WARNING: This is some serious venting going on. You probably will disagree with me. I'm posting because it means I have to make my arguments cohesive, instead of being just a bunch of emotions.
So, the person who voiced Ellie decided to cast her opinion on the Ubisoft-Women issue. I read it and wondered if she even played a video game before.
My opinion: It's a non-issue. The real problem is loveism in the real industry, of which you'll fine a lot of articles describing the treatment of many individuals. Even nerds can be richardheads. If you fix that, then there will be less of a "problem" regarding females ingame, since according to the feminists women would have more say, and apparently vote for more female characters. Honestly, though, at the end of the day, the character is a set of pixels. Any self-respecting gamer isn't going to choose to play a game based on their love, gender, race etc. They're there for the experience of the game, and as they let the game "consume them", they'll look these minor details and focus on challenges.
The people who are making this a bigger issue are:
1) Writers looking for click-bait articles
2) SJW/People with an agenda to make themselves feel more special by latching onto misinterpreted intentions
3) People who have no idea of the game design process and assume that such a decision can be made easily and with no consequences.
Ubisoft made that choice because it never occurred to them it would be a problem. They would have said, "Alright, let's think up another guy who is similar to our previous protagonists". There was no "We cannot do females, that's absurd!" discussion. It was never discussed because nobody brought it up, since the whole co-op gameplay thing has been the main point of discussion.
To people who say you can share the rig between male and female characters:
Aside from female characters generally being smaller, the way the body moves is entirely different. Bones and weights have to be modified, and so do animations. Ubisoft use HumanIK, and while it's easier than some systems, the length they go to make a character work is insane. I remember looking over a technical document. The process of creating a character for free-running can take months just to get a prototype, not including all the testing and refinements. Then you have to add on clothing and other attachments that fit the mesh. This is for a game which needs to be released in a 12 month cycle, after you consider the fact there is time involved with pre-production, certification, packaging, marketing and shipping that prevent development from happening.
Also, wasn't it make clear through the fact Arno appears 4 times with slightly altered colour clothing that Ubisoft really don't care about the player appearance, and neither should the player?
I'm not here to defend Ubisoft about anything. I'm not saying loveism doesn't exist within games. I'm just frustrated that people are continuing to push this issue, when there are much more significant issues even within our own industry that still exist. Unlike what happens at conventions to many developers, this issue isn't going to affect anybody in any meaningful way.
Anybody else want Patricia to be fired?
