Why it happens is why much of genre media now days is misunderstood. They saw Blade Runner that one time, thought it was pretty and it went out of their head anything beyond that (not targeting this at anyone in this thread more a general remark on fandom).

Your comment about the US Prison system is pretty much accurate. I had the privilege of clerking for an AG’s office two summers and we toured two of the state’s prisons (one each 1/2 summer). After the first tour I realized that I’d never want to consign my worst enemy to that kind of misery. That 2nd 1/2 summer we…

Exactly! I wouldn’t expect Witcher 3 to have something to say about transness, but I would expect it to speak about feudalism, women’s rights, and monarchy (which it does!). But cyber punk, specifically cyberpunk that centers bodies and body mods? Yeah, gender/queerness is pretty central to that theme.

“But CDPR has set a precedent for themselves as a studio with respect for source material, and a talent for good writing, so I’d expect them to have something to say with their narrative.”

Seems like you’re position on this zone being akin to hell may be due to only having gone through the remedial story line. Revendreth is more so a layer of purgatory where, if you confess your sins and confront them, you can be absolved and live on as a Venthyr. If you are deemed to far gone by a council of other…

I made an account specifically because of this post. Growing up as a queer man in the south I often had people treat me poorly that I hated. I hoped they spent eternity in pain for the pain they unjustly caused me. As I grew older and realized some of the behaviors I exhibited later in life I wanted to change or…

It’s gonna be hard for me to judge afterlifes now when The Good Place really killed it.

You give people/beings infinity chances forever. And if existence is not your thing any more, you choose to allow your spirit to dissipate, and everybody left remembers you and to take it sleazy.

“Or even, gasp, a star rating of 1 to 5.”

You don’t have to expect it to say something. But it could say something. That it doesn’t is simply something to mention. That it bothers you that Riley noted this says more about how defensive you are about this than anything.

You can’t dismiss the criticism of Cyberpunk because it’s just a big dumb AAA title and then dismiss how another big dumb AAA title (Last of Us) at least tried to be about something.

This version of Cyberpunk if you know the tabletop rpg it comes from is less about a progressive ethos and more of a in my opinion probably real... Approach.

Really, the only message the company wants from Cyberpunk is “spend $70 on Cyberpunk.”

You should probably frequent another site if you’re not interested in criticism of representation and diversity. It’s very common here, and is why a lot of people love this site.

It also doesn’t feel like enough to make me love the game as unabashedly as I love The Witcher 3. So far, Cyberpunk isn’t The Best Game Ever or The Future Of Video Games, as the hype promised, nor is it just an enraging pile of offensive tropes.

But if their vision of the cyberpunk future draws heavily on 1980s-era tropes, it’s fair to say that those tropes are dated and that they didn’t have to choose them. From the reviews I’ve read the game seems to be a decidedly retro piece of cyberpunk, which is a fine setting but is absolutely disappointing if you…

Some of this is problems I had with the TTRPG. While the world is flashy and cool, the depth in storytelling (if at all present) is very different from what you’d get even from a deep traditional fantasy setting.

My conclusions are more of the form:
- It’s ultimately just a video game
-Crunch doesn’t work

Nothing turns me off a game faster than a million icons on the map TBQH. To me it screams developers just stuffing a game full of crap do to so that they can crow about how much content their is rather than actually figuring what what the game does really well and focusing on that.

See I’m still looking forward to the game but the diversity stuff detailed is exactly what I expected. It’s seemingly an improvement on the source material and comparative games but still not exactly a vast demonstration of escaping tropes.