Does this game have signs of wokeness? I think it might.

[Shadowbane1213]

I hope we'll be allowed to discuss this topic. I'd like to get other people's opinions.

Edit: please don't delete. It took me a lot of time to write this.

Every gamer wants when they game to escape from reality and relax. They don't want to have social issues or identity politics shoved at them. We get that enough in the real world.

Now when I say that I think this game has signs of wokeness, I don't mean the story. As far as I can tell they focused on creating fun quests and stories. It's also true that many journalists condemned this game for supposed trans exploitation, the provocative ads in the city, and the treatment of women.

I'm uncomfortable though. Witcher 1 we had old game graphics, so for female characters they couldn't do much. Witcher 2 and 3 though had beautiful women everywhere, and both games contained plenty of sex and nudity. Witcher 3 alone had two brothels in the main game and one in the Blood and Wine expansion. All sex workers were female.

Fast forward to Cyberpunk 2077. Although there are some decently attractive women in the game, none are at the level of Yen or Triss. In fact, many of the women look downright awful. I don't know if this was deliberate, or if they just have different artists who aren't as good.

As for sex and nudity, only four prostitutes. Only two of them female, and only one of them is topless. Then there is a general lack off in-game nudity aside from pretty much V, Sandra Dorsett, and the one female joy toy. I think there might be some more during the main story, but I'm not that far yet. The few dancers we see are wearing an awful lot of clothes. Not a single strip club to be had either.

Now look, I realized this isn't a porn simulator, but it really feels like they made a conscious decision to scale back on the things that appeal to straight men, the primary demographic for this game. This sort of thing is one of the hallmarks of SJW thinking. Men bad, muh exploitation of women, smash the patriarchy etc.

If CDPR really is in the early stages of a woke infection, I certainly don't want to buy another game from them. What do you guys think?

 

[Kikinho]

I don't understand this whole made up concept of "wokeness." It's not a thing. It's just a loud minority on twitter.

And if this is what wokeness looks like, then gay males have been clearly gotten the short end of it.

 

[TheSigurd]

I think that "beauty" is a subject to each own taste. I find Judy and Panam really attractive, not the most beautiful women I could think of, but they are fine and fit really good within the world and what would expect from women living their roles. And of course, the way they've animated some scenes (not the sex) made them appear more realistic. Of course, I would like way more romance branches and possibilities, but in the state they've released the game the lack of virtual sex is one minor problem I think.

 

[Shadowbane1213]

I don't understand this whole made up concept of "wokeness." It's not a thing. It's just a loud minority on twitter.

And if this is what wokeness looks like, then gay males have been clearly gotten the short end of it.

Woke people generally speaking believe everything needs to be represented equally. Make a character non-binary for no good reason for example, or put non white people in a game set in medieval Europe when there weren't many non whites. Or they believe that women are generally oppressed and so having good looking women in games or prostitutes or anything else that appeals to the "toxic male gaze" is not allowed. There's a lot of stuff that falls under the umbrella. Pretty much if a game sacrifices good characters, good story telling, or fun in order to be politically correct it can be considered woke.

 

[EMT-Fields]

I don't understand how all of this could be considered "woke" I mean there are attractive women in this game. Just because they don't look like Yen and Triss doesn't make it an issue. I mean how would you change them? Make someone like Panam wear less clothing? But that wouldn't make sense given how her character lives out in the badlands. I'm just trying to understand how would they look "more attractive" to you. Though I agree with you about the strippers in the windows wearing clothes. But both Male and female strippers wear winter clothing, but that's not "wokeness" It's seems as though it's more of an oversight.

Also why do all sex workers have to be female? Being a sex worker isn't female excusive lol.

 

[Subenu]

I don't understand this whole made up concept of "wokeness." It's not a thing. It's just a loud minority on twitter.

And if this is what wokeness looks like, then gay males have been clearly gotten the short end of it.

I'm also having a "problem" with this kind of "made up" shit since it came up. Either it's being falsely used, used as a means to denounce or for some kind of agency in which way ever. I kind of agree this is just an (annoying) loud minority. I think the very first core might have had a point, where their arguments mattered, but at the moment it's something more akin to an empty battle-slogan/word.

 

[Shadowbane1213]

Being

I don't understand how all of this could be considered "woke" I mean there are attractive women in this game. Just because they don't look like Yen and Triss doesn't make it an issue. I mean how would you change them? Make someone like Panam wear less clothing? But that wouldn't make sense given how her character lives out in the badlands. I'm just trying to understand how would they look "more attractive" to you. Though I agree with you about the strippers in the windows wearing clothes. But both Male and female strippers wear winter clothing, but that's not "wokeness" It's seems as though it's more of an oversight.

Also why do all sex workers have to be female? Being a sex worker isn't female excusive lol.

Being a sex worker isn't female exclusive. I get that, but when there are only four and only two are female it cuts down on options for us straight guys. And I'm not saying there aren't any good looking women. Some of them though are truly horrible to look at. Like, what happened? It's a game. It doesn't have to have realistic looking people.

 

[Metropolice]

Fast forward to Cyberpunk 2077. Although there are some decently attractive women in the game, none are at the level of Yen or Triss. In fact, many of the women look downright awful. I don't know if this was deliberate, or if they just have different artists who aren't as good.

The general topic referred to here generally seems to elude me, but I just have to quote this. Forgive the slight sarcastic tone, it's merely to get the point across in simple fashion:

Lo and behold we have a realistic representation of people out there akin to the types of people you would see if you go outside in a larger urban area. In reality I mean.
In simpler terms, not everyone is a super model, whether male, female, whatever. If I look at some NPCs - whether random pedestrians or more story or quest related minor and major characters - I think they managed to strike a good believable balance. Some I would consider beautiful or good-looking, others not that much according to subjective tastes or preferences.

But not every character you interact with on a more notable level needs to be fitting a certain modern day beauty trend or scale - a lot of it is subjective anyway. So I don't see any notable issue there, regardless of whatever "woke trend" may exist or if developers may have any intention in that area.

 

[Silesiuss]

I only started Act 2 and so far haven't seen that many "romantic" options. To be honest I don't really care, those romantic options made sense in the Witcher games because of the background story. I would rather have the devs spend time making engaging quests then work on showing skin, especially if it doesn't add to the story.

 

[Whitesad]

tl;dr "women aren't attractive enough to me and it's the sjw's fault", should have saved that one for your private blog, boy.

 

[EMT-Fields]

Being

Being a sex worker isn't female exclusive. I get that, but when there are only four and only two are female it cuts down on options for us straight guys. And I'm not saying there aren't any good looking women. Some of them though are truly horrible to look at. Like, what happened? It's a game. It doesn't have to have realistic looking people.

And... there's only 2 male sex workers. So what's your point? Do every woman in the game have to look attractive? I'm not seeing how this is considered "woke" that there are some unattractive women in the game. There were unattractive women in Witcher as well. Everyone didn't look like Yen and Triss.

 

[Shadowbane1213]

The general topic referred to here generally seems to elude me, but I just have to quote this. Forgive the slight sarcastic tone, it's merely to get the point across in simple fashion:

Lo and behold we have a realistic representation of people out there akin to the types of people you would see if you go outside in a larger urban area. In reality I mean.
In simpler terms, not everyone is a super model, whether male, female, whatever. If I look at some NPCs - whether random pedestrians or more story or quest related minor and major characters - I think they managed to strike a good believable balance. Some I would consider beautiful or good-looking, others not that much according to subjective tastes or preferences.

But not every character you interact with on a more notable level needs to be fitting a certain modern day beauty trend or scale - a lot of it is subjective anyway. So I don't see any notable issue there, regardless of whatever "woke trend" may exist or if developers may have any intention in that area.

The point of games isn't to experience reality though. It is to escape it. Look at your typical Japanese or Korean game. With rare exception the women are always unrealistically beautiful.

 

[bign]

So you are arguing that the game is 'woke' because there isn't enough female nudity, prostitutes and strippers in the game? What are you, 12 years old?

In regards to:

"Every gamer wants when they game to escape from reality and relax. They don't want to have social issues or identity politics shoved at them. We get that enough in the real world. "

Most great pieces of art and literature are a reflection of the times in which they were created. The context of the artist's environment at the time shapes their work. I think video games can be a great medium to explore contemporary issues, but it has to be the right type of video game (e.g. Doom isn't one), and I think Cyberpunk fits the bill.

 

[Silesiuss]

The general topic referred to here generally seems to elude me, but I just have to quote this. Forgive the slight sarcastic tone, it's merely to get the point across in simple fashion:

Lo and behold we have a realistic representation of people out there akin to the types of people you would see if you go outside in a larger urban area. In reality I mean.
In simpler terms, not everyone is a super model, whether male, female, whatever. If I look at some NPCs - whether random pedestrians or more story or quest related minor and major characters - I think they managed to strike a good believable balance. Some I would consider beautiful or good-looking, others not that much according to subjective tastes or preferences.

But not every character you interact with on a more notable level needs to be fitting a certain modern day beauty trend or scale - a lot of it is subjective anyway. So I don't see any notable issue there, regardless of whatever "woke trend" may exist or if developers may have any intention in that area.

I'd venture to say, most people play video games to escape reality. In the end the market will determine what sells...

 

[Shadowbane1213]

So you are arguing that the game is 'woke' because there isn't enough female nudity, prostitutes and strippers in the game? What are you, 12 years old?

In regards to:

"Every gamer wants when they game to escape from reality and relax. They don't want to have social issues or identity politics shoved at them. We get that enough in the real world. "

Most great pieces of art and literature are a reflection of the times in which they were created. The context of the artist's environment at the time shapes their work. I think video games can be a great medium to explore contemporary issues, but it has to be the right type of video game (e.g. Doom isn't one), and I think Cyberpunk fits the bill.

Mass effect had plenty of politics, but they were rooted in the game's lore. I have no problem with lore friendly politics in games. That's different than politically correct.

And no, I'm 34. Not appealing to "toxic masculinity" is only one small facet of activist thinking, and the fact that it seems to be on display here makes me think it could point to a larger problem.

 

[Mobster100]

I hope we'll be allowed to discuss this topic. I'd like to get other people's opinions.

Edit: please don't delete. It took me a lot of time to write this.

Every gamer wants when they game to escape from reality and relax. They don't want to have social issues or identity politics shoved at them. We get that enough in the real world.

Now when I say that I think this game has signs of wokeness, I don't mean the story. As far as I can tell they focused on creating fun quests and stories. It's also true that many journalists condemned this game for supposed trans exploitation, the provocative ads in the city, and the treatment of women.

I'm uncomfortable though. Witcher 1 we had old game graphics, so for female characters they couldn't do much. Witcher 2 and 3 though had beautiful women everywhere, and both games contained plenty of sex and nudity. Witcher 3 alone had two brothels in the main game and one in the Blood and Wine expansion. All sex workers were female.

Fast forward to Cyberpunk 2077. Although there are some decently attractive women in the game, none are at the level of Yen or Triss. In fact, many of the women look downright awful. I don't know if this was deliberate, or if they just have different artists who aren't as good.

As for sex and nudity, only four prostitutes. Only two of them female, and only one of them is topless. Then there is a general lack off in-game nudity aside from pretty much V, Sandra Dorsett, and the one female joy toy. I think there might be some more during the main story, but I'm not that far yet. The few dancers we see are wearing an awful lot of clothes. Not a single strip club to be had either.

Now look, I realized this isn't a porn simulator, but it really feels like they made a conscious decision to scale back on the things that appeal to straight men, the primary demographic for this game. This sort of thing is one of the hallmarks of SJW thinking. Men bad, muh exploitation of women, smash the patriarchy etc.

If CDPR really is in the early stages of a woke infection, I certainly don't want to buy another game from them. What do you guys think?

CDPR should not have cared to much about what anyone thought, they should have done what would have been good for the CP universe and making sense here.

If people can't accept or figure out that it is a game trying to tell a story and its not a reflection of reality then the issue is with them and CDPR should have fought them. It's getting really tiresome with all this political correctness slipping into everything, whether its books, movies or games. Don't get me wrong, that these are important things, but in the real world!!

If it makes sense that there is a lot of sex in the CP universe then it should be there and not be hidden, especially if people in this universe have another view on this, which they do according to the lore.
It's no different in my eyes, than the view they have with replacing body parts with cyberware, because that is the hottest shit in this universe. I doubt many people in real life would do some of the things these people do, but it should be there, because it helps tell the story and what this universe consist of.

 

[villeo33]

I couldn't give a flying rats ass about minority feelings over how men or women are portrayed in a video game, actually I think if you have tendency to get butt hurt about things then don't use internet, don't play games, just hide under a rock.

Having said that I find CDPR/Cyberpunk 2077 is woke in a different way, the makers are awake and aware to the evils of this world, the money greedy powers that hold too much power over the lives of the innocents.
Indeed many conspiracy themes are present in Cyberpunk 2077, even delving into concept like reptilians controlling earth, then having a laugh about it and getting real pointing out it's really the corporate elite who're behind of it all.

This is the only kind of woke that really matters.

 

[bign]

Mass effect had plenty of politics, but they were rooted in the game's lore. I have no problem with lore friendly politics in games. That's different than politically correct.

And no, I'm 34. Not appealing to "toxic masculinity" is only one small facet of activist thinking, and the fact that it seems to be on display here makes me think it could point to a larger problem.

And that larger problem is? What is the point you are trying to make here?

 

[Shadowbane1213]

I couldn't give a flying rats ass about minority feelings over how men or women are portrayed in a video game, actually I think if you have tendency to get butt hurt about things then don't use internet, don't play games, just hide under a rock.

Having said that I find CDPR/Cyberpunk 2077 is woke in a different way, the makers are awake and aware to the evils of this world, the money greedy powers that hold too much power over the lives of the innocents.
Indeed many conspiracy themes are present in Cyberpunk 2077, even delving into concept like reptilians controlling earth, then having a laugh about it and getting real pointing out it's really the corporate elite who're behind of it all.

This is the only kind of woke that really matters.

Yup. I can agree with you there.

 

[bign]

Yup. I can agree with you there.

So do you think the following sentence doesn't apply to you?

"I couldn't give a flying rats ass about minority feelings over how men or women are portrayed in a video game, actually I think if you have tendency to get butt hurt about things then don't use internet, don't play games, just hide under a rock."