This is what happens when people learn about feminism on twitter and Tumblr. Some of that stuff hits sheer parody level. Oh, to be 15 again...

Of course. Now, if they want to SELL a story? And you're forgetting one key element vital to games as art - the audience is a living, breathing component If you don't press the buttons? The art is never realized. Your experience is part of the work itself. A broad audience can only expand the potential of your…

Good luck on that one.

Incorrect. We're arguing about where art comes from - an important difference. There is on such thing as an artist free of context. An artist can't NOT influence the tone of their work, especially not a work with human themes or actors. You might be able to create an abstract work free of social context - maybe, but I…

Except that these works are created in OUR time by people IN our time. There is no way they are divorced from their own context as creators, no matter what they make. See the concept of values dissonance when doing historical work. This isn't a semantics argument.

Yes. I am a troll. Because I see no problem with using a female character model. Egads!

"A pair of tits isn't what blows it for me. People complaining about the lack of tits in a game that never promised you one is." - Dehydration

If that's all it takes? This will be the most effective boycott in recorded history. Wow!

I don't care what your favorite game is. And really - you are playing a video game about an assassin's story being read via 'genetic memory' and a pair of tits is what blows it for you?

1) Art based on societies, social groups, or common themes - real or imaginary - pretty much cannot escape context. You wanna do some abstract Geometry Wars stuff? Maybe, maybe you can manage. But if you want human interaction? Context becomes inescapable.

Not very. As an assassin, kind of okay with disguise or misdirection. I'm also not afraid of being seen as a woman. Are you?

Context, in part, defines beauty.

That was both the stupidest thing I heard today AND proved my point. Context arises in the mind with something as simple as a color choice. It's a tool any good artist employs.

It's just that your arguments are weak. The "default" demographics are included in the vast majority of games and no one asks WHY they're included - they just are, because it's easy and lazy to do so. That's not art - that's a lack of imagination. Especially when vast amounts of effort go into detailing a setting,…

All of that irrelevant bullshit aside... you still haven't pointed out why games are free from criticism. Why works can't be challenged for their shortcomings. Why they can't make broader and more narrow stories. Why you have a right to be included and everyone else is just "complaining"?

Except that no one's being forced at gunpoint - they're receiving criticism for making unrealistic work. No one is free from critique. No one. Art can't live or grow without it. If an artist can't convey the reality of their setting, their audience, or the world? They're basically shit, anyway.

Two games that did very little to address diversity and did everything to appeal to the same white, male multiplayer demographics as usual. Poor comparison. This isn't about lowest common denominators - it's about basic storytelling and player engagement.

Michelangelo didn't live in nearly as diverse a world and frequently depicted specific regions and cultures. Failing to convey Asians in classical Greece? Okay. Failing to portray minorities or women in modern cityspaces, fantastic realms, or the freakin' military? That's a poor conveyance and worthy of criticism. No…

A AAA project takes an artist's vision and translates it to a mass audience experience. So, yes, at its heart? It's the job of the larger studio to expand the concept provided by a creator to allow for broader engagement. It's the job of execs to pick projects with broader appeal. It's the job of the corporation to…

Half-assed click bait outrage is what gets marketers, execs, and recruiters antsy. When people start reporting on how very white-male they are? It at least gets them into lip service. Diversity is good marketing, plain and simple, and better business. Shame is good.