Diversity

the condition of having or being composed of differing elements:variety;especially : the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization (Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary/diversity)

As I’m sitting here, trying to figure out how to start writing this blog, I’m staring at a poster I got at Emerald City ComicCon this past March. On it are the party characters from Bioware’s latest release, Dragon Age: Inquisition. Nine different faces smile at me from across the room – three female, two POC (though one is incredibly white-washed in this particular art) and four non-human. Three are queer, three more are straight, and the remaining three are not available for a romantic relationship with the player character, but coded as being straight.

Bioware is often praised for its “diversity efforts”, and this cast of characters shows those efforts taking effect. In addition to these characters, many prominent characters are people of color (PoC), women of color (WoC), identify as female, queer, trans, etc. It’s a pretty good start considering, but nowhere near where we need to be for accurate representation.

Look at upcoming releases, take a headcount, how many games feature a white male lead? The Witcher? White dude. Batman Arkham Knight? White dude. Mad Max? White dude. Call of Duty? Lots of white dudes shooting each other. Sure these games could include women and PoC and queer characters, but maybe once in a blue moon will one of those characters be the protagonist.

“As a gamer, I am not used to people of color as the protagonist of my games. I’m not even used to seeing my own gender playing the lead role. Ever since I could hold a controller, I’ve always seen the same recycled characters over and over again. It was the tall, dark-haired, bearded man with a strong build. Representation is important, especially within the AAA gaming industry. The fact that I was honestly shocked to see a black man as the protagonist of TWD goes to show that.”

The Walking Dead is one of the well done exceptions to the rule. Emm, a blogger at Femhype.com, describes main character Lee Everett as “a refreshing change from the “hardened military man with nothing left to lose” archetype that the gaming industry seems to cater to”, and anyone who has played through TWD knows this to be true.

Then Gamergate shows up. A female developer’s ex-partner accused her of sleeping with a journalist for positive reviews on her recently released game, despite the fact that the journalist never published a review on the game. “Gamers” began frothing at the mouth and rabidly attacking the female developer, the journalist, and anyone who stepped in to defend them. Labeled as a movement fighting for “ethics in game journalism”, GG has resulted in many female and PoC gamers, developers, etc. being bombarded with death and rape threats and the overall degradation of the status in games in society.

See, while the accusation made by the developer’s ex was entirely false and proven to be so, the misogynists had their platform and were happily using it to keep video games as segregated as the south wanted their bathrooms to be in the Jim Crow days. And this colossal temper-tantrum has resulted in “the real world” looking at gamers with disgust. According to a social psychologist specializing in video games (who posted anonymously in fear of the inevitable harassment from GG supporters) “It will take years and years to repair the damage, and it is absolutely devastating to the serious study and application of the power of games to real problems”. They also state that they have trouble getting grants, getting foundations to fund games, and “getting people to take us seriously” because when speaking to “industry groups or fellow academics, GamerGate always comes up as an example of how terrible and immature people who play games are”. tumblr_inline_nkxolwCSuU1r09uvv

A video game archivist, Rebecca HG, also spoke out against GG, stating that because of the movement, “video game archiving as a professional practice is all but dead”. Because of Gamergate, there is zero money available to research and preserve video games.

Where do we go from here? How do we, the current generation, repair the damage done by the ignorant and biased? Looking back at my poster I see nine examples of solid, fairly diverse individuals, and feel like we are making progress, but at a pace that may not save video games as an industry in the long run. What we need is a radical overhaul. Create people, not tropes, as characters. Use media to reflect on the world around us and reflect on the real problems. Ignore the rabid fans who are ruining gaming as an entertainment industry, and focus on the fans who can and will recognize solid, respectful representation when it is in front of them.

And stop harassing women. How on earth is this at all beneficial to anyone, ever?