Could we have some black characters?

[TheKingofSquirrels]

Oh great, another one of those SJWs.

 

Sure there can be Black characters, but I expect Klei to keep with their consistent style of the game and if they're going to throw in a "Black" character, she/he will have context in the world/style and fit in, and not be some dumb African-American stereotype with stupid cornrows or something.

 

And for the sake of discussion, why do you want a Black character? You utter inclusivity, but then why a Black over an Arab, an East Asian, or a South Asian? How about a Khazak, a Serbian, or a Punjabi? You can say, "well these groups are a small minority." But Blacks are an even smaller minority in gaming compared to some of the aforementioned groups- African-Americans are only 12% of the US population, and not only that but are on average much poorer thus there would be less African-Americans on average that are into gaming than Whites or Asians. Why should there be a Black character, and not another character of a more common race in gaming, like East-Asian or Russian (unless Wolfgang is Russian)?

 

So if you're going to argue based on "inclusivity", then you have no reason to specify "Black" (I assume African-American, "Black" Africans are quite diverse). So then it might be because you want to "identify" with somebody of your own race, in this case a Black character. Then we could also say that you want to play a Black character over an Asian or White character, in which case that might be arguable whether or not it's racist (I don't think it is). If it is not based on racism, then the same problem persists- why should Black people have a character to identify with while other groups/races shouldn't when those groups/races are more common in gaming than Blacks?

 

Regardless, I hope Klei doesn't pander to "social justice" warriors that, in their own, hypocritical racism, only pander to specific social groups under the false argument of their being "oppressed" en masse in society. Likewise, I hope Klei recognizes that groups like this are a vocal minority that are mostly irrelevant despite the illusion of power given to them by current media.

 

The reason I specified Black, is because the new character is Hawaiian. 

[grekon]

but we're all okay with monkey butlers? yeaaah...

There's a sarcasm I assume. But I didn't get it.

[ThaumicParrot]

but we're all okay with monkey butlers? yeaaah...

Well monkeys aren't people. They're subhuman mangy squirrels waiting to be bent to our will. I hope no one on the forum is a Capuchin, because they'd be calling me a specist white cis-human by now.

[CameoAppearance]

I don't think it's unreasonable to want some of the upcoming characters to both be human and have a skin tone darker than literally paper-white. I really don't understand what Walani being Hawaiian has to do with why the OP specifically wants a black character more than any other visible minority, but a little more racial diversity wouldn't do any harm. And I have enough confidence in Klei to believe they could do it without the character being either an ethnic stereotype or completely void of distinguishing characteristics apart from their race; all it would take is a recolor of one of the already-planned-but-unimplemented characters, honestly.

 

This thread turned into a total disaster area by the time it got halfway down the first page though.

[SirBuizelton]

I don't think it's unreasonable to want some of the upcoming characters to both be human and have a skin tone darker than literally paper-white. I really don't understand what Walani being Hawaiian has to do with why the OP specifically wants a black character more than any other visible minority, but a little more racial diversity wouldn't do any harm. And I have enough confidence in Klei to believe they could do it without the character being either an ethnic stereotype or completely void of distinguishing characteristics apart from their race; all it would take is a recolor of one of the already-planned-but-unimplemented characters, honestly.

 

This thread turned into a total disaster area by the time it got halfway down the first page though.

 

Well I mean this is the internet. Conversations about deeply rooted social issues tend to end badly here. That's why I was tempted to run while I could.

 

Fortunately, this is extremely tame compared to what I usually see. The Don't Starve community seems really awesome imo.

[Cyde042]

Well I mean this is the internet. Conversations about deeply rooted social issues tend to end badly here. That's why I was tempted to run while I could.

Fortunately, this is extremely tame compared to what I usually see. The Don't Starve community seems really awesome imo.

It's just that kids(aka teens that had their views founded by someone else and will speak up without doing a bit of research or disregarding logic) frequent usually reddit, not official forums.

[Flare2V]

Wes is black, he just wears make-up.

[TMJJack]

If we were in just DS or RoG, I would disagree. There is a lot of British influence in general especially in reference to literature. I do think it would be appropriate to have another islander-based character with themes from Haiti, Papua New Guinea, or Jamaica because of the tropical setting.

However, criticizing inclusiveness is sticky, but I don't think it's really my place to critique the ethics of a game unless they're blantantly offensive. Forcing inclusion into a media is difficult and can lead to stereotyping or sloppy design. I'm sure we can all think of a flyer or pamphlet that belaboured diversity. I'm happy to complain about mechanics and balancing, but as a consumer, I'm too ignorant to meddle with an issue like this. I'll leave that to the developers to figure out.

[Hexis]

To contribute something meaningful for a change, here's an idea.

 

There's plenty of (for example) historical figures and characters to draw inspiration from, but for some reason the crazy quest for Prester John's fabulously rich kingdom (or whatever it was supposed to be) somehow stuck to me. So there could be this character, who has some special trait regarding treasures, for example, finding more 'X marks the spots' and Trunks, or maybe being able to transmute something to (or otherwise have somewhat easier/earlier access to) gems and/or gold. Gems would probably be more interesting, as it would give the character easier access to staves and amulets, and make the previously either unrenewable (vanilla) or relying-on-0.02-chance-drop (RoG) gems and by extension the stuff crafted with them more viable.

 

Of course, this would have to be balanced by some kind of limitation, like a heavy sanity/health cost, being able to transmute only x times per timeframe, or requiring some material that's otherwise not that hard to get but is also needed somewhere else or something like that.

 

This is just spitballing, so I'm not sure how this type of character would actually turn out. I've never really played much with the magic items in this game, but stuff like the deconstruction staff and ice staff seem pretty useful. Also I'm not entirely sure how easy gems are to come by in caves/ruins, it's been a while since I played RoG. But hey. Just spitballing.

[TheKingofSquirrels]

If we were in just DS or RoG, I would disagree. There is a lot of British influence in general especially in reference to literature. I do think it would be appropriate to have another islander-based character with themes from Haiti, Papua New Guinea, or Jamaica because of the tropical setting.

However, criticizing inclusiveness is sticky, but I don't think it's really my place to critique the ethics of a game unless they're blantantly offensive. Forcing inclusion into a media is difficult and can lead to stereotyping or sloppy design. I'm sure we can all think of a flyer or pamphlet that belaboured diversity. I'm happy to complain about mechanics and balancing, but as a consumer, I'm too ignorant to meddle with an issue like this. I'll leave that to the developers to figure out.

 

Exactly! Before it didn´t bother me, but now, where the character is Hawaiian and is from a tropical setting I feel like it wouldn´t feel forced to have a black character, instead it would actually fit and make sense.

[orian34]

Exactly! Before it didn´t bother me, but now, where the character is Hawaiian and is from a tropical setting I feel like it wouldn´t feel forced to have a black character, instead it would actually fit and make sense.

I still don't understand why having a Hawaiian inspired character has anything to do with having a black character.

Also, what do you mean by black people, cause it can mean anything.

 

Anyway, what would really make sense is adding a blue character, cus water world and merms.

[HeilerderWelten]

Are you saying all black's are monsters?

 

 

The little boy in the spider could be black.

And that boy is tough as nails. ^^

 

That being said.

 

Was his name Webber before he got eaten by the spider?

Was the name of the spider Webber?

Are both named Webber?

Webber Webber?

Webber?

Yes.

[TheKingofSquirrels]

I still don't understand why having a Hawaiian inspired character has anything to do with having a black character.

Also, what do you mean by black people, cause it can mean anything.

 

Anyway, what would really make sense is adding a blue character, cus water world and merms.

 

I´m no expert in the subject of ethnic groups in Hawaii, but I was under the impression that most people who originate from there are not white.

[mitboy]

I still don't understand why having a Hawaiian inspired character has anything to do with having a black character.

Also, what do you mean by black people, cause it can mean anything.

I guess she could  be just swarthy, it's easy to get a tan there, regardless of your nationality

[Flare2V]

To contribute something meaningful for a change

 

Give em a chuckle

or it aint worth eff all

 

~flare

[MrTeHe101]

True Hawaiians are neither White nor Asian really. I classify them as Polynesian. Or those natives to Hawaii and Oceania. 

[TheKingofSquirrels]

True Hawaiians are neither White nor Asian really. I classify them as Polynesian. Or those natives to Hawaii and Oceania. 

Ok, my bad, polynesian then...

[Exhu]

I guess OP forgot about webber >.>

[Jesca]

I think it is weird that everyone is jumping down the OP's throat about wanting representation in a favorite game. I don't think it is too much to ask for some representation for other backgrounds, is it? Arguing that it wouldn't fit with the "feel" of the game is silly imo. It's not like the game is set in a real place where a certain ethnicity lives or anything, you can literally play a spider person and a robot for crying out loud. 

 

I personally think it is a valid point- we want to see more diversity in games, why not ask one of our favorite games to consider it? The thought may have never occurred to them and all they needed was a fan to remind them that representation is important.

 

Think of it this way: if you are a black kid and play video games, how many black characters do you have the chance to play? Far fewer than white ones.  Would that frustrated you or bother you? I know I was annoyed when I had a hard time finding female playable characters that weren't obviously sex objects. Having interesting and quirky female characters to choose from in this game gives me great joy and relieves some of the frustration I feel from my other favorite games. It is totally valid to want representative characters in your favorite games

[Aalda11]

Meh, some SJWs can be pretty annoying these days but overall I think it's not unreasonable wishing to see your own ethnicity represented in a game. Ofc it's not easy from developers' standpoint because Western countries are incredibly diverse nowadays, comprising of dozens of ethnicities. You'll always gonna have someone who's not represented.

 

Plus there's one more problem specifically with Don't Starve - most characters are....well, caricatures of sorts. They're being silly, foolish or crazy in one or more ways    How do you make a silly or crazy black/Asian character without exposing yourself to accusations of insensitivity? And if you make minority characters without any silliness they'll be simply bland and boring.

[MycoLogical]

I remember this being asked back in 2013; Big Foot acknowledge it and said that they would consider it.

 

 

The addition of Walani took me by surprise. Does she really fit in the 1920's canon? How did she meet up with Maxwell?! I guess William Carter got shipwrecked in Hawaii.....oh.

[Billythesquig]

firstly it's late 19th century not 1920's more like 1850's second before we go blaming William Carter for the shipwrecked predicament, lets ask ourselves a rather obvious question, who sat on the throne before him?

[ThaumicParrot]

firstly it's late 19th century not 1920's more like 1850's

 

First off, from the wiki: "The date and location of the "Final Act" video allude to the 1906 San Fransisco Earthquake".

 

The addition of Walani took me by surprise. Does she really fit in the 1920's canon?

 

 

Second, Surfboards have been around along with native Hawaiians since the 800's, the only reason I know this is from a quick search on google, seems legit though.

[Guest]

Wx is brown, just sayin'

[Codsworth]

I don't think the characters actually have colors, they are just colorless, i get your point but I don't think that would make sense an "Black Character" since none of them actually have an skin color.