Firewatch is a really big step in the right direction.
But try playing it as a child or a woman marginally interested in a gaming experience and you get unnecessary swearing and tropes from a man's perspective.
Oh well. I wish there was possibility for a mode. Not one you are forced to select, but one based on a profile, more akin to the predictive one advertisers already have on you.
Are you implying that women don't swear? and why does a child have to play this game? this game is obviously oriented to a mature audience. Not all the games have to be suitable for everybody. If not, the only games available would be pixar-like games.
I'm implying, and directly said, that the tropes aren't relatable or interesting despite trying so hard to be LIKE EVERY OTHER GAME AND THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE ARTICLE AND THREAD
You think your rebuttals are original but they are just rehashing the same arguments from the past 30 years and completely unproductive. Assume I already know the counterpoints, you went for the lowest hanging fruit of them all.
Firewatch is an interesting one to call out, much like Journey as the author imagined, because those games try to be more interesting. They were created by artists and gamers tired of AAA titles and tropes. But they continue to fail to interest this other broad audience that is repulsed by the idea of games, but as the author realized, are actually entertained by immersive experiences.
A "possibility for a mode" dilutes the artistic message of a game. If you don't like what the authors did, I would suggest doing something that presents a different viewpoint that you find valuable. (And that's not a cop-out--there are loads of indie developers doing exactly that, and a lot of those games are awesome.)
I understand that, and this understanding has been pervasive for 30 years, which is why this exact article was written, and is still being circulated on HN.
But try playing it as a child or a woman marginally interested in a gaming experience and you get unnecessary swearing and tropes from a man's perspective.
Oh well. I wish there was possibility for a mode. Not one you are forced to select, but one based on a profile, more akin to the predictive one advertisers already have on you.