Date of Award

3-18-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

College of Fine Arts: Arts Technology

First Advisor

Kristin Carlson

Abstract

Despite the social progress seen across the United States, video games still cater to white cisgender men ages 18-34 (Entertainment Software Association). Since the release of Ultima I and Wizardry, the first games that popularized role-playing video games (RPVGs) (“History of Western Role-Playing Video Games”), in 1981 (“Ultima (Series)”) (“Wizardry”), the genders players have to choose from are typically limited to the extremes of the gender spectrum, man and woman. The first RPVG to include a character creator with options outside the gender spectrum extremes was 7th Dragon III Code: VFD (Shaw, “Gender in 7th Dragon III Code: VFD”), an RPG for the Nintendo 3DS, released in the United States in 2016 (“7th Dragon”) (Shaw, “7th Dragon Series”). With 1.6% of adults in the US identifying as transgender or nonbinary, and 5.1% of those adults between the ages of 18 and 29, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center in 2022 (Brown), the number of trans-inclusive RPVGs doesn’t reflect the number of trans people playing video games. In a time where more people are coming out as trans/nonbinary, video games need to reflect that by becoming more inclusive, not less. Video game character creators are a safe environment to try out a new look, a new name, new pronouns, perhaps even a new gender. The great thing about character creators is that nothing is permanent, so players have the option to go back and further customize their characters if they choose. As Caleb Wysor, a writer for Gayming magazine, quotes Niamh Williams, a non-binary trans woman, in their article “How character creators help us explore gender identity and expression,” ‘the lack of real life social stakes [makes] games a really inviting environment for personal experimentation.’ They conclude their article by saying, “It is not only about reflecting the real self-image of players. It’s also about new formations of the existing image… [and] about the open exploration, creation, and dismissal of the self. The way we relate to the idea of the character mirrors the way we relate to our own identity…” (Wysor). The scope of this research will analyze and critique the current status of RPVG character creators and provide suggestions on how the character creators might be improved.

Comments

Imported from Parvin_ilstu_0092N_12584.pdf

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2024.20240618063950371920.999940

Page Count

68

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