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Achievements and inclusiveness

Sorry to always be the one to point out the gaffes in inclusiveness.

The "Trader" achievements just caught my eye -- Trader Joe, Trader Vic, Trader Carl. Haha. I also noticed Broil King. (I imagine there's a few more; these just caught my eye... I'm not scrutinizing. Promise!)

I think you should ponder changing those to not-necessarily-male and not-necessarily-traditionally-English names, such as Trader Victoria, Trader Jose. (I'm sure there are better ideas; just giving examples.)

King is a tough one in that it's one of those things where most men will flinch at being called Queen of something. So it's hard to balance.

Posted 13 years ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Changing those 4 would mess up the slight jokes, tho I'd never heard of Trader Carl until now. Does El Big Spenderino count as Spanish? :D
    Posted 13 years ago by Tingly Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nearly all of the achievements are entirely asexual
    alpha.glitch.com/achievements/

    Though I will lobby to change El Big Spenderino to La Big Spenderina, cos I think it sounds rather dandy.
    Posted 13 years ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Nearly all of the achievements are entirely asexual"

    Yes, of course. But the ones that aren't are male.
    Posted 13 years ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hm, I didn't even think about this before, because Glitch never asks you to define your gender, so it couldn't really match up the names to the player profiles anyway, if there were male and female alternatives.

    But if that ever changes, please please please don't make gender declaration obligatory. I hate having to tick an m/f box. I like that the achievements are asexual, but I don't mind them being male or female either. I just don't want to be forced into either camp.

    And if there is no plan for gender identification, then I agree with clare. If there are male names, throw in a few female ones, too. If it makes any guys uncomfortable to be called 'Queen of Something'...well, they'll have to consider whether the girls feel uncomfortable being called 'King of Something.' I don't think it's a big deal at all, as long as everyone is equally offended ;)
    Posted 13 years ago by Cefeida Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Good point – and, fwiw, I am perfectly happy to be known as Queen of Most Anything ;)

    As, I'm sure, would Tiny Speck's head of Engineering: www.flickr.com/photos/bees/...

    I will raise this with (the almost entirely female) writing group both for past and future achievements.
    Posted 13 years ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you, Your Majesty!

    And that photo was an instant Favorite.
    Posted 13 years ago by Cefeida Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "As, I'm sure, would Tiny Speck's head of Engineering: www.flickr.com/photos/bees/... "

    +5

    :-)
    Posted 13 years ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Speaking of "the writing group" ... Stoot, I hope you do a blog post on them some time. They're so, so, so good, and they've really helped give Glitch a personality that ... just ... sparkles. I would love to know more about them, how they do what they do, and so on. And ... they're writers, so, presumably, they could take care of that todo for you.
    Posted 13 years ago by charliepark Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hi all,

    Writer Rusty here. The "joke" was to play on a sequence of cultural references "Trader Joes", "Trader Vics", and then short circuit it with "Trader Carl", which so far as I know doesn't exist, and I find the name "Carl" funny in a Farside comic sort of way. (Doug would also have worked.)

    Generally speaking though we're careful to try to think outside of our specific genders. But we will try to stay on our toes.
    Posted 13 years ago by Rusty Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Trader Carl is a construction supply business on the main island of the Phillipines. Who doesn't know that? heh
    Posted 13 years ago by Tingly Subscriber! | Permalink