tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.comments2018-09-17T04:32:19.018-04:00Alternate EndingMattie Bricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-19980810930451905702012-06-13T09:10:03.262-04:002012-06-13T09:10:03.262-04:00For the most part, I felt that this game took an i...For the most part, I felt that this game took an innovative idea, the organic narrative, and tried to work this into an RPG in a more-creative way than mainstream games have done. I think that, for my first time seeing it in a game, it was successful. Also, the game was pleasantly short in comparison with more recent RPG's, so it is no surprise that it possessed many of the elements one sees in a short story.<br /><br />If I were to summarize the game with an analogy, I would say that it is like a box of Legos, with a kid assembling them according to some manual, and a robot which smashes them to bits after the kid decides what to do with the Lego people. The conclusion is whether the kid pulls the plug on the robot as he places the people the second time around, or not (he didn't know what to expect the first time around). Some kids just want to see everything get smashed to pieces again while others might be saddened by this. <br /><br />Playing this game is like being that kid, and yeah, sometimes kids take the Lego people and teach them to use an ax or their little bows, so the training grounds were totally in line to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-39708197674364437422011-12-01T07:43:47.287-05:002011-12-01T07:43:47.287-05:00This is amazing.This is amazing.Brendan Keoghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-12385646047758416032011-11-28T20:29:25.401-05:002011-11-28T20:29:25.401-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.kotakumusicguruhttp://noballroom.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-91702414097985097352011-10-13T14:06:33.334-04:002011-10-13T14:06:33.334-04:00Thanks, I'm loving the oppertunity to make pod...Thanks, I'm loving the oppertunity to make podcasts. Glad people are enjoying them!<br /><br />Here's the link to Denis's article, it has spoilers about Half-Life 2, just as a warning: http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=5844<br /><br />I agree that it's gradual steps forward. I think BioWare only heard their criticisms and not the things they did correctly, do hopefully they go even stronger into DAIII!Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-78419539600452351122011-10-13T13:55:14.954-04:002011-10-13T13:55:14.954-04:00I think the problem stems from the fact they desig...I think the problem stems from the fact they designed the story around these themes, but the gameplay around min-max combat. <br /><br />Do you have a link to that post? I read one by dee of AzerothMe at the Borderhouse that makes a similar point. I couldn't find the article by Denis Farr, but then my search skills aren't always great.<br /><br />Still, my disappointment in this regard stems from how good they did. Here's hoping they'll get it even better next time.<br /><br />BTW - the Lewd-onarrative Dissonance podcast was great.wsnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-76614001505401259112011-10-13T12:51:44.100-04:002011-10-13T12:51:44.100-04:00I completely agree wsn. There's two ways to ta...I completely agree wsn. There's two ways to take that, the first being what you said, and the player is missing the opportunity to empathize, or serve as an ally narrative. I would have liked it if they emphasized the cyborg identity as a mage and the ally narrative as a warrior or rogue to give narrative meaning to your choice. It is similar to Denis Farr's article at The Border House, where Hawke was immune and looking in on the situation, which creates dissonance as Bethany goes through a lot, but when Hawke's a mage, they do not. It shows that even DAII still has aspects to make the player feel super important even when it's at odds with the culture of the game.<br /><br />Thanks for reading though!Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-7088644005624465072011-10-13T12:43:59.711-04:002011-10-13T12:43:59.711-04:00Great post.
I felt DA2 really missed an opportuni...Great post.<br /><br />I felt DA2 really missed an opportunity in that the mage protagonist did not feel different than the other two. By which I mean there was a lot of talk about the discrimination against mages, but none of it really affected mageHawke. By not letting the player face, and respond, to the same pressures facing Bethany, Anders, and Merrill, the themes discussed in this post were not addressed as fully as they could have been.wsnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-44855850664782469262011-10-06T13:37:04.274-04:002011-10-06T13:37:04.274-04:00I think I've been assuming something that migh...I think I've been assuming something that might not be very obvious in my article. I appreciate the comments, making me think through the bumps in my argument :)<br /><br />I definitely mean to use the idea of hybridity, but the way I put it might have made it seem I meant the transgender individual is blending man and woman, when in my head I'm thinking being transgender vs adopting a 'recognized' gender (man or woman). I'm realizing that's not clear in my article; the trans cyborg would be blending a transgender identity and a man/woman one.<br /><br />I tried to tackle many things that probably deserve a longer, more developed length. Will have to revisit this with more evidence and outside the scope of DA.Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-22972967065854136912011-10-06T11:25:54.218-04:002011-10-06T11:25:54.218-04:00Yes, of course you're right, intersexed is muc...Yes, of course you're right, intersexed is much better than hermaphroditic, thanks for the correction. Re trans: I'm not arguing that being trans doesn't strongly affect your identity, but I suspect that, for most trans people, it comes out in a form that I wouldn't describe as embracing hybridity. Having said that, maybe I'm focusing too much on the word "hybridity", certainly trans brings up issues of passing very strongly. (And it's not like I've got tons of trans friends, I could easily be misrepresenting that community.)<br /><br />I can certainly agree with the statement that bisexuality is tricky. :-) And what you said about bisexuals' relationship with LGBT and heteronormative cultures is mainly what I was thinking of, yeah.David Carltonhttp://malvasiabianca.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-59214082150919750882011-10-06T09:19:19.900-04:002011-10-06T09:19:19.900-04:00Thanks so much :) A little bit on the transgender ...Thanks so much :) A little bit on the transgender part: Being transgender doesn't mean the ultimate goal to is eventually assimilate completely as the other sex and leave behind every bit of your identity. Even if you're someone who transitions fully, your experience of being transgender doesn't just leave you. As well, most people who are transgender reveal their transgender status to at least their partner, as it is a large part of their life and identity as an individual. A cisgender woman and a transgender woman are two very different people because of the experiences they have with gender identity. <br /><br />Hermaphrodite is a rather dated term, you might be thinking of 'intersexed,' which, you're right, would also apply to my article. <br /><br />I'd have to think more on it, but bisexuality is tricky, especially because of how our culture treats it. We have a different view on a woman being bisexual than a man being bisexual. This would more closely go for men's bisexuality, or a bisexual's relationship with the LGBT community and heternormative culture.<br /><br />If you're interested, you can look into 'passing' issues for transgender people, or we can have a conversation about it :) I did stretch Nishime's analysis from multi-racial to include transgender, but I feel passing narratives speak to this group, though you can't lump multi-racial and transgender in all instances.Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-1831615382843357452011-10-06T02:57:23.396-04:002011-10-06T02:57:23.396-04:00Interesting post! I'll argue against your use ...Interesting post! I'll argue against your use of "trans" to label the third category, however: I don't see trans people as embracing hybridity, I see trans people (in general) as embracing their psychological gender, which doesn't match their biological gender. If I wanted a gender-identity term that speaks to hybridity, I might go with hermaphroditic; or I might switch to a metaphor of sexuality and go with bi. But trans doesn't feel right to me in the context of your article, if I'm understanding you correctly.David Carltonhttp://malvasiabianca.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-87360977298530985912011-09-21T16:58:59.360-04:002011-09-21T16:58:59.360-04:00ah, I think I see what you meant from the last pos...ah, I think I see what you meant from the last post now.Rachel Helpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01014437332813141047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-89856135669325848772011-09-21T08:30:53.764-04:002011-09-21T08:30:53.764-04:00You have a point. I think the stumbling block for ...You have a point. I think the stumbling block for me was your use of 'emergent narrative' (which you took from Rules of Play). Sorry for not reading carefully enough. You're of course right that DF does not fit that category, but I think that very, very few games fit this abstract, narrow definition, mainly 'art games' - because, mostly, they are short pieces designed to make a point (see also 'the graveyard' or 'ruins') and tend to put very little emphasis on actual gameplay. (I think it's telling that you took a poem to illustrate your point - short forms are able to provide this narrow definition of emergent narrative better than long ones.)<br />My problem with defining this particular opposition (embedded vs emergent) is that it hardly exists in games. I'd argue that Passage does not have a narrative at all - rather it leads the player to a moral interpretation, also in hindsight. Narrative on the other hand, is a more complex beast, and very difficult to achieve in a controlled manner in game design if it is to be emergent rather than embedded, i.e. closely controlled by an author. <br />I think a more productive way to look at this would be to define emergent narrative as one that isn't embedded by the designer, but produced by the player's action and constructed in hindsight. The family history of your Sims, the history of your Civ-empire, the usually tragic epic of failure in DF and so on. The term emergent narrative could more productively be used in parallel to 'emergent gameplay', firstly to reduce confusion (I fell into this trap of misapprehension) and secondly because, as you yourself admit, there is rarely an example of it if understood in Rules of Play's narrow sense.<br /><br />My point is: emergent narrative, as interpreted by your article, is mostly not a lot of narrative at all, especially compared to the richness of embedded narrative. If the term is used to describe narrative as distilled from 'chaotic' sandbox worlds by the player, direct authorial control is given up, but the player gets the chance to experience many different narratives, some more conclusive than others. your point that these narratives would also have to be embedded by the designers is not valid, because surely everything in an artefact exists by design - playing with Lego bricks is creative even though the designers meant for the pieces to be assembled.<br />I'm not trying to prove you wrong here, but I think that emergent narrative in your definition is very, very hard to produce in games, and effectively takes away from them if implemented. using the term to describe narrative potential that may or not be tapped by the player actually interacting with a game vs embedded 'on rails' narrative would be more interesting, I think.mandayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16781069575045470712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-70518918441153004072011-09-20T20:38:31.417-04:002011-09-20T20:38:31.417-04:00Your article brought to mind the old Dark Sun AD&a...Your article brought to mind the old Dark Sun AD&D PC RPGs. Unlike most digital RPGs, it has no limits on who you can attack. This one quirk could actually sway the way the story went drastically. <br /><br />Say you were annoyed at a given quest and just didn't want to do it anymore, but you really needed the item you would get as a reward. You could simply (if you had the power) turn around and assassinate the quest giver for it. The game would generally correct for your action, perhaps turning a faction against you or making an opposing faction friendly.<br /><br />A somewhat crude example, but given the game setting, not out of line for how life goes in that world. Plus you could actually play out being a chaotic evil homicidal maniac if that's your cup of tea.Oleakimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14528687225942713790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-68626675280396141592011-09-18T22:26:24.508-04:002011-09-18T22:26:24.508-04:00The "emergent" qualities of DF is akin m...The "emergent" qualities of DF is akin more to the buzzword rather than emergent narrative. In a sense, DF creates the same kind of narrative that The Sims and Oblivion do, sharing a bit of the 'simulation' bloodline that way. I explained through my analysis of Passage that the narrative arose from the game mechanics, matching the theme of the design. DF doesn't do this, the narrative is more of a retelling of an experience in hindsight. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and I personally love experiences like this (played a lot of The Sims), but it's not what I'm talking about here. I daresay that these emergent sandbox worlds really just have an extremely large (infinite?) amount of embedded narratives, rather than an emergent narrative. It's possible to say that there is no larger narrative design to speak to, and therefore no emergent narrative, if it is such a chaotic world.<br /><br />It's definitely possible I'm wrong and someone can make a counter-argument, and I'd definitely like to see it. I don't argue against these games having 'emergent' qualities, just an emergent narrative. And I mean that as the whole term defined by my article, not emergent + narrative, which is seems like you might have taken it by referring to DF.Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-24847709232295310482011-09-18T22:05:21.910-04:002011-09-18T22:05:21.910-04:00@mandaya
I've looked into DF to see if it mat...@mandaya<br /><br />I've looked into DF to see if it matches what I am looking for. It seems to be heading in the right direction in the sense of trying to create a highly flexible world that isn't restrained by one story or one set of experience to play through. However, this isn't really letting you interact with a narrative, you just have a highly flexible world that a love of random events happen to you in. I definitely think DF is interesting, but doesn't do what I'm stating here. My intent isn't to say all games in the RPG category are vapid and lacking, but they aren't following along with my claim about what an RPG is. These new indie emergent worlds are new and exciting, and thus becoming trendy, but they don't give a player that much control. The player is just even less aware of what could possibly happen, but it is programmed to happen. Again, it's not meant to knock DF, but you'd have to come up with how it allows the player to interact with the narrative more than, let's say, Oblivion and Minecraft.<br /><br /><br />@Whistler<br /><br />Let's break up what you're saying here for a moment.<br /><br />1. I imagine playing TT RPGs is as much up to someone's tastes as much as playing typical console-RPGs vs PC-RPGs. For example, I played in a murder-mystery LARP and it was amazingly fun, more than lots of video games I've played, though I rarely play any TT RPGs and come from a long line of console-RPGs. You'd have to consider the pros and cons that comes with the digital medium and how 'fun' would factor in. Entertainment value isn't really my concern here (not saying that it isn't important).<br /><br />2. The line you quoted argues that we lost interactivity with the narrative crossing over to the digital medium. I think you're being casually dismissive of human-mediated gameplay; there are boundless more things you can do because a person is translating your information that you can't in video games. You are bound by so many more rules, one that you might not realize at first; graphics and controls are rules, and you can't do anything that violates what the graphics and controls can produce. Because TT is only limited to our imaginations, we can do a larger amount, and not only that, we can start off with a large amount of initial scenarios. As well, there are many TT games that don't have as many rules to translate player actions into the game other than straight up storytelling and player negotiation, or situations where a player's goal is to complicate and fulfill another player's story theme. These are things digital games haven't expanded on.<br /><br />3. As stated in the article, I don't think video games need to become more like TT games, or the other way around. Rather, I want to encourage RPGs to find how to interact with the narrative that is unique to the medium. My argument in the article is that we haven't really seen many (if any) games that have tried to do as such, while TT games continue to expand.<br /><br />My next article, "Ludonarrative Resonance" acts as a sibling piece to show what I think the next step is for narrative in games, so checking that out might clarify a bit :)Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-1017311445743813712011-09-18T11:20:47.362-04:002011-09-18T11:20:47.362-04:00"However TT RPGs have been adapting to new id..."However TT RPGs have been adapting to new ideas of how to interact with the narrative in a way digital RPGs haven't."<br /><br />I'm curious about what exactly you're referring to. Every time I've played a TT RPG all I think is "this would be less boring as a video game." The only advantage I can see is that you have a human reacting to you, so there's the possibility of your every uttered word to be significant. If that's what you're looking for, it seems like Rohrer's Sleep is Death did a good job allowing another human to react to your actions through a computer-based medium. Are you hoping that computers will get as good as humans are to reacting to small actions?Rachel Helpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01014437332813141047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-49995176931948963782011-09-18T08:04:05.267-04:002011-09-18T08:04:05.267-04:00Sorry for repeating myself, but as in my comment t...Sorry for repeating myself, but as in my comment to "an apology...", I insist to point you in the direction of DF, as it should surely be one of the landmarks in emergent narrative. Testament to this is dfstories.com, a repository of narrative distilled from the abstract simulation that is DF. Also check out the various illustrations depicting DF's emergent narrative qualities, eg http://www.nzfortress.co.nz/forum/showthread.php?t=20768<br />Again, sorry if my twice mentioning this game seems obnoxious, but I think you'd be surprised to see many of your points already met in this game. Nice articles, btw.mandayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16781069575045470712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-72665603663185674482011-09-18T06:36:12.935-04:002011-09-18T06:36:12.935-04:00I can only repeat the first commenter's high p...I can only repeat the first commenter's high praise of Dwarf Fortress. This "little" indie game may well show the way out of your dilemma. DF gives the player a giant, complex procedurally generated world complete with unique history, mythology and geography, all procedurally generated as well.<br />DF's ambitious long-term goal is almost ridiculously ambitious, to present you with a realism that is so complex that "real" roleplaying will rely solely on your interactions with this giant sandbox and the results of your actions. (Note: in this comment I refer to DF's "adventurer"-mode, not the more developed "dwar fortress"-simulation mode.) <br />What DF still lacks, is a "narration engine", a means to direct the player's actions along the more "traditional" modes of narration. This might be achieved by using narratology's many attempts to systematically break down narration into themes, motifs and atmospheres, but sadly, it's anyone's guess when or indeed if DF's one-man-creator will get to that.<br />Presenting a unique, procedurally generated, breathing simulation of a complex world as a playground would go a long way to achieve "true" role-playing. The narrative could then be freed from the branching "choose your own adventure"-style that limits most modern RPG.<br />DF is a marvel, one of the most ambitious and fascinating projects in game design ever. Too bad its scope and ambition are not seen as such by the big studios who might learn a lot from it.mandayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16781069575045470712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-30827157130281356502011-09-09T19:32:42.517-04:002011-09-09T19:32:42.517-04:00First let me start off by reiterating my thesis, a...First let me start off by reiterating my thesis, as it is mushed in there in a quasi-stream of consciousness thing. With the RPG genre becoming navel-gazey around this time because of the many critiques and appropriations of it, I took the chance to formulate my own understanding RPGs and where they are going. Using the origins of RPGs as my inspiration I came up with this: RPGs are games that promote a player's interaction with a narrative. That doesn't mean experiencing a story or creating a story, but having your narrative come from your gameplay. The easiest way to make that less abstract is to think how surface "how this makes me feel" sort of information, such as story, visuals, music (instead of theories associated with them) aspect of art is created from the design. So this would mean the narrative is an echo and/or tool of the game design to reflect upon itself.<br /><br />Only one of your games, from what I could tell, I could an example from. All of the others may have been creative, had a good story, or were generally fun, and that's good! But it's not what I'm talking about. There are many stories I have enjoyed in RPGs, but they are topical and are more of an add on for aesthetic quality rather than baked into the game design.<br /><br />ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs Deathdark Evilman seems to have at least a part of this right. From what I could get, you are building yourself up to be a superhero who doesn't really have a lot distinct about them. You keep losing, dying, and starting over, but the theme of building yourself up is there as you are rewarded with stat gains even if you die. But other than that, all of the other games you mentioned didn't match up to what I'm talking about. They may have a good focus on narrative and new concepts, but they stick to the traditions when it comes to interacting with the narrative.<br /><br />Think of it in the manner of TT RPGs. The quirky things that you're citing wouldn't change the fundamental aspects of a D&D session. You can have a quirky and compelling story, fresh setting, strange battle system, and you barely have changed the game's rules. However TT RPGs have been adapting to new ideas of how to interact with the narrative in a way digital RPGs haven't. It doesn't mean that those ideas will work for this medium, but that we could put more thought on how digital RPGs can uniquely do that.Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-30535069567747665742011-09-09T11:51:55.602-04:002011-09-09T11:51:55.602-04:00RPGs lack heart? RPGs are Tolkien and Star Trek? R...RPGs lack heart? RPGs are Tolkien and Star Trek? RPGs have always been dead...! Bring out the giant list!<br /><br />http://www.spidweb.com/ are games that focus heavily on narratives to the point of eschewing graphics almost completely. Lots of roleplaying here, my favorite is the latest Geneforge game.<br /><br />Lost Odyssey had some great vignettes that did some heavy lifting when it came to worldbuilding. very jRPG, but still full of good storytelling<br /><br />Resonance of Fate was a weird kung-fu gunbattle game that took place in a bizarre world. I mean yes it relied heavily on certain jRPG cliches but it wasn't exactly a "cast fire on zombies" type deal.<br /><br />Bastion as an action-RPG gave me some fantastic moments. <br /><br />Alpha Protocol had some bullshit, but interacting with other characters felt reasonable, which is not something I normally associate with RPGs.<br /><br />and obviously, Dwarf Fortress http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ which is all about complex stat tracking, going from weather and geological formations to the birth and history of civilizations to the kind of stones your mayor likes best. <br /><br />ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs Deathdark Evilman had some weird, emotional, fucked-up moments that leaned on its mechanics to great effect. <br /><br />Not to mention: Deus Ex Human Revolution, which is awesome at not giving you +5 renegade points but subtly changing moments you didn't even realize would be affected by your actions. Contact explored breaking the 4th wall. Baiten Kaitos was nothing if not beautifully creative (although, again, as a jRPG it was not about "roleplaying" as much as stat-mongering). Vampire: The Masquerade also had some bullshit! But it also surprised me more than any other RPG I had played. And I don't know how I got this far without mentioning The World Ends With You & Mother3 (jrpgs both but with exceptional characters and stories). Plus older games like Baldur's Gate 2 remain pretty fantastic, if not supremely flexible. And I'm not even going into IF which I understand is moving in some awesome directions as well.<br /><br />So in short RPGs have covered a ton of ground and have a ton of heart and depth. Yes they don't allow limitless variation of story to fit the player's every whim (except for dwarf fortress! kind of!) but as authored experiences I'm pretty satisfied with the state of the genre and the direction it's heading. <br /><br />i also think it's hard to have a discussion about WHY RPGs might seem a bit stagnant without mentioning the branching complexity, constant need for rewrites and tweaks, etc. It’s all well and good to say RPGs lack “role-playing” but the underlying issues are as technical and economic as they are creative. There is a future there but it’s slow and hard and no one can really be sure if it’s worth the investment – DF may be pushing boundaries, but the creators are getting by on donations alone which clearly can’t scale.zachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827394612058010645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-16813070077128465882011-08-30T01:27:45.345-04:002011-08-30T01:27:45.345-04:00True, true. But I will say that out of all the cha...True, true. But I will say that out of all the characters within any media, Bridget from Guilty Gear and Ash Crimson from King of Fighters are the closest that come to how I identify my own gender. They may be flat, and their characteristics skin deep within the context of the game, not to mention they're far from perfect, but they've certainly inspired me.<br /><br />However, it would be fantastic to have a well written Ash Crimson, or Bridget in a non fighting game, for sure.Laquidarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07291387342758788935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-6334766285311702092011-08-29T23:46:51.650-04:002011-08-29T23:46:51.650-04:00Many of the characters known for being transgender...Many of the characters known for being transgender tend to be just ascribed that quality and not at all have anything to do with it. Like, in fighting games, it's hard to see what being trans has to with it other than the perceptions of the players fighting someone trans. And that's not unimportant, but it doesn't make as much of an impact like a character such as Naoto. Or, I should say, none really explore the topic of being transgender in their situation. Of course, with all of the general hate that is bred in gaming, there's little room for transgender characters so safely flourish.Mattie Bricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982437850552447163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451146576010870775.post-41790394451015497262011-08-29T20:42:38.439-04:002011-08-29T20:42:38.439-04:00I never knew Atlus had transgender characters in m...I never knew Atlus had transgender characters in many of their games. And the only thing I've ever heard of from P4 was a scene in which the main character cross-dresses at some point. Never got far into P3 (P3P, specifically). It's a true shame and disappointment that transgender characters aren't represented more (and better) within games.<br /><br />I remember back when Capcom was asking around who they wanted in their Street Fighter 4 roster, Poison was actually a popular pick, but Capcon said no, it would clash with certain cultures and cause issue. Of course now she's making her way into the latest Capcon fighting game... sadly, people decided to start making a negative deal about it and made "Trapcom" shirts to be passed around and sold (there's an outline of Poison on the shirt), and using trapcom as a hashtag on Twitter. Ugh.<br /><br />I truly hope one day we will get a kick-ass character that challenges, and even become accepted/respected by the gaming masses.Laquidarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07291387342758788935noreply@blogger.com