Oyungezer, Turkey's most popular gaming magazine/web site published an article about the Paradox's new game, with the title of "Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 Becomes the Center of the Political Arguments."
Article says there's an ongoing political debate and some gamers blame the game for making SJW propaganda. Oyungezer: "...And they are not wrong. Vampire The Masquerade's tabletop game published its fifth edition which has some additions including a character named Rudi, a black gay muslim who fights against his misogynist ancestors. Another debate started when they added the Chechnya president, Ramazan Kadirov and they portrayed him as a tyrant who kidnaps gay people and feed the vampires with them."
Oyungezer also quotes from VtM:B2's creative director's comments and claims that the game will focus on political correctness instead of the fun factor. Oyungezer also states that "...they (Paradox) announced they'll be adding he/she pronoun options in the character creation section which disturbs players".
At the end of the article, the author adds his opinions (which are already seen every inch of the article): "Although there's no indication yet whether they will shove SJW politics down our throats in Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, I am sure there'll be SJW elements as they are using the fifth edition. I miss the good old days when everyone was free to create and have fun as much as they want without being scared of hurting others."
The comment section of the article is more horrifying than the article itself. Turkey is not a safe country for LGBT people, and feminism is something to make fun of. So, this kind of bullshit worsens the situation when it comes to the representation and the visibility of queer people, especially among youngsters.
Oyungezer is a magazine published by SETI Media, a publisher based in Turkey which is also doing the PR works for Blizzard Entertainment in Turkey. As you know, Blizzard's Overwatch has a large variety of heroes. This kind of harmful articles contradicts with their views. The founder of SETI Media, Tugbek Olek is a well-known gaming personality who also attends TEDx Talks as a speaker. Apparently he allows this kind of stuff.
UPDATE: They added an apology written by Serpil Ulutürk, the Editor-in-chief. Also the article seems edited, some sentences are removed, and all the "SJW" words are replaced with "political correctness" now.
Thank you, @Funyarinpa
Article says there's an ongoing political debate and some gamers blame the game for making SJW propaganda. Oyungezer: "...And they are not wrong. Vampire The Masquerade's tabletop game published its fifth edition which has some additions including a character named Rudi, a black gay muslim who fights against his misogynist ancestors. Another debate started when they added the Chechnya president, Ramazan Kadirov and they portrayed him as a tyrant who kidnaps gay people and feed the vampires with them."
Oyungezer also quotes from VtM:B2's creative director's comments and claims that the game will focus on political correctness instead of the fun factor. Oyungezer also states that "...they (Paradox) announced they'll be adding he/she pronoun options in the character creation section which disturbs players".
At the end of the article, the author adds his opinions (which are already seen every inch of the article): "Although there's no indication yet whether they will shove SJW politics down our throats in Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, I am sure there'll be SJW elements as they are using the fifth edition. I miss the good old days when everyone was free to create and have fun as much as they want without being scared of hurting others."
The comment section of the article is more horrifying than the article itself. Turkey is not a safe country for LGBT people, and feminism is something to make fun of. So, this kind of bullshit worsens the situation when it comes to the representation and the visibility of queer people, especially among youngsters.
Oyungezer is a magazine published by SETI Media, a publisher based in Turkey which is also doing the PR works for Blizzard Entertainment in Turkey. As you know, Blizzard's Overwatch has a large variety of heroes. This kind of harmful articles contradicts with their views. The founder of SETI Media, Tugbek Olek is a well-known gaming personality who also attends TEDx Talks as a speaker. Apparently he allows this kind of stuff.
UPDATE: They added an apology written by Serpil Ulutürk, the Editor-in-chief. Also the article seems edited, some sentences are removed, and all the "SJW" words are replaced with "political correctness" now.
As the scope of the debate has far surpassed what was intended to be conveyed in this article, we thought it was necessary to make an explanation regarding Oyungezer's journalistic creed:
As Oyungezer, we have tried to be a progressive and open-minded publication since our foundation. As we are a game magazine and not a political magazine, we avoided political discussion and rumors. However, when politics and gaming intersected, we always supported progressivism.
So, as Oyungezer, games touching upon social and political matters and expanding the horizons of players regarding these matters, games showing what's right is not something to be condemned, but encouraged. Especially in a world where we're worriedly watching the global rise of hatred, misogyny, homophobia(/anti-LGBT sentiment) and ethnical discrimination in gaming communities, we need many more games that include and defend positive values.
Beyond that, we think that not just game developers, but all content producers should not have "fear" but sensitivity regarding hurting the other side. [my understanding of this is that creators shouldn't be afraid of representation]
These are the values that Oyungezer represents.
For this reason, we regret that we have given the impression that we've judged a game that hasn't yet been released due to concerns based on rumors.
In the future, we will spend more effort to ensure all of our writers share the sensitivity -which we've had since the genesis of this medium- regarding how we portray Oyungezer's values.
Furthermore, with the OGZ Online editors, we will do what's necessary to separate news and personal commentary.
-Serpil Ulutürk
Thank you, @Funyarinpa
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