Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Post History
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS IN YOUR GAME
Posts
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
Corfaisus
View playlists
Closeauthor=EzekielRage
In my game Estopolus (which really needs a new review by the way since the one i have is so outdated it's not even funny anymore)
Crystalgate
694
author=bulmabriefs144
My approach to gaming is to ask myself, "Can I program it? Has it been done before? Moreover, has it been done this way before?" I playtest my own game. So I would want a game that would be exactly the same boring stuff as every title by Square? Sure, I like having fans of the game, but ultimately, if I'm not okay with the game, why work on it?
The first question I agree with, but the other two I'd swap to "does it improve the game?" Granted, I'm a functionality over originality type of guy.
This topic went places.
Please try to steer this discussion in a more interesting direction than menstruation jokes.
Please try to steer this discussion in a more interesting direction than menstruation jokes.
C'mon people, you guys are still going on about that?
The effects are basically heightened strength and agility (feeling cranky), and unable to concentrate enough to use skills (possibly from the massive bleeding). I decided against having status damage, since my turn based code screws with damage rate. Yea, these aren't the regular issues with menstruation. But it is accurate insofar as these would generally be true of menstruation in a magically based world. Of course, ideally, I'd want everyone to have their own cycle.
Moving on... What other controversial topics?
author=nhubi
I wouldn't say more controversial, just that the application and 'effects' as outlined are ill informed. Though at the very least they are easy to refute.
The effects are basically heightened strength and agility (feeling cranky), and unable to concentrate enough to use skills (possibly from the massive bleeding). I decided against having status damage, since my turn based code screws with damage rate. Yea, these aren't the regular issues with menstruation. But it is accurate insofar as these would generally be true of menstruation in a magically based world. Of course, ideally, I'd want everyone to have their own cycle.
Moving on... What other controversial topics?
author=bulmabriefs144
Moving on... What other controversial topics?
Well, looking back at your list of controversial topics in your game...
author=bulmabriefs144
6. Intersex characters (The town of Futanari)
You named the town... you named a town with intersex characters...you named it... Futanari. And then you said...
author=bulmabriefs144
Amazingly, all of this is done somewhat tastefully
These two statements don't belong in the same post.
author=unity
These two statements don't belong in the same post.
Lol.
Futanari simply means "dual form/two kinds" in japanese. It's porn that has given it a bad rap.
But... There is no futanari porn in this town, and the townsfolk talk about the reality of being intersex (such as schoolkids worrying about people from other towns making fun of them, and not understanding why). That an entire town is like this? Maybe a curse, or something in the water. Regardless, they have to cope with the fact that terms like husband and wife are no longer reflective.
I also named a town that worships a giant maple Momiji. Naming scheme might need work.
Oddly, I named a town Kushiyama. Without knowing there were such mountains until looking it up today.
I also have seriously messed up children's fables. "The Ever-Exploding Head" is a notable example.
"Once, when humanity was still young, a man wished he could watch humanity forever as a giant disembodied head. However, years of viewing violence, betrayal, and cruelty made his head explode. But because he wished to view forever, his head reformed. However, every so often it explodes again. Be careful what you wish for."
And a faux adult novel that involves some guy "slowly, seductively" kissing a girl starting at the feet, only to have a giant praying mantis pop out of her, and "slowly, seductively" eat the guy in the same way. I have a weird sense of humor...
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=bulmabriefs144
Futanari simply means "dual form/two kinds" in japanese. It's porn that has given it a bad rap.
You... are aware that people who are intersex actually have their own, chosen names for themselves, and don't use porn words to describe themselves, right?*
You're basically doing the equivalent of making a town of only ladytypes and calling it "Slutsville."
That is a stupid thing to do. Don't do this stupid thing.
*Japanese people use the English word "intersex," AFAICT.
Housekeeping
3571
Even if "futanari" has some kind of originally acceptable definition, you should take the colloquial understanding of the word into account. Anyone familiar with that word will associate it with porn. If the town is just called that by outsiders and the citizens are resentful for being seen as sex objects, I guess that'd be okay social commentary. Maybe a little hamfisted, but whatever. Otherwise, to add onto Sooz's analogy, it would be like calling a town whose economy centers around gathering sticks into bundles "Faggot." In other words, it comes off as a dumb joke instead of dealing with an actually controversial topic with any nuance or understanding.
Edit: Damn, you beat me to the punch. Oh well, point still stands.
Edit: Damn, you beat me to the punch. Oh well, point still stands.
emmych
817
Bulmabriefs, I think the best thing you can do for the world is to stop making things until you learn to do your homework and actually be respectful of people not exactly like you. Literally every time you say something about another idea you have in this thread, I want to slam my face into my desk repeatedly and shout "NO STOP DON'T DO THE THING"
You don't have a "weird sense of humour". You are ignorant and kind of a jerk. Do not confuse the two.
And that's all I have to say on the matter. *flies away into the sunset*
You don't have a "weird sense of humour". You are ignorant and kind of a jerk. Do not confuse the two.
And that's all I have to say on the matter. *flies away into the sunset*
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Well, Emmych's position on controversial topics is clearly "Don't even approach them unless you agree with me on them." That's not a healthy position though.
Emmych, some people will write about ideas that offend you. That's what makes it a "controversial topic." That doesn't mean they're not allowed to write their story. If you were arguing about how to best present the idea that would be one thing, but "Don't include ideas that I, Emmych, personally don't agree with" is an extremely stupid argument, sorry.
Emmych, some people will write about ideas that offend you. That's what makes it a "controversial topic." That doesn't mean they're not allowed to write their story. If you were arguing about how to best present the idea that would be one thing, but "Don't include ideas that I, Emmych, personally don't agree with" is an extremely stupid argument, sorry.
This is a really interesting topic that I've thought a lot about in the past couple of months.
One of my projects on hiatus, Gotta Clean Up The World, was originally written to be fairly non-PC (like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), but it's hard to write that kind of humour without coming across as a douchebag, so I stay clear of that sort of stuff now and settle for other ideas in my stories.
EDIT: Honestly, I'd take a prevailing point in this topic a little further and absolutely never write about anything controversial that doesn't relate to myself - so homosexuality etc. is off the cards because I'd probably just get it wrong, no matter how much research I made. No substitute for life experience, I reckon.
One of my projects on hiatus, Gotta Clean Up The World, was originally written to be fairly non-PC (like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), but it's hard to write that kind of humour without coming across as a douchebag, so I stay clear of that sort of stuff now and settle for other ideas in my stories.
EDIT: Honestly, I'd take a prevailing point in this topic a little further and absolutely never write about anything controversial that doesn't relate to myself - so homosexuality etc. is off the cards because I'd probably just get it wrong, no matter how much research I made. No substitute for life experience, I reckon.
Okay, I'm just going to ignore absolutely everything that has been said (too late: cannot unread what has been read) and add my ten cents on topic.
If you're putting controversial issues in any form of media for shock value or to just give people something to think about, UR DOING IT WRONG. It should have personal meaning to you, otherwise putting that controversial topic in your game is actually quite pointless. At this point, you've become Howard Stern, a tasteless critic of other people's ways of life that he knows nothing about because he thinks it's comedy.
If the issue doesn't have personal meaning to you, there is a very strong likelihood that you actually know next to nothing about and are just going to make a mockery of it anyway. Funnily enough, (well, no, not really funny) this has already happened in this thread.
For example, if I were to put a controversial issue in my game, or book, or whatnot, I might portray a character living in a society that is dominated by a single religion, that only barely tolerates other religions because the state law says it has to, but the law makers are of this religion, too, so it's really only just lip service, and then have this character follow a spiritual path that is considered heretical, and even evil (though it is nothing of the sort). How might I handle this? Well, I would look at my own life. I haven't even told my closest family for fear of what they may do. Only my wife ever knew, and she's dead. The only people I can confide in that I am a practicing magick user are a bunch of people on a website that I will likely never meet. And people actually delude themselves that we have freedom of religion in this country. Actually, that's bullshit.
Well, my ten cents are spent.
If you're putting controversial issues in any form of media for shock value or to just give people something to think about, UR DOING IT WRONG. It should have personal meaning to you, otherwise putting that controversial topic in your game is actually quite pointless. At this point, you've become Howard Stern, a tasteless critic of other people's ways of life that he knows nothing about because he thinks it's comedy.
If the issue doesn't have personal meaning to you, there is a very strong likelihood that you actually know next to nothing about and are just going to make a mockery of it anyway. Funnily enough, (well, no, not really funny) this has already happened in this thread.
For example, if I were to put a controversial issue in my game, or book, or whatnot, I might portray a character living in a society that is dominated by a single religion, that only barely tolerates other religions because the state law says it has to, but the law makers are of this religion, too, so it's really only just lip service, and then have this character follow a spiritual path that is considered heretical, and even evil (though it is nothing of the sort). How might I handle this? Well, I would look at my own life. I haven't even told my closest family for fear of what they may do. Only my wife ever knew, and she's dead. The only people I can confide in that I am a practicing magick user are a bunch of people on a website that I will likely never meet. And people actually delude themselves that we have freedom of religion in this country. Actually, that's bullshit.
Well, my ten cents are spent.
author=Yellow Magic
EDIT: Honestly, I'd take a prevailing point in this topic a little further and absolutely never write about anything controversial that doesn't relate to myself - so homosexuality etc. is off the cards because I'd probably just get it wrong, no matter how much research I made. No substitute for life experience, I reckon.
While this isn't a bad route, I plan to possibly make a controversial game in the future about something I'm not familiar with firsthand. Besides just research, I'm going to try to get a lot of opinions from people actually experienced with it, so I can bring some authenticity (or at least not completely discredit it ^^;;;). I think there are always options, and that games can tread new ground if done so in a knowledgeable manner.
Hoo boy.
Totally avoiding controversial stuff is not only pretty impossible, it's also a good way of making generic, boring art. It's the reason why male writers are afraid to write female characters, why companies are afraid to make games about anything more relatable than "these guys are evil, kill them". The thing is, if you make something with some heart behind it, there's a good chance someone might take it personally, and you might hurt someone.
What's important is that while you're creating whatever you're creating, you've gotta be aware of what your creation is gonna say, and make sure that that's what you actually want it to say. Think critically about your characters and story, how other people are going to interpret them, and if you're sending a message you didn't intend to send. I don't think it's necessarily good to avoid all controversy and to avoid all offensive topics. If your work states an opinion, you may very well hurt someone - make sure you're not hurting anyone you didn't intend to. You're going to make mistakes, so be open-minded, listen to others, and learn.
One way to do this is to talk about these things with others and get advice from them - and if you can, from a wide and diverse range of people. See what they have to say. No one person will be able to give you a flawless answer, but at least you'll have some honest reactions from people with different backgrounds and viewpoints.
When I made It'll Look Great On Your Résumé, I was absolutely, genuinely trying to mock a system that favors businesses and hurts individuals. I can totally see a right-leaning individual being offended by it, and that's pretty much what I wanted. I did my best to try and write a story that only hit the people I wanted to hit. But assuming that most of us are decent individuals who don't want to hurt gays, or women, or minorities (or anybody), you have to be pay attention while you create, or you might do so unintentionally.
Anyway, this isn't a terribly difficult thing to do. It just takes practice, some critical thinking, an awareness of others, and some research and advice from people who have seen different sides of life.
EDIT: For clarification, you're free to write whatever you want to write, and people are free to lambast you for it. Just try to avoid speaking out of ignorance.
Totally avoiding controversial stuff is not only pretty impossible, it's also a good way of making generic, boring art. It's the reason why male writers are afraid to write female characters, why companies are afraid to make games about anything more relatable than "these guys are evil, kill them". The thing is, if you make something with some heart behind it, there's a good chance someone might take it personally, and you might hurt someone.
What's important is that while you're creating whatever you're creating, you've gotta be aware of what your creation is gonna say, and make sure that that's what you actually want it to say. Think critically about your characters and story, how other people are going to interpret them, and if you're sending a message you didn't intend to send. I don't think it's necessarily good to avoid all controversy and to avoid all offensive topics. If your work states an opinion, you may very well hurt someone - make sure you're not hurting anyone you didn't intend to. You're going to make mistakes, so be open-minded, listen to others, and learn.
One way to do this is to talk about these things with others and get advice from them - and if you can, from a wide and diverse range of people. See what they have to say. No one person will be able to give you a flawless answer, but at least you'll have some honest reactions from people with different backgrounds and viewpoints.
When I made It'll Look Great On Your Résumé, I was absolutely, genuinely trying to mock a system that favors businesses and hurts individuals. I can totally see a right-leaning individual being offended by it, and that's pretty much what I wanted. I did my best to try and write a story that only hit the people I wanted to hit. But assuming that most of us are decent individuals who don't want to hurt gays, or women, or minorities (or anybody), you have to be pay attention while you create, or you might do so unintentionally.
Anyway, this isn't a terribly difficult thing to do. It just takes practice, some critical thinking, an awareness of others, and some research and advice from people who have seen different sides of life.
EDIT: For clarification, you're free to write whatever you want to write, and people are free to lambast you for it. Just try to avoid speaking out of ignorance.
author=LockeZ
If you were arguing about how to best present the idea that would be one thing, but "Don't include ideas that I, Emmych, personally don't agree with" is an extremely stupid argument, sorry.
It's not really about "don't write about thing I don't like." If you're going to write about a "controversial" topic such as homosexuality or rape or something like that, you have an obligation to do it right. For example, if you want to throw a gay character into your game or story so you can have someone talk with an exaggerated lisp and make gay jokes at the expense of, that's just going to come across as an offensive stereotype and probably wouldn't be very funny.
Another one, it really bugs me that rape has become the go-to traumatic backstory event of choice anytime someone wants to have a lady character have some dark dramatic past. It strikes me as really lazy and it can definitely be offensive to someone who has actually been raped if someone just throws rape into a story as a means of trying to inject some superficial level of drama.
If you're adding some traditionally marginalized demographic such as homosexuals or inter-sex individuals to your story to make jokes at their expense you're being pretty offensive and should probably reconsider doing this thing.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
author=LockeZ
Well, Emmych's position on controversial topics is clearly "Don't even approach them unless you agree with me on them." That's not a healthy position though.
Emmych, some people will write about ideas that offend you. That's what makes it a "controversial topic." That doesn't mean they're not allowed to write their story. If you were arguing about how to best present the idea that would be one thing, but "Don't include ideas that I, Emmych, personally don't agree with" is an extremely stupid argument, sorry.
The wild thing is that's exactly what Emmych's post was about, so your argument is null.
I don't mind adding mindboggling stuff, but the fact that in this case he claims it to be realistic when it clearly isn't and then switches to "but it's realistic, cause it's a magical world!" .. I can understand the reaction. But it's a lost cause imho, so no use getting mad about something like that. It's a topic so widely misunderstood, anything else would be shocking to me.
But more generally, I'd agree with slashphoenix here.
Although it would be ideal to have some personal reference and experience like pianotm says. That means you need less research (you should still do some!), and know the emotional impact it has.
Dealing with facts about issues is one thing, protraying and conveying the emotions involved is much, much harder. Yet it's the emotional impact that makes these topics so interesting. It's easy to fail at that, so beware.
If you want to add some "realistic" aspects to your game, make sure they are realistic. Games and "magical worlds" have own rules, sure, but we all know that so much video game logic is awfully brainhurting even knowing the world it takes place in.
If it's different from ours in any significant way, then this difference needs to be explained, since we will fill in the rest with what we know of ours or similar worlds. If you want conditions to affect magic, you first need to establish what evoking magic requires and then see what this condition does and why it does or does not affect characters casting spells.
Also .. am I the only one who goes without any major drawbacks during her periods? At least the vast majority of times.
But more generally, I'd agree with slashphoenix here.
Although it would be ideal to have some personal reference and experience like pianotm says. That means you need less research (you should still do some!), and know the emotional impact it has.
Dealing with facts about issues is one thing, protraying and conveying the emotions involved is much, much harder. Yet it's the emotional impact that makes these topics so interesting. It's easy to fail at that, so beware.
If you want to add some "realistic" aspects to your game, make sure they are realistic. Games and "magical worlds" have own rules, sure, but we all know that so much video game logic is awfully brainhurting even knowing the world it takes place in.
If it's different from ours in any significant way, then this difference needs to be explained, since we will fill in the rest with what we know of ours or similar worlds. If you want conditions to affect magic, you first need to establish what evoking magic requires and then see what this condition does and why it does or does not affect characters casting spells.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=Solitayre
It's not really about "don't write about thing I don't like." If you're going to write about a "controversial" topic such as homosexuality or rape or something like that, you have an obligation to do it right. For example, if you want to throw a gay character into your game or story so you can have someone talk with an exaggerated lisp and make gay jokes at the expense of, that's just going to come across as an offensive stereotype and probably wouldn't be very funny.
I don't disagree with this at all. But emmych hasn't played the game and has no reason to think one way or the other whether it's being done tastefully. She's opposed to it being included at all because it's "sexist." But there's nothing inherently wrong with making a game from a sexist viewpoint. Sexism is a controversial issue, and I would not mind seeing a game use its story to show one side of the issue or the other.
That's what a "controversial topic" really is. Not something that might offend someone because it's insensitive, like rape. Rape isn't controversial. No one thinks rape is okay. People might disagree a little bit about exactly how bad it is, but everyone thinks it's bad. Something that's controversial actually has two sides. Controversial topics are things that if someone includes in a game, there's a very high chance that they're going to say stuff you very strongly disagree with.
I am okay with you making games where you say things that I very strongly disagree with. Emmych isn't. That is the difference here.
