Hypothetical: Legacy flavour text?
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The following is based on events which actually took place in the game Pillars of Eternity (yes, another PoE), developed by Obsidian. However, the hypothetical relates to Path of Exile.
A supporter was granted the privilege to submit flavour text for inclusion into the game. His submission was as follows:
Offensive content?
Here lies Firedorn, a hero in bed.
He once was alive, but now he’s dead. The last woman he bedded, turned out a man And crying in shame, off a cliff he ran. The text was quickly noticed and pounced upon as "transmisogyny," causing a storm on Twitter. Like many internet storms, it had arguments on both sides, with some supporting the limerick and others condemning it. After the Twitter storm began, Obsidian contacted the supporter and requested an alternate submission. The supporter relunctantly agreed and provided a replacement. After some days of furious forum debates, Obsidian finally commented, stating the offensive limerick would be patched out later the same day. Now, Pillars of Eternity had its flavour text on gravestones. Path of Exile, in contrast, has its supporter flavour text on items. So let us imagine these same things somehow happened in to a Path of Exile supporter unique. Besides the obvious, trading would have came into play. As controversy heated up, the price of such an item would probably increase, as some players seek to vendor as many existing copies as they can, while others show their love of crude humour and/or anti-SJW sentiment through support. So my question is, what should GGG do if they ever find themselves in such a position? 1. Refuse to change the flavour text, 2. Change the flavour text on new drops, while retaining the flavour text on the old ones, or 3. Change the flavour text on both new drops and previously existing versions of the item. Vote at: http://strawpoll.me/4379344. Discuss below. When Stephen Colbert was killed by HYDRA's Project Insight in 2014, the comedy world lost a hero. Since his life model decoy isn't up to the task, please do not mistake my performance as political discussion. I'm just doing what Steve would have wanted. Last edited by ScrotieMcB#2697 on May 16, 2015, 11:05:28 PM
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A) It's not a limerick.
B) It's advocating suicide. C) It wouldn't bother me one way or the other. GGG should be careful though. Bad press is the last thing they need with this expansion... but should they come off as so PC that you couldn't put something like that on your card. |
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Oddly, among all the controversy, the limerick label was not much discussed. Go figure.
When Stephen Colbert was killed by HYDRA's Project Insight in 2014, the comedy world lost a hero. Since his life model decoy isn't up to the task, please do not mistake my performance as political discussion. I'm just doing what Steve would have wanted.
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If the flavour text contained a joke about chinese people, would it receive the same treatment?
If it was an ugly woman? An ugly man? Free speech comes to mind. This is SJW working to get their own agenda. The Devs have the last say of course, it is their game. If I was supporting their game, I would choose a "best of both worlds approach". I choose legacy. I need more purple titles
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You don't have to look far actually.
Take Helena for instance. she is the stereotypical damsel in distress. Show that npc to any feminist , and she would scream until her balls fell out of her skirt. Fact is , no matter what you do , someone is going to find a reason to take offense. |
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"The "both worlds" part is pretty obvious, but I feel the "best" part requires more elaboration. I was under the impression that all 3 choices I offered carry both benefits and drawbacks. Just to clarify, the subject is item flavour text change policy, not neofeminism, etc. The hypothetical assumes a significant degree controversy, but the groups involved in the controversy are less relevant than the perceived offensiveness of the content. When Stephen Colbert was killed by HYDRA's Project Insight in 2014, the comedy world lost a hero. Since his life model decoy isn't up to the task, please do not mistake my performance as political discussion. I'm just doing what Steve would have wanted. Last edited by ScrotieMcB#2697 on May 17, 2015, 1:17:36 AM
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The limerick in the OP is something we've discussed as being an example of flavour text that we'd reject if it were submitted for a divination card. It came up because I think the day we announced them someone made a reddit thread saying they were going to submit exactly that.
We posted what would be done in the case of flavour text needing to be changed, and what might require it to be changed in this thread: " Gameplay & Level Design
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Although I think it's good that you are trying to prevent these types of things from happening, it's not the same as a plan for what you'd do if it actually happened, somehow bypassing safeguards. A vaccine is not a cure, or vice versa.
When Stephen Colbert was killed by HYDRA's Project Insight in 2014, the comedy world lost a hero. Since his life model decoy isn't up to the task, please do not mistake my performance as political discussion. I'm just doing what Steve would have wanted. Last edited by ScrotieMcB#2697 on May 17, 2015, 1:32:38 AM
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" He was never required to replace the text. He chose to after Obsidian asked him if he wanted to because of the ordeal. He didn't want Obsidian getting flak for something as meaningless as this. The new text he submitted is also a straight-up insult towards those who complained about the old one. https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74461-controversial-limerick-discussion/page-25#entry1631723 His forum post about the subject. edit:sentence clarification Last edited by Sanctas#7544 on May 17, 2015, 2:40:25 AM
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They remove it after the fact, duh. As they should. That text is offensive, and i would stop playing such a game immediately if i found it. Its about principles, some things just shouldnt be done in a video game.
Are you trying to argue they should have left that text ingame and if it happens in POE that GGG should also just let it happen?
Spoiler
And i refuse to go to those strawpolls, they should be removed and treated as advertising links.
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