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[Tiruin]

I love how Sappho got the idea on the complete error on 'DON'T WRITE THIS UNLESS NEEDED' really well. It's like what I wanted to say but couldn't/didn't because of me not knowing how to word it.

But maybe that thingy has a grain of truth: From experience, that stems from...bad writing, in particular, or presenting the 'different' character as a stereotype. Problem is that idea coming from that experience is worded badly in turn -.- "Unless needed"...

Experience = awareness = discernment <- reason.

This has all been great. SCUMWAR will be all the better for your contributions. I'll be sure to credit you in the game itself, unless you'd like to remain unnamed.

Our usernames? :O

[Sappho]

Been reading through some of the fixyourwriting blog posts I haven't read in a while (trying to get inspired for my daily writing blog) and came across this quote, which says it pretty well, too:

The more I write stories for young people, and the more young readers I meet, the more I’m struck by how much kids long to see themselves in stories. To see their identities and perspectives—their avatars—on the page. Not as issues to be addressed or as icons for social commentary, but simply as people who get to do cool things in amazing worlds. Yes, all the ‘issue’ books are great and have a place in literature, but it’s a different and wildly joyous gift to find yourself on the pages of an entertainment, experiencing the thrills and chills of a world more adventurous than our own.

And when you see that as a writer, you quickly realize that you don’t want to be the jerk who says to a young reader, ‘Sorry, kid. You don’t get to exist in this story; you’re too different.’ You don’t want to be part of our present dystopia that tells kids that if they just stopped being who they are they could have a story written about them, too. That’s the role of the bad guy in the dystopian stories, right? Given a choice, I’d rather be the storyteller who says every kid can have a chance to star.

Also this whole blog. It's about books, but it all applies equally to games: http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/

[Servant Corps]

When being said "star" means "being a mass murderer that kills Tory MPs and hard-working families" though...

I mean, it is hard to sympathize with your protagonist, and if your "hero" is fighting against PM "Kill 90%", that just makes TWO unlikable characters, not one. In fact, it may make more logical sense for your transgender person to be working for David Cameron, who wants you to kill dissents to allow his Final Austerity to go through.

It seems that many modern games are unironic Hotline Miami clones that seeks to justify sociopathy with a nice, fluffy backstory. But it does not disguise the fact that you play as a sociopath. Either change the gameplay or just drop the fluff entirely from your slaughter-sim. It will be more honest.

[Fniff]

I can see where you're coming from, and the PC was originally intended to be an anonymous agent of the government murdering SCUM. However, it just seemed like Hotline London, and I wanted to do something different with the gameplay rather then making it an exact clone. Too many games nowadays have the same combat even if the mood doesn't suit it.

The levels aren't going to be focused on killing people. You can kill people, but combat is very messy, wasteful, and more likely then not they're not going to be dead when you stop. I don't want to make a slaughter sim, because Hotline Miami did it already and better then I could ever do.
So, you can be a mass murderer, but it won't get you anywhere. You should be focusing on trying to complete your objective, whatever it is for that level.

As I said about hard-working British families and Tory MPs (I'm now actually wondering if you should kill any Tory MPs... Hm...), you're still (likely to be) a murderer, though, and that will have an effect on the plot.

The game and it's plot are still in early development, however, so don't take this as a guarantee on the final product. I probably should save these details for another thread.

[EnigmaticHat]

Ok, the first rule of characters is that a main character should never be one note.  There should be something, ideally multiple somethings, about him other than gender identification.  Being a secret agent or whatever his job is is a start for sure.  Having a personality trait that shows through the writing, even if its a simple one or even just a verbal tic, would also be a step down this path.  Ideally you'd have multiple personality traits but I'm not sure how many lines of dialogue you have to work with here.

There is a place for impassioned revelations of what the life of X minority is like, but usually the better way to do it is have whatever character trait they have be secondary to their actual character.  So like, Zoey from Firefly is a better way to do darker skinned characters than Raj from Big Bang Theory.

The other big question is how you're going to introduce the idea that he's trans.  I'm not sure what to say here except you should decide what their day job is when they're not thwarting the prime minister and then work on how to establish backstory.  It should definitely be revealed early to avoid making a stupid "plot twist" out of it.

[darkflagrance]

When I first saw your proposed idea, I initially imagined a plot about a protagonist who at first appears to be some variation of an archetypal enforcer or assassin, who is living the dream as someone who has already completed a transition into the male gender, but might be insecure about revealing his/her trans status.

Making your protagonist trans might be a way to deconstruct expectations about a protagonist or make a meta-comment on how gender expectations on the part of the gamer alter their reaction to the protagonist. You don't have to do that though - but it might be helpful to find a hook on the concept of being trans that makes you interested in thinking about the character and how their gender identity changes the meaning of your plot/game, to tie it into the broader process of game creation.

[Sheb]

I'm really curious about how you'll write it. I mean, if you just treat you protagonist as the gender they identify with, you could end up in a situation where the payer doesn't even realize your character is trans, which would make it less interesting.

[GiglameshDespair]

However you play it, people are probably going to complain.

[Neonivek]

However you play it, people are probably going to complain.

They will always complain about something.

[EnigmaticHat]

However you play it, people are probably going to complain.

They will always complain about something.

This.

[NJW2000]

However you play it, people are probably going to complain.

They will always complain about something.

This.

How dare you?

[EnigmaticHat]

I'm... confused by your statement?

[Anius Talewise]

Hello, transgender person here!

Whenever people ask how to write a trans person, or an autistic person, or a woman, or a man, or a nonbinary person, or a 6th century scandinavian heathen, or a dentist, or indeed anything, I just say, first and foremost, you're writing a person. Now because you are a person, and you're surrounded by people every day of your life, you know how people are like.

And people come with details. Often details that are important to them. So when you are writing a trans person, you're writing a person, who is trans. By saying it is a detail, I do not mean to imply that it is trivial, or tangential to that person's identity, or that you should ignore it, because it could of course be central.

I don't really know how to word this, but basically, in all cases, you are writing a person. And you already have lots of experience in being a person, and in knowing other people, which means you already have a head start.

---

also, my rebuttal to "what does having a transgender protagonist add to the story" is this: "what does having a cisgender protagonist add to the story?" there is always this underlying assumption that if your protagonist is trans, that must add something to the story, while if your protagonist is cis it doesn't have to add something to the story, which is a double standard, and is unfair.

[Neonivek]

also, my rebuttal to "what does having a transgender protagonist add to the story" is this: "what does having a cisgender protagonist add to the story?" there is always this underlying assumption that if your protagonist is trans, that must add something to the story, while if your protagonist is cis it doesn't have to add something to the story, which is a double standard, and is unfair.

Don't worry currently fiction is moving away from the whole "This character is gay WHOAAAAAAA gay issues!" and is starting to go into "This character is gay... but more importantly these are his adventures".

[Anius Talewise]

also, my rebuttal to "what does having a transgender protagonist add to the story" is this: "what does having a cisgender protagonist add to the story?" there is always this underlying assumption that if your protagonist is trans, that must add something to the story, while if your protagonist is cis it doesn't have to add something to the story, which is a double standard, and is unfair.

Don't worry currently fiction is moving away from the whole "This character is gay WHOAAAAAAA gay issues!" and is starting to go into "This character is gay... but more importantly these are his adventures".

"hurrrrrrgh i am a trans my body is an abomination my life is torture i must transissssst"