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"Strong" female characters: This is not the representation we're looking for

Astral Dog

Member
I'm saying write and create things that matter to you and it'll come through as genuine - don't just stick something in there because it's hot topic right now. That goes not just for female characters, but pretty much anything: shoe-horning in a crafting system because everyone loves crafting now.
This is a problem when most developers are forced/guided to be safe for market reasons anyways. Not all developers will want to make white guy adventure game #37 or Bald Space Marine game #4876 or generic Anime RPG #7345 but they will do it because thats what keeps the bread on the table,or at least thats what the higher ups and marketing department tells them to do
 
I agree with points the OP but I also have to acknowledge that video games have a writing problem in general.

It's a medium rife with characters who exist almost solely as pubecent boy wish fulfillment.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
I mean, Chloe and Elena are amazing and they're from Uncharted, a very shoot-bang game. It's possible to have action and good characters.

I don't get what is so "amazing" about Chloe and Elena. While I am at it, I also don't get why people praised Tess from The Last of Us.

Ellie was cool though.
 
Female characters aren't "the hot thing" and comparing representation of half the population of the planet to a crafting system is laughable tbh.

On the flip side, we only need a "historic accuracy" mention to complete the first column!

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Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
I don't get what is so "amazing" about Chloe and Elena. While I am at it, I also don't get why people praised Tess from The Last of Us.

Ellie was cool though.
Seriously tho Chloe's entire characterization dropped off the map when she wasn't written as Drake's dark skinned bad girl alternative to Elena, a blond white woman. She was literally just there in UC3 since she had no other purpose. That's pretty egregious. Hope they really give her some interesting characterization besides snark in Lost Legacy. Tess just was well acted but she really had very little screentime and her praise shows how far behind this medium is since her archetype is incredibly common in film.
 

Aizo

Banned
I believe the script was written without indicating the gender of Ripley and most other characters. They were cast indiscriminate of gender - which is how we got Ripley. In screenwriting, sometimes people write their scripts "like Alien" and write characters without considering their gender or what they look like. This helps them stay away from common literary traps and helps them write equally strong characters regardless of their normative gender qualities.
That's pretty interesting. Thanks for the response!
 

Jacqli

Member
I agree with points the OP but I also have to acknowledge that video games have a writing problem in general.

It's a medium rife with characters who exist almost solely as pubecent boy wish fulfillment.

That is what I was gonna say.

I think female characters are the ones who suffer the most from this fact, but games still did not find that balance between being strong, showing emotions and such.

IMO, Life is strange is exactly what I look for in a female protagonist. Max is not specially strong, she suffers, she cries, she keeps fighting… On top of that, she might show interest in a guy (referring to this http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...lishers-said-you-cant-have-a-female-character) or a girl without feeling it forced (or none interest at all).
 
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