lightlunas submitted:
League of Legend’s newest champion, Taliyah, the Stoneweaver, is another step forward towards more diversity and non-sexualized female champions for them. As usual, this was accompanied by a big outcry of some players about Riot Games not making sexy lady champions anymore, as seen in a lot of comments on her reveal video. Interestingly, Taliyah’s lead designer addressed this on twitter.
I hope they continue to fill the huge gaps in diversity first and if they make a sexy champion eventually again, treat it as the exception that it should be.
Good news: League of Legends, released another female champion, after Illaoi, who is neither objectified nor looks like a repainted clone of all the other characters. People who love Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender or Terra from the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon will likely enjoy her a lot!
Bad news: Apparently inclusion of a unique female character caused enough vile reactions among the dudebro crowd to make one of her creators respond to it directly on his twitter account.
We’re very glad that Riot developed self-awareness and is openly addressing their design problems and willingness to fix them.
And while nastiness and paranoia among entitled gamers is quite worrying…
Maybe it’s a sign of some real cultural shift happening right before our eyes: The guards of sexist status quo throwing hissy fits whenever there is the smallest evidence they’re not being pandered to as they were before.
~Ozzie
h/t: @i-got-nose-for-2 & @mosenwraith