When it comes to feelings, what if they are explained? I,e “I hate X because he worded Y and Z in cold blood” still turns you?
Eh, there are different kinds of eroges, as Sashira said.
In this case, I only wanted to avoid this particular sex scene. A) because I was not aiming for that particular girl (she looked way too young for my comfort) and B) the whole situation was just creepy. So I find her in an alley and take her home with me because, presumably, I’m a good guy who doesn’t want her to freeze to death. And then she offers sex as a reward for helping her. To the guy she’s known for all of two hours. The whole ‘you saved me, I am obligated to have sex with you now!’ thing is something I hate with a deep, burning passion because I can’t help but remember how often it happens in RL that men think women owe them sex just for not being a douchebag. On top of that, I believe that men shouldn’t be depicted as lust-crazed idiots. The dude didn’t want her to touch him. He went to another room. That’s as clear a rejection as she’s ever gonna get.
Really, that whole part of the game made me consider throwing it away. (I didn’t, and that scene thankfully remained the only one that made me REALLY uncomfortable.)
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As someone who has appreciation for the horror genre, I do think there is a difference between inherently dark storylines and poorly handled storylines. I think your way of forewarning the reader is a good way to make clear what kind of story you’re presenting to the player! 
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Many people have listed some very serious, disturbing things such as glorifying horrible crimes and discrimination. Are there really games that promote them? 
Or do people mistake containing disturbing material as supporting it?
I don’t often get uncomfortable, but I hate it when a game forces the MC to become best buddies with a really annoying character. The game first introduces a character who is either a minor villain or just very rude, annoying and a bully. Then the character supposedly gets redeemed or is revealed to be a misunderstood “jerk with a heart of gold”, but it’s badly written, so the character still feels like a complete bully. It feels like the character is the game maker’s fave and gets a pass on awful things that other characters would have to take responsibility for.
I once played a game where a character tried to kill the MC and her friend, stalked the MC, and broke into the MC’s house, but the MC instantly forgave him and started cooking a meal for him >.> And the game wasn’t even a “dark comedy” before this scene.
I also dislike preaching. I’m okay with playing games that have a message or a philosophy that I disagree with if it’s well-written and subtle. However, if characters suddenly start preaching like reading straight from a party’s guidebook, or suddenly someone says a “bad opinion” and all the other characters turn against that straw-man character and ridicule him/her just so that the writer can show the players how horrible that opinion is, it makes me sympathize with the character with a “bad opinion” just to spite the game maker.
I especially dislike it when sci-fi preaches that highly advanced technology is always bad, using it to improve yourself (transhumanism) always turns you into a soulless nonhuman or a villain and is something that people do only because teh evul corporations force them to adapt to social norms, or using technology to get a longer lifespan always makes you bored of life and suicidal.
It also makes me uncomfortable if I notice that a (not eroge) game is trying to coerce the MC into sleeping with all the possible romantic interests, even those of the gender that I don’t prefer. Like everyone is randomly flirting with the MC, touching and groping, etc, and there is no way to tell them to stop.
It’s even worse when the game tries to make the MC cheat. I once played a game where the MC was placed in a sexual situation and could only leave and stop cheating if you quickly made multiple timed choices. And the cheating was written in a glorified and kinda normalizing way.
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- I hate it when EITHER gender is depicted as better than the other, be it “all women are helpless or angry” or “all men are stupid or pigs.” Both tick me off.
- When I am forced to be friends with someone who’s personality my character would naturally avoid. And vice-versa, I’m forced to be arch-enemies with someone with the same personality
- Rape as a plot device, especially when it’s supposed to explain why a character has “issues.”
- When my character, even when I have a really high intelligence stat, makes stupid decisions without my input
- Religion in my games. Me being deeply religious, I get uncomfortable when it’s being bashed, but also being a history buff I get uncomfortable when it’s portrayed as perfect. Best to just leave it out entirely
- When I lose reputation with a really close friend because we disagree on a topic. Why would I want to be friends with someone who won’t respect my opinion?
- When two of your friends are arguing and both act like I should be the one to support them. Real friends would still argue but understand if you want to stay out of it.
- When the game is clearly trying to promote a message that I disagree with
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I don’t hate religion in games because I’m sensitive to it (I’m one of the most religious people I’ve ever met). I just think it is way too hard to do it right that it’s best to just leave it alone unless you have a lot of experience with it. Whether they’re saying religion is the cause of cancer and miscarriages and the holocaust and everything else wrong with the world, or that if you’re religious then everything will be happy forever and you’ll never have problems and your limbs will regrow. Both make me pretty uncomfortable because it is so rare for it to be done right.
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I won’t name any names, but yes, there have been games on the forums that were less than sensitive about certain controversial topics. I remember one dating sim that repulsed me, because the love interests would all be considered minors/children in my country, and the main character was an adult.
In general, COG and the forums are better about this kind of thing. Everything named here is something that has been in a game before, but not necessarily a CS game.
Yeah, this. I was a sociology major, I’ve read a ton of the world’s holy books, I respect religions. If I write about ancient religions, people seem to enjoy that, but if I’m equally sensitive about modern religions someone will inevitably end up hurt or offended. It’s the kind of issue that can so easily be misinterpreted, I would only include it in a game if I had a REALLY good reason.
Which is valid. My WIP contains sex, swearing, “evil” characters that don’t suffer for their crimes, and possibly cannibalism (depending on whether a former human eating people qualifies.) All of these are things people in this thread said would upset them, or they wouldn’t want to read about. They have their place in the game I’m writing, and I’m not planning to change them.
Agreed, they’re not the same. People are discussing everything from silly things that bug them to issues that are unacceptable on a moral level, which is what I hoped for. Not all things that bother you in games are equal. Not all of them are equally serious, and some might make a game better and deeper by including them, even though they could be upsetting.
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@techdragon610 I would actually like to see more religion in fiction and games, though I do get annoyed when it is treated poorly. It is such a fundamental part of history, culture, and everyday life that I feel cheated when it is ignored.
I think C.S. Lewis treats religion poorly in The Chronicles of Narnia. In contrast, I think George RR Martin treats religion well in A Song of Ice and Fire. That’s because, in Martin’s books, magic and miracles are demonstrably real, so the choice of whom and how to worship is a practical one as much as a moral one.
In C.S. Lewis’s books, religious choices are entirely moral. Diversity is a result of people’s personal failings. We would all be the same if some of us weren’t so stupid. Lewis has characters who stand in for non-Christians, and he punishes them for it.
I suspect the trick is to focus on the practical side of religious practice, and resist the temptation to judge your characters. A man does not cut a live chicken’s throat and offer its blood to his ancestors unless he has a very good reason for doing so. Readers might disagree with him, or even be repulsed, but if it’s a good story and they understand the rationale, they will keep reading.
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I enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia, and absolutely loved The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis’s book from the point of view of a demon.) His books do have very definite moral/religious messages, which is basically what he was known for; he’s a Christian writer who clearly thinks his is the best way to live. Which I could understand people not appreciating, but he has plenty of fans who can look past that and see the interesting stories there.
Good point. If a character is a three-dimensional person and also holds certain beliefs, it humanizes and includes them without needing to make a larger statement about what the author believes or what is “correct”. Like in CoZombies, if there were a fanatical Christian who thought zombies were a judgment from God, that would read differently if there were a more moderate Christian running around in the same story.
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[quote=“faewkless, post:34, topic:9442”]
Unnecessary discrimination
[/quote] Is there necccessary discrimination?
Unecessary discrimination (discriminating based on irrelevant or pointless things e.g skin color)
When I said that it was opposed to what I call necessary discrimination.
(Who do you hire to babysit your kid. Someone arrested for theft or someone who isn’t.)
Sorry if I confused anyone with my phrasing.
Things tha make me uncomfortable? Whistles Well, now I’ll have to look for something:
Gender Locked Games: I don’t know why but I don’t like when the game doesn’t lets you choose your gender. I suppose I don’t like it because I like to explore all the options in a game.
Unnecesary Killing: Now, this is simply annoying! I can understand the fact that a character needs to die to give the MC some resolve, but kill them simply because you want? Now that’s really stupid! I can understand Kenny’s death in the Walking Dead but your dog dying just because they feel like it in Fable II is something that I will not forget anytime soon.
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The dog in Fable II dies…? Nope, nope, nope. I don’t think I’ll be able to play that again. ;;
Animals dying in games, books, and movies make me EXTREMELY sad.
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@Sashira nods I’ve read Monsters of New Haven High. Love it! This might sound bad, but I don’t even really notice the cannibalism on the Wendigo route- except intellectually. Which either attests to your skillful writing on this front, or I’m a horrible person numbed to all sorts of horrors. XD
I also agree with you and BabbleYaggle. I understand that people, being people, will have, at times, strong identities about what is right and wrong. But, as an author, I feel compelled to present morality as neutrally as possible. Which doesn’t always mean portraying it neutrally in the writing- characters can get all bent out of shape, or not care about things they ‘should’… so long as I hand over to the reader the idea that people are different from each other, and that morality is viewed on an individual, case-by-case basis. I think, personally, I’m not interested in changing someone’s mind about anything in particular so much as I am about getting them to think about it and decide for theirself. Basically, I want to attempt to present things without a bias coming from me, personally. Just a bias, at times, from characters. (it sounds contradictory, but it’s not)
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There aren’t that many things that make me uncomfortable enough to stop playing a game. Mostly just extreme depictions of extreme violence, but context is really important.
One thing that I’m uncomfortable admitting makes me uncomfortable though is female characters being killed. Yeah, for some reason I am much more uncomfortable with female characters being killed than male characters. I guess it’s just the way our society is set up to mark men as expendable and women are valuable simply for existing. Though I guess there’s some biology to it as well since it the birth rate is far more limited by females than males. I mean, I try really hard not to be sexist, but it’s a subconscious thing. And somehow it feels wrong endeavoring to make myself more accepting of violence.
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The only things that would make me stop playing a game that I have started is child abuse (not including death or child labor) and graphic pictures of romance scenes that pop up. I usually hesitate to play male gender locked games (except platformers or games unrelated to gender) or games with a strongly characterized Mc that I don’t identify with or don’t find funny because I would be forced to pick what they would pick instead of what I want.
I have personally never played a game that dealt with rape poorly, but then again, I don’t play many games dealing with that topic. I have seen rape topics that are relevant to the plot like in Tale Tale games The Walking dead . In apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic settings where there is no law to protect people and it’s difficult to survive then I can see a logical increase in rapes and people selling themselves in order to survive. Females might be relatively scarce because tthere are no doctors or medical equipment to lower the percent of women dieing from childbirth. I sometimes find it adds realism when the subject is not ignored.
I like awkward scenes that are relevant because it can help define characters and relationships. In the begining of the apocalypse, a character could be scared of surprise toliet zombie attacks and ask the MC to go to the bathroom/tree with them for protection. That could be funny and break some tension and show the characters’ relationship.
If a game is free or I already brought it then I would probably play it untill the end unless it contains those two unplayable topics that I mentioned earlier. If the games are episodic then I might stop playing at a really bad episode.
The things that would make me uncomfortable and hesitant to buy, play or continue the game are:historical settings where women are worthless, games that insult my religion,games that force you to be a part of some other religion or culture that I don’t agree with (petal throne game), depressing games with no/ a meaningless good end, profanity and cursing, games with a worthless pushover MC, games with all mean characters, games that force me to do uncharacteristic things like drink alcohol or coffee or eat chocolate, games with a hidden agenda, games with refrenced to literature/ celebrities that I don’t know, over personalized characters that hate you if you disagree, racism, sexism, random npc dying, being forced by the arthur to make decisions,not knowing who the MC is, and not having a reasonable choice that I want to make.
It also makes me uncomfortable when a game forces me to be a leader and do all of the work when there are more competent people around. I understand that a game is suppose to focus on you and I don’t like when a game goes too far into things that have nothing to do with you, but I shouldn’t always be the one to make the first move.
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It’s not often that a game will turn me off to the point that I wouldn’t want to play it again, but there a few specific things that will do that for me:
-Adding in mental illness or emotional issues simply for the sake of “drama,” especially when it’s written poorly and one-dimensionally. I can appreciate when it’s handled with the seriousness it deserves and adds humanization and depth to a character, but when a character is written as schizophrenic or bipolar just to fulfill a stereotypical “psycho” role, or portraying depression as cool, dark, and edgy, or showing someone with autism as an emotionless, non-functioning nerd with special powers, I can’t take the game seriously anymore.
-On a similar note, mental illness being seen as a personal flaw that can be cured instantly by romance, sex, a good talking-to, or anything of the like. If trauma could be erased by great sex or a rousing speech by the hero, we wouldn’t really need therapists, would we? (This also includes instances where supposedly deviant sexual preferences like bisexuality and asexuality are seen as wrong or caused by that person not finding the right person yet.)
-It also bugs me when a character’s parents are killed off solely so they can go adventuring around the world with no one stopping them, and has no real negative consequences for that character. It’s such a cliche for protagonists to watch their parents horrifically murdered and go on with their lives like nothing happened that it loses most of its meaning.
-This one will probably have people disagree with me, but corporal punishment either being treated casually, encouraged or even played for comedy. I can find humor in nearly everything, but that and anything regarding rape will never make me laugh. That includes stuff like “whipping” someone, smacking them in the face or throwing things at them. Call me a pansy if you want, that’s just how I feel about it.
-Games where I’m encouraged to customize my character and immerse myself in the setting, but lock me into a specific gender, race or sexuality, especially if there’s no justification for it other than that the author doesn’t want to write about a specific gender or doesn’t want to make their story “too gay”. Guenevere is probably the only genderlocked game I’ve played that I enjoy, since you can customize everything else about the player character and it’s written well anyway.
Well, that came out a lot more ranty than I imagined it would be. I’m usually pretty open when playing CoGs, those are just a few immediate turn-offs for me.
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Still, unless it was something that happened to my character, I wouldn’t particularly like it. I feel it’s up to me if I do or don’t agree with another’s actions, even if it’s a bit messed up.
Anyway, the example I had in mind had to do with a secondary character that I genuinely liked, even though he was a bit useless. I thought he was funny and sweet, if a bit simple, and none of my choices made any indication that I didn’t like him, and then during a conversation with a third character my character just goes off to say how annoying and clingy he is and how we’d be better off without him.
I don’t know, maybe I’m nitpicky about it, but if I’m playing a game that lets me choose my character and how I interact with people, I don’t like that part taken out of my hands. If you get what I mean.
While it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, I severely dislike gender-locked games. I’m not about to argue with a person in order for them to change their game so that I can play as either gender, but more than likely I won’t play the game. I especially don’t like when the game focuses on relationships (friendly or romantic) and you can only play as one gender, but you can romance either. There’s one game I have in mind that I want to play so bad but I just can’t over the fact that I can’t play as male and as far as I’m aware they haven’t changed their stance on allowing for both. I tried playing it but just not being able to play the gender I wanted to, despite it having no real affect on the game, it just took the fun out of it for me. It’s a personal problem.
And Kenny didn’t die, okay?! And neither did Duck D;
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… … …
After reading all of this I think I’m just incredibly tolerant. Nothing REALLY bothers me.
I’ve never quit reading/playing/watching something because I was uncomfortable. I’ve taken I-don’t-really-have-to-pee pee breaks to give myself a few moments to process, but that’s about it.
Then again I do have the mindset of: Nothing is off limits as long as it is done right.
Don’t get me wrong. I have plenty of pet peeves, but none of them actually stop me from playing on. The only thing that will actually get me to put something down is if the story or the gameplay just… sucks.
shrug
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