Thread for Gamers VIII: Revenge of the Sh**

[Husseinarti]

http://whatthefuckwhat.tumblr.com/post/152177494393/the-problem-with-mercy

Tumblr post, I know.

But really though, this fellow is reaching for something light years away.

Can I get a TL;DR since I can't reach Tumblr?

:triggering intensifies:

[Gristol-Serkonos]

Disclaimer: If you like/are kin with/main Mercy or anything like that with her, that is fine. This is not an attack on Mercy fans, this is more of a critical of how Blizzard made her character and how they need to take a fucking writing class.

Now let’s get started shall we? Let’s start off with what’s on the surface, the overall look of Mercy.



What’s the problem with this you may ask? Well, a white woman named Angela who dresses up in an Angel cosplay she made herself and looks like a literal white savior? Yeah.

This is a problem and make many people (me and some friends included) kinda iffy because that’s what she’s made to be, a literal white savior. Hell she’s the reason of two men of color are the way they are today (Genji and Reaper, but I will get to those two in a bit ).

This is a problem because a white person swooping in like an angel from heaven and saving ‘’poor’ and ‘defenseless’ people of color is….really yikes. Like super yikes like really, its infantilizing and patronizing us.

Also not to mention her being ‘white’, ‘pure’, and ‘good’ :/ like…a pure white woman…never heard that before…

‘But she’s from Switzerland!!!’ White people aren’t the only ones who live in Switzerland, or Europe for that matter.

Would she more compelling and interesting if she wasn’t white? Yes yes she would. Maybe they could have made her an immigrant who moved to Switzerland. That would have been much cooler, and interesting in regard to her success at being a doctor. And seeing a WOC portrayed as an Angel and doing good would have been a very positive image.

Although that would not excuse the following issues, as in her story and connection to canon people of color.


Genji was pretty much given the choice to ‘die or become a war machine to kill what’s left of your family’ by not only Mercy, but Overwatch itself. Which is pretty fucked up.

‘But his brother killed him!’ well yeah, and his family told Hanzo to do it which is even more fucked up. If anything after that Genji should have gotten help like therapy, and not be made into a war machine and murder his family and the empire.

Genji saw himself as inhuman and maybe even a monster. ‘But Genji is fine now!’ Yeah because of Zenyatta, not Mercy, not Overwatch. But by Zenyatta, who gave him the emotional support and therapy he needed in the first place.

And now onto the biggest piece of evidence I have at the moment showing how fucked up Mercy is in canon so far, Reaper. Reaper, a dark skin latino man who was experimented on by Mercy to become a walking corpse.

I could go into so many theories but for now let’s stick with the facts, Mercy brought Reaper back to life and fucked him up so bad he sees himself as a monster and hates how he is (kinda like Genji pre-Zenyatta, hmmmmm…)

It’s heavily implied that he is pain because of this and even wishes for death, now Mercy doing all of this, if fucked up.

The fact that it’s a white woman, who is made out to be a literal white savior is 100000000x more fucked up. Like really Blizzard what the hell.

Hell even some stuff from the Halloween Comic is fucked up.


Reaper…the dark skin latino man who is also very liked mixed with black and/or indigenous blood….is the white woman’s servant….

Yeah, Blizzard what the fuck.

And now on to the last part of this all, fandom interpretation.

Because of all of the above, the fandom has been really shitty at times in terms of interracial Mercy pairings.

PharMercy: Pharah is made to fawn over and live ONLY for Mercy in a lot of fan works, even to the point of wanting to be her ‘servant’. Not to mention Mercy first meet Pharah when she WAS 12 and herself 17, so extra creepy.

Gency: Same of the above about ‘fawning’ and being a ‘servant’ applies to Genji, people even ramp it up even more so because she saved his life so he is now ‘indebted’ to her.

MercyKill: OH BOY, Mercy is looked out to have to ‘’’save’’’ Reaper from the darkness of his soul. And sometimes I see Reaper as this animalistic monster Mercy has to ‘’tame’’. Some people even throw in 76 into the mix and make it out that Reaper is holding the ‘pure’ Mercy to keep her light to himself and 76 fights for her and ‘saves’ her.

Like really guys what the fuck?

Not to mention, when Mercy is made out to be Dva’s mother and Dva is treated like a literal infant even though she’s 19 and has seen war and death just as much as a lot of the characters in the game. AND THE GREMLIN JOKES it’s horrible fucking horrible like cut that shit out.

So in conclusion, Blizzard needs to get their shit together. And when the fandom does the above it’s very shitty of them too.

I got to this point:

This is a problem and make many people (me and some friends included) kinda iffy because that’s what she’s made to be, a literal white savior. Hell she’s the reason of two men of color are the way they are today (Genji and Reaper, but I will get to those two in a bit ).

And then I grabbed my bleach bottle.

And I have a big probelm with this:

Reaper…the dark skin latino man who is also very liked mixed with black and/or indigenous blood….is the white woman’s servant….

This person clearly has no understanding of Overwatch lore. Talon is responsible for Reaper's genetic mutations, much in the same way as Widowmaker. At that point, I'm fucking dead.

Might've been too caught up with the whole "White Saviour" trope Mercy apparently personifies.

[Ardavia]

http://whatthefuckwhat.tumblr.com/post/152177494393/the-problem-with-mercy

Tumblr post, I know.

But really though, this fellow is reaching for something light years away.

[The Huskar Social Union]

http://whatthefuckwhat.tumblr.com/post/152177494393/the-problem-with-mercy

Tumblr post, I know.

But really though, this fellow is reaching for something light years away.

Read the first two paragraphs, then skimmed the rest.

Biggest load of shite ive read in a good while.

[Balkenreich]

you know.

Sitting in a mountain top trench puts everything in perspective when you hear the yells of Irate Italians charging up the damn mountain.

[The Huskar Social Union]

you know.

Sitting in a mountain top trench puts everything in perspective when you hear the yells of Irate Italians charging up the damn mountain.

O la vittoria, o tutti accoppati

First time i played as the Italians in MP the latter was definitely the case.

[Hirota]

I talked about technobabylon elsewhere being a genuinely excellent game. It's now appeared on the humble bundle, and I would thoroughly recommend it. With Chroma Squad as well (which I've not played but heard good things about), this is a steal for a couple of dollars.

[Balkenreich]

you know.

Sitting in a mountain top trench puts everything in perspective when you hear the yells of Irate Italians charging up the damn mountain.

O la vittoria, o tutti accoppati

First time i played as the Italians in MP the latter was definitely the case.

I mean, i am have to remind myself that i am constantly playing multiplayer.

[Gurori]

I constantly get the feeling that Mercy is basically just a female, Swiss version of Medic.

I mean, they both have healing guns and are dressed in white with things that have wings (mercy has wings on her outfit, medic has doves).

Is this normal?

[Czechanada]

I constantly get the feeling that Mercy is basically just a female, Swiss version of Medic.

I mean, they both have healing guns and are dressed in white with things that have wings (mercy has wings on her outfit, medic has doves).

Is this normal?

Considering that Overwatch is a Team Fortress 2 clone, it's perfectly normal to think that.

[Abserdia]

I constantly get the feeling that Mercy is basically just a female, Swiss version of Medic.

I mean, they both have healing guns and are dressed in white with things that have wings (mercy has wings on her outfit, medic has doves).

Is this normal?

Probably. They are somewhat similar in appearance and gameplay.

But Mercy isn't absolutely crazy. Big difference between the two.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I constantly get the feeling that Mercy is basically just a female, Swiss version of Medic.

I mean, they both have healing guns and are dressed in white with things that have wings (mercy has wings on her outfit, medic has doves).

Is this normal?

Probably. They are somewhat similar in appearance and gameplay.

But Mercy isn't absolutely crazy. Big difference between the two.

Yet, she is not absolutely crazy yet.

[Onekawa-Nukanor]

Probably. They are somewhat similar in appearance and gameplay.

But Mercy isn't absolutely crazy. Big difference between the two.

Yet, she is not absolutely crazy yet.

If the Rule34 is anything to go by, Mercy definitely can be crazy.

[Zeinbrad]

I constantly get the feeling that Mercy is basically just a female, Swiss version of Medic.

I mean, they both have healing guns and are dressed in white with things that have wings (mercy has wings on her outfit, medic has doves).

Is this normal?

White and angels are fairly standard things to dress a medic like character in. Especially white.

[Corrian]

I always thought Overwatch looked practically like Team Fortress 2, so not really surprising that they'd rip off the general character concept as well.

[Abserdia]

I always thought Overwatch looked practically like Team Fortress 2, so not really surprising that they'd rip off the general character concept as well.

Mercy is not exactly like the Medic, and their biographies are completely different too.

[Husseinarti]

the concept of class specific gameplay in which classes are bound to certain weapons and equipment isn't anything new and was done before TF2.

[Czechanada]

I always thought Overwatch looked practically like Team Fortress 2, so not really surprising that they'd rip off the general character concept as well.

Mercy is not exactly like the Medic, and their biographies are completely different too.

Can the biographies be accessed in game?

[New Naephak]

I constantly get the feeling that Mercy is basically just a female, Swiss version of Medic.

I mean, they both have healing guns and are dressed in white with things that have wings (mercy has wings on her outfit, medic has doves).

Is this normal?

I think it should be noted that Starcraft did healing beams before TF2 did.

[Corrian]

Oh, I'm sure everyone's copied each other, and it's not exactly that big of a deal to an extent, but I can't get rid of that nagging feeling of how similar Overwatch just has a feel to Team Fortress 2.

[Husseinarti]

fallout is just wasteland

call of duty is just castle wolfenstein


cossacks 3 is just empire earth

[Imperializt Russia]

Oh, I'm sure everyone's copied each other, and it's not exactly that big of a deal to an extent, but I can't get rid of that nagging feeling of how similar Overwatch just has a feel to Team Fortress 2.

It's pretty meaningless except down to the basic concepts.

[Polvamaa]

fallout is just wasteland

call of duty is just castle wolfenstein


cossacks 3 is just empire earth

Wolfenstein is just faceball 2000

Wasteland is just adventure

Empire earth is just Starcraft

[Czechanada]

Oh, I'm sure everyone's copied each other, and it's not exactly that big of a deal to an extent, but I can't get rid of that nagging feeling of how similar Overwatch just has a feel to Team Fortress 2.

No, you have it right. There's nothing wrong with Overwatch being a clone of Team Fortress 2, and the term "clone" isn't necessarily pejorative; It was same thing with Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena back in the day with both games being variations of each other.

It's just that one has to be either willfully obstinate or ignorant of both games to deny their extreme similarities. If Overwatch only had a couple of similarities to Team Fortress 2, then calling it a clone wouldn't be warranted. However, there are far too many similarities between the two that make it more than mere coincidence.

Let's break each similarity down:

Both games have garish, cartoony aesthetics, with the specific use of ethnicity and nationality, in some cases stereotypes, to further emphasize the distinction of each character's unique personality, with the use of a meta-narrative beyond the game to further flesh out the characters. The game modes are the same (with the exception of a mode not being seen in either respective games), with the exact same structures (ie. one has to wait behind a gate on a defense map while the other prepares defenses and assumes position, variable spawn points with opportunities to reach safety, heal, and change classes, and so forth) The characters of Overwatch appear to be derivations of Team Fortress 2's roster: Pharah is an undeniable derivation of Soldier, as both use rocket launchers and have the exact same ability to jump high in the air with an extreme similarity in motion and speed. Reaper is derived from Scout in terms of the use of light, rapid-fire shotguns, and the high speed and reach; Widowmaker and Hanzo are both derived from the variations of the Sniper in terms of the options of the rifle (which has the exact same charge mechanic in both games) and the bow (which works exactly the same as it does in both games) respectively; Mei is a mutation of Pyro with the use of spread weapons; Bastion and the Tank characters are derived from Heavy, with Bastion being derived from Heavy's slow movement speed, rapid fire, and high damage when firing, and the Tank characters being forked from the high amount of hit points of the heavy; Symmetra and Tjornborn are derived from the Engineer in terms of their constructions of turrets and teleporters; and Mercy is derived from Medic, in both mechanics and aestethics; Junkrat is derived from Demoman in terms of the grenade launcher which has the same functions and appearance of ammunition. Only the Spy is left untouched from Team Fortress 2.

Even the use of sprays and the distribution of cosmetic items are similar.

[Abserdia]

Mercy is not exactly like the Medic, and their biographies are completely different too.

Can the biographies be accessed in game?

In Overwatch, no. Not sure about TF2.