Saturday, July 4, 2015

Masculine Fragility and Gaming

“I want Fallout and Skyrim and Dragon Age and all the rest without the combat,” added user homieomorphism. “Why can’t I use magic to explore a beautiful world? Why can’t I use diplomacy to unite and pacify warring factions? I’m so sick of it, honestly. It’s to the point where I just [try to] minimize time spent in fights [so I can] enjoy the dialogue and art that much more.”

That particular conversation intrigued me, so I joined in. I added that I thought much of this discontent was founded in a fundamental inability to choose violence or non-violence. I want a choice in how to act in a video game. I want to be able to CHOOSE to be violent, but I also want to be able to choose NOT to be violent. I want both of those choices to be perfectly viable and nuanced. I want to be able to change my mind and my play style at any time. This is a part of true character customization, which should have as much to do with how you interact with NPCs as it should with customizing your avatar’s physical appearance. As one user wrote, “#we have barely scraped the surface of what video games are capable of.”

Fight Club: How Masculine Fragility Is Limiting Innovation in Games | Sheva @ FemHype

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