I am "Woke" and I Get the Reaction Here

[Huckleberry]

I would likely be considered "woke" by many here. I believe that diversity and representation are valuable as goals of their own.

Diversity: In any arena, be it work, school, or on a team, diversity of backgrounds and experiences only brings strength to a group. Having people from different communities in a group broadens the thinking of the group as a whole and, ultimately, will strengthen the result for all.

Representation: I am learning, as my now 6-year-old daughter is growing up, how important this is. I grew up in a family of brothers. We are all white. I never thought about representation. Now, seeing how much my daughter identifies with the female characters in movies and books, I think about it a lot.

Having people that look/act like you in movies, games, books, music, etc. is very powerful and meaningful. I want my daughter to know that she can be anything she wants to be. The way she truly knows that is to see herself in others and learn by example. I believe everyone's sons and daughters should feel like they can be/do anything. I want all people to look at the world and see hope and joy, not fear and shame. Seeing others like you in art/media is a powerful way to create that hope and, therefore, I believe representation is vital to a world I believe most of us want for our children.

All that being said, I now understand why this forum is so filled with Anti-woke threads.

Between the review code embargoes and the ScreenRant review, there is a lot of stuff that is odd here.

I will say that, as much as I believe in what I wrote above, when I got to the part of the ScreenRant review where the author brought up representation I thought, "What?! This is video game based on a Chinese tale about demons, gods, and shape-shifting animagi." It immediately felt weird...even to my liberal brain. Certainly it is not my place to tell someone when or how they should feel represented, but this one felt strange even to me.

Additionally, the list of Do's and Dont's that the publisher game to content creators ahead of release, and have supposedly been confirmed, are also weird. Though, honestly, I still do not know if they are true.

Anyway, just wanted to throw in my two cents and say I can at least understand where the other side is coming from here. Not seeing much of that sentiment and thought the forum could use it.

Thanks.

[Hazen]

inb4 the insults

[Xafron Chi]

Originally posted by Huckleberry:

Having people that look/act like you in movies, games, books, music, etc. is very powerful and meaningful. I want my daughter to know that she can be anything she wants to be. The way she truly knows that is to see herself in others and learn by example. I believe everyone's sons and daughters should feel like they can be/do anything. I want all people to look at the world and see hope and joy, not fear and shame. Seeing others like you in art/media is a powerful way to create that hope and, therefore, I believe representation is vital to a world I believe most of us want for our children.

Not trying to say you are right or wrong on this post. It's well thought out.

But I have always without fail preferred characters as far from me as possible, and enjoy it because I am in someone else's shoes, and despite that I still relate to them on various levels.

[AlexUbel989]

You aren't "Woke". You have too much common sense indicated in your comment for that. The modern woke community hates anything that doesn't put black people or the LGBT community front and center while relegating white people to the background. While the anti-woke community is the exact opposite and hates anything that puts black people or women into positions of power. Despite their claims to the contrary. The problem it the term and what it originally represented has been twisted/weaponized by both sides. The best course of action I find is to not give them the time of day, because nothing is going to come of it. As for the accusations against the developers, I find that it has surfaced rather conveniently after they turned SBI down.

[lagrangewei]

its a monkey game.

[Moffle]

It's really simple to me: If you need to include a list of topics people aren't allowed to mention, then you are on thin ice. It doesn't matter what those topics are; if you need to give special instructions on what people are permitted to say and not say, you are not one to be defended.

And they did just that.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/08/18/the-black-myth-wukong-no-feminist-propaganda-no-covid-19-discussion-email-is-real/

Anyone trying to defend those instructions would instantly change their tune if the directions were reversed. "Don't talk critically about wokeness", "Don't speak positively about Donald Trump", etc. would have people foaming at the mouth and screaming about being oppressed. Doing anything else here is hypocrisy.

[AlexUbel989]

Originally posted by Moffle:

It's really simple to me: If you need to include a list of topics people aren't allowed to mention, then you are on thin ice. It doesn't matter what those topics are; if you need to give special instructions on what people are permitted to say and not say, you are not one to be defended.

And they did just that.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/08/18/the-black-myth-wukong-no-feminist-propaganda-no-covid-19-discussion-email-is-real/

There is zero proof that they actually put that out despite that Forbes "journalist's" claims of it being real.

[Xafron Chi]

Originally posted by Moffle:

It's really simple to me: If you need to include a list of topics people aren't allowed to mention, then you are on thin ice. It doesn't matter what those topics are; if you need to give special instructions on what people are permitted to say and not say, you are not one to be defended.

And they did just that.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/08/18/the-black-myth-wukong-no-feminist-propaganda-no-covid-19-discussion-email-is-real/

This is a loaded topic that I'm not going to delve into, beyond saying that China is culturally in a very different place than us when it comes to things like progressiveness, censorship, and so on.

I'm willing to bet the whole reason it was sent out was to try and avoid controversial subjects in China, which is where they live.

[lagrangewei]

Originally posted by Moffle:

if you need to give special instructions on what people are permitted to say and not say, you are not one to be defended.

if you are going to beg for a free copy, you going to have to obey the rule, if you don't like the rule, you can just BUY YOUR OWN COPY and ♥♥♥♥♥ whatever you want. IT IS NOT A RIGHT TO GET A FREE COPY. they don't have to hand them out to anyone. the one out of the line here is people who think they are ENTITLED TO FREE GAMES.

[Huckleberry]

Originally posted by AlexUbel989:

Originally posted by Moffle:

It's really simple to me: If you need to include a list of topics people aren't allowed to mention, then you are on thin ice. It doesn't matter what those topics are; if you need to give special instructions on what people are permitted to say and not say, you are not one to be defended.

And they did just that.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/08/18/the-black-myth-wukong-no-feminist-propaganda-no-covid-19-discussion-email-is-real/

There is zero proof that they actually put that out despite that Forbes "journalist's" claims of it being real.

Yeah, this is why I am still confused on this. Seems to be a lot of differing opinions on whether or not this is actually true. Also, Xafron's comment immediately following AlexUbels is important context as well. But all of it just adds to the weirdness around the game and helps me to understand the posts on this forum (as I stated in the OP).

[Darth Invader]

Representation is more important than authenticity when it comes to being woke.

Except for when it comes to the yahtzees with an n. That's where they draw the line.

[Xylo]

Would you harp on about representation in an all female game? No, you absolutely wouldnt.
Would you get upset when the only male appearance in something like an all female game is nothing but a lame, scrawny, scared, and cucked white guy? No.

[Kanashi]

not everything is made for all audiences. some are male focused, like this game. specially when you consider 80% on the gaming sphere is male, and only 20% is female.

women only beat men on mobile games (55%Female/45%Male)

Originally posted by Huckleberry:

Having people that look/act like you in movies, games, books, music, etc. is very powerful and meaningful. I want my daughter to know that she can be anything she wants to be. The way she truly knows that is to see herself in others and learn by example. I believe everyone's sons and daughters should feel like they can be/do anything.
Thanks.

here's the harsh truth, no. you cant be anything or anyone you want to be, cause reality dosen't allow us to. forcing society to accept us despite our incapability of beeing "that one exceptional person" leads to frustration and outrage by society.

hence, "get woke = go broke" on which most ppl cant even stomach this anymore.

also its not like there aren't other media out there that dosen't allow your daughter to be a badass strong and incredible female character, there are tons of games out there that allow you to do so. heck even female only protagonist games. (portal,tomb raider,dishonored 2,nier automata,bayonetta,a hat in time,any game with a character creator... the list goes on).

TL:Dr - its a monke game, the game dosen't need to be what YOU want it to be, just let it be, and enjoy it for what it is.

[Moffle]

Originally posted by Huckleberry:

Yeah, this is why I am still confused on this. Seems to be a lot of differing opinions on whether or not this is actually true. Also, Xafron's comment immediately following AlexUbels is important context as well. But all of it just adds to the weirdness around the game and helps me to understand the posts on this forum (as I stated in the OP).

It would be trivial for the developer to make a statement saying "We didn't send those mails, we didn't ask anyone to censor their speech, and we fully support people's right to say anything they want".

Why do you think they aren't doing that?

It's very easy to pull the "journalists are always lying when they say things I don't like hearing" card, but the fact of the matter is that the developer has the ultimate power to shut this down, if they did indeed not send those emails. I know that it has become the new trend to just cover your ears and go "lalalalalalalalalala" whenever something pops up that is inconvenient for one's personal beliefs, but try to take a good look at what the people who claim that all this is fabricated are basing their statements on. I'm not going to tell you ahead of time, since I don't want to bias you, but personally I spent a few hours reading the different discussions between people who agree that this is all a hoax, and I did not come away convinced.

[Megatron has fallen]

I wouldn't consider you "woke". You sound too rational. I would consider you at a glance, progressive leaning. Not my cup of tea either, but I bet we'd agree on a bunch of things.
It's heartening to see people beginning to wake up to how toxic and nonsensical ID politics is. I think all the whining and coping about this game is a good thing in a sense because it's exposing everything.

Originally posted by Xafron Chi:

But I have always without fail preferred characters as far from me as possible, and enjoy it because I am in someone else's shoes, and despite that I still relate to them on various levels.

This is me. Even in games with character creators I make characters that look nothing like me.

[Xafron Chi]

Originally posted by Megatron has fallen:

This is me. Even in games with character creators I make characters that look nothing like me.

This exactly. Never understood the desire to open up a character creator and make what I live as every day.