eliminator_of_bs: I wanted to thank the developers for being one of the only "AAA" studios to include trans representation in their game, which normalizes the trans condition of being in society, thus potentially reducing the chance of real-life abuse, harassment, and instantaneous judgement.

Imagine a world in which trans people are typically invisible. In the world's defense, they represent a very small minority, and the majority doesn't have the privilege of paying them much attention due to the demands of survival. Imagine that for the first time in the history of humanity, society has the time, energy, and resources to focus on this community. And finanlly a few video games begin telling their stories. They're mostly indie games, because AAA games typically attend to the majority and fear the financial repercussions of focusing on a minority. Imagine, then, that a AAA game, potentially the most hyped game of the year, lets you play a trans character and includes trans representation. It might be one of five games in the history of gaming. It's groundbreaking in that way.

What a nice world to live in.

Those criticizing the game for its trans representation are not representative of the majority. It's an infantile reaction that comes from an incredible sense of entitlement and privilege, privilege enough to believe it's appropriate to criticize a game that doesn't prescribe to an American subculture's incredibly specific (and not all-inclusive) demands about representation even while that game features representation. A reaction arrogant enough to assume it has the objective view on an entire community of people. America does not speak for the world, and the idiosyncracies of its social mores are not universal or objective.

I wish I had the psychic energy to care this much about an in-game advertisement, but alas I do not: I am struggling financially, psychologically, and socially. What enormous privilege it is to be able to write articles and essays about this. Why criticize a company that is clearly trying to keep up with the arrow of social progress as shot from the bow of America? Why not help those who try rather than belittle them and judge them with a righteousness normally reserved for the religious? It's classist, it's snobbish, it's a bit mad, really. As in crazy.

Sure, there are things that could be done to make the experience more trans-inclusive, but that would also potentially make the experience more alientating for those who cannot relate. Not all art must include everyone. Not every game has a duty to *be about* everyone. Why target a game with representation instead of the thousands without, other than to drive home an ideological point you made up your mind about before you had any information?

Thanks, devs, for including diverse views and exploring how corporate capitalism will one day exploit everything.