Let's Just Calm Down About The Nudity In Baldur's Gate 3
Let's Just Calm Down About The Nudity In Baldur's Gate 3
Looking at you, streamers and angry defenders of Japanese ‘fanservice’ games.
Looking at you, streamers and angry defenders of Japanese ‘fanservice’ games.
I see we have reached the point where people are going to start saying "Okay, its time for everyone stop having fun" and writing about how the game isn't that big of deal.
Point being: let’s not listen to the shrieking streamers and strange subsection of Japanese game defenders, and just calm down about some naked adult bodies standing around in a character creator, shall we? It’s time games got comfortable with the human form.
Let's be frank: The real point is that the writer wants to feel superior to both of these demographics. Not that I support either, but this is just someone acting smug and superior and wanting a cookie for it. But I gotta say that the more blatant aspect is this ridiculous take that keeps popping up in modern criticism:
But there’s also plain old casual nudity—something that US cinema has historically shied away from (particularly with the male form), but that European cinema has been way more comfortable with for years. The whole gap between how the US and European ratings boards react to nudity is pretty well documented, and well summarised in this piece written at Quartz. Baldur’s Gate 3 is, of course, a European-made game, and we—yep, even us fusty old Brits—are historically a lot more relaxed about that kind of stuff.
Which is just absurd. I'm not North American, but let me tell you, if I see any plain dicks or pussy in a movie or TV series or game, it will be A Thing for me. I won't just sit there and act like a robot thinking "That's just a organic human body, much like mine, there's nothing unusual about that". There's no homogenous understanding in Europe, or South America or in any other non-US country where full blown nudity is just a casual happening that anyone would not bat an eye at, adult or not.
Furthermore:
Streamers are “shocked” by the nudity? Well, that’s because they’re either a) sheltered people whose lives are largely based in their bedrooms and/or b) aware of the fact that looking aghast, being shocked, and squealing at the sight of a willy or tuft of pubes counts as entertainment. It’s a tale as old as PewDiePie: overreact on camera to things that happen in a game, and you’ll keep viewers, especially younger ones, engaged.
Whether it’s a performance or genuine shock, or a bit of both, video game streamers exist in a pretty particular bubble whose reactions aren’t exactly a gauge of society at large.
I won't deny that streamers overact for views and content, but honestly? Fuck this guy. If I were playing by myself and saw a random cock dangling on my screen, I would have a reaction and feel flustered. If I were playing in front of hundreds, maybe thousands of strangers online? You can bet your ass that I would have a mini-anxiety attack. If the average streamer is a "sheltered people whose lives are largely based in their bedrooms " (again, fuck this writer) then that's even more reason to not make light of a moment of panic. Having a hobby where you get to interact with people beyond your screen instead of face-to-face can be a mirror, but it also opens you to a lot of repercussions and a human, if overblown reaction like this being talked down is genuinely infuriating.
Frankly, this is just a plain asshole of a person, and the fact that every other writing of theirs on BG3 is "Its not that good, everyone" just solidifies my stance.
I won't deny that streamers overact for views and content...
The reason why streamers freak out about bob's and vagene is because Twitch has some pretty hardcore rules about what's acceptable and what's not. Nudity and sexual content are only allowed in unmodded games. Any nudity or sexual content is a bannable offense if the game has been modded or if the streamer brings too much attention to it. Streams that are rated "for mature audiences" don't give streamers a free pass to in-game nudity, they just make the rules slightly more flexible.
Vinny Vinesauce got banned a few years ago for a few frames of Bladerunner 2049 titty because it was part of an overhaul mod that turned Serious Sam into a Bladerunner game. These were tit pics that were in the movie. Didn't matter to twitch, he still got a temp ban. When a streamer stops the stream to delete the stream vod, that's not "playing it up" or prudishness, that's them trying to keep their ass in one piece.
Hell. I watch a number of furry streamers, some of whom openly joke about fetishes and kinks, and they freak out about nudity on stream.
If I were playing by myself and saw a random cock dangling on my screen, I would have a reaction and feel flustered.
You're missing something big: it's NOT a surprise. Literally the first thing that happens when you open the game for the first time is it asks you if you want to enable nudity. You have to answer that question before you even get to the main menu.
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Tldr :
Japanese make game with sexual content.
Western journalists: "disgusting. This needs to be censored."
Japanese gamers: "no"
Europeans make game with sexual content.
Japanese gamers: "hypocritical much?"
Western journalists: "OMG, stop making a big deal out of nudity in games. Isn't it time we accept it?"
Are people really mad about nudity, or are they just mad that it's not all het nudity?
Edit: ok so after some research, looks like full nudity is an optional setting, and all body models (male or female) can have dicks or vulvas. Which makes me think there's an anti trans component to complaints as well.
They're mad that Japanese games get criticism for sexual themes, but not western ones. Examples being Dead or Alive and Street fighter characters where panties and bikinis are shown. No one is mad at the nudity itself of BG3.
"Sexual themes" in those games seem to exist just for the gratification of the (het male) player, as evidenced by the people getting mad when a game desexualises its characters after release. I haven't played baldurs Gate but as far as I can tell nudity in the game isn't there just for the eyes of the player, it serves a purpose in-game and in-story. edit: and at times (like in the character creator) it's not sexual at all
I imagine some are genuinely mad about the nudity, I imagine. Remember "video games are for children" and "if a child sees a nipple (let alone a penis!) the apocalypse will begin". Just because gamers are gamers doesn't mean they're not still part of the larger culture.
It all reminds me of the controversy among older TES fans over the lack of nudity in TES3: Morrowind. There was a lot of European vs. American in those threads (and we had a genuinely cross-pond fandom back in those days). Arena and Daggerfall had nudity, and a few of our European posters expressed indignation over the change.
The cool things done with the nudity include:
- Karlach's chest glowing from the Infernal Engine she uses as a heart
And that's it. They're not particularly good looking or anything. Other than Karlach, the nudity is quite generic and unsexy.
I feel like having full nudity is just a cheap gimmick that doesn't add anything of value. The only mainstream game I've played that even uses nudity as a mechanic to do something special is Elden Ring and you're not even totally nude in that game.
nudity is as much a mechanic as having head hair is though? it's just what humans ( and humanoid) things are?
non sexual nudity is a normal part of life.
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Locking this thread as the discussion seems to be devolving.
