Two Option Ideas For Issue 544

[Devernia]

[option]"Whatever Panty Theft Auto is doing is what we men want!" says nerdy teenager @RANDOMMALENAME@@, who hasn't taken a shower since a month ago. "If anything, we should apply this principle to every piece of media we make and import! Instead of making a censor board, you should make an uncensor board instead! Let every female have at least some... erm... size! Let every movie have at least a scene in the bed! Not only it would benefit us men, it would benefit the economy too!"
[effect]Most @@DEMONYM@@ video games are banned in other countries.

Other effect ideas:

Special content for @@DEMONYM@@ video games include expanded assets.
Tissue sales have skyrocketed.
Beating up feminists is an easter egg in the new dating simulator Wolf Whistle.
Men from other countries bypass region locks in games just to play the @@DEMONYM@@ version.
AO games and NC-17 movies are played and shown at daycares.
Children's video games are ironically rated M for Mature.

[option]"Hey now, we could always settle a middle ground for everyone," says video game developer @@RANDOMNAME@@, who has previously worked on games like Wrestling 2: Mega Rocks and Protein Super Shake. "Maybe we could allow buxom women, but they should add men with glistening abs! Make things fair and require most fanservice games to include a fanservice man! It's the genius idea, and the feminists would finally shut up! Well, maybe not the parents, but that's the price you get from equality.
[effect]Female teenagers scream while playing Wrestling 3: Glistening Abs.

Just an idea.

EDIT: Just got the issue, apparently one of my ideas made it.

“Whatever Panty Theft Auto is doing is what we real men want!” squeaks nerdy 13-year old Nikita Van de Berg, stroking his caterpillar-like moustache as he sneaks the chainmail-elf picture into his own pocket. “If anything, we should apply this principle to every piece of media we make and import! Instead of making a censor board, you should have an UNcensor board! Give every female huge pair... uh... personality! Add CGI cut-scenes where we can give these ladies what they need! Hell, make sure ALL media is as sexy as hell! Not only it would benefit us men, it would benefit the economy too!”

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Hmmm, not a bad idea, actually. Consider it bookmarked for future consideration.

[Devernia]

I also added more possible effect options.

[Trotterdam]

So, instead of censorship... censorship in the other direction?

Forcing authors to include more sex in their works than they want to is just as limiting on creative freedom as forcing them to include less sex than they want to.

And also harder to enforce, because drawing attractive females (or males) is harder to do than simply deleting offensive content.

What we really need is an option to encourage sexual exploitation of males.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Straw poll shout out:

If this option were added, how many of us out there have nations which would be likely to select it?

[Trotterdam]

Wait, did you add the poll or Devernia?

Anyway, no, I think that option 2 already does an adequate job of encouraging sexy games, and "counter-censorship" is stupid.

That doesn't mean the issue is perfectly balanced, but if it's to gain another option, this isn't it.

(Really, the issue is already exaggerating how exploitative games made by the private industry are, so having the government force them to become even more exploitative is overkill. I mean sure, there probably are real games like the one the issue describes, but it's not like they're the entire game market and other games never sell.)

Again, the option that I think it most reasonable to add while otherwise keeping the current setup of the issue is encouraging game developers to include sexualized male characters - "sure, you can have to have your fanservice, but it has to be equal-opportunity fanservice". (This could either by mandatory enforcement or by subsidizing compliant games - the latter would make it more distinct from the first option and would be more realistically plausible, though it'd fall into the "government spending isn't a real downside" problem.) But I don't know how many people would choose that either.

[Devernia]

Updated.

[Agadin]

Straw poll shout out:

If this option were added, how many of us out there have nations which would be likely to select it?

That's hard to predict, because (at least in my case) it'd depend entirely on the effects. I'd have to test it first with a disposable puppet.
Though four of my puppets don't have good options for that issue, so chances are that at least one of them might find those useful.

[Almonaster Nuevo]

I have one puppet where option 1 might apply, but it does help to set up option 2.

Option 2 has more general credibility with the equality aspect.

[Thermodolia]

Straw poll shout out:

If this option were added, how many of us out there have nations which would be likely to select it?

I'd definitely vote for option 2

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Wait, did you add the poll or Devernia?

Not me, I was just asking informally.

[Trotterdam]

-> 1 voter like the first suggestion.
-> 5 voters like the second suggestion. (That doesn't even include me, since I figured it'd be in poor taste to vote for my own suggestion.)
-> (2 voters liked neither, and there's a general reluctance to add new options to issues unless there's a good reason.)
-> Editors add the first suggestion to the issue.

...

#544 Object-Oriented Programming

The Issue

Triple-A videogame title "Panty Theft Auto" has caused a stir amongst feminists and concerned parents, with many demanding government action against objectification and sexualization of women in the game industry.

The Debate

1. "This is disgusting!" cries Alice N. Beck-Dell, a proudly feminist media commentator. "Look at these bimbos in all of these games! They'd need back braces to stand up if they were real! The male protagonist can rack up passive female conquests, and even gets a set of pornographic virtual trading cards for each one he collects. Can't we apply some modern day standards to this growing industry, to limit the objectification? Drooling teenage boys might admittedly be a significant market, but there are adult and women gamers too! Isn't some censorship worth it, for a less misogynistic society?"

2. "You can't be serious," complains Stan Houser, creative director of the game, covertly slipping you some special edition artwork of a chain-mail bikini elf-knight in a brown paper bag. "I like pretty girls. My customers like pretty girls. Pretty girls sell games. It isn't the job of the gaming industry to spread a social message and if these moral crusaders don't like it, they don't have to buy the game. Don't restrict the free market, or freedom of expression."

3. "Whatever Panty Theft Auto is doing is what we real men want!" squeaks nerdy 13-year old @@RANDOMMALENAME@@, stroking his caterpillar-like moustache as he sneaks the chainmail-elf picture into his own pocket. "If anything, we should apply this principle to every piece of media we make and import! Instead of making a censor board, you should have an UNcensor board! Give every female huge pair... uh... personality! Add CGI cut-scenes where we can give these ladies what they need! Hell, make sure ALL media is as sexy as hell! Not only it would benefit us men, it would benefit the economy too!"

4. "The problem here isn't some video games, it's ALL video games," observes disbarred attorney Tom Jackson, peering at you over a stack of lawsuit documents. "Video games keep kids - and adults for that matter - on the couch all day. They rot brains, cause moral decay and encourage violence. I'm not blaming kids here, I'm blaming the media we feed them: don't hate the players, hate the game! Ban this trash, and get kids back outdoors playing healthy and wholesome games like mumbletypeg or pinfinger!"

Issue by: Lubrumia
Editor: Candlewhisper Archive

[Australian rePublic]

Doesn't that issue already have enough options as it is?
Love the ideas though

[Devernia]

Bump.

[Trotterdam]

Bumping now that Candlewhisper Archive is back in full force.

I think this is the first time that an existing issue has ever had a new option added in direct response to player input, rather than editors looking for issues that had lopsided response statistics. A shame, then, that you ignored most actual player input.

See poll.

I think that option 2 already does an adequate job of encouraging sexy games

What we really need is an option to encourage sexual exploitation of males.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Who is this Trotterdam that you quote?

Seriously though, we discussed both options in the back room. The editorial decision was made based on a lot of factors, including the issue stats that we get to see, and the overall balance of the issue pool. For reasons I'm not willing to expound further, a decision was made to add Devernia's original suggestion but not your additional one.

Please continue to provide feedback and suggestions though: judgments will be made on a case by case basis, naturally.

[Eastern Tatarstan]

What happens if you choose the 3rd option?

[Sarwyn]

What happens if you choose the 3rd option?

I made an alternate account primarily for figuring this out, since Trotterdam (perhaps fairly) censored the details for it. Just hit it today and this was the result.

I will say, it would have been nice to see both options make it, and I do agree the wrong addition was chosen. That said, I don't know what the reason behind the decision was and I am sure it was valid.