Tomb Raider series seeks to escape its past of glorifying colonial violence

[tintilicmaliq]

https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/headlines4855.html
'British adventurer Lara Croft will transition from being a raider of tombs to a seeker of truth as Evil Hat Productions and Crystal Dynamics seek to redefine the Tomb Raider series in order to escape a history wounded by colonialism, according to an excerpt from the official Tomb Raider Shadows of Truth RPG rulebook.

"Raiding, as depicted in the original Tomb Raider games and stories, involves going to ancient tombs and historical sites of different civilisations and acquiring artefacts. It operates on the assumption of 'finders keepers' that grants raiders with the means and the drive to claim ownership of artefacts, regardless of whether they have any historical or cultural claim to the treasure."

"Later games released in the franchise have started the work of addressing this by having Lara Croft acknowledge her past mistakes and try to understand and show respect for the cultures and communities she comes into contact with. She has also worked to reform raider culture and raise the awareness of her peers."

"Lara no longer decorates her mantle with mythic artefacts - as a raider she prioritises seeking out the truth. Much of this game is inspired by her humanity, struggle with heroism, and her tenacity. We believe that all three aspects are an important component in creating a game that celebrates history and culture while acknowledging the respect and work required to live in a world wounded by colonialism."'

[shonasof]

As stated without permission or context by a person at Evil hat who's already been dressed down for speaking out of turn.

https://imgur.com/a/KCZUAcG

They're talking about a tabletop RPG, and did not have authority to comment on behalf of CD or the video game side of things.

But of course people want to assume the worst things they can think of, so of course the fandom is having a conspiracy theory meltdown without actually looking into what's happening. Everyone wants to spread the quote with zero explanation and let people invent their own reasoning for what's happening.

It's like people WANT to start raging internet mobs with bad information.

Edit: Fixed link

[LegendaryThunder]

shonasof a écrit :

As stated without permission or context by a person at Evil hat who's already been dressed down for speaking out of turn.

https://imgur.com/a/KCZUAcG

They're talking about a tabletop RPG, and did not have authority to comment on behalf of CD or the video game side of things.

But of course people want to assume the worst things they can think of, so of course the fandom is having a conspiracy theory meltdown without actually looking into what's happening. Everyone wants to spread the quote with zero explanation and let people invent their own reasoning for what's happening.

It's like people WANT to start raging internet mobs with bad information.

Edit: Fixed link

You look at those character designs and tell me there is a god.

[Tilarta]

I do not think those character designs were influenced by good.......

I did search to see if Crystal Dynamics had ever made that statement directly, but they have not.

Later games released in the franchise have started the work of addressing this by having Lara Croft acknowledge her past mistakes and try to understand and show respect for the cultures and communities she comes into contact with.

To what does this refer?
I have never played the retgone games, so did notLara ever bring up this subject during gameplay?

Then there is the disclaimer appended to the remaster.
Everytime Crystal Dynamics has been asked to clarify the statement, they have declined to answer.
It sounds to me like they are avoiding a public confirmation of their anti-colonial stance.

Evil Hat Productions and Crystal Dynamics seek to redefine the Tomb Raider series in order to escape a history wounded by colonialism

By invoking the company's name, it is a legal confirmation they are approving of this direction. Otherwise it would be libel.
This could also be tied into their plausible denialability defense, let Evil Hat suffer the negative consequences of stating their stance and state that as a third party publisher, Crystal Dynamics is not responsible for those opinions.

[shonasof]

Tilarta a écrit :

Everytime Crystal Dynamics has been asked to clarify the statement, they have declined to answer.
It sounds to me like they are avoiding a public confirmation of their anti-colonial stance.

By invoking the company's name, it is a legal confirmation they are approving of this direction. Otherwise it would be libel.

And here come the conspiracy theories, right on cue.
- 'They aren't acknowledging stupidity, so therefore the stupidity must be true!'
- YOU invoked the CD name in a post, therefore are you legally liable for the things you say in a social media post should CD want to take you to court?
- It WAS officially addressed in the statement I linked earlier. Kinda ignoring that bit, right? CD probably screamed at Evil Hat and it was their responsibility to address the error THEIR employee made.

But none of that fits the 'LARA CROFT GOING WOKE' story that morons want to keep spouting to get internet attention, even though _NOTHING_ has been announced or shown about the next game to actually give a real opinion about. Much less keyboard-warriors claiming to know exactly what the plans are and how awful they're going to be.

[der.dida83]

You know, if I cannot hear one term anymore it's "woke". TR from the get go is pretty much the "wokest" thing in existence, Lara has zero character development and is pretty much perfect in every way and no one, absolutely no one had a problem with that in the 90s.

Fact is, for centuries we treated women like crap and second class citizens. To deny that is like to deny history, it's about time that this changed, same thing with colored people and TR3 is really not painting them in a good light (to put it mildly), so what exactly is the so highly offensive problem with that?

[Valiento]

Tilarta a écrit :

I do not think those character designs were influenced by good.......

I did search to see if Crystal Dynamics had ever made that statement directly, but they have not.

Later games released in the franchise have started the work of addressing this by having Lara Croft acknowledge her past mistakes and try to understand and show respect for the cultures and communities she comes into contact with.

To what does this refer?
I have never played the retgone games, so did notLara ever bring up this subject during gameplay?

Then there is the disclaimer appended to the remaster.
Everytime Crystal Dynamics has been asked to clarify the statement, they have declined to answer.
It sounds to me like they are avoiding a public confirmation of their anti-colonial stance.

Evil Hat Productions and Crystal Dynamics seek to redefine the Tomb Raider series in order to escape a history wounded by colonialism

By invoking the company's name, it is a legal confirmation they are approving of this direction. Otherwise it would be libel.
This could also be tied into their plausible denialability defense, let Evil Hat suffer the negative consequences of stating their stance and state that as a third party publisher, Crystal Dynamics is not responsible for those opinions.

It started a fair bit in Shadows of the Tomb Raider which is fairly preachy, but ironically maintains many of the same stereotypes that CD accuses classic games of having and even comes across as making new Laura a white knight / white savior stereotype…. Which ironically many woke people hate…

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraannaparker/2018/09/30/in-the-new-tomb-raider-lara-croft-gets-woke/?sh=6f6788853b01

In The New Tomb Raider, Lara Croft Gets Woke…

We’ve seen a few instances of this pop up in trailers and playable content. For example, whereas past version of Lara may not have thought twice about pillaging or desecrating a tomb, this version of Lara is faced with the consequences of her actions when an artifact she takes causes a natural disaster that kills innocent people. I want to know why you felt it was important to explore this idea?

Becoming the Tomb Raider for us is taking on a more mature vision of archeology. Which means more emphasis on culture and history as well as artifacts. People, being surrounded by them, is the main differentiator of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Lara is not naturally comfortable around people but with the help of her friend Jonah, and other characters she meets during this adventure, she will grow and mature as a person. Responsibility and learning that her actions have consequences are at the heart of the story of Shadow the Tomb Raider, so it was important to us to use an element and emotion that video games can do very well: guilt. We have our hands on the controller as we play videos games and the actions we take as we play have a stronger impact than simply watching idly as events happen on screen.

Zooming out from this point, do you feel games have a responsibility to examine, and comment on, current political and societal issues? I feel like a lot of blockbuster games often hint at this in the preview stages (when trying to drum up interest in the game) but when the games finally comes out, it’s evident there is very little analysis or commentary happening.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider aspires to tell a universal story about maturity and responsibility. Early in the game, Lara does something that has disastrous consequences for herself and many innocent people and the story of Shadow of the Tomb Raider revolves around her trying to fix that mistake. In that journey, she learns from other characters and grows as a person.

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/tomb-raider-over-the-years

How Lara Croft went from schoolboy fantasy to woke action hero
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider presents Lara Croft as a woke action hero for our times. So how did she get here? We explore the evolution of Tomb Raider over the years

This September sees the release of Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, the final game within the origin trilogy started in 2013 that repositions the game’s protagonist, wealthy British archaeologist Lara Croft, as a videogame hero for the age. Where she once raided tombs, now Lara strives to preserve indigenous heritage. Where once she looked like she was designed by a horny teenager, she now looks, well, normal. Described as "the most recognisable female videogame character" by Guinness World Records, it’s been quite the journey from lads’ mag cover girl to woke action hero. As noted videogame journalist Zoe Flower says, “Lara Croft continues to personify an ongoing culture clash over gender, sexuality, empowerment and objectification…”

Then we got the CD made disclaimer on the remaster virtue signaling CD new direction and criticizing the old games and the players of the games….

Lady Decade does a good job of breaking down the controversy and the history of modern developers changing the focus in Tomb Raider games from Tomb Raiding into something else…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=shmzBikDlWA

[Angry Yak]

I'm not sure why would this even be a problem. We were probably too young to get it back in 90s and maybe the games were even seen as "progressive" by some back then due to strong female protagonist but yeah, you are playing as British aristocrat recklessly rampaging thru remains of foreign culture and sometimes killing the indigenous people. For many, this leaves a bad taste in their mouth and you don't need fancy and obtuse post-colonialist philosophy to see why.

[shonasof]

Angry Yak a écrit :

I'm not sure why would this even be a problem. We were probably too young to get it back in 90s and maybe the games were even seen as "progressive" by some back then due to strong female protagonist but yeah, you are playing as British aristocrat recklessly rampaging thru remains of foreign culture and sometimes killing the indigenous people. For many, this leaves a bad taste in their mouth and you don't need fancy and obtuse post-colonialist philosophy to see why.

The problem is that people hate it when their own awful prejudices are pointed out. So they scream 'Woke' like it's some kind of defence. Acting like things were always perfect before and all this 'equality and consideration' stuff is somehow a new thing that's infringing on them.

They can't help but read a ocean of persecution into the smallest thing they see as calling them out. And if you need proof, just look at the absolute insanity of this game's forums over the one time, easily missed cultural sensitivity comment on first boot.

And they try to claim the ones asking for equality and sensitivity in the world are the whiny ones. It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad to see.

[ParabolaWaVe]

They should've killed the character back in the day. Pathetic. Another destroyed franchise.

[Valiento]

ParabolaWaVe a écrit :

They should've killed the character back in the day. Pathetic. Another destroyed franchise.

They tried to kill her off and then Eidos had them bring her back…

[Valiento]

Angry Yak a écrit :

I'm not sure why would this even be a problem. We were probably too young to get it back in 90s and maybe the games were even seen as "progressive" by some back then due to strong female protagonist but yeah, you are playing as British aristocrat recklessly rampaging thru remains of foreign culture and sometimes killing the indigenous people. For many, this leaves a bad taste in their mouth and you don't need fancy and obtuse post-colonialist philosophy to see why.

If a game offends you and you don’t like it don’t play it…. Goes for any thing people think is sexist or phobic or racist… stellar blade included…

[Morbis]

Angry Yak a écrit :

I'm not sure why would this even be a problem. We were probably too young to get it back in 90s and maybe the games were even seen as "progressive" by some back then due to strong female protagonist but yeah, you are playing as British aristocrat recklessly rampaging thru remains of foreign culture and sometimes killing the indigenous people. For many, this leaves a bad taste in their mouth and you don't need fancy and obtuse post-colonialist philosophy to see why.

Especially white people on twitter who don't belong to said culture.

[ParabolaWaVe]

The cultures in question have been destroyed not by white settlers, but by their own anti colonialists, ethno nationalists, revolutionaries and populists refusing to abandon power for half a century, or even more, while inserting this exact kind of propaganda in political speeches. Go visit those countries and ask the natives their honest opinion, ask them if the government is any good. Go to Haiti, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sudan, Cuba or Venezuela, and ask the people if "colonialism" and "white people" are to blame for the problems of their country. The answer might surprise you. And from the looks of it, it might surprise Crystal Dynamics as well.

[Valiento]

ParabolaWaVe a écrit :

The cultures in question have been destroyed not by white settlers, but by their own anti colonialists, ethno nationalists, revolutionaries and populists refusing to abandon power for half a century, or even more, while inserting this exact kind of propaganda in political speeches. Go visit those countries and ask the natives their honest opinion, ask them if the government is any good. Go to Haiti, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sudan, Cuba or Venezuela, and ask the people if "colonialism" and "white people" are to blame for the problems of their country. The answer might surprise you. And from the looks of it, it might surprise Crystal Dynamics as well.

That’s close to what Lady Decsde brings up and she is a minority…. Whose parentage is from intermingling of colonialism and minority cultures… who wouldn’t exist id culture hadn’t intermingled on first place… as she pointed out true diversity came from colonialism. Without some form of colonialism there would be no diversity just very isolated groups…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=shmzBikDlWA

[EF_Neo1st]

shonasof a écrit :

As stated without permission or context by a person at Evil hat who's already been dressed down for speaking out of turn.

https://imgur.com/a/KCZUAcG

They're talking about a tabletop RPG, and did not have authority to comment on behalf of CD or the video game side of things.

But of course people want to assume the worst things they can think of, so of course the fandom is having a conspiracy theory meltdown without actually looking into what's happening. Everyone wants to spread the quote with zero explanation and let people invent their own reasoning for what's happening.

It's like people WANT to start raging internet mobs with bad information.

Edit: Fixed link

Know what, there are decades I dont master any TTRPG But I could absolutely create a story with full lore, enemies, environments and gameplay "of a Tomb Raider game" on a Table Top RPG hat could be faithful to the Tomb Raider material (and even do a decent job of integrating good exploration (that would just require proper description of tthe location and situation without highlights where it would require the player to explore the possibilities and check the environment) and puzzling (that also would require the player to check and explore the possibilities afteer exploring the environment) along with integrating complex combat (some good way would bee to use the good and old GURPS system molded to how I want it, or parts of it with a more simplified system),

But NOOOO, the TTRPG creators want to explicitly go away from it because "reasons" (obvious reasons) and disrrespecting the Tomb Raider franchise while just trying to milk off from it (and CD obviously sanctions it also for the same "obvious reasons").

If one want to create a TR TTRPG it is not all that hard (there were many RE TTRPGs too and would play similarly in many ways as it would be just part of the core gameplay of a TTRPG), and to be faithful to the source material is no hard either... But no, they fearr their crappy game would not sell anything if it was not branded as something trending and wiith fanbase so theey go there and "sort of steal the name" plating it over a game that have little to nothing to do with it (sort of what was done with TR 2013 but now in an even worst way).