Inclusivity in games

[Vialixia]

I think we should always aim for inclusivity in games. I don't think a lack of a certain race or gender is done because people are purposefully being malicious. It's probably just easier (or maybe lazier...) to do what you know. It's good to have character diversity and balance if it makes sense within your story.

As for including the 'gaming masses.' Of course we should aim to include them. I honestly think they do have an impression of Grade A Weeb novels that are all 'anime and dating' with no substance. And sometimes, those games are nice, but we also need to show them that we are capable of much more. We don't want to just exclude people or we do end up like a bunch of elitists. Just need to get a good balance, but as previously mentioned the diversity and range of the people making games here has pretty much taken care of it for us.

[TrickWithAKnife]

I would like to see discussions on different types of VNs. Personally I strongly believe they have a lot of potential as teaching tools, but I'm not sure how many devs are interested in creating "edutainment" VNs. Perhaps that's an idea for a future topic.

[Greeny]

Another thing to conciser would be to make both sides of the game less cliche. Instead of simple Puppets and roles, we have people who are just well people. Instead of "the one" you have the team each member being an actually useful character to the story?

What I'm trying to say (poorly at that) less damsels in distress and more "since you're here." Instead of Psydo-Jesus how about just actually flawed characters? Instead of Supper boobed Sock sluts, characters you wouldn't mind taking home to your folks? You know, People not characters pretending to be people.

That could have been phrased better, but my sentiments exactly.

As for edutainment VN's, I would certainly be willing, although I've got a project queue that's kind of very full of fantasy and sci-fi... But I do have this idea for a VN that puts to use my knowledge as a Network Engineer.

[Vialixia]

For one of my University projects, I used the Visual Novel format as a form of education, and it went down pretty well (will try and dig it out if I can find it). It's just an interesting way of presenting information that may otherwise be tedious to trawl through. Also, it is dynamic so you have the option of choosing which information you access. If it was done more often I think it could work really well. Also I can imagine in particular a young audience really taking to this form of learning.

[KittyKatStar]

I would like to see discussions on different types of VNs. Personally I strongly believe they have a lot of potential as teaching tools, but I'm not sure how many devs are interested in creating "edutainment" VNs. Perhaps that's an idea for a future topic.

I always loved the idea of edutainment. Even in games that aren't about teaching, I love throwing in little facts or explaining how something works as the character performs the action. ^^

As for inclusivity, I pretty much echo that we should always try to include it whenever possible. Whether it's a color-blind option for the games, subtitles, adjustable controls, or something in the game itself.

I try to incorporate traits I haven't seen that often, or um, portrayed accurately in media. I research a lot (especially if it's a medical condition), but I always worry people will point out it's wrong, not accurate, or worse - that it's only trait that character seems to possess and it's almost like a gimmick. ^^; Although that would be due to my poor writing...

[noeinan]

For one of my University projects, I used the Visual Novel format as a form of education, and it went down pretty well (will try and dig it out if I can find it). It's just an interesting way of presenting information that may otherwise be tedious to trawl through. Also, it is dynamic so you have the option of choosing which information you access. If it was done more often I think it could work really well. Also I can imagine in particular a young audience really taking to this form of learning.

I have done educational VNs for my class as well-- I think people are really up to learning in new ways instead of just basic lectures or power point presentations. Uncle Mugen did a great educational VN on the history of marijuana laws-- I was thinking of doing a series on various subjects myself. Right now I've created two: one on rituals and one on the Unitarian Universalist Church.

I always loved the idea of edutainment. Even in games that aren't about teaching, I love throwing in little facts or explaining how something works as the character performs the action. ^^

As for inclusivity, I pretty much echo that we should always try to include it whenever possible. Whether it's a color-blind option for the games, subtitles, adjustable controls, or something in the game itself.

I try to incorporate traits I haven't seen that often, or um, portrayed accurately in media. I research a lot (especially if it's a medical condition), but I always worry people will point out it's wrong, not accurate, or worse - that it's only trait that character seems to possess and it's almost like a gimmick. ^^; Although that would be due to my poor writing...

Hanako games does a great job of throwing in information about different things while not interrupting the story.

Also, if you're putting in an effort, I think most people will be understanding even if there are mistakes. With a lot of things such as diseases, religion, or body sizes, those characters almost never show up at all. A character that misrepresents some things is still better than no representation, and since you are trying hard to be respectful it opens the door to learning how to make it better in the future.

[Victoria Jennings]

One thing I want to point out here is that if you say you won't include certain characteristics because it does not serve the plot to do so, it kind of assumes that the opposite characteristic is the default. I definitely feel like, in the gaming community, the white/straight/cisgendered/male is the "default" character and that a lot of people would never consider going against that unless there was a specific plot reason. What plot-important element demands that the character is white/straight/cis/male?

The truth is, except for very specific circumstances, a characters gender, ethnicity, orientation, identity etc. is aesthetics. You can take the same personality and paint it a different color, change the gender of its love interest, and change the name of its god and you can still have basically the same character. The plot does not irrevocably alter itself. You can add little extras depending on the difference, or you can change the whole plot (Dragon Age?) but you don't have to.

Which is why I think it's important to think about how much of your cast is X or Y-- why not expand your cast a bit? Why make the "default" main character and supporting cast when you can expand your horizons and reach out to people who aren't used to seeing characters like them in stories?

Agh, sorry for not addressing this, I didn't realize anyone had replied to me.

I think you misunderstood my post. This:

Now, what would be cool is if more people realized that you don't have to make something focusing on minorities just to include a minority character. A story doesn't have to be gay just because it has a gay character, or about race because it has a black character. Sometimes, people are just gay, or black, or female, etc., and that's that.

Is essentially this:

The truth is, except for very specific circumstances, a characters gender, ethnicity, orientation, identity etc. is aesthetics. You can take the same personality and paint it a different color, change the gender of its love interest, and change the name of its god and you can still have basically the same character. The plot does not irrevocably alter itself. You can add little extras depending on the difference, or you can change the whole plot (Dragon Age?) but you don't have to.

My actual point was that it's pointless to include one of every kind of character unless it fits into the story you're trying to tell, i.e. it's specifically about minorities, diversity, or taking place in a remarkable setting.

I realized something the other day, though: I don't think it's SWM's faults for having a harder time including (and portraying realistically) minorities in their stories. I recently posted a comment on YT responding to this video. It went:

He had a point in his other video. The most effective way to combat negative portrayals of minorities is to lead by example. The industry itself is dominated by straight, white, cis men. Some of them try their best, and some of them succeed, but it's not surprising they miss out on a lot of stuff because they haven't ever experienced what it's like to be, well... not straight, not white, not cis, not male, etc. It's hard to write from a perspective wildly different from your own, after all.

Sums up my views pretty well. We have to encourage more minorities to get into the gaming industry if we want to make any progress. Sure, call out sexism and racism and transphobia when you see it, but honestly, that'll never be enough to effect real change.

[noeinan]

My actual point was that it's pointless to include one of every kind of character unless it fits into the story you're trying to tell, i.e. it's specifically about minorities, diversity, or taking place in a remarkable setting.

I agree on that. I don't think there's some mystical "diversity quota" that everyone should strive to reach or else their games are biased. I just meant that a lot of the time people "default" to certain types of characters for no real reason, and this can lead to very un-diverse casts. Not a problem in specific games, but it's a problem that stretches over millions of games. But if people don't address it themselves it's not going to just go away.

I realized something the other day, though: I don't think it's SWM's faults for having a harder time including (and portraying realistically) minorities in their stories. I recently posted a comment on YT responding to this video. It went:

He had a point in his other video. The most effective way to combat negative portrayals of minorities is to lead by example. The industry itself is dominated by straight, white, cis men. Some of them try their best, and some of them succeed, but it's not surprising they miss out on a lot of stuff because they haven't ever experienced what it's like to be, well... not straight, not white, not cis, not male, etc. It's hard to write from a perspective wildly different from your own, after all.

Sums up my views pretty well. We have to encourage more minorities to get into the gaming industry if we want to make any progress. Sure, call out sexism and racism and transphobia when you see it, but honestly, that'll never be enough to effect real change.

I definitely think that the diversity of the people making games has an effect on the games being made. However, I think that while we should encourage lots of different people to make games, you don't have to be restricted to making games only based on your experiences. Guys don't have to only make games about guys, etc.

In my opinion, the way gaming gets more diverse is if it starts appealing to more different kinds of people. Since game development, and the computer industry in general, is a very male etc. dominated sphere, interest can be generated by having whoever is making the games make them for more than themselves and people like them.

It's hard to write from a different perspective from your own, but if that's all you can do then your games aren't going to be very good. I see the lack of diversity in a lot of games to be more a reflection on the lack of imagination and "ability to step out of the box" of the game designers and writers. Thinking about how to write from other perspectives helps an individual develop their skills, and I would argue helps them to make overall better, more entertaining games.

The reaction against sexism/racism/etc. in games is as much a call to social justice as it is people saying "hey, it's all the same and I'm bored. Try making something different so that games are more fun! We'll buy them, we promise, just make theeeem."

[Victoria Jennings]

I agree on that. I don't think there's some mystical "diversity quota" that everyone should strive to reach or else their games are biased. I just meant that a lot of the time people "default" to certain types of characters for no real reason, and this can lead to very un-diverse casts. Not a problem in specific games, but it's a problem that stretches over millions of games. But if people don't address it themselves it's not going to just go away.

Yeah, it's rather tiresome. Sadly, people often mistake adding diversity because diversity is generally positive with "political correctness".

I definitely think that the diversity of the people making games has an effect on the games being made. However, I think that while we should encourage lots of different people to make games, you don't have to be restricted to making games only based on your experiences. Guys don't have to only make games about guys, etc.

In my opinion, the way gaming gets more diverse is if it starts appealing to more different kinds of people. Since game development, and the computer industry in general, is a very male etc. dominated sphere, interest can be generated by having whoever is making the games make them for more than themselves and people like them.

It's hard to write from a different perspective from your own, but if that's all you can do then your games aren't going to be very good. I see the lack of diversity in a lot of games to be more a reflection on the lack of imagination and "ability to step out of the box" of the game designers and writers. Thinking about how to write from other perspectives helps an individual develop their skills, and I would argue helps them to make overall better, more entertaining games.

The reaction against sexism/racism/etc. in games is as much a call to social justice as it is people saying "hey, it's all the same and I'm bored. Try making something different so that games are more fun! We'll buy them, we promise, just make theeeem."

Yeah, definitely keep on calling out that stuff and trying to make people aware of the issue. I honestly don't think that'll be enough though, and it certainly won't change people's minds unless they already, on some unconscious level, recognize it's a problem. Not many do, however, and a lot of them interpret criticism as attacks, leading them to become defensive. Once they actually, well, interact with a whole range of human beings while they're producing games and take their input into consideration, I think it'll solve itself quite tidily.