"Medieval fantasy games legitimize white supremacy" - Polidicks

[quote]If you like playing medieval-themed video games, you might not be just some harmless nerd — you might be a nerd who is also kind of a white supremacist. At least that’s the opinion of Victoria Cooper, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Leeds in England, who presented a paper titled “Playing Politics: Exploring Nationalism and Conservatism in Fantasy Video Games” at the International Medieval Congress earlier this month. “The Middle Ages is a space where white supremacy is legitimized,” Cooper said, according to an article on Medievalists.net. “The maintenance of white privilege. The gamer community use ‘historical facts’ to legitimize this kind of literacy.” According to the article, Cooper also added that “medievally-themed video games are a space where whiteness can be anchored, in a ‘happy history’ where a world is free of multiculturalism and white guilt." [/quote] Source: [url]http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421495/medieval-video-games-white-supremacy[/url] Care about accuracy in your Crusader Kings? Go back to the 1800s where you belong you racist bigot, and while you're at it, check your privilege. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Opinion piece. Stop breaking rules." - Swebonny))[/highlight]

Yes. Clearly. That's clearly the intended message of medieval videogames. Way to go, Dr. Cooper. You saw what all of us had missed. You know, despite the fact that most of the major medieval fantasy games right now have black, middle-eastern, or Asian characters who are usually treated the same as the white characters, because videogame developers don't like dealing with race issues. (and rightly so.)

[QUOTE] whiteness can be anchored, in a ‘happy history’ where a world is free of multiculturalism and white guilt[/QUOTE] So, do we consider Elves, Orcs, and Dwarfs white, now? [editline]24th July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Velocet;48280588]Care about accuracy in your Crusader Kings? Go back to the 1800s where you belong you racist bigot, and while you're at it, check your privilege.[/QUOTE] CK2 is not a fantasy game, tho?

[QUOTE=woolio1;48280596]Yes. Clearly. That's clearly the intended message. Way to go, Dr. Cooper. You saw what all of us had missed. You know, despite the fact that most of the major medieval fantasy games right now have black, middle-eastern, or Asian characters who are usually treated the same as the white characters, because videogame developers don't like dealing with race issues. (and rightly so.) I do like what the journalist has to say about this report, though. He's a funny guy.[/QUOTE] This may be hard for you to grasp, but someone can do something that is interpreted as meaning something that they didn't intend, so what they did intend is irrelevant.

[QUOTE]More P.C. Culture[/QUOTE] I am starting to that that this is not a legit source.

[QUOTE=gufu;48280637] CK2 is not a fantasy game, tho?[/QUOTE] Poorly worded title, the paper refers to the Medieval setting as a whole rather than just fantasy games, where gamers "justify" the exclusion and/or discrimination of other races in the name of "historical fact".

[QUOTE=gufu;48280651]I am starting to that that this is not a legit source.[/QUOTE] Yeah, National Review is a complete joke, [url=http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/15/when-reality-becomes-fantasy-how-video-games-are-hijacking-the-middle-ages/]here's the original article that they're completely misunderstanding.[/url]

[QUOTE=Velocet;48280660]Poorly worded title, the paper refers to the Medieval setting as a whole rather than just fantasy games, where gamers "justify" the exclusion and/or discrimination of other races in the name of "historical fact".[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/15/when-reality-becomes-fantasy-how-video-games-are-hijacking-the-middle-ages/[/url] That's not even a proper paper, it's a fucking blog post at best? Conservative source trying to be sensationalist, exciting.

who would guess that western games would focus on the west and western history

:snip:

[QUOTE=asteroidrules;48280647]This may be hard for you to grasp, but someone can do something that is interpreted as meaning something that they didn't intend, so what they did intend is irrelevant.[/QUOTE] My case in point is your post. My pattern of speech indicates that I'm patronizing the person who conducted the research. You must have missed that. But apparently this whole thing's junk anyway, so I'm not sure it matters.

[QUOTE=gufu;48280651]I am starting to that that this is not a legit source.[/QUOTE] Go read the medievalists' article then. Personally, I'd rather quote National Review because as they say, "pick your poison". [quote]Unfortunately for gamers, the tide is turning and the inspection of their identities is happening whether they like it or not, and will continue to gain momentum. Games like Skyrim, and The Elder Scrolls are only the tip of the iceberg. What Gamergate tried to shut down, instead, opened a Pandora’s Box that can never be closed. Academics, like Cooper, will continue to challenge, examine and illustrate the ways these groups misappropriate medieval history.[/quote]

[QUOTE=asteroidrules;48280647]This may be hard for you to grasp, but someone can do something that is interpreted as meaning something that they didn't intend, so what they did intend is irrelevant.[/QUOTE] No doubt that they do exist, but they aren't large enough to be an issue as the author implies.

[url]http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2015/06/04/should-the-witcher-3-feature-people-of-color/[/url] Here's a good read on the subject I found interesting

[QUOTE=gufu;48280685][url]http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/15/when-reality-becomes-fantasy-how-video-games-are-hijacking-the-middle-ages/[/url] That's not even a proper paper, it's a fucking blog post at best? Conservative source trying to be sensationalist, exciting.[/QUOTE] It's a paper she wrote and presented. She just hasn't uploaded it to the internet. [url]http://www.academia.edu/13695051/Playing_Politics_Exploring_Nationalism_and_Conservatism_in_Fantasy_Video_Games[/url]

[QUOTE=Velocet;48280698]Go read the medievalists' article then. Personally, I'd rather quote National Review because as they say, "pick your poison".[/QUOTE] But Skyrim has redguards... And lizardmen...

Well, everyone knows that Age of Empires II is white supremacy propaganda... right? Right? [editline]23rd July 2015[/editline] They're on to us, folks!

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;48280718]Well, everyone knows that Age of Empires II is white supremacy propaganda... right? Right?[/QUOTE] I always thought it was Blue propaganda. Wololo.

[QUOTE=gufu;48280685][url]http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/15/when-reality-becomes-fantasy-how-video-games-are-hijacking-the-middle-ages/[/url] That's not even a proper paper, it's a fucking blog post at best? Conservative source trying to be sensationalist, exciting.[/QUOTE] The blog post links to a list of pdfs. This is likely the specific one that she's referring to: [url]https://www.academia.edu/13695051/Playing_Politics_Exploring_Nationalism_and_Conservatism_in_Fantasy_Video_Games[/url]

[QUOTE=woolio1;48280715]But Skyrim has redguards... And lizardmen...[/QUOTE] [quote]Cooper’s thesis focused on this game and the way players transpose their heritage and national identity onto the fictitious races of its gaming world. Skyrim is home to the Nords (Stormcloaks), a pseudo-Viking race. Tall, fair-haired, and pale, they are a sea-faring warrior society that values honour, family and glory. 34% of the players interviewed picked Nords, the vast majority of which were from Europe and the United States because they felt an affinity with Nord values and ancestral identity. Players associate themselves with the Nords/Stormcloaks because the Imperial soldiers remind them of Roman Britain, and they feel connected to Northern people, their plight, and this sense of “Englishness”. The Stormcloaks legitimise their cultural heritage. In players who identify as Scottish and Northern English, the Nords/Stormcloaks stimulate a sense of a northern, white nostalgia, that is ancestrally connected to a medieval place. Cooper suggests that, ‘medievally-themed video games are a space where whiteness can be anchored, in a “happy history” where a world is free of multiculturalism and white guilt’. The Crusades also attracts people to these types of games. Players create their own religions so as not to cause offense or appear bigoted. They cloak Christianity with an invented religion, yet one that mirrors reality.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Velocet;48280698]Go read the medievalists' article then. Personally, I'd rather quote National Review because as they say, "pick your poison".[/QUOTE] TBH, both sources as biased as fuck, considering that NR is just a conservative jerk off piece and Medievalist takes a single-sided view of GG, throwing it in for the fun of it.

[QUOTE=Velocet;48280729]:scream:[/QUOTE] I want to see some statistics. Give me sample sizes, interview criteria, the survey questions, anything. Without that, and a peer-review, this may as well be blog filler. Anyone can write a scholarly article. It takes work and effort to get it reviewed and published in a reputable journal.

I can't believe this piece of shit, because it's not a work. Only she based her research on ONE game? That's the kinda of stupid stuff like those who say that Tolkien was being racist by making all the good guys "White" and the rest "Black" (Orcs, uruk hai). I can't stand this people. How....how can you come to think something like this? Plus, "gamergate tried to shut down"? Lord, forgive them....

I guess when I'm playing as the Ottomans in EU4, conquer Europe and convert it all to Islam and it's implied that I carried out multiple genocides of the Europeans with culture conversions I'm a horrible white supremacist.

[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;48280766]I guess when I'm playing as the Ottomans in EU4, conquer Europe and convert it all to Islam and it's implied that I carried out multiple genocides of the Europeans with culture conversions I'm a horrible white supremacist.[/QUOTE] Nah, you're totally cool. There's nothing wrong with doing that.... It's only when that puny little inbred European nation owns all the other countries in the world. How dare you be such a bitch to other cultures and races? EU V: The SJW world. New features: -Europe can't wage wars on others. -Non European countries have "Western" tech group. Now that I think about it, wasn't there a mod for EU IV just like that?

National Review is the same source that called Bernie Sanders a 'national socialist', lol

[QUOTE=Conscript;48280799]National Review is the same source that called Bernie Sanders a 'national socialist', lol[/QUOTE] As we say in Argentina "Listo, cerrame todo". The last one out, please turn off the lights, will you?

Reading this study (which reads more like an opinion piece), Cooper focuses solely on Skyrim. The Nords of Skyrim are designed to be unlikable racist assholes. That's the point. The game gives you a choice between joining a fantasy version of Imperial Rome or a fantasy version of Scandinavia - and both are pretty racist and unfriendly and horrible. Cooper outlines almost immediately that only 34% of players side with the Nords. A pretty large minority considering there's only two choices. She immediately says that players pick the Nords "because the Imperial soldiers remind them of Roman Britain." No sources - that's why everyone ever picked the Nords. Everyone being a minority. Then she dives into GamerGate. This isn't a study, it's a PhD topic for someone studying social studies. A pretty awful one, at that. She says that gamers "fiercely state" that women [I]cannot[/I] and [I]never did[/I] fight in the Middle Ages as warriors. But you can play a female warrior in Skyrim and there are numerous female warriors scattered all over Skyrim? The idea that a [I]fantasy game[/I] that very clearly portrays the Nords as racists and xenophobes is "masquerading historical facts" is laughable.

TBF I wish we had a nice Arabic fantasy history game That shit was interesting

[B]PRO-ELF IS CODE WORD FOR ANTI DWARF[/B]