murder... and now the Courier is also unsure because she does not remember. It could even be a motive stronger than mere revenge for the Courier to pursue the thugs: why did they try to kill her and is the baby a link to her past or an offspring of one of her attackers.

 

The mod would provide increased difficulty because you should also look after the needs of the unborn baby (you should avoid certain chems, you should eat fruits/vegetables regularly), later you would be more sluggish, you would be forced to avoid melee combat, etc. Before the baby is borne you should find a home and somebody (a companion) who looks after the infant while you gather the things a baby usually needs (like the toy collecting quest in the Pitt).

 

If the baby was not conceived because the thugs 'double wronged' her, who is the father (another possible quest line). And if the baby is Benny's, there is the moral choice if the Courier wants to keep the child, or give it to a childless mother.

 

Now... is that less realistic than adding flying guts and limbs for improved 'realism'?

 

[Aurielius]

Whoever thinks that a mother when protecting her children unborn or not is one of the most lethal beings alive is fooling themselves. I'd rather voluntarily step into a buzz saw them mess with an armed mum protecting her young.

[HeyYou]

No one is going to make power armor for pregnant women. It is difficult to make, if not impossible in the current times, and its utility would be severely limited. Why would you make an expensive, high tech suit, that would only really fit, for a couple months? Colossal waste of resources, in a time where resources are extremely scarce. The same reasoning could be applied, to a lesser extent, to the other armors. Leather I supposed would be the easiest to manage for such purposes. Any rigid material though, that requires tools to work (forge... hammer, things of that nature) isn't going to come in "expecting" varieties. Unless it is a special, one-off item.

 

Also, in a post apocalyptic world, the 'lone pregnant woman' is going to be an EXTREME rarity.

[LadyMilla]

Also, in a post apocalyptic world, the 'lone pregnant woman' is going to be an EXTREME rarity.

 

I don't think any of us is qualified to claim anything about the rarity of things in a post-apocalyptic world so distant in the future with any degree of certainty. Not to mention that New Vegas is not a realistic scenario unless supermutants, ghouls, talking trees (I know, that was in FO3, but the same game universe), flying personal robot companions and robot armies somehow qualify as realistic.