Kinjo wrote:Except for when you have to deal with certain groups of people who go "we need more diverse characters, and you didn't do that with your story, for shame!"
One thing to remember is that when people say that they want diversity, they actually mean that they want the
illusion of diversity. You'll never see a "diverse" black character use
AAVE or use the "N" word in a casual sentence. You'll never see the main character feel uncomfortable when talking to someone who's autistic or frustrated with a character who has depression. You'll never see a working class character have a job they dislike, or one that takes a toll on them, etc.
I could go on, but ultimately, they just want someone who may look different or be called something different than them, but looks, talks and thinks like themselves. Nothing more than a magic trick.
If you want to put actual diversity into your game,
don't. When you feel like putting in a black character, watch or read something created by someone who's black. Something that's meant to be stupid, or controversial, or irreverent. Watch something that treats the characters like characters, instead of political statements. Same with any other type of "diverse" character.
Then, when you come across a character type or situation that reminds of something you've read or watched, you won't think "Hey, I'll put a black guy in here" or "I should make this character trans". Instead, it'll be "Wow, Richard Pryor would make an absolute mess out of this situation. How can I tweak a character to have the same kind of reaction?" or "I wonder how the Wachowskis would approach this?"
Obviously, there will always be people who disagree, some with valid intentions, and some who just want to draw attention to themselves. If you honestly realize you messed up, you can always apologize and fix your mistakes. Otherwise, screw them. It's your story. You don't owe them anything (unless you're creating a commercial game. then you might want to just suck it up.
)
Anyways, my point is that if you're adding diversity because you think it's your responsibility to, or because you want to appease your critics, you're going to end up doing the people you're supposed to be "helping" a disservice. If you really want to help, focus on helping people who may not get much visibility tell
their own stories, and focus on telling the stories that
you want to tell.