Disclaimer: This is going to be another one of those TLDR analysis posts. I could have gone for a quick oneliner, but lets approach this more scientifically, shall we?
The Cyberpunk gameplay reveal did raise some hell, even with the majority being positive. Remember,
this fabricated outrage accounts for 0.1% of 0.1% of 0.1% (roughly) when it comes to sales. This is regarding trans people, assuming that, although i am sure a few will, most folks likely won't know what the issue is about, won't know what (in this case) Cyberpunk is about, and i am sure a group of people also does not really care what friend/cousin/random Adam has to say about this game (For the aforementioned reasons). Yesterday i calculated in % the amount of dislikes on the reveal. I said, among an elaboration on
why the game never can make everyone happy:
''Meanwhile, as of this moment the video on YT sits at 84k likes and 979 dislikes meaning that, like my little infograph earlier on the Did you assume my gender? tweet, only (Pulls up the calculator) 1.16% disaproves, meaning its literally collateral damage for CDPR, assuming these numbers will rise and scale accordingly.''
So that gives you an idea how
influential this is. At best, out of 85k people, you talk about 1 percent. (Disclaimer: This is YT likes and
not about trans people) When it comes to trans people, of which (at best) 1.2% make up of the US population, you talk about even less percentages. This, in real numbers, is still thousands of people, but on the bigger scale, it literally is nothing but
collateral damage to CDPR.
Lets keep this in mind.
Now lets let look at a few of them.
Here is one:
''Stuff I didn't like:
- V's underwear just looked too sexed up and uncomfortable/impractical. (I'm guessing underwear may be customisable but still, they picked this for the demo.)
- Jackie using "pussy" to mean "coward", one of the guards using "cocksucker" as a slur
- The game's UI referring to grown-ass women as girls
- Art style seemed a bit bland, honestly''
(Emphasis mine). Here we have a user being upset at the usage of certain language, to the point where this user felt it needed to list it as a definitive
negative. How often do people use the phrasing
''God you are such a pussy''? This is a rather common usage of the word ''pussy'' to mean coward, so you would think this user would have more issues with it than usual, right? Or should Jackie have said
wimp instead? If anything, this and ''cocksucker'' language shows that Cyberpunk 2077 is a harsh and violent game. This makes sense:
Night City isn't supposed to be a happy place, the game revolves around
oppression. Ofcourse governments and the people will use different language. Ofcourse this user gets
offended at that, because this user does not live in a country where you are
that oppressed and in
that way.
Then the
''Game's UI referring to grown-ass women as girls'' part
. This is a direct reference to a moment in the game where a woman is referred to as
a female. This ofcourse is
triggering, because i am sure this person will start a discussion whenever someone refers to a woman as a female. Like i said before:
''Its a bit like that being offended at naming people females - Why do you think regular Joe's don't make this such an issue despite it (potentially) being an incorrect usage of the term? Its because in the end its a tale of two semantics, and in regular daily life, (most) people don't get worked up over semantics this much. That's why most people react to that thread with awe, because imagine making this kind of a fuss in real life in a crowd. That's why its redelegated to a place where The Names and their Little Helpers can give this kind of thing a podium.''
EDIT: Semantics in this case should be named ''Principles''. This was brought up by a user. I hope everyone else will read the novelle for what it is. 
Its a
made up problem. When you geniunely put the usage of the word
a female as a woman descriptor in a video game as something bothersome enough to list it as a negative, my question then would be:
Are you actually enjoying the video for its gameplay, or are you actually just watching the video in order to find something to complain over on the internet because you will be damn sure (most) folks IRL won't get triggered this hard by a word?
But enough of that. Talking about getting
worked up over semantics this much and then playing a part in it yourself.
Not a good look. Womp womp.
Lets make a mention about a
Little Helper. Ofcourse this helper is
already heated and baiting people around (Things that would get you a warning anywhere else, obviously!) But when called out on her usage of ''ass'',
we need to pay some fucking respect. Because all this helper is doing is just to try to have people recognize a problem, remember? This
Little Helper just wants to relax and not be bothered with the issues faced IRL (Because, really, i would imagine you would be actively fixing your own issues rather than
projecting them on a hugbox forum...
but thats just me i guess) At this stage of reading please refer to the percentages above.
This is the problem she wants people recognized, an extreme minority that will have exactly zero effect on the sales of Cyberpunk. Because this problem only exists on the web, not IRL, as has been elaborated earlier.
Some people are getting tired of that narrative. Some people advise this user
to just not buy the game instead.
Others are more woke:
''People are putting you on ignore because your points are argumentative and devoid of any willfulness to look at the language discussion from a different perspective (ie location and culture). I don't think its because you're a woman, so im not sure why you chose to mention that.''
But here is where things go wrong for the
Little Helper. This user not only
demands empathy from others, but mockingly understands that ''
empathy is hard''. Because its about this user's
experience and how the user
feels. Said user proves the
empathy is hard reasoning by itself when it is stated:
''The fact is, I don't give a fuck about any of the logic you're using to try to justify its inclusion. I do not care. I do not care one iota about any justifications anyone can level at me for why these words should be allowed to be used. I just want to not have to hear them all the bloody time.'' - Irony is this user's middle name. Its almost like there is
more to it. Ask yourself this (And if anyone from ERA is reading here, please ask yourself this aswell):
Does this whole case suggest this user is responding in a rational and healthy manner? Or is it more that this user is looking for scapegoats to issues that, frankly, this user should have been dealing and fixing full time with outside the forum? Now, i am obviously not ruling out the possibility that this user
indeed is working on its issues off-site. My point is: Clearly there is a lot of time spent arguing a case (Much like how i am spending my time amirite. The difference is,
i write this in parts, not continously.) that, in terms of sales or volume of outrage, is
equally pointless to argue. All this time arguing could rather be spent on actual
self-reflection and trans-acceptance.
For the TLDR up to this point:
Commit to fixing your issues IRL full-time instead of trying to fabricate a narrative that will have no effect on overall sales or quality of work. Stop blaming external outlets for what essentially amounts to a lack of commitment on your end to deal with your personal issues IRL.
Because let nobody be fooled by what this user's
actual agenda point is:
''You're right, it's not how people communicate with others in the real world because in the real world most people keep to themselves to avoid trouble. Especially women, because being attacked as a woman is both a real concern and a situation that is highly disadvantageous for the woman. In other words, I (and others) speak out on the Internet to put words to things we can't voice in person out of literal fear of injury or death. So, y'know... perspective.''
That's the
real issue here: Fear of injury or death.
Insecurity. Which has nothing to do with the game using the words ''
a female'' as an in-game text to describe a woman,
nor is this never really elaborated upon these
Little Helpers. The reason being is that its not
fear everyone of these folks have issues with: There
issues are far more broad.
What these Little Helpers and members of The Names do is equate their personal issues to one overencompassing and global narrative: ''I am offended, so should everybody else be or they are insensitive fucks.'' Also, if you spend most of your time on the internet fabricating outrage, then you aren't coming outside, thus the whole
fear of injury/death is rather less apparent than how its exaggerated here. Unless this user thinks you can literally get injured or die when you read a tweet or an
in-game text of a video game. I wouldn't put it past them, though.
The bigger issue obviously is that these users have troubles re-adjusting their new self (Being trans and all) to a new world, and it does not help that the US citizens
in general aren't aware of trans people. And you know the saying: What one does not know, one approaches negatively.
On this i agree with the user.
All in all, lets conclude this with this observatory post, which i personally find interesting from an analytical POV, albeit rather coarse on language (No pun intended):
''The angrier a game makes shitholes like ResetERA, the better it does these days. There's no better example of how wrong they are.
Fuckers outright lost their shit over Girls Frontline, and it's been wildly successful in the West. They absolutely lost their minds over Deliverance, and it did phenomenally. They tried to shut down Hat in Time, because Jontron, and the devs told them to climb a wall of dicks.
Any fucking game that tells these clowns to fuck themselves can count on a groundswell of support for sticking to their guns.''
Also noteworthy: What happens when you are the
Elite Little Helper, The Callout King/Queen, you are a known entity who gives no fucks on calling people out regardless of what their opinion is,
and you get called out yourself? Because after all, its rather
odd how someone from outside the US is so invested in their policies.. Right,
''You are making it very personal. All i can do is present arguments, and speak honestly.'' aka not being able to eat one yourself and rather throw up a surprisingly poor rebuttal and
then just ignore the person who
dared to call you out altogether. (Example text:
''You didn't answer any of my questions. What have YOU done? Edit- so Im going to assume nothing. You've done nothing to progress the system you so throughly enjoy being critical of. Keyboard activism is so lazy. Speaking honestly.'') Atleast someone is aware. (Surprisingly, this was not
actioned.)
This is really the equivalent to kindergarden bullies. They always pummel other people around and get them in trouble, but
oh noes when they get pummeled for once, and then by someone who is analogus to the silent
wimp in the class. The classic David/Goliath story. Except Goliath constantly meddles with the David's of that place and is completely annihilated when on one day, one of those David's smacks the shit out of them. Pretty terrifying that this kindergarden mentality is still heavily present with
the Elite.
Good thing there is always another Little Helper to defend your ire. I mean, the only
infraction one has is a mere warning, so obviously what the most known poster on ERA does is obviously
always correct right? After all, this user is
''doing more than [This user] should have to do to stick up for people whose voices don't get heard often.'' It is difficult to see
selective blindness being so readily apparent in action.
PS: Sassy detail: notice how this aforementioned
Elite Little Helper isn't in the Cyberpunk thread, but the
Elite Accomplice from the Cyberpunk thread is? You would think its an alt....
PPS: Imagine being the
Elite Little Helper, and
wanting to post so fast that you mistype nuance as nuisance, making your post even more insane than it already is by default.
