• Indie Dev Removing Racially Charged Gag From Game After Complaints
    201 replies, posted
I dunno why someone would rate me dumb for buying TSP. It looks neat and I had my eye on it anyway, but this just pushed me to do it.
Just remove the black kid. The slide still plays as normal, but the guy is offering a cigarette to air.(Which then combusts)
If a white character is doing something at a black character's expense, it's racist.
Since the joke is not meant to be racist and is about doing something illogical and immoral like setting fire to an orphan/third world child... I don't think it really matters if the joke will be changed to reflect that more obviously to those who only saw a white man setting fire to a black child.
I'm with Vedicardi and TSP's author on this one. Neither the game nor the scene needed the racism in any way, any kind of dark humor involving a "sensible" and insensible choice would work. If you can choose (ha!) between two equally good jokes and one of which has the downside of people not finding it funny because they interpret it as racism, why would go you take the latter? Sticking it to the man? Showing all those sensitive people that they're not the boss of you? Playing the rebellious teenager that demands being able to be a dick as freely as the law permits, because he can? Geez. I don't see how replacing this with a different joke that serves the same purpose takes away/censors anything from TSP. It doesn't take away from any of its messages, points or core elements, it was just one of its small, individually insignificant gags. Besides, it gives him the opportunity for yet another meta joke commenting on this very situation. Never enough meta in TSP. [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22370734/2013-10-24_161759.jpg[/img] There, no need to cling to a gag that doesn't do its job as properly as a substitute could.
People seem to be neglecting an important detail. [quote]"I'm not exactly married to the visual gag there," Wreden said, "it doesn't make or break anything about that particular section, and we always wanted the game to be something that could be played by anyone of any age. [B]If a person would feel less comfortable showing the game to their children then I've got no problem helping fix that![/B]"[/quote] Campbell and Wreden have already talked about this. Wreden agreed that the visual gags were sending a mixed message, and he'll most likely be altering the [I]visuals[/I] (NOT the spoken joke) in order to make the joke's meaning more clear. [B]The creator of The Stanley Parable is totally okay with altering the visual gag if it means that it will improve the joke, for all ages.[/B] It's also worth noting, if you read his Twitter feed: Campbell [I]never[/I] thought that the gag was intended to be racist, and he openly expressed this [URL="https://twitter.com/oliverbcampbell/status/393330334059622400"]on Twitter[/URL] and in [URL="http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/23/5022434/the-stanley-parable-update-in-the-works-to-remove-offensive-images#192769863"]the comments of Polygon's article[/URL]. But it was the message that he experienced, he raised his concerns about it, and they have been heard. You people need to stop being angry for a second, and read the facts from the source.
[QUOTE=megafat;42630265]The joke is about a kid being lit on fire, not a black person being lit on fire. The kid just so happened to be black. So yeah, this has nothing to with racism. Something that is G-Rated doesn't mean that it's for kids. 2001: A Space Odyssey has content that happens to be appropriate for all ages, that doesn't mean it's for kids. We're not complaining about the guy changing the game, he is free to if someone like this makes a complaint. It's just that a lot of us think the complaint doesn't have any substance.[/QUOTE] i dont see the comparison between comments saying "lol he should troll these people complaining and not remove it!" and "we dont think this complaint has substance". that's what "a lot of" "you" seem to "think" all you need to know is the dev DOES think these complaints have grounds so he is choosing to remove the content from HIS game. your opinions are irrelevant, and most of the ones ive seen in this thread are incredibly juvenile [editline]24th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=3noneTwo;42630581]People seem to be neglecting an important detail. Campbell and Wreden have already talked about this. Wreden agreed that the visual gags were sending a mixed message, and he'll most likely be altering the [I]visuals[/I] (NOT the spoken joke) in order to make the joke's meaning more clear. [B]The creator of The Stanley Parable is totally okay with altering the visual gag if it means that it will improve the joke, for all ages.[/B] It's also worth noting, if you read his Twitter feed: Campbell [I]never[/I] thought that the gag was intended to be racist, and he openly expressed this [URL="https://twitter.com/oliverbcampbell/status/393330334059622400"]on Twitter[/URL] and in [URL="http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/23/5022434/the-stanley-parable-update-in-the-works-to-remove-offensive-images#192769863"]the comments of Polygon's article[/URL]. But it was the message that he experienced, he raised his concerns about it, and they have been heard. You people need to stop being angry for a second, and read the facts from the source.[/QUOTE] thank you [editline]24th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=bdd458;42630446]I dunno why someone would rate me dumb for buying TSP. It looks neat and I had my eye on it anyway, but this just pushed me to do it.[/QUOTE] because you said "GG social justice" which makes NOOOOOOO sense considering the dev AGREES with the person claiming that the gag in the game is/can at the very least be perceived as racist
[QUOTE=Wii60;42626010]yay [B]censorship[/B] in the name of [B]political correctness[/B][/QUOTE] can you get any more uneducated about society? Censorship is a form of government oppression and "PC" is a term created decades and decades ago to belittle/de-legitimize the various Suffrage movements from the 60's and other mid 20th century decades. Like realize society literally believes it's ok to use a term that was created by racists, that's not twisting the truth or even being biased or exaggerating that's literally it's history that you can even find references to Wikipedia FFS. This is like if we started using the wide variety of terms /Pol/ have coined or re-introduced to the modern lexicon. I've seen some people on FP use them and people don't realized that they did and stupidly rate agree just like they stupidly rated you agree.
The Stanley parable really is not a game for kids. [sp] In one of the endings you have to kill yourself by jumping off a staircase repeadedly to finish, the insanity part is also unsettling, besides that i doubt kids understand the game itself[/sp]
[QUOTE=bdd458;42630243]Because of this I just purchased TSP. GG Social Justice.[/QUOTE] Good job! Everyone thinks you are very powerful.
what happened here is that someone said "hey, i don't think you're trying to be racist, but this could easily be taken the wrong way" and the dev replied "oh okay, i'll change that" and then everyone else latched onto it for their own weird personal reasons
[QUOTE=TheHydra;42630822]what happened here is that someone said "hey, i don't think you're trying to be racist, but this could easily be taken the wrong way" and the dev replied "oh okay, i'll change that" and then everyone else latched onto it for their own weird personal reasons[/QUOTE] Campbell worded that very differently if you read his first tweets on the subject.
[QUOTE=TheHydra;42630822]what happened here is that someone said "hey, i don't think you're trying to be racist, but this could easily be taken the wrong way" and the dev replied "oh okay, i'll change that" and then everyone else latched onto it for their own weird personal reasons[/QUOTE] I wonder if we will one day live to see where people can see the difference between "you're racist" and "this little thing on this thing you made can be possibly problematic if left unchanged, just a heads up" cause it seems the internet thinks they are 100% identical. I mean I don't think the devs are racist at all, they just didn't think that specific thing all the way through probably because they were pouring their soul and effort into development which has a shit ton of multitasking and workload that your average person can't imagine and that's why PR departments for big dev studios or publishers even exist in the first place.
[QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;42630818]Good job! Everyone thinks you are very powerful.[/QUOTE] I am in control, just like Stanley!
[QUOTE=Shadaez;42627018]voluntarily removing offensive content isn't censorship in the slightest[/QUOTE] This is getting rated disagree/dumb? Holy shit, this is NOT censorship. Devs willingly and purposely got rid of it ON THEIR OWN. There's no Orwellian group forcibly removing the content. If anything, you guys should be whining at the devs for doing something they're not obligated to do. [editline]24th October 2013[/editline] I'd really not want to play a game made by any of you guys here, because you'd go "fuck you idiot" if anybody tried to criticize a part of your game they didn't think was in good taste. We don't need more acidic, self-centered, and arrogant devs like that.
the people freaking out about this are hilarious lmfao looking for any excuse to get mad at people. how DARE you be offended????
[QUOTE=BrickInHead;42631219]the people freaking out about this are hilarious lmfao looking for any excuse to get mad at people. how DARE you be offended????[/QUOTE] damn u social justice tumblr users!!! if I was the lead dev I'd do *blatant sociopathic action* lmao how dare you criticize muh videogames that are art but are also somehow not responsible for their actions at the same time
[QUOTE=Niklas;42630783]The Stanley parable really is not a game for kids. [sp] In one of the endings you have to kill yourself by jumping off a staircase repeadedly to finish, the insanity part is also unsettling, besides that i doubt kids understand the game itself[/sp][/QUOTE] The staircase ending made me sad, I wanted the Narrator to be happy :(
I really don't see how you could suggest that it is a game that can be played by or shown to kids, they in no way will understand any of the meta narrative in the first place besides it being really dark at points.
[sp]Yeah, the "crusher" ending can be pretty shocking if you don't choose to quit.[/sp]
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;42629942]it's not an edgy or even adult game, it's meant to be enjoyed by literally anyone including kids[/QUOTE]Technically, no. The [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WD8LBKIQ7A&feature=player_detailpage#t=177]game itself at one point[/url] flat out tells the player that a working knowledge of narrative tropes in video gaming is a prerequisite for properly experiencing The Stanley Parable. (This is also a scenario where the narrator assumes that the real-life player has died a swift and horrible death in the middle of playing his game and calls out for other humans to remove the corpse, which is another level of not-very-great-for-kids humor, but that's another story entirely)
Was this guy's village set on fire by a middleclass white man? Holy shit what a poon. [QUOTE]"I think it's a little odd that no one has noticed that at NO POINT have I said, "You aren't allowed to think the joke was funny."[/QUOTE] I don't get it it's not even a joke... I'm not sitting here "AHAHAHAHA BLACK KID SET ON FIRE, MAH LIGHT UP THE CROSS OMG xDDDD" [QUOTE=Niklas;42626050]"Steven has a choice. He could spend years helping improve the quality of life for citizens of impoverished third-world nations..." How are you going to portray a kid of a third world country instead? A well dressed white kid being set on fire? [editline]24th October 2013[/editline] This guy [img]http://i.imgur.com/QQ0I9agh.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;42630659]i dont see the comparison between comments saying "lol he should troll these people complaining and not remove it!" and "we dont think this complaint has substance". that's what "a lot of" "you" seem to "think" all you need to know is the dev DOES think these complaints have grounds so he is choosing to remove the content from HIS game. your opinions are irrelevant, and most of the ones ive seen in this thread are incredibly juvenile[/QUOTE] I didn't say he shouldn't remove it. He has every right to remove it if he thinks the complaints are valid. The complaints are about it being racist, which is wasn't. It was very clear, with the dialogue spoken and the pictures used that it was about an orphan, not about a black person, so the complaints about it being racist had no basis and were very weak. I can see how the person who complained might interpretative it as racist, but they didn't think it through.
[QUOTE=milkandcooki;42631260]damn u social justice tumblr users!!! if I was the lead dev I'd do *blatant sociopathic action* lmao how dare you criticize muh videogames that are art but are also somehow not responsible for their actions at the same time[/QUOTE] Statements like that make it seem like you think of the gamer community as some sort of unified hive-mind. This may not be your intention (in fact it could be the complete opposite) but it seems to imply this. People who think games as an art form and people who think games are just for fun and not be taken seriously aren't necessarily the same group of people (as you mentioned with gamers thinking games are an art form when they're seen in a positive light and then that games are just for fun when they're seen in a critical light). Don't let a very vocal minority of people on random gaming forums speak for the gaming community as a whole.
That reminds me. [video=youtube;m_e-U6kH1ks]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_e-U6kH1ks[/video]
Its his game, let him do what he wants.
[IMG]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BabyEating.jpg[/IMG] Is this any better?
[QUOTE=Reshy;42634084][IMG]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BabyEating.jpg[/IMG] Is this any better?[/QUOTE] Child abuse, creep. 10 years in isocube.
I'm a bit surprised at this, look at Mafia 2, they pretty much called every Asian gangster a slant eyed chink. I don't remember 2K getting any shit from that.
[QUOTE=Swilly;42634040]Its his game, let him do what he wants.[/QUOTE] Most people aren't really complaining about him deciding to change it. They're complaining about the fact that many people (All races, sexes and anything that makes you "different" included) purposely look for things to get offended by. If you ask the average person they'll probably say they're being oppressed in some way. Not only that but the fact that someone can say "I'm offended" and get "controversy" stirring. Almost every modern joke involves the misfortune of someone(s). And just because that someone is black doesn't mean they're purposely being racist. The way I interpreted the joke was that the game was silently poking mockery at the video for saying that burning orphans from impoverished nations is a valid choice, the punchline is that the video is incredible wrong. If he wants to change the game more power to him. I just don't think there's anything wrong about the joke as is.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.