Side Quest, Episode 13: The Kingdom Come Deliverance Racism Farce

Life would be very boring, yes. Thank you for watching! Glad you enjoyed the video.

Colin Moriarty

Agreed, and Colin summed it up very well: these "journalists" (and I use that term in the loosest sense possible) simply have an axe to grind. For them, it isn't about investigating the wonderful medium that games are or even asking important questions, it's about finger wagging. This is why when it comes to seeking out gaming media, I prefer Side Quest, Vaati / Mitch L's fantastic Souls Lore series, or even Game Grump's hilarious Kirby's Dream Course Let's Play. At least those are all successful, multi-faceted examples of celebrating the art form as opposed to inflammatory, clickbait nonsense.

Justin Matkowski

careful, you sound a bit too much like an intelligent adult :D

Lou & Rei Loper

This gets to the crux of the issue for me. If people want to see some diversified view of 'themselves' on a screen, PICK UP A PEN ALREADY. The people that get blasted for making their comic books, movies, books, and games...are all just regular 'ol people like you. The only difference is that they wanted to see something, so they did it themselves. I don't get what's stopping anyone else from doing the same thing, and in 50 years from now it may be just as cult like popular as anything else today. It's gotta start somewhere, or at least. it should.

Lou & Rei Loper

Dang it, now I'm curious about the Phil Spencer speech haha. The rest of your comment is totally spot on except for ONE small part....we don't need to alter history to reflect their views on things, it's FAR easier to just ignore the full history and use what you need lol. For shame

Lou & Rei Loper

I agree, in my opinion politics should be ALL middle ground/gray areas for the most part. If one side is ALWAYS happy, then that's a large group of the population that likely isn't...if they're both generally happy, well, that's a well oiled machine. If none of the adults learn to speak with their 12" voices instead of shouting all the time, then no one wins. Seems like I learned that about 32 years ago, when I was 5 haha.

Lou & Rei Loper

I really enjoyed this video as usual. I was going to buy the game when it dropped in price but am now debating buying it at full price to support the developer and farther show that people can have different opinions and different viewpoints. If we all agreed with everyone of everything, wouldn't life be pretty boring?

strawhatninja

It's all totally absurd. I think creators should be allowed to create. If that creation is a game with all black female characters, so be it. What the hell do I care? I want to see YOUR vision. Not a journalist's with an axe to grind who probably doesn't even want to play your game anyway.

Colin Moriarty

I didn't, but I'll have to look into it.

Colin Moriarty

It's truly and actually unbearable at times. That's why I've checked-out of politics in particular lately. It's just people screaming at each other. No solutions, no middle-ground, no gray areas. Just whining.

Colin Moriarty

You hit on something I probably should have included in the video in hindsight: The drama is through this oddly American-centric view of diversity, when in fact the game itself is quite diverse in its representation of early 15th century peoples who were in Bohemia. Anyway, I'm glad that you enjoyed the video, and I appreciate your support!

Colin Moriarty

One of the things I find most telling about this is the fact that the majority of the criticism Warhorse is receiving comes from journalists and games' media mouthpieces - i.e. people that know very little (in the hands-on sense) of the creative process. Speaking as someone who makes a living as an Art Director / Writer, I can say one of the most destructive things to the creative process is arbitrary "check lists" that have nothing to do with the quality/core mission of the work. Since this phenomena is fairly new to gaming, I'll give a historical anecdote. What if in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past (a game most would agree on is a masterpiece) the developers were pressured into including a portion of the game where Zelda was the playable character, purely for diversity. What if they couldn't get the controls just right, or this newly shoe-horned element compromised the damn near perfect pacing that game has. How different would that piece of art have turned out and been remembered? Now juxtapose that with the scenario of a game where Zelda is the protagonist and that was the story the developers wanted to tell/the experience they genuinely wanted to create. That is the difference between checklists for purpose of appeasement and authentic inspiration with the mission of creating the best art possible.

Justin Matkowski

I think your video description pretty much nails it. Everything is racist, especially if it doesn’t conform to what the media decides is appropriate. We should even alter history just to reflect this too. It’s sad and quite frankly pathetic. On a side note, did you catch Phil Spencer’s speech at DICE? I’m curious as to your thoughts on it.

Adam Niksch

This is the reason I absolutely truly hate reading/watching any news (that includes ALL video game sites too)....everything is racist, everything is sexist, everything is wrong, there are no good people left, every video game is the best new game ever, every video game is terrible. Everything is an absolute (how's that for absolutes lol), nothing can be discussed like adults, he/she who shouts loudest is more important than he/she who is right. Whoever has the megaphone is the one that must be right. I just don't have time for nonsense like this. We all clearly know though that all police officers are racist and not to be trusted..............until of course you need to call one for help...hmmmm If the world was just full of terrible people everywhere and no one, then how is it that we are able to comfortably sit in our homes, offices, libraries, coffee shops, etc. and complain quietly on the internet about it...yet we weren't robbed today, or shot, no one broke into our house or car. That's not to say that bad things don't indeed happen sometimes, that's pretty obvious. However, they don't happen NEARLY as often as the internet would have you to believe, or else you'd all have 3 inch thick steel doors on your homes, guns on you at all times, and speak to no one, ever. The world is still a very very good place, there are just a few bad apples who talk louder.

Lou & Rei Loper

It is an easy trap, but regardless we have to stay above it. Otherwise we are no better

Ryan Berry

Really interesting. This is the reason I subscribe to your Patreon. I would not have even known about the history of this game or its creator. I have only heard good things about the game itself but I did notice there was surprisingly little coverage for the buzz I was hearing from my gaming circle. I do think it’s important for American created products to try to consider what our diverse culture would like to play but this wasn’t even an American developer. The team was likely largely western European and making game about Western Europe before a time of diversity in that region (still may not be that diverse??). It should be celebrated that we got some more diversity in terms of style and backdrop for the game. Very cool concept. I do find the backlash to be somewhat targeted (here comes a run on sentence) as another major developer from that region, CD Project Red, had an incredible amount of male dominant story with sexualized female characters in which there was, for three games, only a male option as a main character with very few non white characters received nothing but praise. There seems to be a lot of parallels between these two games and the stories from the media regarding outrage were so different. Did the media forget its morals for The Witcher because it was nearly perfect and couldn’t be put down?

Brian Fuller

That might be a little excessive, but hey, it's your money. =)

Colin Moriarty

I'm glad, too, and I think we're gonna see more of that moving forward.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words, and for your feedback!

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words; I appreciate you. I'd like to think that we could one day get to a place where we judge people as individuals, instead of based on these random -- and frankly totally unimportant -- characteristics.

Colin Moriarty

Bravo. Well said.

Colin Moriarty

I want to buy 100 copies.

Joey Finelli

While I do agree that you should always follow that principle, you have to agree that is so easy to fall on to that trap when pretty much all of media and specially games media have the same core values and report with the same agenda in mind. But again I agree with everything you said though.

Guilherme Müller

The 1984 Orwell quote has probably already come up..."Those who control the present, control the past, those who control the past, control the future." Glad the game developer stood up to this.

This is a great video and addresses an important idea against group think, especially among those with power. That said, you dangerously walk the line of hypocrisy in this one. There are quite negative ideas and blanket statements made of “Games Media”, which is what Games Media is doing wrong in this case. While it’s a blanket statement of a group, there are specific articles called out. Your friendly feedback: trim the hyperbole and stay facts focused. It’s what separates you from them.

Ryan Berry

To start sorry for the lengthy comment but I hold this video and problem in current society very near and dear. First off thanks Colin for another great episode. I feel like racism is a very blanket term today used on any and everything that it can possibly be thrown on. Racism should not be a blanket term so much because I feel that it is a very powerful word and I hold a very strong meaning behind it. For games media to throw that word around so much is just sad and in them doing that they are giving the word less meaning because they throw it around so loosely that it just becomes a term for stuff that does not even fit it’s true meaning. I know it might be futile to hope but can’t we judge people off of the true facts we know about them and not just conjecture. Thanks as always Colin for your hard work on all the content you provide. It is much appreciated.

Eric S

Spot on. I don't read traditional media outlets for this reason. Everyone is looking FOR something to focus their anger on. And as soon as someone gives a view that is not considered progressive then they are considered, literally the worst of our humanity. It's pathetic. Its happening so much that I think people see it as the new way to get your '10 minutes of fame'. These leeches piggyback each other with every circle jerk, echo chamber retweet and like, all for the sole reason of being seen/getting attention for 'taking the moral high ground' or so they think. It NEEDS to end. We are ALL humans. We ALL make mistakes. End of.

Smokey Joh

Thanks! I may in the future; we shall see.

Colin Moriarty

I really love that 8 bit outro. You should use it for the intro for side quest as well.

Joey Andrzejczyk

Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked it!

Colin Moriarty

Thank you!

Colin Moriarty

"A mess." Perfectly put. What else can really be said?

Colin Moriarty

I agree. That's the startling thing, how easily a massive subsection of their potential audiences they just insult and write-off. I would hope (and in fact, know) that left-leaning people are welcome in the CLS community.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. =)

Colin Moriarty

You're not the first person to tell me that they won't support anything that dude touches, so I appreciate you standing with me. <3

Colin Moriarty

I didn't include it in the video, because it was already running long and I didn't think it was that material to my argument, but I had a bunch of interesting statistics of modern Czech demographics, and some anecdotal stuff from TripAdvisor on people's experiences there today, all indicating that, even today in Prague, you'd be hard-pressed to run into a "Person of Color." So, yes, I agree with you: In a 16 square kilometer section of Bohemia in 1403, you weren't going to see anyone but white people, except maybe a few times in your life.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your thoughtful words. I think you hit the nail on the head.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm so happy you're enjoying Side Quest!

Colin Moriarty

It's tiresome. Makes me glad I backed out of the political game for a bit. We all need to catch our breath.

Colin Moriarty

No. They clearly don't.

Colin Moriarty

Y'know, it's not even that people have opinions that bothers me. Critique whatever you want, love or hate whatever you want... none of that matters. What bums me out, though, is when people think they can exert real power over an individual or a product, attack and ruin a person's name, and whatever else all in the name of "justice." It's hilarious.

Colin Moriarty

Interesting. I wasn't sure what website he was talking about.

Colin Moriarty

Mainstream games media has so little to offer these days. And I feel like a lot of journalists are so combative because they know they're on the clock, and more disliked by gamers than ever. I'm not sure that I have any sympathy for GamerGate like you do -- they really did hurt a lot of people, and a lot of the behavior exhibited was terrible, though that's true on both sides -- but I'm also not afraid to call a spade a spade.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words! There's no doubt at all that those trying to tear Vavra and his game down helped the game out tremendously (and likely made Vavra a millionaire).

Colin Moriarty

no u

Colin Moriarty

Colin, This is exactly the type of video I wanted you to do when you announced SideQuest. No one else I know producing this type of content seems to have the guts or capacity to call out the industry media on its echo chamber, holier than thou ultra liberal attitude. Great stuff

Really great episode Colin!

John Polk

Anything related to sexuality, race, and gender is just a mess at this point. Each topic has devolved into this "either you are completely with us or against us" mentality that many left leaning people like myself very uncomfortable. It means that there is no room for conversation or subtlety. Things either are or are not. I feel like it's trapped many liberal minded people into going along with movements they really don't fully agree with but are afraid to speak out against because they will be called bigoted, racist, etc. The gaming media is just another manifestation of this.

CTE

Great video. If professional writers online would just think ideas through calmly and have self respect rather than try and find the most basic assumption about someone to twist for monetisation, we'd be in a lot better place. But that's not the way they react. It's so destructive to their own environment and its gonna turn on their ability to make money. It shows a real lack of respect for their audience.

Peter Campbell

If I could I would give you a standing ovation. Well done on this video. Diversity of skin color is nice, but often times people forget that diversity of character is what matters the most.

Carson Smith

Hey Colin, thank you so much for laying out this story, there's been so much flying around in the media about this story and really wasn't sure what I thought. I like Dragons and magic so I'm not interested in the game but I'm happy for it's success and let me just say Josiah is totally correct about the Waypoint headline, which is a shame as I enjoy their content most of the time. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I saw Mackey was a US Gamer contributor, loved that site but won't support it, thanks again for the great video and insight as always.

David Kramme

Just a personal anecdote here - I was born in '79, in central Europe. I was seven years old before I saw my first person of color. This was upon reaching NYC, after my family escaped socialism. And I traveled, by plane and car through at least 2 other countries, including Canada, and still don't remember encountering any. I doubt that could happen today, and that's a good thing. I lived on the coast, in a tiny fishing village, where tourism was the only industry. Still, if that could happen to a person in the early to mid-80's, why is it so anathema to people to accept that certain areas of the world are not racially diverse, and that was even more so the case 600 years ago, in a small, landlocked area of the mountainous interior of central Europe. Do they not understand that their dissavowal of reality makes them as silly as flat-earthers?

Hey Collin, haven’t commented in forever, but always watching with interest. Wanted to hop back in and thank you for highlighting this story, which was not on my radar whatsoever before seeing this. Such a helpful overview. This story is so dense and interesting, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I totally agree with your conclusion, though, that it’s a teachable moment for all involved. I really value diversity in the games and characters I play with, and I also value the market’s ability to discriminate where their dollars are going. That’s true of individuals, reviews and publications alike. That said, I was really disheartened, though not surprised, to see that Waypoint headline in particular. It had nothing to do with lessening the visibility of the game and everything to do with self-branding in the culture wars. If their goal was to actually diminish the profile of this game, which is fine as far as I’m concerned, how could they publish something so counterproductive towards those ends? It instantly makes this game a commercial rallying cry for less savory characters, and it might actually serve to ENCOURAGE developers to say more boneheaded things to actively appeal to that audience. This is not the way to effect positive change, progress and tolerance, my friends. Save your powder, indeed. ✌️

Josiah Lambert

Another great episode! I know I say that every week, but I truly do enjoy and look forward to these. You make my monday's just that much more bearable. Thank you Colin

Brock Thomas Walsh

This isn't a problem that's exclusive to the game's industry. The recent shooting tragedy in Parkland, FL has seem the same amount of nasty and vitriolic hyperbole about anyone having remotely conservative viewpoints. You literally cannot say anything in support of the 2nd Amendment without being called a Nazi.... it's fucking insane. Anyway, this is a really good (and important) episode that's relevant to the times we're living in.

Brian Dewire

This is like if someone was going to call Mad Men (which I've been rewatching recently) sexist, or misogynistic... Do people not understand period pieces?

Owen

It's so strange to me when I hear people talk about this game and what the developer should change now that it's out. I hear people say oh you should have done this and you should change this thing now basically telling somebody or some people who had a certain vision for something that they are passionate about and want to work on that no you're not right to think that way and here is what you should do instead. Something about that to me is just wrong. I Have played the game and I have problems with it none that have to do with the controversy. For example I don't really think the main protagonist is all that interesting but I don't immediately go oh this game sucks now. I play it I have fun I try finish then see what I take away from the hole experience. I don't know maybe I'm rambling but I don't know as I have gotten older I guess I have just become more on the side of the creator rather then the consumer just because I like to respect there vision and have more respect for them giving it a go and putting it out there and honestly gamers can be kinda embarrassing sometimes. I don't know sorry if that doesn't make sense it's a bit all over the show. Great video Colin really enjoyed it.

Cameron Paterson

The industry website that had 5 negative stories about Assassins Creed not having a female character on their front page at once was Polygon, and it was on the Monday of E3 press conferences that year. I know it stood out to me that it was the biggest day of the year for gaming news and their website was littered with just this one story. I don't know how many other sites experienced something similar, but it was so laughable to me at the time. I checked Polygon often up until that day.

Claudien

Amazing episode - cuts to the heart of the “why gamers are starting to hate mainstream gaming media”. While I’ll still check out IGN from time to time to read a quick review, I find myself primarily viewing YouTube reviews/essays, which seem to do a lot less preaching than sites like Waypoint, Polygon, Kotaku, or even less niche sites like Gamespot are these days. I’ve gained a lot of sympathy for the rational sphere of GamerGate over the past year (meaning the people actually concerned with journalistic transparency and the destigmatization of the “gamer” identity, not the gloves-off trolls who harassed people and made us all look bad) and this video articulates the reason for that very well. As it was going down in 2014, I was on your page. After hearing about it being a harassment campaign, I was against it, then I watched a FemFreq video and figured “well I’m definitely not FOR that”, so I tapped out entirely. Fireside Chat guest Chris Ray Gun has a bunch of videos that made the rational middle ground seem a lot more clear. Bit of a GG tangent at the end, but bottom line is, I think this is the best and maybe most important Side Quest video yet, great job 👍

Marc Boggio

It's really, as you put it, completely farcical to the lengths some people will go to do whatever they feel is needed to be 'politically correct' or do some 'virtue signalling'. Even if it means ignoring facts and verified historical points. Twisting words around to suit their outlook. If it's so offensive, why would you bother to write a hit piece on it or even cover it at all? They've just probably helped the game get more eyes and ears that can look past the bullshit. That was a great video, Colin. Can't wait for next week.😁

Moiz Khan

FYI, you're racist. /s

Steven Camilo