Je ne pense pas que c’était un geste militant en effet mais c’est surtout pour ça que cette explosion de réaction est complètement disproportionnée, ils ont juste mis un monsieur et une madame dans un add on pour qu’il y ait un choix de plus…
Et je suis désolé de le dire mais ces questions de représentation du genre ou des minorités me passent complètement au dessus de la tête moi quand on parle de jeu. J’allais te dire que je ne voyais pas de quoi tu voulais parler pour le coup des talons hauts, je n’avais même pas fait gaffe en fait. Et le moins que l’on puisse dire c’est que justement sur ce KS2 ils ont l’air d’avoir été plus softs. Pour moi tout ça est tellement disproportionné des 2 côtés que j’ai bien halluciné.
Regardez le post qu’ils se sentis obligés de faire pour tenter de calmer les esprits.
Good evening/morning/night, everybody! The debate on the alternate gender heroes was definitely hotter than we expcted, but nothing is derailing. I just want to explain and clarify better where it comes from, in terms of our approach to the design of the project.
A S&S campaign is made of many interlocking elements, and Nunzio and SImone dedicate a great amount of time to make sure they are well designed and balanced. A Hero is central to the gameplay experience, as its design can make or break your game, if it’s not done right. And at the same time, Heroes are just a fraction of the game design, which also involves excellent AIs, balanced quests, and engaging storytelling.
S&S players love Heroes. There are already many of them designed and available from the previous campaign.
When Nunzio and Simone set upon designing the new campaign, the idea of providing variant Heroes, with similar (but not identical) gameplay, looked a good way to satisfy the (legitimate!) demand for « more Heroes » while at the same time making sure that the quality of their design would not suffer.
As each Hero is already - in fact - TWO Heroes (Law and Chaos have often an almost completely different gameplay), it looked very logical to provide TWO figures to play it. We could have changed the hat, the cloak, or the weapons. Instead, we thought it would have been better, and more interesting, to create the variant based on gender - making sure that once you choose a class, you can also have the gender of your choice.
With a set like Shakiko and Genryu you can:
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play S. and G. as two Law monks
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play S. and G. as two Chaos monks
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play one as a Law monk, the other one as a Chaos monk
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play a Law monk, with the gender of your choice (and a little gameplay variance)
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play one Law monk, with the gender of your choice (and a little gameplay variance)
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play one Chaos monk, with the gender of your choice (and a little gameplay variance)
Looks cool on paper, does not it?
What we would not expect (maybe because we did explain the concept in depth, being a part of a three-pronged update) was the negative reaction of so many people.
This is not a big issue at all, in the overall scope of the project. We can « split » S & G and give to backers the option to add only one figure, if they choose to do so. You can add one Hero alone, or both (each Hero pack, with a Ghost figure and a Nemesis, will be $ 12; both will still be $ 17). We do have another Hero Add-on, and it will get the same treatment.
We thought (here’s our planning mistake) that once you backers would get see 4 heroes in this format (which we thought was so cool!) you would ask to do the same for the core set heroes. And adding the variant heroes as stretch goal looked like a great idea. Many stretch goals add components for the Quests - enemies, tiles, cards, the quests themselves. Other goals add « beautiful » stuff. Adding variant Heroes as stretch goals? Cool!
But reading minds and looking the future in crystal balls does not always work as intended 
So, now what?
We ARE able to switch plans. These variant heroes are one of the last ideas we had before the campaign, and their development just started. We only have one variant sculpt finished at the moment (the Inquisitor/Avenger) and the art for the other variants. A little loss if they do not get used, but not a big deal!
So, it’s NOT a big deal to change plans - if this is what the majority asks - and replace the 5 « variant heroes » stretch goals with other goals (we brainstormed a lot of ideas with Nunzio and Simone before the project, there’s no lack of possibilities). We can still stop the development - OR we can go on with the development and make them as an add-on for interested backers. OR just go on with the plan we thought ot (and maybe now you like it more, who knows?). Any choice will not make or break the campaign AT ALL, so do not worry about it!
Just express your opinions in the poll (and hopefully this looooong explanation helps to express a more informed and considered opinion). And then, on Tuesday, we will take your feedback into account and decide which way to go.
Maybe it’s « old school » thinking. but we think that Kickstarter is about creating a project listening to the opinions of backers, not just pre-ordering a product ready to be loaded on a container (we do that, but not here on KS). We think this type of debate is interesting and even enlightening, in several ways.
Just, as always, remember to BE KIND and all be well. Thanks and apologies for the long rant!
(00:44 here in Italy, but still going strong with all that coffee!)
Mais faut l’appliquer sur toute les fig.