Does anyone find the 'identifies with a certain type of character' trend disturbing?

[CM30]

You know, how quite a few sites call for customisation in other series because various groups can only 'identify with' or 'feel empowered by' characters that look like them or some crap?

Personally, I find the whole concept kind of worrying, because of some disturbing implications it raises.

Namely, it seems to make assumptions that people can only identify with fictional characters that look like them. Which to me, comes across as kind of like its encouraging a lack of diversity, not 'tackling' it. It's basically saying that if you're female or some minority you shouldn't have to identify with a fictional character that isn't like yourself.

Something about the whole idea just seems off...

 

[Brunn]

I saw something about this a while back, people were absolutely freaking out that Rust (A zombie, survival game) took away the ability to roll your character yourself. When you first signed in, it MADE a character for you, with randomized features, race, and I believe gender too- and everyone hated it.

What I'd hope a lot of those people actually want is the ability to make a character that looks like themselves in an effort to be more in depth with the story, to aid in their pretending to be hero and saving the day. I'd like to think that it isn't necessarily "because I'm a feminist' or 'because I hate a certain race' or something like that, though I'm sure those people are out there.

Personally I don't really care I guess. I tend to just make a character that I think looks cool, though I do have to admit that I tend to choose a Caucasian skin color if I'm designing the character myself. I can't really think of a reason why though, if I were asked. I suppose just because that is closest to myself. But then, I also almost always make male characters, even in MMO's when you're expected to have a very lengthy relationship with your character, so no telling what that says about me lol.

I can see women wanting the option to play as females in games though. When I think of the vast majority of games that you don't get to select your own starting character, all those that come to mind tend to exclusively have a male lead. I don't care much, because I realize that there's often a historical or story basis for this in most cases, that frankly should trump shoehorning in a female character, just to have a female character. And I prefer to play male characters anyway. But I know a lot of women get tired of never getting to be a girl too, which I can also understand.

 

[Lord Regal]

For me, I relate most to characters who are similar to me personally, not whether or not they look like me. My favorite characters are either those I can somehow relate to personality wise, or are something I can really admire, be it their concept or their execution. Admittedly, whenever character customization IS a thing, I do try to make them look like me…after all, it's always cool putting yourself in the game. The issue comes if the personality doesn't mesh, which oftentimes it doesn't. Good example here is Mass Effect…I made my Shepard look like me (albeit with a scar) but most of his actions, paragon or renegade aside, weren't things I would do, and thus it was hard to connect with him. On the other end of the scale, some characters who look nothing like me I connect with on a personality level, which causes me to enjoy and appreciate them far more. Good example here would be Zexion from Kingdom Hearts…he may be a villain, but his thought processes and mannerisms are similar to me in some ways, and thus I connect with him. Thus, I find the whole 'I want to make my character look like me' debate to be a fairly moot point to me personally, though I'm very much aware my opinion is not universal. In general though I feel like this is an issue of 'you can't please everyone' that's gotten more coverage than is necessary. Developers shouldn't feel pressured to put character customization in if they don't want to, and if they do it's up to them what they do as far as options. Male/female would be nice, but some games with established characters it doesn't make sense, and people need to respect that.

 

[Aensland]

I relate to elements of characters, not their physical but their mental and emotional aspects. If I can make my own character, you can wager it will be made to look like Morrigan of Darkstalkers or one of my O.C.'s or some other cosplay-like theme (For example in Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires I have a LOT of O.C.s, several Darkstalkers, Zelda, Link, High School DxD and Sailor Moon characters, and even obscure gaming characters such as Joachim and Juste from Castlevania that I have made)

 

[CM30]

For me, I relate most to characters who are similar to me personally, not whether or not they look like me. My favorite characters are either those I can somehow relate to personality wise, or are something I can really admire, be it their concept or their execution. Admittedly, whenever character customization IS a thing, I do try to make them look like me…after all, it's always cool putting yourself in the game. The issue comes if the personality doesn't mesh, which oftentimes it doesn't. Good example here is Mass Effect…I made my Shepard look like me (albeit with a scar) but most of his actions, paragon or renegade aside, weren't things I would do, and thus it was hard to connect with him. On the other end of the scale, some characters who look nothing like me I connect with on a personality level, which causes me to enjoy and appreciate them far more. Good example here would be Zexion from Kingdom Hearts…he may be a villain, but his thought processes and mannerisms are similar to me in some ways, and thus I connect with him. Thus, I find the whole 'I want to make my character look like me' debate to be a fairly moot point to me personally, though I'm very much aware my opinion is not universal. In general though I feel like this is an issue of 'you can't please everyone' that's gotten more coverage than is necessary. Developers shouldn't feel pressured to put character customization in if they don't want to, and if they do it's up to them what they do as far as options. Male/female would be nice, but some games with established characters it doesn't make sense, and people need to respect that.

And that's a very good point. It's okay to relate to characters based on their personality. It seems only logical.

But the surface level 'can only relate to ones that look like the player'? That's a worrying trend.

 

[Lord Regal]

But the surface level 'can only relate to ones that look like the player'? That's a worrying trend.

I find it ridiculous because what you're saying there is 'I can only relate to people who look like me.' Look around you and tell me how many people look like you. Maybe family, otherwise that's about it. Facial features, body type, height, hair color, eye color…we're a very diverse species. If you can only relate to those who look like you, you're going to be sorely pressed for friends. It's more about who you connect with on a personal level, and people who claim to only be able to relate to people who look like them in games…it's not a good sign for what they're like in real life with people, that's for sure.

 

[CM30]

I find it ridiculous because what you're saying there is 'I can only relate to people who look like me.' Look around you and tell me how many people look like you. Maybe family, otherwise that's about it. Facial features, body type, height, hair color, eye color…we're a very diverse species. If you can only relate to those who look like you, you're going to be sorely pressed for friends. It's more about who you connect with on a personal level, and people who claim to only be able to relate to people who look like them in games…it's not a good sign for what they're like in real life with people, that's for sure.

Yep, no kidding. It's funny because some of these individuals seem to think they're all for 'diversity' or social causes, but never seem to notice their own rather questionable attitudes in the process...

 

[Brunn]

It's funny because some of these individuals seem to think they're all for 'diversity' or social causes, but never seem to notice their own rather questionable attitudes in the process...

Yeah, but look at the people most likely to be calling for more character customization options. African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, and of course, women, people of differing gender identities (Just to name a few). Then look at who the vast majority of playable characters tend to be: Usually male, generally white, almost always a certain body type. I mean, the last game I played where I played an African American was GTAV, and he was a gangster and a thug. I know it fit with the game, but really? The only other game I've recently encountered that had black skin tone options is Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, since I've been replaying it on Gamecube.

And generally when games do have other races, or genders, they're always stereotyped. I mean, I couldn't even enjoy being female in World of Warcraft because of the sexy armor problem. Same piece of gear, looks like a badass peiece of armor on a male character, but it's practically a chainmail bikini on a female. They've tried to move away from that, but it seriously gets really annoying when games treat you as a piece of virtual ass, you know? And it didn't even bother me because of that, I just wanted to get the same really badass piece of armor; it's part of the reason I almost always roll male characters.

So in a way, when people are calling for more diversity, yeah, maybe they are being selfish because they want the characters to look like them, or they have trouble empathizing with a person that looks different. But a lot of times they're never even given a choice of ever playing as someone who looks like them either. They don't get to imagine that they're a super awesome hero by 'putting themself in the game'. Is it really such a bad thing to throw in some more skin colors, accents, and have equal rights to clothing options between body types and genders?