Am I overreacting? RE: being called a "maricon" by an NPC in a game

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Watch Dogs 2 came out recently and as I was playing it, I was called a "maricon" by a character on the street. That's essentially the same as calling someone a "faggot". I posted about it twice in the OT for the game and received 0 responses.

Doesn't this strike anyone else as odd?

I think it's weird that they would have that in there as an insult. There are plenty of other spanish insults they could have used.
 
Would you guys feel the same thing if the game was calling the player a hard ER N word?


I honestly don't think it is acceptable to use homophobic slurs any more. It's 2016, in case you guys haven't noticed.
The "trying to convey realism" excuse doesn't work either, for reasons that have been discussed to death in this forum.

It doesn't even have to be homophobic, it's also a way of saying "pussy" or "little bitch" not necessarily "faggot"

Dude save your feelings for something more meaningful this happened in a video game to your character by an NPC.
 
These words are in our TV shows, Films and Videogames and have been for a long time. It's part of character and world building. Unfortunately these things happen and exist in the real world and anything attempting to convincingly portray the real world will include these things.
 
I think you are overreacting OP.

Yeah being called slurs by another human being is fucked up.

But this is a video game, and it's just an NPC, not another real person. How many NPC's did you kill before this even happened? Why is that ok but being insulted by them not?
 
I think it's weird that they would have that in there as an insult. There are plenty of other spanish insults they could have used.

What if the other ones offended people enough to cause outrage?
 
Would you guys feel the same thing if the game was calling the player a hard ER N word?


I honestly don't think it is acceptable to use homophobic slurs any more. It's 2016, in case you guys haven't noticed.
The "trying to convey realism" excuse doesn't work either, for reasons that have been discussed to death in this forum.

Doesn't Mafia 3 do exactly this?
 
no I think you're right. if you're going to use a slur it should be for a good reason. having it be a random NPC bark isn't a very thoughtful way to use one.
Yeah it just doesn't seem very fun for a game. It'd make more sense if there was a purpose to it logically or was a plot point, but it's probably just bringing the worst of real life to games, since teenage boys love that shit for some reason.
 
Maricon is extraordinarily common in Latino communities in New York, especially Colombians. Anecdotal but a lot of Colombians I know seemingly use it every-other-word.
 
You also kill people, that's not acceptable either.

It would maybe be an equivalence if you were killing people based on sexual orientation. Which is not the case.

It doesn't even have to be homophobic, it's also a way of saying "pussy" or "little bitch" not necessarily "faggot"

Dude save your feelings for something more meaningful this happened in a video game to your character by an NPC.

Save your feelings for something more meaningful than disagreeing with someone about an issue that doesn't affect you on a video game forum.
 
Would you guys feel the same thing if the game was calling the player a hard ER N word?
If it were a white supremacist gang member I was fighting , yeah. They'd be saying that in real life and it'll be extra satisfying killing him (virtually).
 
You are most definitely overreacting. I live in Costa Rica but was born in Venezuela, and maricon can have multiple connotations depending on the context in which its used.

Also, it's a videogame and some NPC is calling you names in Spanish. Does this really warrant a thread?
 
Would you guys feel the same thing if the game was calling the player a hard ER N word?


I honestly don't think it is acceptable to use homophobic slurs any more. It's 2016, in case you guys haven't noticed.

I haven't played Mafia 3, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I would be surprised if the player character wasn't called that in that game.

Watch Dogs 2 is really quite a progressive game, in that it actively strives to represent minority demographics in a positive light. As such, you can be absolutely certain that they're not attempting to normalize the term, or standing at the side of the guy throwing it around.

Also, insults like that still exist. Not using them full stop in our media isn't going to make them go away, and ignoring that they exist by saying stuff like "it's 2016!" isn't going to help it go away either. The best we can do is give a negative connotation to the use of the word, which in this case is exactly what is happening, seeing as I'd probably have bola'ed the NPC on sight.
 
These words are in our TV shows, Films and Videogames and have been for a long time. It's part of character and world building. Unfortunately these things happen and exist in the real world and anything attempting to convincingly portray the real world will include these things.

Yep.
 
Would you guys feel the same thing if the game was calling the player a hard ER N word?


I honestly don't think it is acceptable to use homophobic slurs any more. It's 2016, in case you guys haven't noticed.
The "trying to convey realism" excuse doesn't work either, for reasons that have been discussed to death in this forum.

Edit: in case I'm not clear enough, you don't need a slur that diminishes a group of people based sorely on their sexual orientation to offend the player. That are hundreds of other slurs that do not convey a homophobic message.

Oh man, now I'm imagining Mafia 3 with all the racism being taken out.

No thanks.
 
Pro tip: NPCs are assholes in open-world games so you'll have a moral justification and so that you won't feel bad when you beat them up
 
Watch Dogs 2 came out recently and as I was playing it, I was called a "maricon" by a character on the street. That's essentially the same as calling someone a "faggot". I posted about it twice in the OT for the game and received 0 responses.

Doesn't this strike anyone else as odd?

It is the same
 
Good writing should be believable. Good dialogue should sound natural. So examine whether or not this character would speak this way if the situation were realistic.
 
I posted about it twice in the OT for the game and received 0 responses.
Please note before people start their bullshit: I'm not freaking out about this or losing any sleep,
18 hours ago
I was just called a "maricón" by an NPC. What fun.

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If an NPC is supposed to be homophobic or racist in a video game they should say words that help grow that character in that way.
 
its not nearly as offensive in spanish as it is in english...maricon is used widely in spanish cultures among friends and even family. hell, in venezuela they have the term MARICA, which they use casually.
 
It's a videogame. Do you also get all worked up and offended when they use insults or slurs in films or television shows? It's fiction, it's not intended to actually insult you.

And by the way, maricón can mean faggot but it is also slang for coward, like when calling someone "a pussy".
 
Whenever you run over a pedestrian, does your character park its car to say 'sorry for being a whole new level of asshole'? Cause that would be the proper thing to do I'd say.
 
To get you pissy, apparently. There are several other threads for you to read, dear.

Not sure what kind of response this is.. I'm not "pissy" and I'm not your dear.

You make a thread stating that an NPC in a videogame called you a "maricon". You posted it in the OT twice but apparantly nobody responded so you made this thread. You state that it doesn't bother or offend you, but then you ask "am I overreacting?". Overreacting to what?
 
If an NPC is supposed to be homophobic or racist in a video game they should say words that help grow that character in that way.

This brings me back to my earlier question, how often do NPCs call player characters a faggot in these games?

For what it's worth, many people also call others faggot to mean that they are cowardly and is extremely common among many groups of people.
Hahahaha yes. Maricón is used a lot in conversations between friends here in Chile. Maricón can also mean "asshole/douchebag".

People also use the word faggot for that.
 
its not nearly as offensive in spanish as it is in english...maricon is used widely in spanish cultures among friends and even family. hell, in venezuela they have the term MARICA, which they use casually.

Homophobia is clearly just more acceptable in certain hispanic cultures. Like everyone calling the goal keeper "puto" during football matches.
 
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