Larian Studios Forums General Chat RPG Chat an all-new rpg adventure

Lucretia, that reminded me of Alex when she went game shopping. She asked the shop assistance whenther he knew anything about the game she was considering. He started talking very condecendingly about needing a powerful computer and did she know how much memory her's had. She stated very confidently that her computer met the minimum requirements. He continued to try and see if she had a powerful enough computer. Finally she said "Look, I have a <spouted long list of computer attributes>. This game will run on it. Do you know anything about the game itself? What is it like to play?" He couldn't help.

One should really make an attempt to find out what the customer knows rather than stereotype them first. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />

But NPC's in games are hardly ever NON-White's. Its a Racist industry.
Or as I have seen.
But yes, I don't have a problem cusdtomizing myself in games. As I am white caucasian to, with Saphire/Emerald eyes and Blondish/Browning hair. SO I usually seem to fit the avatar's picture no matter what.
But I see how it will hurt other people if this continues.
But wow, I just started 4 different points with the word BUT.

Actually, his retelling of Snow White can be found online, free of charge. Now, if only I could dig up the URL. Grar. The title, I think, has something to do with "apple."

hey boys & girls, let's not turn this into a male vs female, black vs white kind of thread. i mean, c'mon, the game is not even 50% complete yet and already there is heated debate on gender issues.

i'm going to freak out if somebody suggests that the witcher be a gay character. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

What heated debate? All some of us are doing is commenting civilly on prejudices in the game development industry. You make it sound like we're storming the Bastille with lighted torches while tosssing down hated Royalists on their own bayonet heads. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> That said, I don't propose to make believe male game developers are all without prejudice, or that game companies are fully aware just how much of their audience is non-Caucasian and/or female. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just said I didn't mind the thing sense I fit the avatar but I can see how others might object! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

i'm not saying heated debate as in "storming the bastille" kind of thing; more like a heated debate as in pulling each other's hairs out. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

i do agree that some game companies have a myopic view of the gaming market. business has been revolutionized because of the internet, and the world is truly one global village. people now are better informed, whereever they may live, because information travels fast nowadays.

i'm from asia myself (that's why i like playing monks in 3rd ed. d&d games.i do hope larian adds unarmed combat as a skill in dd2, in much the same way sacred implemented it), and pc games here are as popular as in anywhere in the planet. but maybe not just advertised as being so. just take a look at korea. it has the 3rd highest broadband connection in the world. for an asian country, that is quite a feat. mmorpg's are all the rage in korea, and koreans are also crazy over warcraft & starcraft series that matches are even televised. blizzard saw it fit to put a "korea" map in the frozen throne, proof of the huge success that they had and are having in that country. japan is also another large market (it is the 2nd largest economy in the world after all, behind only the U.S.), but i think gamers there are fixated on the final fantasy series. china is potentially the largest market in the world, with over a billion in population. i guess that's why blizzard made sure it had a chinese partner for its mmorpg, world of warcraft. and bioware will be releasing jade empire, which is set in ancient china, on the xbox (god i wish i had an xbox <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />). these companies know the immense potential that this market holds for their games.

I wouldn't put it as harshly as you did <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> , but yes, I see it generally speaking the same way.

I once posted in a Sacred Forum that the use and names of special weapons originating in South America and Africa (just as examples) were rather uncommon in games, because I see "western" weapons and equipment very much, and asian weapons and equipment as well, but rather few from other countries. The moderattor "freaked out", saying that I was implying they were racists. Because it's a German company, and we all here in Germany are very sensitive towards racism, his reaction was understandable, although quite harsh. I explained that I wanted a game to reflect the "global villagE" we live in, nothing more, nothing less. (I think I've posted the outlines of this discussion here somewhere as well.) Looking at Blizzards D2, I must say that they used a *lot* of names from weapons and equipment from all over the world - somtimes names I've never seen before ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

And, yes, maybe we will see even more asian terms in games, becauise of the huge potential of buyers / customers there, meanwhile there are still millions of people in Africa who cannot afford a computer !

I think we should show the world how diverse it really is - even if that requires additional recherche. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

I wouldn't put it as harshly as you did , but yes, I see it generally speaking the same way.
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Yes, I just ment generally, I seem to talk alot though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

@ crusader -> hello! awfully nice to see a fellow asian here in this forum. which country are u from?

hey it's just now that i noticed you're from malaysia. i don't really look at the location portion of the user. well, we're just very close. i think just a sea separates our countries. i'm from southeast asia as well. guess where? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

are you from kuala lumpur? a friend of mine went on vacation there last year and he was absolutely enthralled by the place. very, very modern yet very, very asian, according to him. i always am impressed by those ads shown on cable tv, mostly on cnn, promoting malaysia as truly "asian". i wish i could go on vacation to kuala lumpur, and bangkok (thailand) as well, though i heard that traffic is just flat out terrible there. but i'm bringing my niece to hong kong later this year so i have to budget for two. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

btw, are the petronas towers still the tallest structures in the world?

I've noticed that games developed for the European and American markets adhere almost strictly to the statement above due to the historic background that accompanies the fantasy genre. Generally based on the medievil times of Europe with swords, armour, kings etc there appears to be no 'room' for non-whites to be shown as part of the standard populace of the world.

It seems to be the mindset of the developers that when they use caucasians they always represent the 'main' human race of the world they wish to portray. When another culture is represented in a game, it's rarely another human culture, Asian or African. They opt for non-human race instead.

I've yet to see a game that turns this on it's head (if there's one let me know).

I have seen though quite a few games that offer non-caucasian avatars and characters to play. But you generally wont meet any human non-caucasian NPC's in the game.

Well D2's paladin was black. It was a token gesture though.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

I don't think he was black. He had darker skin but he had european facial features and hair.


- Morrowind had many Redguards.
- Diablo 2 had Semites.
- Deus Ex had dark-skinned people.
- Fallout 1 and 2 had dark-skinned people.
- Vampire - The Masquerade: Redemption had quite many black people.
- Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 had some dark-skinned people.
I can go on.

Yup, as I said a token gesture. What do you want anyway? A big flat nose and huge lips? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

What are Semites anyway?

People from the Middle East: Jews and Arabs.

Ah yes, as in anti-semitic. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

You refer to act 2 I guess. There's a wonderful guy in act 3 with the best Indian accent ever! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> all the way!!! somebody please stop me! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

guess where? err... belgium? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> across the sea, & definitely not from thailand as well, so .... u can't be from the north (thailand's north of malaysia & there's no sea), if northeast then philippines. if south, then indonesia. we're mostly surrounded by indonesia (our west would be sumatra, directly south would be kalimantan & of course the islands are further down), east would be sulawesi (i think but my grades in geography is shameful so ...). either u're indonesian or filipino (i hope that's not an insulting term; if it is, please forgive me).

further than that & i'm stretching it a bit too far, u may even be an aussie. an aussie who admits being more asian than 'lost' european. but i'm assuming a lot here. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

fyi, i don't think the petronas twin towers are the tallest anymore. china has the claim now, i think with that building in shanghai. not that such things matter much. i always think the twin towers are white elephants; waste of citizens's money just to claim a pointless ripley or guiness record. so what?

well, just ignore my rants. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

If you look for it, you'll find racism, sexism, and other negative connotations just about everywhere. If you look for it.

Interesting...I've played all those games and the appearance of a strong non-caucasian never hit me at all. They seem to play too minor a role to be noticable to me...though it's been quite a while since I played any of the games so the memory is fuzzy. Morrowind would be the most recent, and I know the name Redguards...but the culture difference and appearance eludes me for the moment.

I reckon I just took no notice. *pinches self* must...be...more...aware...

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> DATD - I just got George Martins book A Game of Thrones which I think you recommended. Only a couple of chapters in and I like it already. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />