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Unrepresented Identities: An Availability of Tailor Options Review
starflairex
Posts: 84 Arc User
This post is primarily meant for dev review. While I feel the subject has been addressed more than once through multiple channels including the forums, discord, and twitch live, going through customer service for a more direct approach has led me back here. It is worth noting the GMs made it clear to me that the dev team ultimately has final say on what is released in game. As this is the official channel for dev communication, I hope and expect this to be seen and addressed by the appropriate personnel.
Please keep the number 127 in mind when reading the following.
As Foxbat Con comes to an end, I could not help but notice the omission of what I would consider both a thematic and nearly vital addition to the theme. We got big shoe aura, balloon animal costume, weapons, and even an action figure. But we missed one thing that would have made perfect sense: the classic curly clown afro. While on the surface this may come off as an oversight, it is my opinion that this is yet another instance of the dev team going out of their way to -not- include more ethnic hairstyles in the game. For those who are unsure, ethnic hair is typically associated with people of color; primarily black people. These styles often compliment the naturally thick, coarse, frizzy, fluffy, and/or curly hair that many black people have. As demeaning as it may sound, this “clown hair” would have been a welcome and refreshing addition to a game which has been active for **almost 15 years** due to its versatility and no doubt a feeling of inclusion for POC. But for reasons unknown, despite the strong thematic links and a tidal wave of requests from the community with tons of different examples with reference images, this has not happened.
This isn’t the first time in which ethnic hairstyles were overlooked in themes where they would have been appropriate. The Undying Warrior costume set, for example, came off as inspired by the Wakandans featured in Black Panther. But not a single hairstyle. During a live stream on Twitch, sometime in 2020, our lead developer and community manager were asked directly about the inclusion (or lack thereof) of ethnic hairstyles. This was largely ignored until the chat was literally flooded with players demanding a response. After an awkward exchange between the two, the players were told to refer to the costume suggestion thread on the official forums.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline/#/discussion/1204682/costumesuggestionthread.
That was in 2020. We are aware and have been informed that suggesting things without reference images can be difficult to pass on to the art teams, etc, so players have been sure to post many different reference images in this particular thread.
Which brings us back to the number 127. If you browse the costume suggestion thread and care to count, there are roughly 127 examples of ethnic hairstyles. 127. This is a thread started in 2016. The bulk of these styles can especially be found within pages 7 thru 9. They are impossible to miss. The posts being made around 2020, I suspect were sparked by the aforementioned Twitch stream. Given that we are expected to use this suggestion thread that has been opened and reviewed by our dev team for seven years now, we also have evidence based on the various additions made to the game, that this thread is directly pulled from. So I have to ask, how is it that with 127 distinct examples across the 12 pages of this thread, the closest we have come is exactly ***one*** typically ethnic hairstyle added to CO called “Curly 01”? Furthermore, it brings about the troubling realization that a game as old as Champions Online, which we know can still produce high quality costumes and has one of the most impressive character creators in the genre cannot, through what feels like a refusal or deliberate omission, manage to make up for nearly a decade and a half of missing ethnic hairstyles when we seem to be able to make virtually anything else under the sun?
Be the hero you want to be”.
A classic superman. A robot. A monster. A kaiju. A manimal. An alien. A corgi. A sock puppet. Everything under the sun except for being able to fully represent a character as black through their appearance and expression which in large part includes hairstyle. For a game with a claim to fame regarding character creation it seems at best odd and at worst very telling that this particular aspect and avenue of character creation has been ignored. This thread is ultimately here to try and get a handle on this developing narrative since when there is an issue like this, if a clear and official answer isn’t given, the player base is free to construct a narrative based on the observable facts we see from our side instead of what may be going on behind the scenes when it comes to the issue of why people of color are so blatantly excluded from the dev teams agenda.
Thank you.
Special thanks to @theravenforce for helping me put this together.
Please keep the number 127 in mind when reading the following.
As Foxbat Con comes to an end, I could not help but notice the omission of what I would consider both a thematic and nearly vital addition to the theme. We got big shoe aura, balloon animal costume, weapons, and even an action figure. But we missed one thing that would have made perfect sense: the classic curly clown afro. While on the surface this may come off as an oversight, it is my opinion that this is yet another instance of the dev team going out of their way to -not- include more ethnic hairstyles in the game. For those who are unsure, ethnic hair is typically associated with people of color; primarily black people. These styles often compliment the naturally thick, coarse, frizzy, fluffy, and/or curly hair that many black people have. As demeaning as it may sound, this “clown hair” would have been a welcome and refreshing addition to a game which has been active for **almost 15 years** due to its versatility and no doubt a feeling of inclusion for POC. But for reasons unknown, despite the strong thematic links and a tidal wave of requests from the community with tons of different examples with reference images, this has not happened.
This isn’t the first time in which ethnic hairstyles were overlooked in themes where they would have been appropriate. The Undying Warrior costume set, for example, came off as inspired by the Wakandans featured in Black Panther. But not a single hairstyle. During a live stream on Twitch, sometime in 2020, our lead developer and community manager were asked directly about the inclusion (or lack thereof) of ethnic hairstyles. This was largely ignored until the chat was literally flooded with players demanding a response. After an awkward exchange between the two, the players were told to refer to the costume suggestion thread on the official forums.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline/#/discussion/1204682/costumesuggestionthread.
That was in 2020. We are aware and have been informed that suggesting things without reference images can be difficult to pass on to the art teams, etc, so players have been sure to post many different reference images in this particular thread.
Which brings us back to the number 127. If you browse the costume suggestion thread and care to count, there are roughly 127 examples of ethnic hairstyles. 127. This is a thread started in 2016. The bulk of these styles can especially be found within pages 7 thru 9. They are impossible to miss. The posts being made around 2020, I suspect were sparked by the aforementioned Twitch stream. Given that we are expected to use this suggestion thread that has been opened and reviewed by our dev team for seven years now, we also have evidence based on the various additions made to the game, that this thread is directly pulled from. So I have to ask, how is it that with 127 distinct examples across the 12 pages of this thread, the closest we have come is exactly ***one*** typically ethnic hairstyle added to CO called “Curly 01”? Furthermore, it brings about the troubling realization that a game as old as Champions Online, which we know can still produce high quality costumes and has one of the most impressive character creators in the genre cannot, through what feels like a refusal or deliberate omission, manage to make up for nearly a decade and a half of missing ethnic hairstyles when we seem to be able to make virtually anything else under the sun?
Be the hero you want to be”.
A classic superman. A robot. A monster. A kaiju. A manimal. An alien. A corgi. A sock puppet. Everything under the sun except for being able to fully represent a character as black through their appearance and expression which in large part includes hairstyle. For a game with a claim to fame regarding character creation it seems at best odd and at worst very telling that this particular aspect and avenue of character creation has been ignored. This thread is ultimately here to try and get a handle on this developing narrative since when there is an issue like this, if a clear and official answer isn’t given, the player base is free to construct a narrative based on the observable facts we see from our side instead of what may be going on behind the scenes when it comes to the issue of why people of color are so blatantly excluded from the dev teams agenda.
Thank you.
Special thanks to @theravenforce for helping me put this together.
Post edited by starflairex on
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Comments
If we're going to be talking about hair, in general, one thing I would love to see (in new lockboxes) are some more kinds of hair that can peek out below headgear without clipping into it. Doesn't have to be127 types, but out of all the hairstyles we have now, probably 95% of them can't be used with any headgear without clipping.
Note: the devs say very, very little on their official forums, so you shouldn't count on there being any kind of discussion with them here.
I must admit I did find it odd recently when they were asking in the stream for costume ideas.
Especially when hair packs or some sort of Hairs of the World Lockbox with a variety of hairs (as highlighted by the OP) in the lockbox, would be greatly appreciated and has been barely touched upon judging by the contents of recent lockboxes and the topic of diverse hairstyles on CO's forums and in conversation in the community.
I think it would be unfortunate if there was nothing said on this topic from either the CM or the Dev Team, mostly because players can draw their own conclusions which may not be true or accurate.
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________
I'm not sure how well a lockbox devoted exclusively to hair would sell, but I can see it being a thing where there is a "hair box" witihin a lockbox (as for auras and costumes now) that provides one of several possible new hairstyles. Even at 10 new hairstyles per lockbox, that covers at least 12 lockbox releases (accpeting 127 hairstyles have been proposed) which is at least 2 years worth of releases, and who knows if the game will be around that long.
Players draw thier own conclusions no matter what the devs say or don't say
Didn't they ask about social spaces as well?, I recall seeing a post about that
Genuinely tired of having to fake it to make it in a lot of games. And to see what's well known as an amazing character creator now outshined by many in this aspect, from the face sliders to the hairstyles, it sucks to not feel represented in some way or form that ain't straight up african/Urban while other games are finally starting to get the picture.
I feel it is important to note that after reviewing old messages and endlessly scrolling through Facebook, the aforementioned dev stream was actually the Best Shape Costume Contest, January of 2021. Not quite 2020 as I originally thought.
*reads*
Yea. Talking here or in the suggestion threads may not get a response but in my experience the posts that get active with multiple users showing a solid % of the game population is support of it does get attention. So don't just talk about it here.Talk about it in other places and point concerned people here to add their voices.
As for ethnic hair and non-hatpiece clipping hair. I am fully behind it.
PS: Some of my ideas have shown up in game, just not a pet idea.... yet. (I hope)
In an effort to get a more direct response, we got a hand from the gaming news site Massively OP, who managed to get a response from Cryptic Exec Brett Norton. Norton admitted we were lacking in diversity and will explore "more inclusive customization options". The full article can be read here: https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/champions-onlines-cryptic-says-itll-start-exploring-more-inclusive-customization-options/
This does not make any promises, but honestly I was just hoping to actually get through to someone, not necessarily strong arm the devs into making stuff. I feel that at this point, we can say with full confidence that the ball is in their court.
Most of the official response to this is in the Massively OP article, but I wanted to touch base here as well. We can definitely do better. With the way game development works and how long things take to turn around, I don't know if we'll be doing better tomorrow. But you have been heard, and I apologize for the long wait and for the vagueness of my initial response in 2020.
This is good to hear, as is Kael's response above.
I look forward to seeing tangible costumes to aid in in-game customization in future.
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________
There's also missing emblems, like the Medic Cross. It's in the Insignia Emblems but not the regular emblems. The regular emblems are also on NPCs at Mercy Hospital. My healer characters need it, lol
Not this time. The new lockbox outfits got previewed on Discord, and while it has some hair, it's elemental-themed.
That said, personally I think if they release more ethnic hairs at least some of them will be new free default hairs, so the lockbox doesn't necessarily matter.
You'll find many bits from those sets in our costume suggestion thread, so if we ever needed further evidence that it actually is looked over, there it is.
Those, along with the usual event costumes and keypacks here and there. Shortly after Cryptic's statement above, we were blessed with an alternate Viperia hairstyle; a great seat of dreadlocks (arguably braids). Now, I won't get into Serpent Lanterns' buginess, the time it takes to do it, and the fact it must be completed to potentially get a sliver of a shot at that hair; beggars can't be choosers. The talent is there, which is promising.
When you consider how long it takes to put these boxes together, the planning and staffing needed, and the mess caused by Embracer, it's difficult to get back to poking the staff. But again, I think over a year is plenty. I do hope this post ages like milk when I say we have a lot of everything. Let's get back on track with the hair.