I've brought it up a few times and I'd prefer to let it rest, but inclusion
isn't my problem with shit like this. My issue is that half the time it's espoused, it's being done by an absolute lunatic who, more often than not, has no idea why people like the fluff of an attached work of fiction. When these people get in charge of something - and they
have - this can result in dire consequences for a game's fluff, especially if that individual is also a terrible writer on their own merits. As someone who is a storyfag for most games he plays, trying to learn more about each setting, that is something that I find especially distasteful.
Take for example the case of Jennifer Hepler, who was the main writer behind
Dragon Age: Inquisition. Whilst the game is fine, gameplay-wise, the story of the game took a noticeable hit, and suddenly tons is changed fluff-wise and character-wise for no immediately discernable reason, whilst the usual suspects flagellate themselves over how "inclusive" it is. It's only when you dig a little deeper that you realize that Hepler herself has no real writing credentials, and moreover, outright admits to disliking video games, which she is now being paid to write for, that you realize just how pants-on-head we've gotten here.
Hell, this little image surmising Hepler and who she supplanted sums it up rather well:
And lest you think Bioware is backing off from hiring additional people like Hepler:
....I can't even think of something humorous to say about this one.
This kind of activity hasn't been a unique occurence. Every single time,
it's followed the same pattern: one ideologue gets in place, often as a "diversity hire" or as the result of outside agitation. After this individual is in place, they will begin appointing other ideologues who believe in the cause, gradually forcing out employees who are less on-board with their ideas, until they achieve ideological purity. Hell, we've seen this behavior a few times amongst the various lolcows we've covered, as well, such as how Laurelai acquired SJWiki or
Vade took over Furryscumbags.
In the eyes of these individuals, adherence to the cause is more important than credentials, experience, or merit, because someone who supports the cause is inherently more moral. And it's not just people in the industry, there's plenty of idiots outside who would love to take established works and warp them to their own world-view as well. Hell, the
Trans Samus Incident, of Brianna Wu fame, practically exists as proof of that. Kadybat's "this is revolutionary queerness" spiel speaks volumes.
I don't like constantly seeing this shit these days in games development, because these people will think nothing of eviscerating a game world, character, setting, or work of fiction if it makes it "better" in their eyes, and they all-too-often have little or even no real skill to speak of in the process. At the end of it lies a product that's inferior, if it even can get a serviceable market, and that kind of sucks for all involved.
