Around May 2017 they started using their current iconic line up, the front and center lead of which has such a ridiculous costume it appears their advertising team feels the need to hide it:
Ironically, despite this apparently being less of Creepy Marketing Guy and more part of the studio culture, a lot of the content could be pretty good and they could probably get a lot more female players if they didn’t strive to save the booplate.
Alas, it seems to commitment knows no bounds:
Can’t imagine why they have so few female players…
Around May 2017 they started using their current iconic line up, the front and center lead of which has such a ridiculous costume it appears their advertising team feels the need to hide it:
Ironically, despite this apparently being less of Creepy Marketing Guy and more part of the studio culture, a lot of the content could be pretty good and they could probably get a lot more female players if they didn’t strive to save the booplate.
Alas, it seems to commitment knows no bounds:
Can’t imagine why they have so few female players…
So the Divinity: Original Sin artist is even worse than I thought. Know how the original design was a typical, pathetic, pandering and obnoxious bikini armour? It got changed later (for an obnoxious boobplate, but at least it covered a bit more skin), but apparently, only reluctantly so.
That poor, poor artist, having to censor himself like that. Of course he misses the point of the criticism of these armours completely (“it’s not about realism! also look at Conan!” are among his “arguments”), but that’s to be expected, I suppose.
Apparently that design we bingo-ed and discussed before was done by one of those guys who think that any criticism of their creation is not theirs, but the critic’s problem and feels honestly so attacked right now.
Thierry Van Gyseghem’s “argumentation” is worthy of a Rhetoric Bingo, though keep in mind that most of the linked rant is incomprehensible attempt at bullshitting academic MRA paper through bizarrely broken English (the insistence that “sexistic” is a word is my fav!).
It focuses mostly on how current game journalism supposedly is serving the nefarious pro-women “lobby” (which seems like a thinly-veiled way of referring to Anita Sarkeesian), and how it leads to self-imposed censorship of the game creators (a sure proof he’s one of the people who don’t know what “censorship” is).
So yeah, with such engaging “points” we would need a whole new custom bingo for this guy, therefore please don’t take my attempt at playing with what we’ve got too literally:
TL, DR: There goes any benefit of the doubt we could have had for this artist when it comes to deciding how “creative” the final designs get.
Big thanks to Liliana for submitting!
~Ozzie
Curiously he claims he loves feedback… I guess he means feedback that doesn’t challenge any of his assumptions, privileges, etc.
What I really love about his strange notion though is – can you imagine if it was extended into any other field?
“I am a chef, and the restaurant owner told me we’re not going to serve pale veal any more due to animal cruelty concerns – I implore you all not to self censor your dinner tables!”
“I am a banker and we have been told not to use pressure tactics to get customers to sign up for credit cards – Do not allow yourself to be censored when manipulating others!”
“I am a janitor and we have been told not to use this chemical that upsets some people’s skin – Do not allow others to tell you what you what cleaning chemicals you should use at home!”
My personal favorite snippets:
“Also blackmails in the form of ”change your game art or we won’t publish a single word about you.” is a common behavior found among those.“ – Given that the games industry and games journalism market is ridiculously competitive, I think this would be the smallest challenge publicity wise. After all, it’s a game that uses the core mechanics of what was the “new hotness” fifteen years ago. Not exactly ground breaking or that special given that the Indy games marketplace is flooded with nostalgia.
“If by all means the opposition feels change is needed, let it NOT be by oppressing others art but by just offering an alternative for those who wish an alternative.“ – Apparently he believes there are game making elves (similar to cobbling elves, but different) out there who will just create quality games with equal armor without anyone in the industry having to do the work… strange stance for a man who should be aware there are no game making elves. Games require teams of professionals, budgets, investors, distributors, etc
“This journal entry is all about judgmental journalism, offended-by-design opinionators and the fearsome white knights that the first two bring in its wake.” – I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who’s offended by the concept of design… it strikes me as a terrible life. I’m also pretty sure since most games journalism is reviews – that being judgmental is kind of a prerequisite for the job.
All of this vitriol because his boss asked him to… do his job.
