Enemy Groups and Equality (Your Opinions and thoughts)

[Sakura Tenshi]

Forewarning: this MIGHT be a bit of a hot button topic, so I apologize to both moderation and userbase in advance.

 

Basically spun off from the Warriors revamp talk with Piecemeal, more than a few people have suggested adding female warriors. Now, I myself am not against equality in my enemies, I'll punch anyone breaking the law regardless of gender, age*, race, but would the factions of the Rogue Isles, Praetoria, and Paragon see it the same way? So basically this thread is to ask: what groups do you see as being equal opportunity or racist/sexist and explain why, I'll share my own thoughts.

 

• Hellions/Skulls: Probably would be sexist but not really racist. Street gangs tend to often be about 'the boys' or 'the girls', but I can see them accepting some who prove exceptional or just force their way in. Might also vary from gang cell to gang cell.
• Tsoo: Canonically they're gender equal (these days), but it does seem weird since they are a mafia basically and those tend to focus on conservative values. That said, the Tsoo are also pan-Asian in lore (I recall the old lore file mentioning Tub Ci defeated the Yakuza, Triads, and other Asian gangs then said 'we're all Asian here, @#$% white people!' and united them under him), so there could be a bit taken from the Onnageibushi, and I'm not sure what the Hmong stance is on women in battle.
• The Family: Pretty likely racist and sexist as I understand they're spun from Sicillian mafia groups. Probably a few exceptions, especially if it breaks their mother's heart
• The Warriors: Probably sexist, probably not racist, mostly because outside of Sparta, I understand women were not regarded well in Ancient Greece or Rome*.
• Arachnos: Very very NOT sexist or racist. You got the power and the will? You're in. In fact, there's even concept art of female wolf spiders from development. Presumably Arachnos is mostly gender segregated due to development time constraints.
• Crey: Not racist or sexist either as that would ruin PR. That and being a major international corporation/conglomerate.
• Lost: Really should not be sexist and all that as I don't think their cultish practices would discriminate. (probably another development matter)
• Circle of Thorns: really unlikely to be sexist as they're an entire civilization of disembodied mages. Women were even added with the faction update and, again, probably higher ranks got cut due to development time.
• Council/Fifth Column: Uh, I don't think anything needs to be said about their views on gender equality and race. (though I have seen female council recruiters in Brickstown, maybe they're basically 'booth babes'?)

 

*Speaking of Rome, as an interesting side note: notice how Cimeroran traitors include female centurions but Imperious' Cimeroran loyalists do not? I kind of thought that was an interesting detail and possibly an intentional hint that while Romulus is Evil all in all, Imperious still represents societal status quo for better or worse.

[Chance Jackson]

I think you bring up an interesting Idea in Imperious' loyalists being all dudes, what would drive all the women in the ranks to defect & join Romulus?????

 

 

The Warriors should get Amazon units possibly disillusioned KOA novices additionally whole Posses of high level Warriors could be instructed by Ex KOA officers.

[Coyotedancer]

The existing in-game Circle ladies are all minions (or Demons... but I'm not going to count the Succubi, here, just the human Circle folk-). That annoys me a lot... There really shouldn't be an apparent "glass ceiling" there, with no female magi or Thorn Casters. Not given what we know about their history and *everyone* having been a magician back-in-the-day. 

 

So.. yeah. Lady mages, Thorn Wielders and Casters. 

The only ones who exist in-game SHOULDN'T all have to be Player Characters. 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Coyotedancer

[TemporalVileTerror]

An additional perk of the change of pace we saw with Going Rogue and onward with the NPC costumes more routinely being built from pieces that could also be use on player-characters was an increase in potential gender parity.  That's a lesson I really hope the Homecoming Team take to heart, and make a focus on all future costume pieces and NPC factions having built-in potential, even if the faction is mono-gender in practice.  Reduce the likelihood of limiting factors down the line by future-proofing new content with parity in mind from the get-go.

 

It might be funny, though, to see the Ultimate True Power behind the throne in the Family is an angry nonna with a rolling pin.  Someone which ABSOLUTELY NO ONE messes with, 'cause they know what's good for 'em.

[Twisted Toon]

1 hour ago, Sakura Tenshi said:

Hellions/Skulls: Probably would be sexist but not really racist. Street gangs tend to often be about 'the boys' or 'the girls', but I can see them accepting some who prove exceptional or just force their way in. Might also vary from gang cell to gang cell.

 

Don't the Hellions have the Girlfriend from Hell?

And, I do believe that I've seen (and defeated) female members of both the Hellions and Skulls.

[MTeague]

I don't object to certain groups being comprised of only certain slices of the human population where it makes narrative sense for it to be so. 

But I also don't consider that super-important to preserve, either. 

 

I mean, just considering Primal Earth alone, their timeline has very strong differences from our own, and any of those could have been enough to trigger societal shift in attitudes at different points of time.  If Cassiopeia literally saved the entire freakin planet, that just might have made a FEW people consider some long held attitudes. Maybe some examples like that had some factions say "you know what? all I care about is can you fight, and will you fight with us?".  So really?  Who knows.  Real-Life-Earth gangs may behave like X and Y, but what abbout Primal Earth gangs whose timeline was influenced in all these ways?

 

For that reason, I think the Devs should have carte blanche to make any changes as they see fit. 

When it comes to storytelling, the person telling the story is pretty much the last word on what things are like in their story.

[SwitchFade]

<facepalm>

[DougGraves]

I think in a world with super powers, aliens, and demons we do not need to worry about having groups match some realistic stereotype of their views on gender.

[GM Kaiju]

Topic locked. Not a productive line of discussion, per the code of conduct.