Oh - and by the way - I've also been chased down and discriminated against for being white, but that's fewer than being chased down and discriminated against for being Asian/Pacific Islander/a lighter shade of brown. Racists come from all races. I sympathise. Sometimes the persecuted lash back at the perceived persecutor. Privelige comes from the topic of race and calss fairness. Which is totally unrelated here.
wow im arab, does that mean i take offense to COD 4 no i enjoy the game because its just a game, and i know that the devs put alot of time and effort into the game itself. if u look at the shooters of the past ie, armed assault, battlefield...the list goes on, they always have u shooting an enemy that is either russian, or middle eastern its not that pacific islanders dont matter. ITS JUST A GAME IF UR OFFENDED DONT BUY IT thats like saying WW2 games shouldnt let the player kill germans
Intention has everything to do with the discussion! (IMO) Specifically bringing RACE (i.e. 'white') into a comment is intentional. Ugh. I give up... you guys have a good time discussing this... sorry that I'm white - apparently that invalidates anything I might have to say on the topic.
I think the intent jmarquiso was referring, is in regards to the developers not intending to offend anybody. That is not the reason your comments are off base. I am Caucasian (of Dutch and German descent) and I am receptive to the concerns of minorities (or anyone who feels mistreated, for that matter.) If you don't know what you are talking about, you don't know what you are talking about: but don't cloud the issue.
Your opinion is your opinion...and you have the right to express it. The concern lies in PG being altered because some people are over sensitive, and so those of us not offended, get the shaft. It's not that I don't care that people are offended. It's that I don't want they're opinions to inadvertantly effect my gameplaying experience. If you don't like it, don't play it. Ever heard of Mein Kampf?? It's still on the shelves to this day. Let people decide what they want to subject THEMSELVES to. I don't need a baby sitter I can make my own decisions about what I find offensive. EDIT: I don't even really like the game. I just really hate censorship. That's what it boils down to.
Well I do realize that private businesses can and do regulate their products. However I see it in books a million all the time. Barnes and nobel too. That's pretty weak to point out that a private company removed the book from their inventory. I'm glad you were able to google that though. It's very insightful
It is not, in fact, only private enterprise that has the power to regulate content. Take this section of the Canadian Criminal Code for example: " Hate Propaganda Advocating genocide 318. (1) Every one who advocates or promotes genocide is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. Definition of “genocide” (2) In this section, "genocide" means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part any identifiable group, namely, (a) killing members of the group; or (b) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction. Consent (3) No proceeding for an offence under this section shall be instituted without the consent of the Attorney General. Definition of "identifiable group" (4) In this section, "identifiable group" means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 318; 2004, c. 14, s. 1. Public incitement of hatred 319. (1) Every one who, by communicating statements in any public place, incites hatred against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace is guilty of (a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction. Wilful promotion of hatred (2) Every one who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, wilfully promotes hatred against any identifiable group is guilty of (a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction. " EDIT: This is also a relevant subsection: " Warrant of seizure 320. (1) A judge who is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds for believing that any publication, copies of which are kept for sale or distribution in premises within the jurisdiction of the court, is hate propaganda shall issue a warrant under his hand authorizing seizure of the copies. " Read the entire document here.
I would by say whites aren't discriminated against. Find one sit com where the white male isn't a doofus. Look at family guy, everyone loves raymond... Yeah it's funny , but it is also discriminating. I know it isn't enslaving people, but white males are discriminated against, and has acused this genertion to think wihte males have to be stupid and love football.
Hey Guys, I was in new york and am finally catching up on posting. these quotes are interesting to me. a lot of people are really convinced that we are targeting the pacific islands. honestly, we spent about a week in creating the game and submitting it to apple. the extent of our thought was to create a game in an island with a tropical theme. thats it. Sorry to disappoint but there was no targeting. Also, the game takes place in prehistoric times and the beings are meant to be the size of your finger. on the phone, they are represented as a 1:1 size ratio. obviously real pacific islanders are not that small. I'm going to create a new pocket god thread for our next updatelater today. this debate is difficult because people either belive you or they dont, but please dont make blanket statements that "its obvious" or "everyone agrees" because you are only creating your own fictional account of what went on behind the scenes when we created the game. The game is not about a real people or culture so making a comparison of what if we made a game about blacks, jews, asians, or whites does not really hold water. That said, we can't argue with someone if they feel offended by our content even if it wasnt our original intent. Obviously the world is set in prehistoric times given the dino that we added. We are planning on removing the moai to make that more clear. in fact, I was thinking of giving the guys red hair, fair skin and freckles as a 180 degree response to this issue. its kind of drastic, but I think it would be funny. I mean, if we make a game that is on an island in the sun. its a little ridiculous to make them white skinned. even the fairest white skin person would eventually have a tan and would look brown skinned eventually. Let me know what you think of making them ginger kids. I do think it would be funny.
Thanks for joining the discussion, Dave. I have found your dedication to improving Pocket God over time to be quite admirable. I am glad to see you are open to suggestions about improving it in this manner as well.
i see how in a teny tiny little spec it could be offensive but the reason i think not a lot of ppl are jumpin at it is because they dont care it just doesnt make sense if dave wasnt intending to make ppl offended then dave wasnt and thats that
I heard this report over the national radio yesterday (I live in nz, and am pakeha), and have freinds from pacific islands, asia, and other pakiha. (the pacific islander in the group owns this game and is often found showing it off to his freinds.) however i can understand problems with pacific islanders taking offence and can think of only one way to fix it: you are the god of australia! have fun throwing the annoyingly accented citizens into volcanos, feeding them sharks, and beating them at rugby! or make the pygmies teddie bears, meh lol love the ginger idea, maybe just one or two of em...
Hi Dave: I first want to thank you for making a great game, and stepping in. I know that since this article has been released, it's been rather crazy. As stated in this thread before, I'm a man of Pacific Islander descent who plays this game. I love this game. That being said, after it was pointed out, I could immediately see what everyone was talking about. A lot of people have made blanket statements and assumptions from this. I never thought it was your intention to go after one group in specific. These kind of things happen by accident, and there you go. Thank you for your thoughtful response here. As I also have Irish (well Irish/Welsh/German) descent, ginger pygmies would be hilarious. As the original complaint came from a specific group in New Zealand, opening a dialog with them, as you have with Touch Arcade for the updates, might be good. This doesn't mean you should sacrifice your original vision, just show that you understand what they're complaining about.
