Blizzard verwijdert sexy pose uit Overwatch
Blizzard heeft een heel uiteenlopende cast in Overwatch gestoken, maar er was een pose voor Tracer, die niet in goede aarde viel bij bepaalde mensen. Een dame heeft haar mening dan ook neergepend voor Blizzard waarin ze stelt dat ze onder de indruk is van vele personages die Blizzard heeft gemaakt, maar één specifieke pose niet "snapt" bij Tracer, waarbij die een sexy pose aanneemt die niet lijkt te stroken met de rest van haar persoonlijkheid of personage in-game. Op zich lijkt ze zich dus geen zorgen te maken over sexy poses bij andere personages, zolang die maar passen binnen het geheel van dat personage.
Blizzard reageerde bij monde van de creative director, die stelt dat hij wil dat iedereen zich sterk en heroïsch voelt in de game en dat de pose zal worden aangepast. Echter, dit leverde een dusdanige stroom aan reacties op, van mensen die vonden dat men dan ineens een heleboel andere personages zou kunnen aanpassen omdat ze "beledigend zijn voor Australiërs", omdat ze "niet representatief zijn voor Aziaten" en ga zo maar door om een punt te maken dat Blizzard misschien wat te fel heeft gereageerd in dit geval.
Het gaat over deze pose
Daarop heeft Mike zich iets uitgebreider verklaard en hieronder kan je de volledige discussie volgen, waarbij ook een andere vrouw zich mengt en vindt dat Blizzard over de schreef is gegaan qua "politieke correctheid".
So I wanted to start off by saying, I think the development team has done a pretty great job with the cast of female hero's in Overwatch. They are diverse, interesting, and compelling. From Mei to Zarya to Widowmaker the female cast reflects a large spectrum of personalities and player fantasies.
With that being said, lets talk about Tracer. From a marketing standpoint, she's the star of the show. She's a great hero. When we look at the way she's portrayed in promotional media, lore, and art in game we know a few things about her..
She's Fast.
She's Silly.
She's Kind.
She's a good Friend.
Her body seems to be comprised of about 95% spunk.
Almost all of her art reflects this. She's got cool skins: http://static.mnium.org/images/contenu/actus/Overwatch/Heros/overwatch_skin-tracer_11_hd.jpg
She's got fun poses:
http://cdn.blizzardwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Tracer_waving_header.jpg
She's got amazing victory animations:
https://youtu.be/MFbXd3KIvhQ?t=224
All of this art reinforces the great character you've built around tracer.
Then out of seemingly no where we have this pose:
http://overwatch.blizzplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tracer-victory-pose-2-over-the-shoulder.png
WHAT? What about this pose has anything to do with the character you're building in tracer? It's not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fast elite killer. It just reduces tracer to another bland female sex symbol.
We aren't looking at a widowmaker pose here, this isn't a character who is in part defined by flaunting her sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we've got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game.
Getting art into a triple A game isn't a small task, it has to go through an implementer, a team lead, an art director, and a creative director. This is a team effort. And I believe the team is responsible for upholding the great example overwatch can set to the rest of the industry for creating strong female characters.
I have a young daughter that everyday when I wake up wants to watch the recall trailer again. She knows who tracer is, and as she grows up, she can grow up alongside these characters.
What I'm asking is that as you continue to add to the overwatch cast and investment elements, you double down on your commitment to create strong female characters. You've been doing a good job so far, but shipping with a tracer pose like this undermines so much of the good you've already done.
(uitgebreide) Reactie van Blizzard
As the game director, I have final creative say over what does or does not go into the game. With this particular decision, it was an easy one to make—not just for me, but for the art team as well. We actually already have an alternate pose that we love and we feel speaks more to the character of Tracer. We weren’t entirely happy with the original pose, it was always one that we wrestled with creatively. That the pose had been called into question from an appropriateness standpoint by players in our community did help influence our decision—getting that kind of feedback is part of the reason we’re holding a closed beta test—but it wasn’t the only factor. We made the decision to go with a different pose in part because we shared some of the same concerns, but also because we wanted to create something better.
We wouldn’t do anything to sacrifice our creative vision for Overwatch, and we’re not going to remove something solely because someone may take issue with it. Our goal isn’t to water down or homogenize the world, or the diverse cast of heroes we’ve built within it. We have poured so much of our heart and souls into this game that it would be a travesty for us to do so.
We understand that not everyone will agree with our decision, and that’s okay. That’s what these kinds of public tests are for. This wasn’t pandering or caving, though. This was the right call from our perspective, and we think the game will be just as fun the next time you play it.
Reactie van andere dame over de hele controverse
My name is Ginny Higerd. I'm 30 years old, and a mother of an 8 year old. I've been playing Blizzard Entertainment games since The Lost Vikings on SNES. I've been a gamer since 1993. I've been a WoW player since 2005.
I'm not attractive. I'm not skinny. I got my jelly rolls that I have to deal with. I've been teased about my appearance since elementary school. As I got older, I tried very hard not to let it get to me.
Today, however, I'm upset. I'm disappointed.
Today, I feel like my voice no longer matters to Blizzard. Today, I feel like I was told that I have to give up confident and sexy poses to cater to a small minority, very annoying voice in the gaming industry.
I'm quite frankly sick of it.
I love being a sexy night elf character. I love being Tracer. I love being Nova. I LOVE these strong women that can be confident in their abilities and their appearance, because in the real world, I'm none of those things. These games were an escape for me. I channel myself into these characters, because I would give anything to be just like them.
Blizzard, why am I not allowed to be strong and sexy? Why am I not allowed to love these characters as they already are? Why are you alienating not just me, but many other women that love these female characters as they are for a single voice?
I want Tracer to stay how she is. I want her to be strong, confident, and sexy. Please, PLEASE, stop trying to make this game too PC. Stop trying to make women like me out to be sensitive babies that can't handle beautiful women. Stop trying to cater to "families" when this game isn't meant to be played by younger children.
Stop snuffing out my voice!
Edit: Since I have to prove myself constantly: https://twitter.com/mahoumelonball/status/714561794363097088
Do I post on KiA? Yes, because I am a firm believer that video games are an art, and need to stop pandering to the PC crowd that do not actually play any of these games. My opinions are my opinions, and they should not be invalidated simply because of subreddits I browse.
I'm a grown adult that can make my own decisions, and simply because I disagree with the PC police does not mean I'm trolling.
Edit 2: Other characters in the game use the exact same pose. Why aren't people calling for them to be removed because they're "sexist"/boring/whatever excuse? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ceq0ec7WsAMUK-x.jpg
Edit 3: I'm calling you out, Jeff. If that's your excuse for removing it, then every character that does the same pose must also be removed. Fair is fair, right?
Via Twitter maakte deze dame haar eigen mening nog eens extra duidelijk door een heleboel zaken te retweeten en te liken waarin de overdreven reactie nog eens wordt benadrukt, waaronder deze tweet:
nothing sums up the situation better than shoe's point pic.twitter.com/KXFnqO9kR0
— UberGoose (@UberGooseUS) 29 maart 2016