I remember a House Hunters episode set in Hawaii. A pediatrician and a researcher, no kids, million dollar budget, the best they could do was a 1500 square foot aluminum bungalow on half an acre in some bumblefuck suburb.

They’re the ones making the game. If you think you know better, maybe make your own game?

None of that is relevant. The developers are making the game they want to make and are not apologizing for it. Their attitude isn’t so much “fuck you” (those are Plunkett’s words) as it is “this what we’re doing, take it or leave it.” If people choose the leave it, I’m sure the devs will be fine. The game is pretty…

I’m sure the creators of Rust, to say nothing of the thousands of game developers out there, will appreciate you telling them why they do what they do. Also, are you under the impression that movies and literary publishing are not profit-driven industries? Because that betrays a pretty childish view of how the world…

The developers are in no way obligated to make a crowd-pleasing game.

I can’t imagine they’ll regret losing your business.

I’m sure “studies” do. This is an actual game that has the balls to do it for real, it’s fun to read all the hysterical reactions to it.

I’m not angry about it. Just don’t get why in a game that is revolved around player choice and survival they choose in this one area to enforce certain conditions on the player.

Except it’s not and it never has been. Avatars have always been randomly generated. It’s just that the options for randomization have gone from white dudes > dudes of many colors > dudes of many colors and penis sizes > dudes and dudettes of many colors and penis sizes.

No, changing your race and physical sex is not easy in the real world.

Now I’m imagining a Rust player managing to craft hormone shots, which all the virtual dudes-in-women’s-bodies flock to.

Buying a game does not and has never given players a vote in the design process unless the developers decided it to be so. Why should Rust be any different?

It would be cool if people who are angry about this could explain why they find it so enraging without blaming their feelings on the developers.

To simulate real life? To make people question their anger when they’re assigned the “wrong” race or gender? To discomfort? What’s the point of art?

They don’t want to give ANYONE a choice. Everyone has the exact same chance of getting an avatar that doesn’t look like them.

Their vision is that the player does not get to choose their race and gender, just like in real life. They’re allowed that.

In what way? Either people will get over it and play the game, or they’ll stop playing the game and play one of the ten thousand other games that allow you to play as the white male of your choice. This isn’t going to end in nuclear annihilation.

It would be great if this whole thing were a social experiment meant to expose latent racism/transphobia.

Why should they “have” to let people choose? Because that’s what every other game does and everything should be the same? Just let the creators have their vision my god.

The creators seem to be making a Big Statement with this. There’s no shortage of games with character creators out there; it’s kind of radical that they’ve taken it in the diametrically opposite direction. I think it’s awesome.