Racial diversity among the powerplay lead figures

Status
Thread Closed: Not open for further replies.

Mephane

Mephane
I hate to be that guy, but someone has to speak up. I am a bit disappointed by the lack of racial variety in the current power leaders:

qmdjyqdi.png


I want to make it clear that I am not accusing FD of anything, this was certainly not mal-intended in any way, maybe they even thought about it and possibly have something more in the pipe for future powers, who knows. It is just that this picture looks remarkably... light-skinned; we have one person who looks Asian, and two people seem a bit Mediterranean, but that's it. (Also, 6 out of 10 people in the picture are male.)

I am glad you didn't follow a really bad trope and had made Archon Delaine the only black guy, that would have been really awkward. So let this be just a small heads-up towards FD - good start, but you could still do better.
 

Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
Ian Phillips
Ladies and Gentlemen,

it seems that you really do wish to discuss the racial distribution of 10 pictures.

Some house rules.

This thread will be closely monitored.
Any more comments about bust size, any off topic, racist, or sexist comments will attract penalties.

There is NO leaway in this thread. Stay on topic and civil.
 

Adept

Adept
Art always has a message, as do games. I don't think FD have some nasty agenda here, but I have really been hoping that there would be some well thought out info on what people look like in the universe. The first 10 Power Play pictures seem to say that the rich and powerful in the universe are white, and to a lesser extent male.

Achenar being what it is, I was hoping that we'd find out that the Duval line are very dark skinned, either due to heritage or deliberate genetic adjustments. Humanity is not just white folk, and far future Sci-Fi shouldn't be stuck with the ghosts of our racist past.

pigmentation.gif
 
Last edited:

Mephane

Mephane
Ian Phillips said:
Ladies and Gentlemen,

it seems that you really do wish to discuss the racial distribution of 10 pictures.

Some house rules.

This thread will be closely monitored.
Any more comments about bust size, any off topic, racist, or sexist comments will attract penalties.

There is NO leaway in this thread. Stay on topic and civil.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I had already been wondering where the thread had gone so quickly. I understand this is a sensitive matter, and as I said in the OP, this is not an accusation. It is probably just an oversight, or FD thought about it and deemed it not that important, and I wanted to make it clear that there are people who do care.
 

TriumphANT

TriumphANT
From the point of view of the future and genetics, a race like Homo Sapiens which has populated a galaxy, or a good part of it, will have a massively mixed gene pool compared to today when we're still relatively isolated from each other. CMDRs moving hundreds of light years in a few minutes will totally end that genetic isolation, and the genetic advantages we have just now will largely be irrelevant. Mutations and selection on a space station will be very different to those for people under the light of a star.
 

Strangepork

Strangepork
racism
ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/
noun
noun: racism
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
"theories of racism"

prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
"a programme to combat racism"
synonyms:racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice/bigotry, xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, bias, intolerance; More
 

talshiarr

talshiarr
Why should they be expected to tick off some unspoken quota lest they incur the ire of whatever passes as the equality board in gaming these days? Unless it's five women, five men, every single one a different skin tone and nationality, they haven't met some obligation to be inclusive and "diverse"? Even though I'm as pasty white as the guy to his left, I fully intend to support Denton Patreus, and his skin color and gender doesn't mean a damn thing to me.
 

Varrag

Varrag
Well, it does look a bit awkward to get just one Asian person and one Indian (although he could be south-European as well).
 

Ben Ryder

Ben Ryder
Ian Phillips said:
Ladies and Gentlemen,

it seems that you really do wish to discuss the racial distribution of 10 pictures.

Some house rules.

This thread will be closely monitored.
Any more comments about bust size, any off topic, racist, or sexist comments will attract penalties.

There is NO leaway in this thread. Stay on topic and civil.
Click to expand...

Thank you for allowing this discussion to take place.

It's better to see the elephant in the room than hide from it.
 

Zetta

Zetta
I think the line-up is absolutely fine. There's a reasonable mix of ethnicity, there's a good age range and there's a good mix of sexes.
 

Adept

Adept
lovely lovely said:
It's a game folks - leave it at that.
Click to expand...

This does not fly. It is a game yes, a work of art. Art has has a message, you are always saying something.

It is also a simulation of a living galaxy we can get immersed and forget our present day. Are we supposed to think that population of those thousands of worlds is predominantly of North-European descent, or that having a pale skintone is still the key to becoming rich and powerful? For Science Fiction, both of these would be a serious step backwards.
 

Bidermann

B
i cant see what you are moaning about , there a mix of all sorts , and one that looks my alien than human . political correctness will suffocate us all
 

Arubeto

Arubeto
Even though I agree with the OP that the "racial variety" is little limited in the portraits of the initial 10 powers, the discussion is a prime example of exaggerated political correctness.

If anything, I fear posts and threads like these will rather not encourage FD to create more character visualizations than absolutely necessary, because someone will come and complain about some made up problem.

I hope people don't blow this topic up more than it should be. It's creating problems where actually there aren't any.
 
Last edited:

Commander Starcloak

Commander Starcloak
If people can be calm and reasoned, I will offer my opinion.

I think there is more diversity than Mephane does - for example I see Patreus as clearly middle-eastern or perhaps mixed heritage. I also think I see signs of mixed heritage in Edmund Mahon, Felicia Winters, and Archon Delaine. That said I will admit I am surprised that Pranav Antal is fair-skinned, simply because from his name I had imagined a different background for him.

Could there be more diversity? Yes. But I also think there's more than the OP thinks. I also keep in mind http://www.livescience.com/34228-will-humans-eventually-all-look-like-brazilians.html which strongly suggests that in future Humans will be more of a mixed blend, somewhere in the middle in apperance, than today, when considering this.
 

Evil

Evil
Dont understand the thread, I only see humans, the ones that either faught/worked/schemed their way to power, it could have been 10 totally different people, what do you see OP ?
 
Last edited:

Tenshi

Tenshi
Mephane said:
I hate to be that guy, but someone has to speak up. I am a bit disappointed by the lack of racial variety in the current power leaders:



I want to make it clear that I am not accusing FD of anything, this was certainly not mal-intended in any way, maybe they even thought about it and possibly have something more in the pipe for future powers, who knows. It is just that this picture looks remarkably... light-skinned; we have one person who looks Asian, and two people seem a bit Mediterranean, but that's it. (Also, 6 out of 10 people in the picture are male.)

I am glad you didn't follow a really bad trope and had made Archon Delaine the only black guy, that would have been really awkward. So let this be just a small heads-up towards FD - good start, but you could still do better.
Click to expand...

First off men are more driven to seek power than women usually. This is down to their inherent trait to be the hunter/gather type, to go out and make war to provide for the family/ tribe. So there will always be more men in power than women no matter what the century is.
Women are more inclined to stay at home (behind the scenes) rather than be in the lime light or line of fire. Due to their inherent mothering natures.

Just got to look at how many men are in positions of power in government when compared to women or the armed forces. Yes there are some women but its not a direct split 50/50, and I doubt it ever will be.

As for the colour of the skin tones. I don't have a problem with them and neither should any other normal person. We are all human at the end of the day regardless of skin colour.
 
Status
Thread Closed: Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom