"May she never live" is what I remember every time I see a newsletter. The race that quote pertains to is now a joke in my household and has been for a few years now. It's not a joke about how the game will never come out it's actually a joke to make us laugh because of how uncomfortable this lore makes me and my family feel and anyone who I tell about this games written lore feels. Why do you have a race of people all born from the same woman who is enslaved to do this for eternity? This is actually terrible writing. This lore keeps me away from the game, and knowing this lore isn't changing just reminds me this isn't the game for me.
EDIT
please lock, close or delete this thread and my account.
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Here is the private messages I had with Ben Kilsin in 2022 about this topic. Maybe after this the thread can be deleted or closed?
tehtawd
September 2, 2022
I wrote this and didn't want to get any harassment for it posting on public forums. Decided to send it to you old friend. Its been a few years, I hope you are well.
Constructive feedback.
The Skar Race has a strange plotline of a single female being cursed/divinely punished becoming the sole …reproducer. And everyone has their ‘parts’ but they can’t create offspring unless through her. This is really strange; I find it off-putting like it’s a strange Pseudofantasy of female specific suffering. I would love it if the writer could have another go at this race in some way.
I think to myself how a parent would explain this to their teenage daughter who is interested in the game and I always come back to not understanding why this story even has to be told this way. (Ceremonies by Leslie Marmon Silko drums loudly here.)
I think we need to think about ‘when’ we let players align themselves or identify with themes that are really morally questionable.
I think it is extremely important to check yourself when creating content or writing story ideas when it comes to women and women's bodies.
The word ‘Tribal’ being used within a negative or inferior context is actually extremely offensive for anyone who has tribal heritage in real life.
-Todd
P.S I know it has been a while. I hope you can share this feedback as I am not willing to use the forums and be harassed.
VR-Mod1
September 3, 2022
Hi Todd,
Great to hear from you, mate!
Thanks for the PM I appreciate it, and what I can say is that the Skar are kind of like insects or ants as in they reproduce through their queen, it's most definitely not something to compare with humans, my friend.
We are, however, looking at changing the word "tribal" to better reflect our thoughts, so thanks for the feedback, we are certainly listening, and it is appreciated, my friend.
I hope you're doing well.
Kind Regards
Ben (Kils)
tehtawd
September 8, 2022
=)
I'm doing well. And it feels great to have gone back to college again to study indigenous ways of life, indigenous languages and topics in humanities. I may get a free extra minor if I keep it up.
The Skar,
I came to the realization that the Skar were being compared to insects early on.
Here is a good experiment–Ask multiple women (Just women) to read https://www.pantheonmmo.com/game/races/skar/
As it stands right now, by witnessing how Pantheon has justified the process of humanizing and dehumanizing created races, I can tell you I feel more uncomfortable about Pantheon.
It is very clear in the writing one of the women there (an important one) is being put into ambiguous extreme suffering. And it’s a playable race that anyone who chooses it can talk about that very event and pull that story out as racial heritage. Did you know when Germany was just becoming a country they leveraged the grims bothers fairy tale stories as heritage stories denoting them as part of their culture and gave more reason to grant them self governance? I really do think its important that players not be given a chance to say they come from a race where one women is the only one who can create offspring …for all of them. And they say “May she never live”, how awful.
I totally get it if things have gone too far forward to look this far back. I’m just very disappointed.
I am guessing your questions point is to reflect all games are guilty of falling short in some literary or otherwise way. I feel there is more to my point.
Of all the stories to tell, which ones should you be telling? Which ones are going to be worth your time retelling to future generations? I would love it if you could ask yourselves what is appropriate or not here.
Please delete this forum topic.
Why do you have a race of people all born from the same woman who is enslaved to do this for eternity? This is actually terrible writing. This lore keeps me away from the game, and knowing this lore isn't changing just reminds me this isn't the game for me.
you mean contrary to bees or ants? You may very well consider that alien races with consciousness should not be like those insects, but it is not like bees or ants do not exist in reality. The question that comes after that is: where do you draw a limit in creating fictional races?
A lot of creatures have a queen or matron that will produce a lot of offspring (or even eggs that are then fertilized externally). Just because a single entity is the source of multiple spawn doesn't mean they're incestuous or even sexual at all. The "Alien's" Xenomorph is a scary fictional creature that has a "queen" that doesn't interact with a "mate" but is just responsible for popping out eggs.
I think a different approach you could take would be to instead of looking at this as "a race of people all born from the same woman" you could look at it just as "a species spawned from the same creature" - they're not humans (people born from women).
I asked to have this thread closed. You may also delete my account if you wish. I regret making this topic. Now people are stretching and reaching to distract from a loudly written fetish.
Share this lore with your sister, your daughter, your wife, everyone you know and see how they react. I guarantee it, before you mention ants and after you mention ants the writing is gross and does not even need to be there.
I'm not trying to distract or redirect, I personally don't even know the specific lore you're talking about, I just know that the game is based on multiple races from alien places coming together on this one planet. Some of the races are made of energy, some fish people, some crustacean looking race, Ogres, a race of rocklike things and of course elves, dwarves and humans. If you're talking about the stereotypical elves, dwarves, or humans having a "hive" type of birthing system, then I agree that is weird... but if you're referring to the race that looks like bipedal ants or fish-people being born from eggs in lairs, nests or even hives, and you're conflating that with a "fetish", then the problem isn't with the lore, its with a lack of imagination.