Hey, I’m gonna vent a bit. Ok? Ok. Slap me with a fish if it’s not ok.
So I played two Twine games that… whew. I didn’t play them through, I quit quite early on. I didn’t like the attitude, I didn’t like the way they were going on.
(sidenote: these days I’ll stick with any game that I like the attitude of, the atmosphere. If it looks like the devs really had fun making the game, and put in little touches for our enjoyment, I’m way more likely to play a game through, even if the game occasionally pisses me off)
And this attitude seems representative of some things intruding into gaming and IF, and well, you know what, here they are, without further ado.
There’s a Twine game called “Queer Romance and Gaming”;
Listen up folks, this isn’t going to be some kind of love story where I talk to you about how perfect and peaceful my love life is.
No way.
In my dream.
Nope, we’re going to talk about why I’m so angry at media, specifically gamer culture, because I’m an avid player of such games as Call of Duty (pick one, I’ve played them all) and… actually that’s about it. BUT I’ve watched a lot of other people video games on the YouTube’s and Twitch.tv.
My point is, as I play these games, I don’t really see myself in the game, kicking all kinds of ass and shooting everything in sight.
Sure, my avatar is there, but last time I checked, I wasn’t a white guy with huge muscles and oozing masculinity from every fiber of my being.
Do you want to listen to me rant on for a while or accept that there’s very little variation in race, gender and sexuality and start your own rant?
Erm… this person only plays Call of Duty, has seen other games played on YouTube, and is complaining that they don’t see themselves in the game… and are rallying against media and gamer culture?
Instead of, you know, playing the games which actually do exist and are a bit more conscientious? This person plays Call of Duty, takes that to mean media culture, and rants about that?
I mean, is this the sort of people that keep ranting on about how video games are racist and sexist and what have you? People who can’t be bothered to look for alternatives?
The other thing is in a game called “Resistance Digitized”. It starts off talking about porn and how it’s really a universal language, and then hits you with the line “I mean I encounter problems because I’m trans (I wasn’t always hey I’m Maria and yeah I’m trans so deal with it)”.
…I’m trans so deal with it?
I’m already being slapped before I had a chance to say anything? Someone comes up to you and goes “I’m trans, so deal with it”, this is supposed to be normal? What’s my reaction supposed to be? Should I start telling people that I’m cis white and they should deal with it? (actually, sometimes that’s enticing) Should I tell people that I’m a nerd and they should deal with it? I avoid lactose and gluten, should I tell people they should deal with it?
So, I just wanted to vent about that. Both examples seem to be a case of pent-up aggression directed at pretty much the wrong people - the people who are actually your audience. I can understand what causes that aggression, especially in the second case, but surely they can also understand that I’m less likely to be responsive - or even interested in what they have to say at all - if the hostility’s just pouring out from the very beginning.
And this is a general thing, too. What vaporware encountered in Euphoria the other day…
…by the way, I checked it out and trust me that vaporware posted the nice, edited version; he was met with absolute vitriol, for no discernible reason, I took a log of it because it was so bad that I felt I had to be reminded, once in a while, that sometimes people will just hate instead of reasoning…
…is an example of this.
I feel like crying out, “STOP; YOU IDIOTS! WE’RE THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY THINK THAT YOU’RE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD HAVE THE SAME TREATMENT AS EVERYONE ELSE, except that WE DON?T MAKE A HUGE DEAL OF IT! THAT DOESN’T MAKE US THE ENEMY!”.
…except that’s too long to cry out, and I get hoarse, so I don’t.