Machete Landing

Blizzard is really trying to get me to play Overwatch 2. 

So I saw this article and immediately got frustrated. See, before Overwatch came out, a friend of mine and I discussed how excited we were for it. One of the biggest things we liked was that it featured so many characters from so many different cultural backgrounds. It really covered a lot of bases and did it well at that. One of the biggest issues SJWs have with video games is the fact that so many are just awash with your stereotypical, white male character and feature very little ethnic diversity. While I myself never really understood how forcing diversity into the workplace, schools and media proved to be financially or productively beneficial in any way, I do understand the feeling of getting tired of just seeing the same old thing time and time again. Aesthetically, diversity is pleasing to the eye. I never felt “left out” because there weren’t enough black people in a game, but when they do include them, it’s nice to see. It’s a deviation from the norm which is always nice.

So, when they showcased the hero roster for Overwatch I thought “that’s really cool! All of the characters come from different places and they’re not shoving it down your throat like SJWs like to do in the games they tend to make. This should make everyone happy right?” But I totally forgot, you can’t really make these people happy, they’re unsatisfiable. You have so many characters here, representing so many ethnicities and cultures, yet people will still find ways to nitpick at the way they look. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t point out flaws if you see them, but come on. You’re offended that Zenyatta’s pants are too baggy? What really got me was the complaint that “Pharah’s Thunderbird and Raindancer skins… depict iconography from different Native American tribes from across North America”. People complain about lack of inclusion, then complain that they are included.

I could kinda understand the argument against Symmetra’s Devi skin, because it’s depicting a deity which is a bit more than just a nitpick on pant size, but still. The game is out now. Players have already unlocked or paid for that skin. I don’t think Blizzard can’t just pull a Tracer Butt Pose and pull it in favor of a different skin. It’s one thing to do that in the beta, but after release, I think it’s a bit too late (although I could be wrong, I’m not a game developer).

This is why I believe game developers stick with the stereotypical white male character in all of their games. It’s not because they don’t want to see other people represented, but because it’s such a minefield to do so. Everyone wants their ethnicity or culture represented right (which isn’t wrong to want), but then have weird standards or look at the characters under a microscope searching for the smallest or abstract of flaws. It’s so much safer to just stick with white guys I guess. I believe the gaming industry is trying to make strides to please people who want diversity in games, but you make it hard for them to make that step because they’ll fear the backlash they’ll get from people over analyzing them.

Those are just my opinions though. What are yours?