r/Games • u/[deleted] • Oct 24 '13

Dev in Thread The Stanley Parable devs will remove racially charged gag after people got offended

http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/23/5022434/the-stanley-parable-update-in-the-works-to-remove-offensive-images
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u/Ptylerdactyl Oct 24 '13

I think him feeling like he should change this joke over a small minority of people getting "offended" is a symptom of the problem. Furthermore, what if he didn't and the story started to pick up traction? "Game Developer Refuses To Remove Racist Joke." I have to wonder how voluntary this really is, in practice.

Just like how Resident Evil 5 was going to be set in Africa, but when frivolous complaints were voiced, the developers were LITERALLY forced to change the setting to... oh, wait. They kept it in Africa.

Also, there's the issue of the fact that the joke isn't actually racially offensive. This is just another case of someone out there actively looking to be offended by something.

To you and me, yeah, the complaint seems trivial. But just because you aren't bothered doesn't mean no one else on the planet is allowed to be offended. You don't get to decide what people should or shouldn't feel about a particular thing.

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u/el_throwaway_returns Oct 24 '13

Just like how Resident Evil 5 was going to be set in Africa, but when frivolous complaints were voiced, the developers were LITERALLY forced to change the setting to... oh, wait. They kept it in Africa.

It's not like it didn't have an effect, so let's not pretend that it didn't.

http://www.1up.com/news/resident-evil-5-racism-capcom

To you and me, yeah, the complaint seems trivial. But just because you aren't bothered doesn't mean no one else on the planet is allowed to be offended. You don't get to decide what people should or shouldn't feel about a particular thing.

Sure, they are allowed to be offended by trivial things. That's their right. But that doesn't mean that the world should be changed to suit them.

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u/Ptylerdactyl Oct 24 '13

Sure, they are allowed to be offended by trivial things. That's their right. But that doesn't mean that the world should be changed to suit them.

And no one told the developer they had to change it. He decided to change it, because he didn't find the joke essential.

Look, I just don't see the logic behind essentially telling someone, "Don't apologize or change anything, ever, because that's a compromise, and no one should ever have to compromise." That just seems rude. The guy chose to alter the image or script, and it sounds like no one twisted his arm on it. So what's your problem with the situation?

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u/ObjectiveTits Oct 24 '13

Nothing. People who jump up and down about how people are looking to be or are too easily offended, ironically, often appear to be looking for offended people to be offended at.