Study: Gamers avoided playing an Overwatch character after his backstory mentioned that he’s gay

[DC]

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/video-game-players-avoid-gay-characters/

An interesting article about a study that found that players were significantly less likely to choose to play Soldier 76 after his backstory mentioned him being gay. From the post:

“A large minority, however, felt uncomfortable and that other players discriminated against them when they played as Soldier: 76 after the announcement. They got tired of homophobic slurs and constant harassment and temporarily switched to other characters to avoid it.”

[Demon_skeith]

Aren't there some females on the character list that are lesbians? Honestly who should really care at this point what a character's preference is.

[Empire]

eople who are normally represented by default usually have a hard time understanding why representation is a big deal or necessary because they get it by default. Not saying you specifically, I have no idea what your race or gender you are. But in general, people who see themselves in pop culture and media all the time don't stop to think how weird it would be if they were never represented in pop culture and media.

Scratch that, they actually stop to think about how weird it is as soon as some other gender or race gets represented. Then it becomes. Why is this even necessary? Why is this being shoved down my throat? Why? Why? Why? I don't know, why are there so many white/straight people in everything?

[Shagger]

On 10/13/2022 at 5:58 AM, Demon_skeith said:

Aren't there some females on the character list that are lesbians? Honestly who should really care at this point what a character's preference is.

 

Yes. If I remember correctly Tracer was revealed to have a girlfriend in a Christmas edition of the Overwatch comic book a few years ago and people lost their shit over that too.

 

It was stupid then and it's stupid now. I'e spoken about representation and inclusion a lot on this forum, but still don't understand why some people take such issue with it. It's not like the the straight, white, cisgender population are underrepresented or even misrepresented in entertainment media. True, LGBTQ+ representation is rarely strictly needed in a video game, but the fact is it shouldn't matter to these people, but it does matter to those groups because it makes them feel like they count, like they're respected and valued as much as anybody deserves. 

 

Fiction, or at least good and relevant fiction, reflects reality, so anyone who takes issue with LGBTQ+ representation in videos are not angry that it's being represented in thier fiction, they're angry that it's being represented in thier reality. Representation and inclusivity isn't "stifling creativity" as they inevitably claim either because they don't get to decide what counts as somebody else's creative liberty. That's a shield they hide behind because they don't like to admit thier own prejudices, even to themselves.

 

It's just a load of stupid, easily offended, immature little boys usually and shamefully shaped as grown men being truly pathetic.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Shagger

[The Blackangel]

It's the conservative right wing. They want to destroy us so that we no longer affect their tiny little bubble of protection by simply existing. They've been destroying the country for the last several years, mainly starting in the 2016 election. I've also never seen a group of losers commit terrorist attacks simply because they didn't get their way like a bunch of toddlers. They want the entire LGBTQ+ community outlawed and made illegal. The few rights we had are rapidly being taken away. So the inclusion in video games is going to spark protests demanding it be removed from shelves. It may even have already happened.

[Justin11]

Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I am in support of any targeted remark against any race, class or group of people who aren't doing anything to break the law.

[Shagger]

55 minutes ago, Justin11 said:

Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I am in support of any targeted remark against any race, class or group of people who aren't doing anything to break the law.

 

I'm going to assume that's a typo and that you meant to to say that you are not in support of any targeted remark against any race, class or group of people who aren't doing anything to break the law. Can you please try and be more careful?

[Justin11]

56 minutes ago, Shagger said:

 

I'm going to assume that's a typo and that you meant to to say that you are not in support of any targeted remark against any race, class or group of people who aren't doing anything to break the law. Can you please try and be more careful?

My mobile device has been lagging a lot lately , I think it's time I get a new one, sorry about the mistake.

[Moonface]

Their loss. Anyone who's that bigoted and closed minded in 2022 is an idiot and shouldn't be catered to or have their views on this sort of stuff even entertained. Even better if any of these players spent money on the game before dropping it so they actually lost something more than just their time spent in the game.

[killamch89]

Shouldn't really matter in choosing a character but Overwatch's characters aren't even all that to be fair.