Race in RPG Maker Games and the RPG Maker Community

[FranklinX 37]

Race is always a sensitive. Nobody wants to offend others so they are careful with their words. However, it is a very important topic to discuss. Today we are talking about race in RPG Maker Games.

 

In the past there weren't any racial options given to us from Enterbrian. That changed with the release of RPG Maker ACE! The character generator allows us to change the character's skin tone. Thus, we can create multiple races in a game. I've noticed that many ACE users do not change the characters' skins tone. The characters have the default skin tone.  

 

Race in video games is something that has also bothered me. Most games only have one race or misrepresent other races. I am very disappointed that most RPG Maker ACE users do not create diverse races in games. 

 

I get a very racist vibe from the RPG Maker Community. The vibe is NOT from this forum. The vibe comes from many other RPG Maker forums. I have made this topic at other forums. Some people responded by saying that other races should not be in RPG Maker games. The staff on these sites are perfectly fine with racist comments. I remember a member on one site saying that Thurgood Marshall was did not care about blacks. That's giving false information about black history. Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights activist who fought through courts and won many cases. However, once again staff was perfectly fine with someone lying about black history. Thus, that community attacked me. A black man who stood up to racism. 

 

What are your thoughts about race in RPG Maker games? What are your thoughts about attitudes towards race in the RPG Maker Community? 

[dolarmak 23]

I admit saying that Thurgood Marshall didn't care about his community is clearly a lie. The man is a legend in his own right.

 

But I'll be honest with you, every one is a little bit racist. It's hard not to be when our cultures conflict so much. Whether it's white, black, yellow or blue(yes there are blue people...google it), people are predisposed to racial stereotypes by their parents no matter how hard they try not to. They always succeed in alienating one culture or another from their children. It doesn't even have to be harsh or hateful words, small comments are all it take, over time they build into a prejudice.

 

Now I am a caucasian man. White for you people who don't know the word. And I admit I've got my own prejudices with people of other cultures. I say 'cultures' because we are actually only 1 race, Human. We have not so far evolved in different biological paths to call us different species from one another.

 

I can tell you that I've dealt with so many 'gangster' Black guys and they rub me the wrong way. Unfortunately my first though when I see a black guy dressed in casual clothing is that they're probably douche-bags.

I've also dealt with a lot of greedy 'Orthodox' Jews that often when I know a guy is Jewish I tend to look at him like I see a bank, some one who legally steals your money through loopholes and lies.

And I've had issues with pretty much every culture, even my own. (Perhaps I'm not racist, maybe I just distrust every one.)

 

That's not to say I don't have friends who are from other cultures. It just takes a little while to get past the cultural backlash I've received over the years.

That said, I try to give a person a chance despite what they look like. But it doesn't take long for me to form an opinion.

 

 

Now here is one of my biggest complaints about racism. Why is it when a black man insults a white man in anyway it's just accepted, but if a white man insults a black man it's racist. Or any race for that matter, be it Muslim, Chinese, Mexican or whoever we're called racists? Is it just me or is it that only White people can be racist? This mentality seems true for the majority of the people I know. An example, if a Muslim hates white people we say he's just angry about the war, but when will the other 'races' (cultures) start to take responsibility for what is equally their problem.

 

It can't just be white people who are responsible for the cultural hatred that's around in the world.

 

And you may say you want racial equality, but you're not willing to meet in the middle. If you want to be equal, how about YOU go to jail when you insult White culture, or YOU give up your racial only schools. Why is it none of my school can be 'White Only" because it's racist but Blacks, Muslims, Native American, and Latin cultures can have schools where my race aren't allowed to go or they get grants I'm not allowed to get. If you're not willing to stand up next to me and take the same punishments and rewards as I do for the sake of being 'not racist' then there is no point in having this discussion. Until then your culture can complain about it all they want, but complaining doesn't change it, action does.

 

Finally I hold these same standards to women who want equal rights to men. I'm fine with you standing up next to me on the pedestal we call the human race, but if you're not willing to give up the things that are different between us, good or bad(like jail time for beating their husbands, equal punishment for sexual harassment in the work place or equal maternity leave) then I'm not willing to consider your words.

 

 

Franklin, this isn't personally targeted to you, I just have a lot to say on this subject.

What happened on the other forums was wrong, but it's wrong in the same way that system is wrong. There is very little you can do about it other than to ignore them and move on with your life otherwise you'll just build up strong negative emotions and project them on your children to repeat the cycle.

[Marked 197]

I admit saying that Thurgood Marshall didn't care about his community is clearly a lie. The man is a legend in his own right.

 

But I'll be honest with you, every one is a little bit racist. It's hard not to be when our cultures conflict so much.

I agree. There's a difference between disliking a culture. It's possible for that to look like racism, because generally only race applies to that culture. For example, my gf is a chinese-malaysian so I know a fair bit about them and their culture and I have reservations about chinese immigration because I know that they that will come here and segregate themselves (even if it's a language barrier) and setup little asia's within NZ and not integrate into NZ society. Obviously I'm not racist towards asians/chinese (even if I was, I have a pass) because I'm quite fond of one, it's a culture thing. The asians who integrate here are just like any other person, you don't even think about race. It's the culture clash and sometimes that comes with being a different race.

 

 

Now here is one of my biggest complaints about racism. Why is it when a black man insults a white man in anyway it's just accepted, but if a white man insults a black man it's racist. Or any race for that matter, be it Muslim, Chinese, Mexican or whoever we're called racists? Is it just me or is it that only White people can be racist? This mentality seems true for the majority of the people I know. An example, if a Muslim hates white people we say he's just angry about the war, but when will the other 'races' (cultures) start to take responsibility for what is equally their problem.

Northern american's :P I think that there's greater responsibility on the majority race so it naturally happens that you called out more. We had an example of that here where the government plans to implement free lunches for low decile primary schools, and a newspaper cartoonist made a cartoon with the parents of a pacific island family/maori family (the indigenous race of NZ, 15% of NZers) and the cartoon effectively said they were going to have more money for smokes and gambling. Everyone called it racist. If it were a white family, you would never hear about it. And yet the pacific island families are poor and have higher percentages of these types of things. In my opinion it's just stupid to call it racism. Get over it and move on. But it doesn't really bother me that the majority's get called out on it. You know, life must be more difficult for some minorities.

 

Anyway, I will leave my comments toward RPG Maker racist to another post, coz none of you gona read it the wall of text.

[Dragon324 16]

Race is touchy especially in video games, but we also have to remember that unlike real life video games is most of the time set in a imaginative world that is not reality. The question then should be should it not be monitored as far as race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ect. Well my response and opinion is it should be somewhat monitored but its also very interesting how views can quickly change. For example lets say this, I'm white and I make a game where black people are hated and the game is very graphical in the abuse that is shown. Most people will get angry at this and say I'm racist but now lets say I'm african american and I create the same game, now suddenly the view has changed, I mean sure there will be some people that will care but the uproar about it would be considerably less but why? its still the same game just my race is different so honestly I don't know and I struggle with this in my own story creation where I tend to throw in the plot line that women are widely abused and that gives motivation for a protagonist to be disgusted and try to change society. 

 

Anyway sorry I was getting a little off basis but I think it widely depends, and you have to be very careful when applied to worlds that are not real. Like am I raciest if I make a game where only elves exists? So truthfully very touchy subject with one fat long grey area that is so sensitive, because here even in the USA its very hard to find one definition of what a hate crime is that exactly match from one organization to the other. Like if I remember correctly the FBI's definition and the DOJ (Department of Justice's) definitions vary.

 

Now as applied to what your referring to about people not having black characters honestly I think most people don't even think about it that openly, but if they read what you posted then they would probably realize they don't have any dark skinned people and would change it. So that in itself is not raciest just lack of thinking about it. Also because of this I agree with that dolarmak said we all have made racial slurs but that doesn't necessarily mean your raciest.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Dragon324

[Broken Messiah 20]

I've never cared or even noticed in rpg games I've played, the matter of race. Most, if not all the time, the people in the game were of one race. I didn't mind, I do like how Fallout went about race though. In it, your race didn't matter at all, and people didn't treat you different or even acknowledge it. This was glaringly present for me in Fallout 3, in Tranquility Lane, since I play as a black person usually. I do use race in my games though. Sanctuary, being a big world, has several races, and they do conflict with each other over real world issues. I think it adds a unfornate but needed realism to a game and can lead to a lot of content. I also feel like, perhaps because of I've gotten used to it, that other races other than white or japanese usually don't belong in the rpgs I play. When they are there, it's always glaringly obvious that they are the black person in the group or that one mexican. The same is true for anime lol, like in Bleach. There are two black people in it, as I'm aware. One is racistly portrayed and the other was there just to take up space. I'm not saying that I am perfectly fine with how it is, but I come to the  point where I'd rather there not be another race in a game or whatever if they'll be there just because they wanted a another race.

 

Oh and I love how Mass Effect handled the race issue. All of a sudden race doesn't matter when you can hate other species lol

Edited June 23, 2013 by Broken Messiah