Sexism in video games.

[Aurora Novus]

What?
Oh, you think I'm talking about the player.

No, I mean actual quests. In Skyrim there are a couple quests where you are saved by a woman, same with Fallout. Last of Us is centered around the woman saving a man.

I've played the entirety of Skyrim, and the player is never rescued by any NPC ever, at least not in any logically cogent way.

What...the fuck?

Now I know you're full of shit. You've not played the entirety of Skyrim. Otherwise you would know this statement is utter horseshit. Karliah of the Thieves Guild and Serana from the Dawnguard DLC immediatly come to mind, and if I wracked my brain a little, I'm certain I could think of others.

You have no clue what you're talking about.

[Aurora Novus]

Yes, obviously it's just evil male plotting rather than, you know, developers appealing to people's desire to personalize their characters. No, obviously it's Patriarchy and all that nonsense.

God you guys reek of confirmation bias.

Find me a game that has different dialogue depending on whether you selected a male or female character, outside of some token line once in a blue moon. In almost every game I can think of where the player character is customizable, it makes literally no difference in the story.

...why? The fact that gender makes no difference would only reaffirm my point that the customization is about allowing people to play with a character they want and design, rather than forcing certain traits or stereotypes down our throat. The lack of gender-specific dialogue would only reaffirm my point that it's basis isn't sexism, or fear of female protagonists, not disprove it.

[Aurora Novus]

The Karliah thing makes no goddamn sense as I explained earlier

No, you asserted it made no sense.

First of all, whether or not it "makes sense" doesn't matter. Many times when a male character is saving someone it "doesn't make sense". The point isn't whether or not it makes sense, the point is did they, according to the game, save you?

Secondly, it makes perfect sense. What about it is confusing? Sure, it's not 100% logically explained, but when magic is involved, nothing is. What occurred makes just enough sense as it needs to.

[Aurora Novus]

...why? The fact that gender makes no difference would only reaffirm my point that the customization is about allowing people to play with a character they want and design, rather than forcing certain traits or stereotypes down our throat. The lack of gender-specific dialogue would only reaffirm my point that it's basis isn't sexism, or fear of female protagonists, not disprove it.

I'm not saying that customizable characters are bad. I'm saying that presenting a character that can be customized into a woman as the equal of a character that was designed to be a woman is wrong. Customizable characters do not represent some non-sexist future for the gaming industry.

How so? What makes a woman, a woman, in a game, is the coding which states she is a woman. What makes a woman, a woman, when we personify said coding, is their appearance.

The fact that the woman in the game can act in the exact same manner as a man, if anything, only decreases a lack of sexism in gaming, and is an excellent direction for the future of gaming (if that's your goal). It would mean games would no loner be being made with specific gender assignments in mind, and would be an end to gendered thinking when writing characters and plots.

Functionally, it's no different either. There is no functional difference between choosing to play as a female protagonist, or having a female protagonist pre assigned to you, if their behavior can be the same.

[Aurora Novus]

She paralyzed me and let Mercer stab me. That's not saving, especially not when she can just, you know, let me run away with her?

And she could do this how, exactly? You're on opposite sides of the room, and at that point in time, you are hellbent on killing her.

Yes, just running away gleefully with her is a totally valid option.

That was an option. Also, I'm the motherfucking Dragonborn. Mercer is a weakling who can't do anything to me.

You're forgetting the whole plot about a thieves luck, and the skeleton key.

Also, she doesn't know you're the Dragonborn. She worked with what she had. Can you really fault her for that?

Unless I'm lying on the ground paralyzed, of course. She didn't save me. She put me in mortal danger and then claimed victory when my own toughness saved me. The only reason I lived there is because I'm too strong to get killed by a sword to the face. If I was literally anyone else, her "plan" would have failed completely, and she'd have been directly responsible for murder.

If you recall, the poison slowed your blood, and prevented you from bleeding out. She was directly responsible for preserving your life, as well as hers by the way.

As for your "toughness" winning out...yeah, no.

[Aurora Novus]

You're forgetting the whole plot about a thieves luck, and the skeleton key.

You kick his ass pretty hard later in the story when he still has the key.

Only after becoming a Nightengale, and receiving powers from Nocturnal.

You all seem to be ignoring that Skyrim is an open world RPG. While Gameplay wise, you may be an all-powerful god, story wise, that might not be the case. And the point of the game is the story.

So while you may say "the fight was easy", that's speaking from a Gameplay perspective. From a story perspective, the fight was impossible (or at the very least, too damn risky) up until that point in time, due to the lore of the game.

[Aurora Novus]

Then run away without putting me in mortal danger. Am I the only one in possession of an imagination here?

Yes. because Mercer wasn't going to try and kill you afterwards anyway.

Oh wait, that's exactly what his plan was.

No I'm not. I'm the Dragonborn. I'm the reincarnation of Talos. I'm above such petty nonsense. Nocturnal holds no power over me.

According to the lore, that's not the case. Gameplay is secondary to story.

Yes because if I wasn't the Dragonborn, Mercer would have killed me. Your average thief cannot survive a sword to the face.

Again, the poison stopped you from dying, not you being Dragonborn.

If you recall, I'm not a powerless weakling who's incapable of self defense. If Mercer tried face stabbing me while I was capable of mobility, he would have failed, and I wouldn't have to worry about blood loss. I'm carrying 20 pounds of potions and have healing magic. I'd have been fine if only I could move.

You are, once again, completely ignoring lore for gameplay. You are forgetting this is an RPG.

I've single-handedly killed dozens of dragons as well as wiping out hundreds of monsters and undead. A single thief is nothing.

A single thief with the luck of the gods on their side? No, you wouldn't win. That's the whole reason you had to receive powers from Nocturnal in the first place.

[Aurora Novus]

You're still missing the point that Mercer had no intention of killing you off until Karliah put you in a position where it would be almost effortless for him.

Except, he did. Watch the scene again. It's kinda obvious he was planning on backstabbing you at some point or another to begin with, because he felt threatened by your presence in the guild (in fact, he mentions this in the final confrontation as I recall).

[Austro-German Prussia]

Anyone else noticing the ad here that says "male gamers only"? With a picture of a sexually objectified woman of course.

The video game ads are the #1 reason I use adblock on this website.

So. Would anyone like to share their opinions or thoughts on this?

There's definitely a lot of sexism in video games.

Anita Sarkeesian has been doing a youtube series on the roles women play in video games, if you're interested.

That woman is an idiot.

[Autismiah]

It doesn't exist.

Of course, there are a few video-games that are genuinely sexist, but this doesn't make a whole industry sexist.

There are also communities that are, overall, generally quite sexist, but these communities are usually limited to the FPS genre, and again, doesn't imply sexism exists throughout the entire video-game industry.

Watch an Anita Sarkeesian video. That's an example of the height these arguments go. Yes, I know, it's hilarious.

[Azrael]

Yeah, some shit in mainstream gaming is rather lewd, but not too many gamers (females included) I know are bothered by it, though you'll see many of them joke about it.

[Benomia]

Anyone else noticing the ad here that says "male gamers only"? With a picture of a sexually objectified woman of course.

You're talking about WarTune, aren't you?

Argument invalid, WarTune is a spyware site disguised as a porn RPG.

[Benomia]

But it is just plain stupid to market 95% of games towards 13% of gamers.

The current highest opening-weekend media object, a video game, 's main target audience is 11 year old boys.

[Blayere]

Some games aren't as bad. Some games celebrate women for their bravery or courage. Like Red Dead Redemption has some horrible depictions of prostitutes and other women that are always in need of help. The only woman in the game depicted well is Bonnie, who is depicted as capable of holding herself and respecting herself at the same time.

[Blayere]

Some games aren't as bad. Some games celebrate women for their bravery or courage. Like Red Dead Redemption has some horrible depictions of prostitutes and other women that are always in need of help. The only woman in the game depicted well is Bonnie, who is depicted as capable of holding herself and respecting herself at the same time.

And they chose to name her Bonnie....

What about Bonnie, huh? Don't be hating on Bonnie. She is the best. Everybody knows it!

[Blayere]

Reach: Hell yes. I don't like Halo 4 that much, and I wanna make Legend before I leave.

Black Ops: I alternate between it, BOII, and MW3 for my Call of Duty fix. Normally, though, it's Fallout or Skyrim. *loves RPGs*

Why dont you like Halo 4?

What about Bonnie, huh? Don't be hating on Bonnie. She is the best. Everybody knows it!

Sounds like pimp advertising

Just something that someone I used to know said.

[Blayere]

Just something that someone I used to know said.

Was he a pimp?

She* and no. Some inside joke I wasn't in or from some tv show. She was doing it in a southern accent and saying it really fast.

[Blayere]

You guys are going so off topic with all this CR2 and VICKY stuff, lol.

[Blekksprutia]

A certain NS advertisement comes to mind...

[Bravooon]

It depends on how will gamers look at the game.


Peace on World

[British Prussia]

Ellie is my hero.

[Brocwika]

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Of course there is sexism in video games. Its there, just don't go looking for it if you suspect it is. You won't be wrong.

[Burgundaya]

Well I think the situation was better when video games were first released than either comic books or movies at the time considering that the females in both those of those mediums were known for being just objects that needed to be saved,but in all mediums it's improved,considering most females have character now,not to say it doesn't exist anymore,but I think that the sexism issue has been improved a lot through the years.

[Camelza]

This game's demographics are ridiculous and annoying.

On the other hand everything from bethesda treats both sexes equally.

[Camelza]

This game's demographics are ridiculous and annoying.

On the other hand everything from bethesda treats both sexes equally.

Why is a G.Dawn video reccomended to me next to that one? God damn google, spying what videos I see

Close You tube, then re-open it ..the GD video will vanish from the reccomendations(mages guild comes in mind)