Somehow, I suspect that even then, the Congolese and Indian human zoos were likely run by European colonials, not the locals. The Japanese on the other hand have no excuse.

Argentina and Ecuador in shambles rn… when will they learn, they will never be “western…” for most (even those of “pure” mayo descent, if they’ve got a complexion) you won’t ever even be seen as “white…”

Considering the Automatons’ makers (the totally-not-space-Soviet Cyborgs of Helldivers 1) are canonically all now enslaved and locked up in the mines of Cyberstan… yes, the Automatons are 110% justified.

Native Americans said the first colonists stank to hell and wouldn’t bathe.

There’s plenty of records from the Islamic world and east Asia saying the same tbh. On one hand, it’s probably a bit exaggerated (only slightly), but on the other hand, western Europe in particular deserves all the bad reputation it gets and then some.

Agreed, it’s not quite the same map. And no doubt, many people in the global south, as their living standards increase, will want access to more meat- it tastes good, it has not merely a history of prestige but also deep cultural fondness in most parts of the world, etc.

My hope for the future world is one where whoever wants it, can have it- India as a result might not change overly much (though even there meat consumption is going up) but most of the world will probably move to around the consumption levels of China or Russia as their standards improve. All the (many) ethical concerns about meat are valid, sure, but those are institutional (and technological) hurdles to be overcome in my opinion; I don’t think progress will be won through austerity and abstinence- and while I might have my biases, as I enjoy meat, I think reality speaks for itself in that meat is deeply desired by the overwhelming majority of the world, and the demand will not go away anytime soon, if ever.

Americans are really the stand-out along with Australians who have lots of range and space (stolen)

This is honestly the bigger issue, IMO. I don’t see any easy answers there either, but if there is any justice to be had, whether now or decades or centuries from now, that stolen land must be returned to its rightful peoples and cultures, in one form or another- semi-autonomy, reparations, who’s to say, but in some way it has to be done, and till then a deep guilt and condemnation should rightfully hang above the heads of all those who perpetuate it. As an atheist and coming from an immigrant family I have my biases, but- the homeland, having a place (or places) one identifies with and has roots to (not an ethnostate, obviously)- is nigh sacred, and the acts of the settler-colonials in depriving and destroying that for others is something that I don’t think can nor should ever be forgiven or forgotten, till it is rectified in as complete and satisfying a manner as possible for the indigenous peoples.

As far as I’m concerned- with all my own baggage about the subject (though I’m not indigenous)- settlerism, the suppression and ongoing theft of the homeland- is probably the greatest imaginable crime aside from genocide (of which it is arguably a part of, and almost always is a case of). I’m not spiritual in the slightest, but if I were I would say there is or ought to be a curse upon settlers, until the crime is rectified- it is a genuinely unforgivable thing, something that IMO goes against any notion of humanity that I would ever accept- and no doubt that most people can agree with, if not in my wording, in the sense that they would never wish, never tolerate such destruction and deprivation upon their own peoples, and can recognize the evil for what it is in that way.

Relatable, honestly FOMO (whether in Genshin or elsewhere) is a pain to deal with. Most of the Genshin experience will stick around for when you return no doubt, though- at least that’s the pleasant thing about it being mostly single player (even if live service/gacha/etc).

Mainly I just play my Genshin/Honkai Star Rail/Reverse 1999 dailies. Between the 3 (auto-battle modes for HSR/Rev1999 are a timesaver) I guess I haven’t played much else in a while- My Time at Sandrock and some For the King 2 last month, I guess.

For fave video game genres- farming sims (think Stardew Valley), sandbox games and soulslikes/monster-hunter-likes, though I play anything. My favorite series is definitely Monster Hunter.

As for the game I completed most recently… probably Remnant 2 last year… my thoughts are I recommend it, though I probably won’t play it again till the next expansion whenever that is.

To my understanding it’s that the game looks like complete ass (even compared to other DC games released a decade or more ago) and is probably a prime example of everything wrong with AAA games these days. Hell if I know if there’s any “culture war” shenanigans over this (probably? I haven’t watched any videos about it or read anything, though I’ve seen it mildly mentioned) but from an outsider’s view about it… it just doesn’t look appealing, at all.

Personally I can’t really bring myself to care, because I don’t play such games (most western AAAs) anymore, nowadays. Without outrage, who would even be talking about a game like this anyways? To me it’s like people fighting over their opinions of a turd on the sidewalk at this point. I get why- these people still care about the franchises, they still have hopium for all these studios and whatnot going strong for… some reason? And they probably spent 90$ for the turd on the sidewalk and now feel like dupes.

I was raised considerably into a lot of the hallmarks of nerd culture myself, but I’ve long let go of these franchises. If a good game or show comes out I’ll try it eventually, maybe (or have it on the backlog anyways). I get the frustration (if it happened to Monster Hunter or something I’d be pretty upset) but I suppose luckily for me, these games and western franchises in particular were never “it” for me.

Interesting; I hadn’t been aware it delved into that. While I’d not call myself a law nerd it does get me more interested yet. Maybe I’ll try it later today- I think I already have it installed anyways.

Agreed, and the possibility of being a shithead adds to the meme factor, but not quite in a way that I feel would be considered problematic or actually glorifying the issue.

If I get the game I’m not likely to abuse my Pals at all, rather the opposite. I’m not generally the kind to engage in wanton or unprovoked cruelty (though I’ll admit in-game- vidya, DnD, etc I do tend to be very… “justice oriented” and entirely willing to indulge in that, which is pretty much just how I tend to be as a person anyways).

Honestly, mixed feelings on this TBH. There’s a lot of appeal that I 100% get for games that allow you to do anything, games that allow you to be a crapsack person in a crapsack world, etc. If I hadn’t seen this thread I don’t think I’d have seen any problem with it at all.

I’ve enjoyed Conan: Exiles (not that I did anything with the slavery mechanics in-game as I mainly went around singleplayer cheating my ass off, but I also didn’t care), Rimworld and Tyranny have been in my library with intent to getting around to playing for a long while now, slavery gets whittled down to either numbers or actually pretty neat roleplaying/lore mechanics in games like Humankind, Endless Legend, and maybe in some Civ games, and I’ve not batted an eye at any of it. Such things can exist, there can even be a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor about it particularly when it’s all fictional and not representing real life humans and events, and the truth is slavery did and does exist, and is a large part of human history- and its inclusion can add a lot of character to a game or setting if done right (and not in a glorified, whitewashing way- that’s definitely icky)

On the other hand, I have actually cared when I saw slavery and such topics being represented incorrectly in games. At least, I didn’t like the pleasant whitewashing slavery got in one quest in AC Odyssey, for instance.

Honestly, I had the game wishlisted already and had been planning to get it- even now, hell if I know if I will. Enslaving Pals or humans IG doesn’t appeal to me, but what I’ve seen of the game (not the slavery bits, the gameplay, the Pals, the artstyle, etc) absolutely does. And what I’ve seen so far even in this thread doesn’t quite sell me on the “Pals are dogwhistle for humans” (quite a stretch IMO) and “Palworld is a dogwhistle for Frenworld” (far less of a stretch, but the devs are Japanese) bits.

There will always be plenty of g*mer chuds even, but I’m not sure I read the comments (the English ones anyways, I don’t understand Polish) as chuds, or particularly bad or glorifying the subject rather than that similar blend of humor which honestly seems pretty tame and acceptable given the context (fictional Pokemon, and if you do so and like the game advertises, you’re playing a cartoonishly evil shitlord- but even that doesn’t mean either being a shitlord, condoning shitlordism, or anything other than making a light joke of it in a fictional, non-human context).

True, the dominant agenda still remains making white, west European or Anglo men out to be heroes and saviors (the opposite of what they usually are IRL).

There’s definitely a spate of really obnoxious takes (pandering) by Disney and other mainstream, white-owned media to try to score diversity brownie points, that said. I’d hesitate to call it an agenda, so much as it is just liberals trying to pretend their shit don’t stink, and giving lip service to diversity with little substance if any behind what they do as usual.