Skullgirls 2nd Encore from Hidden Variable Studios and Autumn Games is having some community issues lately, with it getting review-bombed after a recent update.
What's going on exactly? Skullgirls now has a Mostly Negative recent user review rating on Steam, and you can clearly see the masses that have been flocking to the Steam page to let their feelings be known:
The why: on June 26th the developers announced some changes to existing content in the game and the Digital Art Compendium. The full list of changes can be seen here and it's not a long list so it's an easy overview. The developers made a longer post a few days before to explain why.
Reading through the updates were done "in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward" which include removing Nazi-like depictions including armbands and symbols, adjusting some character artwork to remove sexualization of younger characters and racial stereotype issues they believed to be in poor taste.
Overall, the tweaks they've made seem quite small but this hasn't stopped the wave of negativity with user reviews complaining about "censorship" and going "woke". It's not entirely negative though, as a few hundred have also come along to leave a positive review but not enough to stop the overall recent review score looking really bad.
This YouTube video does a good look at some of the changes. Some are really a blink and you'll miss it type of deal and most players probably wouldn't even notice:
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Since the update around 3,449 negative reviews have been posted against 868 positive reviews, and it looks like the initial reaction is now dying off.
It does also bring up the interesting topic of how in the age of the internet and the likes of Steam, even games 10 years old can suddenly have changes you really might not like. Even when they're not technically some online-only "live service" type of thing.
Skullgirls certainly hasn't had the best history, with the original studio Lab Zero collapsing after a bunch of developers quit accusing the owner Mike Zaimont of various counts of inappropriate behaviour. After this Lab Zero laid off everyone else who hadn't quit.
You can buy a copy of Skullgirls from Humble Store and Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Metallinatus Jul 8, 2023
Quoting: slaapliedjeI am pretty sure the contract they signed gave them this right, that's usually how it works.Quoting: 14The changes seem pretty minor to me. Still not a children's game, so it's not like the style or mood or rating changed.For me, it is the fact they censored it at all. I am also pissed there have been charging/ censoring of books by long dead writers. Who gave them the right to alter the work of others?
In principle, it is a weird thing to do to a game many people purchased a long time ago. Doesn't feel right.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeGenerally speaking, I'm not a fan of censorship. In this specific case, I'm not bothered enough for it to be my hill to die on.Quoting: 14The changes seem pretty minor to me. Still not a children's game, so it's not like the style or mood or rating changed.For me, it is the fact they censored it at all.
In principle, it is a weird thing to do to a game many people purchased a long time ago. Doesn't feel right.
1. The author of the original content made the changes for everyone, not some other entity that only changes it for certain people.
2. I don't disagree with the specific changes made. I don't think removal of the red armbands has any benefit, but I also am not gonna fight to retain that image. Just not a big deal to me.
I'll go on a short tangent like you did. :) Amazon's TV depiction of the Rings of Power. Some Black Elves. Some Black Dwarves. Some Black Hobbits. It makes no sense in Middle Earth. They shouldn't have made that change. What they could have done was made an entire race Black: Dwarves, or maybe Hobbits if you stretch it. They simply cannot make Elves Black in any number and be in agreement with the literature. Now, that is something I get a little more angry about. If you want your fantasy world to reflect the real world, write a new story with its own world instead of bastardizing someone else's creation. At the end of the day, it's entertainment -- not the most important thing in the world. But entertainment affects what we find normal since we spend so much time consuming it. I think a lot of people in 1st world countries watch actors in entertainment more than they interact with real people, so it does have an impact on people forming their opinions.
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Jul 9, 2023
Quoting: 141. The author of the original content made the changes for everyone, not some other entity that only changes it for certain people.It would have been different if it was the original author. This is just the new owner. Much like Amazon owning the rights (at least enough of them) to mangle Tolkien's years of world building...
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Jul 9, 2023
Quoting: MetallinatusThis goes back to my other point about art being modified years later by whomever feels they have the right to change that art to whatever current levels of acceptance.Quoting: slaapliedjeI am pretty sure the contract they signed gave them this right, that's usually how it works.Quoting: 14The changes seem pretty minor to me. Still not a children's game, so it's not like the style or mood or rating changed.For me, it is the fact they censored it at all. I am also pissed there have been charging/ censoring of books by long dead writers. Who gave them the right to alter the work of others?
In principle, it is a weird thing to do to a game many people purchased a long time ago. Doesn't feel right.
Let's take an extreme example of something like this (I was thinking of this the other day due to this subject matter);
Mein kampf. What if some publisher decided to edit this book and change it around so that it looks much less like the work of an evil ego-maniacal dictator, and instead just an elderly gentleman that had some political views. Many, many years from now, and with how atrocious our school system is in the USA..., they could potentially turn it into something people slowly start to agree with and ignore how terrible of a person Hitler was. This could very well be done by censoring things out that make people feel bad (for whatever reason).
Art is Art, for whatever level of acceptance that is. (Mind you, I couldn't really consider Mein Kampf anything but terrible, but much like I say about people making 'non-offensive gaming tables' for D&D, sometimes you need to bring up some terrible atrocities to entice people to be the hero.)
So yes, while this is just a dumb game that the original artists / developers made a little risque, and it has no real bearing on anything anyone deeply cares about; the idea of the censorship and modifications by another team, even if they own the rights to it, sicken me. Imagine if another game series that is far more popular got a similar treatment. Say Grand Theft Auto... people would lose their minds!
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slaapliedje Jul 9, 2023
Quoting: 14What they could have done was made an entire race Black: Dwarves, or maybe Hobbits if you stretch it. They simply cannot make Elves Black in any number and be in agreement with the literature. Now, that is something I get a little more angry about. If you want your fantasy world to reflect the real world, write a new story with its own world instead of bastardizing someone else's creation.
The problem with modern day Hollyweird... they can't. Look at all the current things coming out recently. The Witcher; writers hate and mock the original source. Wheel of Time; show runners hate the fans and the source material. Rings of Power; fired the living expert of all things Tolkien. Any of the successful shows have either almost been canceled (The Expanse), or been based off of books (the four previous ones all are, it's just The Expanse was actually good!)
Modern day Hollyweird is all about taking old famous movies, and basically remaking them / ruining them. Sure remakes were always a thing, but at least here and there, there have been amazing ones (Scarface always comes to mind). New sequels for old movies would be great... if they actually got old school writers to extend the characters, instead of newer writers that weren't even born when the original movies came out. All we can do to them is hit them where it hurts. Don't see them in the theater, don't pay for streaming services to watch them, just go back and watch some of the classics already in your physical library. That's what I've been doing lately. Enjoyed A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures lately. Re-watched the Arnie Conan movies as well! I'm thinking I should fire up The Goonies tonight...
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: slaapliedjeYeah, I'm mostly with you. I do actually like the Witcher series though. The third season is close enough to The Time of Contempt book. I'm somewhat of a big Witcher fan, too. I have beaten all three games (100 hours in the 3rd one) and read four of the books so far. I have some gripes on the previous TV seasons, but I still like it.Quoting: 14What they could have done was made an entire race Black: Dwarves, or maybe Hobbits if you stretch it. They simply cannot make Elves Black in any number and be in agreement with the literature. Now, that is something I get a little more angry about. If you want your fantasy world to reflect the real world, write a new story with its own world instead of bastardizing someone else's creation.
The problem with modern day Hollyweird... they can't. Look at all the current things coming out recently. The Witcher; writers hate and mock the original source. Wheel of Time; show runners hate the fans and the source material. Rings of Power; fired the living expert of all things Tolkien. Any of the successful shows have either almost been canceled (The Expanse), or been based off of books (the four previous ones all are, it's just The Expanse was actually good!)
Modern day Hollyweird is all about taking old famous movies, and basically remaking them / ruining them. Sure remakes were always a thing, but at least here and there, there have been amazing ones (Scarface always comes to mind). New sequels for old movies would be great... if they actually got old school writers to extend the characters, instead of newer writers that weren't even born when the original movies came out. All we can do to them is hit them where it hurts. Don't see them in the theater, don't pay for streaming services to watch them, just go back and watch some of the classics already in your physical library. That's what I've been doing lately. Enjoyed A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures lately. Re-watched the Arnie Conan movies as well! I'm thinking I should fire up The Goonies tonight...
I definitely have the same view about Hollywood writers. I'm not impressed with the stuff I've seen in recent years. But I'm also afraid of turning into an old fart too early that shuts out all pop culture. I suspect I'll get to a point someday where I really couldn't care less, but not quite there yet. ;)
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As one of the people that left a negative my review was quite simple: no one asked for this and all it did was make those of us that actually play the game a target for both sides of the mob on this.
If you want to get more into it though some of the stuff that was removed/altered were incentives from the IndieGoGo. Stuff like the voice packs for Big Band and Peacock, the artbook, some color palettes, and my personal biggest issue the fan art (People donated to get their art in the game and it was all just removed without reaching out to ask them to edit it to comply with their rules.).
The tinfoil hat theory is that Future Club is purposely nuking the popularity because they're currently in a legal battle over Mike Z (the original designer and developer) for the game, and it doesn't look to good for them.
If you want to get more into it though some of the stuff that was removed/altered were incentives from the IndieGoGo. Stuff like the voice packs for Big Band and Peacock, the artbook, some color palettes, and my personal biggest issue the fan art (People donated to get their art in the game and it was all just removed without reaching out to ask them to edit it to comply with their rules.).
The tinfoil hat theory is that Future Club is purposely nuking the popularity because they're currently in a legal battle over Mike Z (the original designer and developer) for the game, and it doesn't look to good for them.
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Quoting: TejanIf you want to get more into it though some of the stuff that was removed/altered were incentives from the IndieGoGo. Stuff like the voice packs for Big Band and Peacock, the artbook, some color palettes, and my personal biggest issue the fan art (People donated to get their art in the game and it was all just removed without reaching out to ask them to edit it to comply with their rules.).This is incorrect. Big Band and Peacock's voice packs are still in the game, as are all color palettes. None of the gallery fanart came from backers either, no one paid to have their art included. I have no idea where you're getting any of this from.
The only change that did come from the IndieGoGo is the removal of Mike Z's Soviet Announcer voice, because it's Mike Z. Note that it's missing lines for all the new characters and they can't get him to record new ones, so it was kind of inevitable to have to leave it behind.
1 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Jul 11, 2023
Quoting: 14Ha, I'm getting pretty close to the point where I'm about to forego watching any shows for entertainment (I prefer watching things on Discovery, or Historical things. Lately been watching Expedition Unknown, which is pretty fun and educational about things at the same time).Quoting: slaapliedjeYeah, I'm mostly with you. I do actually like the Witcher series though. The third season is close enough to The Time of Contempt book. I'm somewhat of a big Witcher fan, too. I have beaten all three games (100 hours in the 3rd one) and read four of the books so far. I have some gripes on the previous TV seasons, but I still like it.Quoting: 14What they could have done was made an entire race Black: Dwarves, or maybe Hobbits if you stretch it. They simply cannot make Elves Black in any number and be in agreement with the literature. Now, that is something I get a little more angry about. If you want your fantasy world to reflect the real world, write a new story with its own world instead of bastardizing someone else's creation.
The problem with modern day Hollyweird... they can't. Look at all the current things coming out recently. The Witcher; writers hate and mock the original source. Wheel of Time; show runners hate the fans and the source material. Rings of Power; fired the living expert of all things Tolkien. Any of the successful shows have either almost been canceled (The Expanse), or been based off of books (the four previous ones all are, it's just The Expanse was actually good!)
Modern day Hollyweird is all about taking old famous movies, and basically remaking them / ruining them. Sure remakes were always a thing, but at least here and there, there have been amazing ones (Scarface always comes to mind). New sequels for old movies would be great... if they actually got old school writers to extend the characters, instead of newer writers that weren't even born when the original movies came out. All we can do to them is hit them where it hurts. Don't see them in the theater, don't pay for streaming services to watch them, just go back and watch some of the classics already in your physical library. That's what I've been doing lately. Enjoyed A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures lately. Re-watched the Arnie Conan movies as well! I'm thinking I should fire up The Goonies tonight...
I definitely have the same view about Hollywood writers. I'm not impressed with the stuff I've seen in recent years. But I'm also afraid of turning into an old fart too early that shuts out all pop culture. I suspect I'll get to a point someday where I really couldn't care less, but not quite there yet. ;)
I haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: slaapliedjeI haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...Money?
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