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Sexual violence, slavery, and genocide. Just another day in the Empire?


Shampoo

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I'm going to speak freely for a moment on the writing and content surrounding my experience creating an Imperial character (Sith Warrior) and what I find to be outright disturbing about the narrative--and I'm not just speaking towards the random killings and ability to be an evil SOB, I expected and enjoyed that. I suggest at least visiting this issue if you have even a remote interest in sexual/gender/lgbt politics and media portrayals.

 

 

 

This is my second major set of thoughts on the game--far from a review, just a small article and reassessment of some of the more troubling aspects of The Old Republic and the community it has betrothed.

 

Let me start with the fact that the writing in ToR is often fairly droll. I knew this from beta and onwards. What I did not understand that it would become offensive and leave me with a sense of overwhelming dread. After all, I have an enormous amount of passion for Video Games as a media pillar. Allow me to elaborate.

 

Recurring motifs involve acting out sexual violence against your female slave Vette--who seems to take it all in jovial stride, killing, enslaving and torturing people and aiding in targeted genocide against specific canonical races. These may be themes expected and accurate according to the extended universe, but the poor presentation is ugly and unwelcome.

 

These reprehensible story and design decisions were something I was astonished to see from what we once knew as Bioware. It's disheartening.

 

The Old Republic's Empire is just... overboard evil--offensively so, and I consider myself extremely leaniant in terms of controversial material. I despise censorship. In fact, the content currently in the game would sit fine with me if it felt justified or properly contextualized. But alas, Bioware's Empire writing inmost cases isn't smart enough to justify it's horrifyingly over the top treatises, which consistently center on dehumanizing your proposed NPC and player PC peers.

 

...and naturally comes the marketing this material to young adults who lack so much as one strand of facial hair.

 

Worse yet, players operate in group dialogue sessions that encourage the aforementioned empty and degrading mentalities--thusly these portions are largely celebrated and incentivized by the community.

 

I enjoyed that World of Warcraft's presumably 'evil' horde was presented intelligently--yet I realize the canon is entirely different and that they don't operate under a fascist dictatorship. Even given those differences I think it's important to note that it's a step backwards in many ways to have the game reward you for things like ****.

 

ToR's undeniable older sister, old as she may be, possessed writing bounds more mature than that seen in The Old Republic. The grand irony being, of course, that ToR's major bragging point is it's alleged focus on in-depth decision making and narrative complexity.

 

I digress, I only created my Sith to let out anger and now, in many ways, I wish I hadn't.

 

If the writing was smart, if it was well done and conveyed the sense of dread with an element of satire or commentary, or even presented itself as remotely problematic I might be able to stomach playing an Imperial. As of now, I'm just stunned this isn't being talked about more by the media.

 

The negligence enacted by journalists and our culture to this sort of degenerate content also points as to why video games have such a gosh darn long way to go before they garner even a morsel of the integrity possessed by cinema or music (which hardly set the bar high themselves). Yeah, I'll stick to Republic. Also: I found Sith Juggernaut was piss boring and mirrors WoW 1:1 and doesn't actually possess high threat until the mid-30s.

 

Not so surprisingly ESRB slaps T for Teen on ToR and M for Mature on Heavy Rain. Ugh.

 

Maybe it's my attitude towards games right now, but something about the Empire makes me wonder why games like this are rated Teen while if another game so much as gives gamers a peep at a breast or contains crude language ESRB slaps on an M rating (Bad Fur Day, etc). I know these talking points are not new, I also don't think that makes them any less worthy of continued discussion. It's time for interactive media to stop being unabashedly chauvinistic and stupid.

 

This is where the game deviates from kotoR in a very detrimental way--you're actually punished for neutrality, and yet the majority of the community plays the nearly slapstick evil Empire (minus the humor). If not addressed in a timely manner, I can see the following problems significantly reducing subscription figures; a) a cascade of negative press, b) being World of Sabercraft c) terrible, childish, offensive writing.

 

I couldn't wait to leave Hoth. It's the same outright silly bosses that show up in groups of 3 for every major planet quest. After investing far too many hours I'm about ready to hang up my MMO hat for the forseable future.

 

I don't mind the grind, touching blue boxes for EXP, or even a relatively rude community--but the fact that the game seems to degrade in story driven elements, class customizations options (and bloat), and begins to feel even MORE closed off an impersonal has me not wanting to play even my main any longer.

 

I guess it's just really disappointing, I genuinely wanted an MMO with the charm, atmosphere and game mechanics to rival WoW's prime years. This is not that game. Oh well--first world problems and such. And then there's the flip-flop on the gay marriage and companionship which seems to have existed to some degree but evaporated and ignored by developers in the release version--the 'feature' has gone unmentioned by developers for some time. Oh well--there's always shocking (sexually harassing) your sex slave Vette and romancing her with gifts until she marries you.

 

****. Ebert was and is right. We have a long, long way to go.

 

tl;dr version for folks with less time on their hands:

 

The problematically 5th grade level writing in ToR touches on topics from sexual violence to torture, slavery and bigotry without even a bit of intelligent context or commentary. It reinforces why games still aren't taken seriously as art.

 

Also: read my whole post if you decide to start flaming me or calling me two-faced. It takes countless hours to properly assess an MMO of this caliber.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/03/the-bizarre-sexism-in-biowares-star-wars-the-old-republic/ <--- Forbes chimes in. The press is already coming in.

Edited by Parali
content - removed adolph hitler reference
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The whole theme of this game is extremes.

 

Extreme goo and extreme bad... your complaint is that the 'Bad Guys" are actually bad?

 

I get it, its over the top... but that is what a villain is, over the top.

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Did you read the entirety of the post? How often do you press spacebar? Do you feel there's anything problematic with the way some of the Empire quest lines are handled given it's T for Teen rating?

 

perpetuating age old chauvinistic view of female characters, aiding in slave trades, verifying race purity, sexually abusing a companion who genuinely just wants to help you.

 

Why does it seem like developers go out of there way to make games unfriendly to women? My girlfriend was literally sickened by it

 

--and yes she agreed that under the circumstance of a more intelligent, well developed scene the actions could be made justifiably, but as they stand it's just gross. Certainly worthy of an M rating and not fitting the Pixar vibe you get for the other odd half of the content.

Edited by Shampoo
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You wanted to join an Imperial society - you got one. Evil or good. You cannot play a "nice" Sith Marauder - he would have to end up converting to a Jedi and or become like Jolee.

 

Honestly, you didn't expect this? You only consider it sloppy because you did not enjoy it

Edited by Elyons
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Did you read the entirety of the post? How often do you press spacebar? Do you feel there's anything problematic with the way some of the Empire quest lines are handled given it's T for Teen rating?

 

Slaughtering innocents, aiding in slave trades, verifying race purity, sexually abusing a companion who genuinely just wants to help you.

 

Why does it seem like developers go out of there way to make games unfriendly to women? My girlfriend was literally sickened by it

 

--and yes she agreed that under the circumstance of a more intelligent, well developed scene the actions could be made justifiably, but as they stand it's just gross. Certainly worthy of an M rating and not fitting the Pixar vibe you get for the other odd half of the content.

 

Never hit spacebar once as I leveled my Imperial Agent to 50. Bad things happen in the real world, bad things happen in Star Wars. Nothing went over the top, so the teen rating is absolutely appropriate.

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My claims relate to the lack of intelligence or premise to warrant that sort of thing. Also an ESRB rating that fails to acknowledge the deeply rooted gender and torture related issues that present themselves.

 

Yes, the Empire is evil--you volunteer for it. But folks who buy the game expect an experience like the original trilogy, not a product where you're literally guided to make the decision to shock an enslaved, sexualized companion in order to get dark side points for specific gear.

 

Not only that but down the line, you can buy her affection through gifts and have the option of espousing the very same character you've tortured until the sudden materialistic turnaround.

 

It's all a bit disheartening and certainly not something I'd ever want to see a child or pre-teen playing this content on a Saturday night--particularly if said child hadn't received proper guidance to separate fantasy and reality. Given the right sort of coverage, the media would have a field day with this.

 

...and no the OPTION to make slightly less evil options does not justify the fact that in a game targeted towards folks as young as 13 you have the option of abusing who is essentially your giddy playmate by electrocuting her repeatedly in between flirting sessions.

Edited by Shampoo
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I'm not going to flame you for your opinion, I agree with a lot of things you're saying but more importantly I'm glad that these sorts of issues still matter to people. I think I must be becoming desensitized :S

 

But I have to ask you why you resort to name-calling and insulting the very people for whom you'd like to have a discussion with, at the end of your post? If you are offended by the tldr crowd than why not just skip that whole part altogether? It makes you seem like you're looking for a fight before anyone even has the chance to respond.

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The negligence enacted by journalists and our culture to this sort of degenerate content also points as to why video games have such a gosh darn long way to go before they garner even a morsel of the integrity possessed by cinema or music (which hardly set the bar high themselves). Yeah, I'll stick to Republic. Also: I found Sith Juggernaut was piss boring and mirrors WoW 1:1 and doesn't actually possess high threat until the mid-30s.

Cinema realy? you wann go there? please dont go there, or i must show you some of the most typical american movies? so dont go there. Episode IV A new hope. They just blow up a planet just to prove a point to the fair princess. And to test their new toy. So just dont go there realy.

Yes the choices are simple, nothing is realy grey, its moslty black and white. But it isnt always so imo. try playing a light side sith, and see how it goes.

And dont you dare bring up wow on this matter, you are only complaining because in swtor you are much more easly connected with the story. And star wars is also fantasy fiction so its the same as saying that sauron is the hitler on Lord of the rings. Juts dont go there its simply not true.

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Wait, what?

 

My Sith's around level 27. He seems like a pretty nice guy so far, just born into the wrong society.

 

FYI: There's nothing stopping vette from leaving you, story-wise. In fact, in one of her quests [spoiler, HIGHLIGHT:] You can ask her if she wants to leave you for her old gang. She'll say no.

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My claims relate to the lack of intelligence or premise to warrant that sort of thing. Also an ESRB rating that fails to acknowledge the deeply rooted gender and torture related issues that present themselves.

 

Yes, the Empire is evil--you volunteer for it. But folks who buy the game expect an experience like the original trilogy, not a product where you're literally guided to make the decision to shock an enslaved, sexualized companion in order to get dark side points for specific gear.

 

Not only that but down the line, you can buy her affection through gifts and have the option of espousing the very same character you've tortured until the sudden materialistic turnaround.

 

It's all a bit disheartening and certainly not something I'd ever want to see my 13 year old playing on a Saturday night. Given the right sort of coverage, the media would have a field day with this.

 

simple solution , monitor what your kids play , and for that matter what the watch on TV and the Internet , don't push you responsibility to the rest of us , I have 2 kids its my responsibility what they do not yours.

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I'm not going to flame you for your opinion, I agree with a lot of things you're saying but more importantly I'm glad that these sorts of issues still matter to people. I think I must be becoming desensitized :S

 

But I have to ask you why you resort to name-calling and insulting the very people for whom you'd like to have a discussion with, at the end of your post? If you are offended by the tldr crowd than why not just skip that whole part altogether? It makes you seem like you're looking for a fight before anyone even has the chance to respond.

 

Fixed, sorry for sounding crass there. I was a little fired up about the whole situation as somebody who is active in trying to advocate for gender equality.

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Yes, the Empire is evil--you volunteer for it. But folks who buy the game expect an experience like the original trilogy, not a product where you're literally guided to make the decision to shock an enslaved, sexualized companion in order to get dark side points for specific gear.

 

Or you can go light side and free her and treat her like a welcome companion and start a loving relationship with her.

 

Is it Bioware's fault for offering the torture option, or yours for taking it?

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Or you can go light side and free her and treat her like a welcome companion and start a loving relationship with her.

 

Is it Bioware's fault for offering the torture option, or yours for taking it?

 

Yeah. Taking the LS option wouldn't feel meaningful without the alternative.

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I'm not surprised about posts like these. People get their panties in a wad over everything anymore.

 

Of course this could be the ultimate troll post. And I think it comes down to who the player really is on what you choose to do, not Bioware's fault for giving you the option.

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OP, I am a Republic player and honestly, I do not understand what you expected when playing Empire. The Empire, as it is portrayed ingame and in the movies (with the exception of some individuals of course) is very close to a totalitarian regime. It is intolerant of "lesser races", militaristic, propagandist and doomed to fail at some point.

 

I have played a Dark Side Sith inquisitor to 50 and enjoyed it immensely, while clearly compartmentalizing my real and ingame personnalities. I now play a trooper and I clearly feel more aligned with Republican ideals (as most people who play the game hopefully even though they may enjoy playing Dark Side): democracy, rule of law, equality of races...

 

As for sexual violence, I cannot comment as I've never played a Sith warrior, but keep in mind that the game is for people over 16.

 

So, I actually like the fact that evil is not only portrayed as blatantly killing every person you come across but also in the political and sociological aspects of the Empire. It clearly adds depth to the game and feeds roleplaying.

 

If you cannot stomach roleplaying someone who agrees with those ideals (which is perfectly understandable) then don't play Empire and join the side that will win in the end.

Edited by Moitteva
inappropriate content (political)
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Hey man, I read your whole wall of text.

 

And I agree whole heartedly. Especially the part where the homophobes are ok with kids sexually assaulting their slave companion but not participating in a same sex relationship.

 

Another thing that really irks me about that, is that it seems if you play a male character there are more in game options to flirt or have sex with story npcs than if you play a male character. That oddly strikes me as favoritism of one sex over the other, which is down right sexist.

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Whoa, I didn't know that the Sith Warrior only came with dark side choices.

 

That's the way the SW's evil side is. Accept it, or reroll light side. Or female.

 

This ^^^

 

I've never once slapped, shocked or sexually harassed Vette, just because I don't want to.

If you choose the dark side then you must accept that you are going to see and do dark deeds.

 

But over all, ITS A GAME, DON'T READ TOO MUCH INTO IT, it's not real. :D

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