Have you ever wondered why publishers don’t let their developers talk openly more often? Here's why.
It was nearly a month ago that I talked to you about the perils of political correctness in games. And while the response was overwhelmingly positive, there were some who insisted that there was no PC invasiveness in our industry. Some suggested that things were just fine, that the status quo of second-guessing everything and everyone for anything at all was actually positive. Others, rightfully so, said to espouse your opinions, but understand that there should be no expectation that those opinions are taken into account, or even valid to artists and consumers alike.
Yet -- lo-and-behold -- here we are again. And this time, it’s not even about a cancelled game, a sensitive religious person or folks suggesting that gamers can’t handle and be a party to adult themes. Instead, ire is focused at Borderlands 2. In an interview with Eurogamer, Borderlands 2’s lead designer, a man named John Hemingway, discussed a skill tree in his new game and described it as “Girlfriend Mode." Let’s look at exactly what Mr. Hemingway said:
“The design team was looking at the concept art [of the Mechromancer class] and thought, you know what, this is actually the cutest character we’ve ever had. I want to make, for the lack of a better term, the girlfriend skill tree. This is, I love Borderlands and I want to share it with someone, but they suck at first-person shooters. Can we make a skill tree that actually allows them to understand the game and to play the game? That’s what our attempt with the Best Friends Forever skill tree is.”
In case you can’t figure out why some people were aghast by this statement, it’s because Hemingway dared call the skill tree associated with someone who “suck[s] at first-person shooters” the “girlfriend skill tree." And even though the skill tree isn’t actually called that – and therefore we’re now looking at the words of one man and how he best thought to describe it -- the Internet exploded in unison.
“
...the faux outrage over Hemingway’s comments forced Randy Pitchford’s hand.
Well, not quite exploded. It’s actually refreshing to read many of the comments on stories posted at outlets that decided to cover this episode. Many people are tired of knee-jerk reactions that attempt to take people’s words and spin them into something offensive when they were meant innocuously. And they’re especially sick of being subjected to the vocal whims of a few people that feel like they need to be there to protect someone or something that never requested their help in the first place. (If you pay close enough attention to society at large, this is a common problem.)
The reason why a person could be offended by this is obvious; such a statement could be construed as stereotypical, and even sexist. But this sort of reaction misses the mark and appears to call into question the character of a man who simply described a facet of his game, perhaps not in the best words possible, but certainly not as overtly offensively as some are led to believe. Of course women aren't inherently bad at games -- my sister could kick my ass at Street Fighter and any number of other games any day of the week -- and I doubt the faux outage manufactured over a simple term does justice to the intent of Hemingway's words.
But it doesn't matter, because regardless of intent, this faux outrage over Hemingway’s comments forced Randy Pitchford’s hand. As the president of GearBox Software – Borderland 2’s developer – Pitchford took to Twitter to defend his game and his designer. He had to actually clarify that there is no “girlfriend mode” in the game, and stood by his under-siege colleague so that people know he’s not “a sexist."
That’s unfortunate, because any rational person already knows that the mention of “girlfriend mode” doesn’t make a person sexist, any more than someone who connects my love of pizza with my Italian, Long Island born-and-raised heritage is a racist. It’s silly. It’s reaching. It’s the very reason why so many people advocating for political correctness in its many forms have steadily become parodies of themselves. When you are offended by literally everything any anything – even the words of one man clearly not designed to offend – you fall into that trap without even knowing it.
“
...any rational person already knows that the mention of “girlfriend mode” doesn’t make a person sexist...
Let’s look at it this way. My girlfriend isn’t very good at games. She can’t play any game that requires dual analog sticks, and while she’s utterly dominant at games like Super Stacker and Critter Crunch, she’s more focused on finishing her PhD than mastering the art of the DualShock controller. So for me, Hemingway’s verbiage actually resonates, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Maybe this really is something good for my girlfriend. Taking his anecdote at face value, maybe this can be the gateway for her to learn dual analog controls. And maybe Hemingway knows – as any rational person would – that this statement could easily be reversed. Maybe a skilled female gamer has a gaming-inept boyfriend that this could be helpful for. Does he actually have to come out and say it to appease the eager-to-persecute?
But let’s look at it another way entirely. Kotaku recently ran an interesting article entitled “Gaming’ Biggest Problem Is That Nobody Wants to Talk." It’s a great read. You should go check it out. I’ll wait.
Okay, you’re back? Good. See, author Jason Schreier said something interesting in that article that resonated with me:
“The biggest problem in gaming today is that the gaming industry thinks we’re all out to get them. They think gamers are the enemy, a group that needs to be treated with disdain and avoided whenever possible. They think the only way to fool us into buying their products is to cover everything in a shroud of secrecy, only drip-feeding us pretty trailers and juicy sound [bytes] during carefully tailored marketing campaigns. They think we should just sit there and lap it up.”
“
Remember, Mr. Hemingway didn’t actually say anything offensive. People wanting to be offended are simply looking for anything to jump on...
Contrast that notion – a very real notion that Schreier ruthlessly nailed on the head – with this situation. Think about 2K Games, the publisher of Borderlands 2. What do you think it learned from this fiasco? Do you think it’s going to make its developers more available to the press now? Or do you think that, because one outlet decided to make a mountain out of a molehill and others thusly followed suit, it’ll pull back, become even more secretive, become even more isolated and leaving you wanting more? I think we all know the answer.
Remember, Mr. Hemingway didn’t actually say anything offensive. People wanting to be offended are simply looking for anything to jump on, consequences for anyone and anything be damned. So expect to hear a lot less from developers in the future because of episodes like this, and a lot more canned responses from PR as a result.
All because Mr. Hemingway dared say “girlfriend mode." The horror.
Colin Moriarty is an IGN PlayStation editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.
Source : ign[dot]com
