Are young girly boys, muscular soldiers and buxom women really that offensive?
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They don't really offend me, though the whole thin androgynous male thing annoys me, mostly because I'm fairly bulky (and fat). It works for some characters, however (Lelouch would not work as a muscular man, and neither would Light). It annoys me more with the crap Disney pumps out than with anime, really.
And I'd like more female characters like Winry Rockbell that are attractive but more resemble someone you'd see in real life (other than the eye's, of course).
And I'd like more female characters like Winry Rockbell that are attractive but more resemble someone you'd see in real life (other than the eye's, of course).
It's not that it's offensive it's just we've seen it over and over. And it doesn't help that the personalities that accompany these archetypes are 1 dimensional. So not only do you get the bald space marine you get his 'Get Some' personality that we've seen in 50 other games.
JRPG's are the worse offenders of this. I can take a JRPG, look at the characters and know what they're motivations are and how their roles will play out without even touching the game.
JRPG's are the worse offenders of this. I can take a JRPG, look at the characters and know what they're motivations are and how their roles will play out without even touching the game.
That's more a choice of the particular school of literature. In this age, people are exposed to a wide enough variety of literature that both blatant fantasy and more realistic plot line and characters can be interesting. In either case, however, the plot line must come back to something we can relate to. If the reader feels no connection to the plot, then it really doesn't matter how the story is written.Jakkal said:
The key thing is the writing. I think it's because there aren't many actual writers working for the games industry, so you have programmers trying to create literature. When you don't have the skill to create in-depth characters, its considerably easier to use stock characters; this is probably for the best for amateur writers anyway. Likewise, plot holes are considerably easier to hide with blatant fantasy than with a more realistic style, which is why that seems to be the preference for video games.
As an amateur writer myself, I know how hard it can be to use original characters; for every one original character that actually ends up in a sensible story, I discard about 30 because they seem good in concept but any story I try putting them into either turns into a mess or is completely uninteresting. However, I don't have deadlines hanging over my head like game writers do; they don't have time to experiment with dozens of ultimately useless character ideas, so they MIGHT try just one out before reverting to stock characters. Obviously, some game developers either know how to write or have enough guts to just try out what they come up with, because their are still plenty of games with original, developed characters.
This is why I like having a create-a-character, or character customization. That way everyone can have their testosterone-fuelled human tank if they want, or they can have an average Joe. One thing I cannot abide by, however, is the women with massive breasts in most fighting games. That's not hot, its just proof that yes, there can be too much of any good thing.
As it's been said, it's not that those types of characters are offensive, it's just that they've been done to death.
Just out of interest, when was the last time anyone ever saw an overweight protagonist?
Just out of interest, when was the last time anyone ever saw an overweight protagonist?
Ironically, the 'actual' space marines, from the 40K universe, seem to have a hell of a lot more personality then most of the power armor fucknuggets that populate games and other media. The guys they take after, the real legacy ones like the Mobile Infantry (Starship Troopers; I shouldn't have to say it, but book, not movie) had a lot of personality too. The Dawn of War games should be congratulated for NOT overlooking that aspect. Still, when was it decided that big guys in power armor shouldn't have any personality? because that seems pretty common.SageOfCalm said:
Reiterating what's been said many times over.
Those three archetypes are overdone and boring. Yes, there exist interesting macho (Bonzo Madrid), buxom (Alia Atreides) and androgynic(there has to be at least one, i'm sure) characters, though my examples come from literature. But in games mostly they are nothing more than just the verys statement the archetype implies. I.e., a full list of a buxom woman's personality traits in gaming consists of 1)is a woman 2)is Buxom. Now if the main protagonist of a game, which usually is something i do for entertainment, is boring, it kind of defeats the whole point, doesn't it?
Those three archetypes are overdone and boring. Yes, there exist interesting macho (Bonzo Madrid), buxom (Alia Atreides) and androgynic(there has to be at least one, i'm sure) characters, though my examples come from literature. But in games mostly they are nothing more than just the verys statement the archetype implies. I.e., a full list of a buxom woman's personality traits in gaming consists of 1)is a woman 2)is Buxom. Now if the main protagonist of a game, which usually is something i do for entertainment, is boring, it kind of defeats the whole point, doesn't it?
He's got a point.dmase said:
There is also the fact that by using stock characters, it becomes exponentully esayer for the player to understand what the protagonist is like. In these game that orginallity of the character isnt all that important, its the gameplay on the collective feeling from the story.
I don't mean to be a jerk but there are no 'actual' space marines. Space marines don't exist...yet. And this 40K universe of yours isn't real either.klakkat said:
You know I thought about this long and hard and I really dont care what style the characters are in, is it immature if they look anime, like playboy models or steroid advertisments no not really its just art direction. Hell some of the best games I have ever played were nothing but bloody polygons or pixels almost indestinguishable one from another, I dont care how the characters look its not immature what does suck is when they are achatyped as such and thats their entire characterisation.
Imo stop honking up the objectification tree and start bitching about personality, traits, storyline again its more bloody important.
Imo stop honking up the objectification tree and start bitching about personality, traits, storyline again its more bloody important.
I only meant it as they're generally the only ones actually called "Space Marines" or possibly just the first called that, though perhaps some old sci-fi book coined the term first. Most of the power armor dipshits in space are called 'Space Marines' for short rather than because that is what they are called in game (for example, Starcraft marines are just marines in game, but are sometimes referred to as 'space marines'). It's also a good catch-all term for anyone who never takes off their power armor, provided space is involved at some point; i.e. the protagonist of almost all sci-fi games anymore (excepting KOTOR, though power armor did exist in the game...)SageOfCalm said:
Eh...true I suppose but still not really the kind of character I am looking for. He still had the whole macho badass thing going on.Ashbax said:
guys, here's a thought. if we got rid of all gaming stereotypes, what kind of original, likable character could we come up with?
stereotypes are stereotypes because people want them. because people want them, we end up seeing a LOT of them. And it's a lot easier to base off a stereotype. in addition, to be totally honest, i had never complained about the breasts portrayed in these games.
I'm just saying, making new characters is significantly harder. even if one is made, it could end up being rather ordinary or simply a milder stereotype.
stereotypes are stereotypes because people want them. because people want them, we end up seeing a LOT of them. And it's a lot easier to base off a stereotype. in addition, to be totally honest, i had never complained about the breasts portrayed in these games.
I'm just saying, making new characters is significantly harder. even if one is made, it could end up being rather ordinary or simply a milder stereotype.