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Good grief man, he is an existing character. White. On top of albino. Also defined as Geralt, man.
You really think the point is they should have made an opening for you to change Geralt origin story to make him the only black albino man known in the whole setting, if you want it so?
Iām all for choosing my characters in games like Fallout and having all the options possible, but in here?
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Ok, so let me contribute my point of view to this topic. I personally thing this witch hunt is ridiculous. I would call this virtual colonialism since it is indeed what colonialism is. But let start from the beginning. Witcher series isnāt game developed in US, nor in UK or any multicultural country. It is developed in Poland. Moreover it is not only developed, it is as well based on culture, society and traditions of Central Europe and Slavs. Poland and most of the Central European post-communistic countries are very homogeneous. Partly because they werenāt colonizers, partly because of oppressive communistic regime which hugely regulate travelling of people to those regions. So the overall number of foreign people in post-communistic Centeal European country is about 5%, and most of those foreign people are still white, so the overall number of people of color in those countries is even smaller (for comparison in US 14% of the whole population are Afro-Americans, so you can see how huge the difference is). Now to the very common myth which suggest that because it is fantasy, it can have everything and when there are dragons there shall definitely be people of colour as well. False. Every fantasy world is build upon some base from the real world. For example Tolkienās Middle-Earth is inspired by Nordic mythology and the world of Middle-Earth has many similarities with Northern Europe. Witcherās world is even more tightly connected to the real world, especially medieval Central Europe. You can notice the fashion and architecture there. Those are not some dreamed fantastical garments and building like in Elder Scrolls, those are real garment inspired by medieval culture and architecture, which in many way resemble the post-Romanesque and Gothic style. And even though the Witcher world isnāt set in medieval Central Europe, it respects the structure and rules of it. Therefore you have different realms ruled by nobility, you have traditional medieval hierarchy and moreover you have demography very similar to the medieval Central Europe. And unfortunately in medieval Central Europe there were almost none poc. That doesnāt mean that in medieval Europe there werenāt any poc, but those people were mostly in the Southern Europe, ec Spain and Italy, but they hardly wandered to the centre. So if there were any, they were slaves kept as a curiosity for nobility amusement. (It sounds harsh but it is how it was unfortunately). Considering those two factors, firstly that the author of the books and developers are just depicting reality as they know it from their surrounding (as any creative person usually does), and secondly they are creating something very tightly connected to their own culture, history and Slavic mythology means that there are not any people of color and it is completely ok. It is same like you donāt blame developers from Japan, if they create something based on their mythology and have no other people than Asians, it is the same like you donāt blame developers from Kenya to have only black people in their game even if it is fantasy, but based on their own mythology. So tell me why Polish game shall be excluded just because it is Polish?
And now we are getting to this virtual colonialism. It is very similar concept to sexism, because you donāt notice it unless you are subject of it and it is really hard to explain it to men, because they donāt experience it. Those articles about lack of diversity in Witcher 3 are written solely by Americans. This is fact. I havenāt stumbled upon article written by European about that. And what virtual colonialism means? It is exporting of American culture and values and forcing those values to other cultures. This article is excellent example of it, because you literally say that because the world of Witcher isnāt similar to the world you see around you, it means it is bad. And unfortunately it is also very dangerous thing, because of this virtual colonialism we see less games set in the country from which the developers originally are, and rather see many games set in US. Even though the EU region is bigger than US, games set in US are in superiority and many of them are created in EU. For example how many games do you know are set in Finland? None? Why is that? Fins are one of the biggest video game developers in EU, but Remedy, the finish AAA producer of videgames set all of their games in US rather than Finland. Same works for Sweden, Czech Republic etcā¦ So think about it again. Think what matters. Whether someoneās color of skin or someoneās culture?
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Youāre outright lying here, considering thereās at least one article that made major rounds written by a Polish person.
But erasing his identity is perfectly cool to do, right?
Also, again, this is a game that has fucking JINN in it. You donāt get to claim itās some Polish-only game if thatās there.
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- I had USA on my mind, and I know that you know it. But for the record, sorry for not using proper name.
- Well, I went a little too far in generalisation and you are right to disagree, Letās create together a list of countries that still have significant issues with integrating black and white societies. Iām not trolling, seriously. I believe many other countries have this problem, but it is overshadowed by other, more pressing issues.
- I said āmajorā and āsignificantā - so where else? Racism is abundant in the world, but anti-black racism is minority. As I said people can hate each other for many reasons. Hereās the short list of racist countries - http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/The-Top-12-Most-Racist-Countries-in-the-World-20150320-0019.html - having skimmed it I think I forgot about Australia.
Please explain how allowing anyone else the option of different avatar skin tones detracts from your enjoyment when you play the game as you believe it intended.
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I too have a list of countries with issues of racism.
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As I said, Iām not lying, I havenāt stumble upon that article. Doesnāt mean it doesnāt exist. About that JINN you obviously have zero knowledge how culture is build and influenced by other cultures.
So, simultaneously, is perfectly ok and not lazy worldbuilding at all to have a fantasy society that for some reason matches Hollywood most bland perceptions of what racial diversity in America is, and not even wonder why at all, while a guy from a country that didnt have any significant black population ever is lazy for not contriving a reason why his fantasy inspired on his region should have significant presence of people of colour.
Dunno, I see the first as a wonderful opportunity for worldbuilding, and the second as the bloody obvious result of not being American.
In my view, Bioware is being much worse than CD Projekt in this (for values of wrong that doesnt mean any kind of boicott, jihad, witch hunt or whatever) - starting with a brand new IP and being Americans they fail to explore the ramifications of the setting they have created, just going for the easiest kind of compliance with diversity, while CD Projekt was starting with an IP that already had the known world (for all we know, the rest of the Witcher world is very diverse, or not; we only know a small corner of it, real life would be from Germany to parts of Russia) described, and on that addresses the issues of racism in a much more deeper way, from an Eastern European point of view.
Again, looking forward for them to show us how the represent this and address this in Cyberpunk, which is an American IP set in America and thus very appropiate to have both the representation of diversity Americans expect and a good commentary on issues of diversity and racism, if they want to. I dont see why they have to be brought to task for not doing with the Witcher what Americans dont do in their games, given that they have both a starting IP and a particular vision that is not from the US.
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Please explain to me what part of Polish culture and mythology Jinn comes from, because from me, Witcher looks a lot like a āWeāll take some Tolkein fantasy, some Arabian mythology, a little of this, and mix it all togetherā, like most fantasy settings do. Where do all these things come from in uniquely Polish myth - where do the elves and the dwarves and the Jinn come from in Polish sources?
Everyone keeps starting from the argument of āThis is a purely polish fantasy, drawing on purely Polish mythsā, but donāt have any evidence or backing for that, at all.
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For what itās worth, there HAS been a lot of criticism on Bioware with racial portrayals in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Itās not like everyoneās just ignored that.
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Thank you Mr Sarcastic, ad hominem argument at its finest. Actually I frequented the site for a few years, but it is not my style to comment on the matters that I cannot contribute. Yet here i am, the innocent victim of discrimination because of post number - letās call it ācountismā 
To be fair you may want to attempt to see the second as an obvious result of being Polish since many nations besides the US are multicultural. To be really fair you may want to just try to think of the whole statement differently since in all fairness many Polish people would not have trouble understanding why a game marketed worldwide would have options for characters reflective of where it is marketed, or simply reflective of a wide range of persons in general.
I donāt know if Iām the first in this convo to say it, but the defenders of the limitations of this game are painting a sorry picture of Poland. Iām in Canada & when I lived in the cities there was always a significant Polish population among whom it was easy to see even first generation immigrants (many) had no trouble understanding these issues.
But perhaps being included teaches that inclusiveness doesnāt mean changing who you are, unless who you are includes excluding others.
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For example Central Europe was very long time in war with Turkey and even in War the cultures can influence each other. There are shards of different cultures in the cultural heritage of almost every nation.
Please provide few more MAJOR countries which have significant BLACK-WHITE racism as a main narrative. I found 3 - USA, RSA and Australia. Give me like 5 more - you said sth along the lines of āblatant lieā so proving it shouldnāt be too difficult. And Iām really interested in your list, I cannot find more myself, it troubles me too.
Do you believe that only BLACK people wish to be included?
Because that is the only way that your request has any rationale to it, and if so I have to tell you that is a flawed rationale.
I never said any such thing. If I had answered you in that post in that way I would have politely attributed your answer to ignorance instead of assuming you lie.
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I will look for the dragons and elves next time I travel to that fine country.
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I feel like two very poor examples were picked for this article (The Witcher 3 and Rust).
In the Witcher, you are playing as a specific character, with specific voice acting and a specific story. Saying that itās a problem that a main character in a game is white is silly. Should men have complained that they didnāt have a male option in Tomb Raider? Should white people have complained that they didnāt have a white option in GTA San Andreas? No - these are instances where you are playing as a specific character.
Rust, on the other hand, is a game where you play as a non-specific character who is essentially an avatar for the player themself. Virtually all games Iāve played recently where you create an avatar (and are not playing as a specific character) allow you to select a wide range of skin tones, from albino white to black. In a game such as this, it IS odd to force a player to use a randomly selected skin tone. When I create a character in WoW, Destiny, Elder Scrolls, etc, I am creating my own avatar, and am able to select whichever skin tone I want, as well as hair color, etc.
When I play a game with a specific character, I donāt expect to be able to pick whatever skin and hair color I want. I expect to play as the character theyāve created, whether that character is white, black, male, female, human, alien, etc.
Thereās apparently a vocal group that enjoys being upset more than living together lovingly without a marriage certificate.
The point is to live and have fun - why get upset?
Right?
Stop rocking our boat, upsetters! Thereās not enough room for you in here. We need those seats. Friends of ours are coming. Yoo-hoo! There you are! Anyway, Iām sure you have a much more exciting view from down there, plus, excellent opportunities for fishing! Being stuck up here in the boat hurts us too, you know that, right? Weāre just as much a victim of this system as you are. Oh, I think my friends are just about here!
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Please explain how the simple act of allowing others to change the skin tone of the avatar of any game whatsoever would detract from the enjoyment of those who wish to play the game with an avatar with a different skin tone.
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