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Activision/Blizzard and MIT announce "Diversity Space Tool", a software that helps developers determine how diverse their characters are
- Thread starter SlimeGooGoo
- Start date
- News
Video game development was slowed because of people working in their spare time?
It is legit something else. Instead of discussing how it could go wrong (as I think it did in COD's case) or how it affirms when something is doing good (as in OW's case) or a good faith argument about the impact of this on game development overall, we're getting some of the interwebs greatest hits (that's if the person responding has even read the short discussion of the tool and what it is actually meant to do). We legit have people suggesting this thing is there to actually make video games instead of measure and rate their accessibility.
Dr. Claus
Vincit qui se vincit
Worst performing titles? WoW? Overwatch? And once you throw in the Activision part of Activision-Blizzard you get CoD which is routinely a god like money printer and always sells like crazy.
I get that some people won't like this and don't like "woke" () stuff. But to say Blizzard doesn't know how develop games is just plain dumb. You can go after the program and stuff without just making stuff up.
I think you need to remember the timeframe you specified. WoW's highest point was Lich King and that was back in 2008. The game started to drastically decrease in subscriber count every expansion since to its lowest it has *ever* been with Shadowlands.
The past ten years have been an ever-decreasing standard of quality for WoW as a whole. StarCraft 2 released two expansions and, while they were *good*, they never set the world on fire. The series has essentially been dead since 2016, 6 years since an entry.
Diablo 3 was long considered to be the worst game in its franchise and was barely made playable with its expansion in 2014. Since then we haven't had any new entries aside from a very early alpha of Diablo 4 and a shitty predatory MTX driven Chinese Knock off with Diablo Immortal.
Hearthstone was probably their last "major" success and that was back in 2014 and it too is filled with predatory MTX and survives thanks to whales.
Heroes of the Storm was considered a failure on launch and continues to barely be maintained by a skeleton crew ever since. \
Overwatch was their last "new" game released back in 2016 and it quickly died and lost relevancy within a year of its release. It also is filled with predatory MTX, lootboxes, and has been a haven for "PR Misdirection" whenever a major scandal occurs. Overwatch 2, which has yet to release but is in its alpha state, is nothing more than a Single Player entry with a mild update to the first game and it is already being panned by many.
I used to *adore* Blizzard. They were synonymous with passion and quality for decades. However, they are no longer that same company and are a shell of their former self. The only quality that remains in Blizzard is their art direction team. Everything else is a fucking joke. So no, they don't know how to make games anymore. They are a pathetic excuse of a company that survives thanks to idiotic folks like you who will clap like mindless seals whenever they play damage control and focus on all the wrong things, instead of what actually matters: The *fucking games*.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
I get that some people won't like this and don't like "woke" (
Newsflash: most people in the world don’t like it. Even Netflix is telling them to kick rocks now, and they won’t be the only one as the pendulum shifts, just as it always does historically.
I Master l
Banned
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Netflix is doing the things it's doing because it has done a horrible job supporting it's own content and keeps cancelling fan favorite content while pushing new shit that nobody cares about only to cancel it after just a season or two. They are just a conveyor belt of disappointment, bad writing, and poor decisions. Hence the cutback and change of direction.
Newsflash: most people in the world don’t like it. Even Netflix is telling them to kick rocks now, and they won’t be the only one as the pendulum shifts, just as it always does historically.
Meanwhile places like Disney+ which is way more "woke" than Netflix according to certain people is making bank. Why? Because they are doing a better job of managing their content and giving people what they want. It has nothing to do with being "woke" or not. I know why you want to believe that is the case, but that's just not it.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
I’m commenting on cultural shifts. Bookmark my post, they won’t be the only ones pushing back in the next several months to years.
It’s historical ebb and flow.
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Agree to disagree I guess.
DaGwaphics
Member
Sounds painful, I've got to say.
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
^
This. And we're losing to ourselves because most people are fucking idiots.
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I Master l
Banned
People are not dump .. i am an Arab and i dont like when they add an Arab character just for sake of ''diversity" .. they
did it in stupid and offensive way in MW 2019 with Farah .. people are not just colors and clothes we have our values
and if they dont respect our values than we dont want any representation
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Yep the well funded cabal that will destroy the west by....
*Checks Notes*
Putting diverse characters into video games so more people can feel represented in the media that they enjoy.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Can’t change history or historical precedent. No matter how much one likes to revision it.
Valt7786
Member
What was wrong with Farah? Genuinely curious ;o
Faithless83
Banned
I'm already mourning for Diablo IV. 
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
I agree. And if you look back to the 60's things have been decidedly becoming less conservative, more inclusive, and more equal. We aren't going backwards. We are going forwards.
i will leave it there because that is getting too close to politics. If you disagree that's fine.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
How is that tinfoil? If we can all sit here and agree that Russia as well as other countries want see the West collapse, why wouldn’t they fund social strife (with their Allies) in order for that to happen?Yep the well funded cabal that will destroy the west by....
*Checks Notes*
Putting diverse characters into video games so more people can feel represented in the media that they enjoy.
“Russian, China, Saudis, etc, all want the West to collapse” … “But it’s tinfoil to say there is a wealthy group out there that is helping to fund it”
Mental gymnastics.
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
It absolutely is tinfoil hat. Putting minorities and LGBTQ people into video games is not causing "social strife" and is not going to "destroy the West". Most people don't care about this stuff. They just want the games to be good. That's it.
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newtypepilot
Member
when parody becomes real life. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA
you would like this kind of shit would only appear in South park, but here we are.
you would like this kind of shit would only appear in South park, but here we are.
Complistic
Member
I love various backgrounds and points of view from the characters in my games, but making sure you're "ticking the right boxes" when developing characters is beyond gross.
I'm not sure I can buy games from a company that thinks like that.
I'm not sure I can buy games from a company that thinks like that.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Bro, there is a culture war going on. We have a nation of what was traditionally conservative and liberal. One side pushes too far, the other side pushes back. That is human nature.
Outside forces know and will exploit this, fund the culture war even harder in all directions, disinformation, etc. It’s not a “conspiracy theory” this has happened in many recorded instances in the past 120 years.
Hell, we’ve done it ourselves to other nations.
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DaGwaphics
Member
Yep the well funded cabal that will destroy the west by....
*Checks Notes*
Putting diverse characters into video games so more people can feel represented in the media that they enjoy.
A cabal to destroy the west/US via character representation in TV/Movies/Games certainly sounds ridiculous.
I would say a more realistic outcome if you push too hard in an exaggerated way would be that you would cause a backlash driven by bigoted people against the groups you were trying to help. Representation is great, but it should be natural to the stories you are trying to tell. Not that this tool necessarily eliminates natural integration, the article and the headlines just read funny. This probably doesn't change a single character at the end of the day. Whether it makes the characters more or less stereotypical would be open for debate. LOL
Putonahappyface
Member
What a time to be a gamer.
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Agree with all of this. I think people in here are just overreacting and assuming that this will be used an abused by Activision Blizzard for every single project when in reality they have already be extremely inclusive already in most of their games. CoD and WoW already had plenty of great representation and inclusivity. And overwatch is arguably one of the most inclusive games on the market given the global cast of characters that represent different cultures and backgrounds.
So in reality I don't know how much this program will even change considering they were already really inclusive. But it makes for great headlines and drama for certain kinds of content creators and social media. So there's that I guess.
Let creatives pursue their vision without algorithmic shaming mechanisms one way or another. I’d much rather see a team decide on their own to develop a game with, say, Native American culture as the focus, because it’s really interesting, not because it is Verified Compliant with MIT’s Diversity Algorithm. Introduce weird incentives like this and you’re only going to get inauthentic tokenism out of it.
Victor Omega
Member
All I wanted was darker skin tones and a afro in character creation.
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Off topic, but the lack of minority hairstyles in games where you can have a CaC is kind of crazy. I have heard that complaint for literally years from coworkers and friends.
You would think that by now companies would include them. Especially when more studios are trying to be more inclusive. It's baffling really.
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Welcome to NeoGAF.
This place is so close to being the best thing on the internet. But sadly is full of people who believe they are “fighting” some righteous battle.
Its kinda disturbing.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
I adored Never Alone and how they told their people’s story through their gameplay elements.
Nobody_Important
“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
Just saw this and I didnt really think of it like this. So yeah this is probably a bad move on their part if they ONLY stick to this thing instead of using it in conjunction with a diverse staff or outside opinions. I guess in my head I just assumed that's what they would do, but if they don't that is gonna be pretty cringe in some circumstances.
NikuNashi
Member
Made it to here, chuckled to myself and stopped reading.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Corporations will monetize (license this out). Corporations are not your friends, even if they change their avatars every month and market to your ideologies.
Russia and/or China funded a study by MIT that was eventually taken over by A/B as an in-house tool all as some long con to "destroy the west. . ."
Really. REALLY. REALLY?
AREYOUOKAY?
Member
Fixed that for you. Video games, cartoons, movies, and anything else you still or used to love have been corrupted, poisoned, or diseased by that hellhole with no cure in sight.
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Mech_Warrior
Banned
This tool will fix everything wrong with gaming (and the world) starting with diversity.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
SlimeGooGoo
Party Gooper
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Imru’ al-Qays
Member
California is the way it is because it's controlled by the tech wing of capital. The state has adopted the politics of its dominant industry
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