I think this article is pretty simplistic and misses a lot of points.
I mean, Blizzard isn't perfect by far. Anybody who has heard me rant about their treatment of female lore characters over in WoW Ladies or Dear Gnome knows that ;) but I'm side-eyeing the heck out of some of this.
One, the Wizard is East Asian. I'm honestly not sure how the article writer missed that. Yes, it's only two, but still, when the article writer is saying "there's only a token class of color" -- get your facts right.
The WD is definitely fucked up. I didn't find as much issue with the lady WD, who comes across more "wise woman" than "savage" (which I think is more of a Native American stereotype than African? Correct me if I am mistaken... although, hm, with her dialogue abt the spirits it might fall under the Magical Negro umbrella); the male WD, however, my ex pointed out that he crouches substantially more than the woman and is in much more of a subservient posture, and really comes across as the whole Magical Negro stereotype. They could have done a LOT better here.
Re: NPCs -- Deckard Cain is definitely lighter in D3 but if you look at the graphics in the earlier games he looks much more Middle Eastern than white (some have suggested that the changed skin tone is an approximation of how some races skin bleaches a little as they age, but I think that's giving Blizzard too much credit). Considering how much reference there is to him being in areas that are very Middle Eastern based, this is a possibility, although it's left ambiguous. But I'm seriously not pleased with the assumption that he *is* white when it's not clearcut.
SPOILERS
Also, the whole thing about Tyrael? WTF. Did the article writer even WATCH the cinematics? The whole POINT is that Tyrael chooses to become mortal because the angelic order is corrupt. He has the option to become an angel again; he refuses, because of the corruption. It's shown at pretty much every point that the angels are assholes, and Tyrael wants to FIX things, and believes he can't as one of them. He believes that having a mortal perspective helps him... I honestly don't see how this has anything to do with him being a person of color, and frankly, I thought it was awesome that they made one of the most freaking badass characters in the entire series a character of color.
I'm also not happy with how the article writer totally ignores Ashaera and Eirena, who are also important to the plot.
/SPOILER
As for the argument about the body types and "size 2 waists and DD breasts" -- okay, what now? Did the author even see the barbarian? And the demon hunter and wizard aren't exactly huge in the breast dept. (The DH actually looks a lot like I did when I was a size 6-8 and a B/C cup.) I mean, really now. The WD is the only character in a thong, and frankly, that goes for the male too. C'mon, look at the gear sets. For the most part, the men share the same amount of skin showing, with some slight differences and a couple exceptions. I honestly have NOT seen a Blizzard game this egalitarian in regards to armor sets. (It could be argued that they could do better, BUT I actually really like this method because it allows those of us who DO like our characters to look "sexy" to have options, too!)
There is PLENTY to critique about this game. PLENTY. And I'd love to get into a discussion of that. But there is so much factually incorrect about this article that I honestly wonder if they even played the game. It's hard to get into a discussion of the flaws based on an article that can't be bothered to get its facts straight.
Thank you for pointing out stuff I missed the first time around.
What you've mentioned about Deckard Cain I never actually thought about and it makes sense to me. Also, I seriously LOVE the female Barbarian ... I think I may take a break from my WD to work on her.
I loved Tyrael's story arc and seriously wanted to punch all the other angels by the end of it. Tyrael is awesome, and him NOT being just another white dude helped with that, IMO.
La la la not thinking clearly 'cause cold meds so I'm going to flip-flop a LOT I'm sure.
If you take all the clothes off your female DH, she's wearing underwear. If you take all the clothes off your male DH, you find that, bafflingly, he was wearing another set of clothes under them. Come on, Blizzard, give me the opportunity to use invisible dye to make shirtless archer dudes instead of just hiding my ugly gear.
I mean, Blizzard isn't perfect by far. Anybody who has heard me rant about their treatment of female lore characters over in WoW Ladies or Dear Gnome knows that ;) but I'm side-eyeing the heck out of some of this.
One, the Wizard is East Asian. I'm honestly not sure how the article writer missed that. Yes, it's only two, but still, when the article writer is saying "there's only a token class of color" -- get your facts right.
The WD is definitely fucked up. I didn't find as much issue with the lady WD, who comes across more "wise woman" than "savage" (which I think is more of a Native American stereotype than African? Correct me if I am mistaken... although, hm, with her dialogue abt the spirits it might fall under the Magical Negro umbrella); the male WD, however, my ex pointed out that he crouches substantially more than the woman and is in much more of a subservient posture, and really comes across as the whole Magical Negro stereotype. They could have done a LOT better here.
Re: NPCs -- Deckard Cain is definitely lighter in D3 but if you look at the graphics in the earlier games he looks much more Middle Eastern than white (some have suggested that the changed skin tone is an approximation of how some races skin bleaches a little as they age, but I think that's giving Blizzard too much credit). Considering how much reference there is to him being in areas that are very Middle Eastern based, this is a possibility, although it's left ambiguous. But I'm seriously not pleased with the assumption that he *is* white when it's not clearcut.
SPOILERS
Also, the whole thing about Tyrael? WTF. Did the article writer even WATCH the cinematics? The whole POINT is that Tyrael chooses to become mortal because the angelic order is corrupt. He has the option to become an angel again; he refuses, because of the corruption. It's shown at pretty much every point that the angels are assholes, and Tyrael wants to FIX things, and believes he can't as one of them. He believes that having a mortal perspective helps him... I honestly don't see how this has anything to do with him being a person of color, and frankly, I thought it was awesome that they made one of the most freaking badass characters in the entire series a character of color.
I'm also not happy with how the article writer totally ignores Ashaera and Eirena, who are also important to the plot.
/SPOILER
As for the argument about the body types and "size 2 waists and DD breasts" -- okay, what now? Did the author even see the barbarian? And the demon hunter and wizard aren't exactly huge in the breast dept. (The DH actually looks a lot like I did when I was a size 6-8 and a B/C cup.) I mean, really now. The WD is the only character in a thong, and frankly, that goes for the male too. C'mon, look at the gear sets. For the most part, the men share the same amount of skin showing, with some slight differences and a couple exceptions. I honestly have NOT seen a Blizzard game this egalitarian in regards to armor sets. (It could be argued that they could do better, BUT I actually really like this method because it allows those of us who DO like our characters to look "sexy" to have options, too!)
There is PLENTY to critique about this game. PLENTY. And I'd love to get into a discussion of that. But there is so much factually incorrect about this article that I honestly wonder if they even played the game. It's hard to get into a discussion of the flaws based on an article that can't be bothered to get its facts straight.
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What you've mentioned about Deckard Cain I never actually thought about and it makes sense to me. Also, I seriously LOVE the female Barbarian ... I think I may take a break from my WD to work on her.
I loved Tyrael's story arc and seriously wanted to punch all the other angels by the end of it. Tyrael is awesome, and him NOT being just another white dude helped with that, IMO.
La la la not thinking clearly 'cause cold meds so I'm going to flip-flop a LOT I'm sure.
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