In this blog, I’m going to be discussing the article, What Inclusion Means to Players by Jenny Shi. It is an article that discusses how inclusion is a pressing concern for many players, and backlash comes from a minority. The article is broken down into two main categories and I’m going to discuss how I relate to the article.
The first category of the article is based off of her research study that aims to better understand what players think about representation, diversity, and inclusion in gaming. An especially relevant topic across the entertainment and tech industries today. Her researched is backed up by graphs, charts, and quotes of gamers. Some examples of her study questions are ,”How important is it for gaming companies/studios to make their games more inclusive towards diverse audiences?” Fifty-six percent of players said this was an important issue. This section does a good job mentioning a variety of misrepresented communities and characters in the gaming community. It includes quotes from gamers of their game adjustment desires. Overall, this article piece includes a lot of information and different perspectives but I don’t really relate so much to the fist section of the article. I do own a gaming console (Xbox) but I rarely play video games and am not an active member in the gaming community. The games I do play involve professional sports teams, racing cars, or a first person shooting game. So for me representation isn’t to big of an issue for my style of games but I can see that being an issue for gamers of detailed and storyline games.
The second category of this article address the disruptive behavior and toxicity in the gaming community. Sixty-one percent of gamers are concerned about toxicity in gameplay and its the second largest concern behind game quality. The other half of the article gives quotes and examples of some of the toxicity female game players receive. Which is a lot worst than the males. Me being a male, this is the reason why I rarely play video games. All I want to do is take an hour or two away from a busy life and play some video games. It’s not a great escape when whoever you’re playing with online is being rude, extremely loud, or has loud background noises. It has ruined gaming for me I don’t know why people put on a headset and go into that community everyday. I feel so bad for the women.
Overall, I enjoyed this article and really hope the gaming community responds to these request from gamers! I hope game developers strive to be more inclusive and for the community to be less toxic.
Daniel Bender 