Skullgirls 2nd Encore from Hidden Variable Studios and Autumn Games is having some community issues lately, with it getting review-bombed after a recent update.
What's going on exactly? Skullgirls now has a Mostly Negative recent user review rating on Steam, and you can clearly see the masses that have been flocking to the Steam page to let their feelings be known:
The why: on June 26th the developers announced some changes to existing content in the game and the Digital Art Compendium. The full list of changes can be seen here and it's not a long list so it's an easy overview. The developers made a longer post a few days before to explain why.
Reading through the updates were done "in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward" which include removing Nazi-like depictions including armbands and symbols, adjusting some character artwork to remove sexualization of younger characters and racial stereotype issues they believed to be in poor taste.
Overall, the tweaks they've made seem quite small but this hasn't stopped the wave of negativity with user reviews complaining about "censorship" and going "woke". It's not entirely negative though, as a few hundred have also come along to leave a positive review but not enough to stop the overall recent review score looking really bad.
This YouTube video does a good look at some of the changes. Some are really a blink and you'll miss it type of deal and most players probably wouldn't even notice:
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Since the update around 3,449 negative reviews have been posted against 868 positive reviews, and it looks like the initial reaction is now dying off.
It does also bring up the interesting topic of how in the age of the internet and the likes of Steam, even games 10 years old can suddenly have changes you really might not like. Even when they're not technically some online-only "live service" type of thing.
Skullgirls certainly hasn't had the best history, with the original studio Lab Zero collapsing after a bunch of developers quit accusing the owner Mike Zaimont of various counts of inappropriate behaviour. After this Lab Zero laid off everyone else who hadn't quit.
You can buy a copy of Skullgirls from Humble Store and Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: TejanIf you want to get more into it though some of the stuff that was removed/altered were incentives from the IndieGoGo. Stuff like the voice packs for Big Band and Peacock, the artbook, some color palettes, and my personal biggest issue the fan art (People donated to get their art in the game and it was all just removed without reaching out to ask them to edit it to comply with their rules.).This is incorrect. Big Band and Peacock's voice packs are still in the game, as are all color palettes. None of the gallery fanart came from backers either, no one paid to have their art included. I have no idea where you're getting any of this from.
The only change that did come from the IndieGoGo is the removal of Mike Z's Soviet Announcer voice, because it's Mike Z. Note that it's missing lines for all the new characters and they can't get him to record new ones, so it was kind of inevitable to have to leave it behind.
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slaapliedje Jul 11, 2023
Quoting: 14Ha, I'm getting pretty close to the point where I'm about to forego watching any shows for entertainment (I prefer watching things on Discovery, or Historical things. Lately been watching Expedition Unknown, which is pretty fun and educational about things at the same time).Quoting: slaapliedjeYeah, I'm mostly with you. I do actually like the Witcher series though. The third season is close enough to The Time of Contempt book. I'm somewhat of a big Witcher fan, too. I have beaten all three games (100 hours in the 3rd one) and read four of the books so far. I have some gripes on the previous TV seasons, but I still like it.Quoting: 14What they could have done was made an entire race Black: Dwarves, or maybe Hobbits if you stretch it. They simply cannot make Elves Black in any number and be in agreement with the literature. Now, that is something I get a little more angry about. If you want your fantasy world to reflect the real world, write a new story with its own world instead of bastardizing someone else's creation.
The problem with modern day Hollyweird... they can't. Look at all the current things coming out recently. The Witcher; writers hate and mock the original source. Wheel of Time; show runners hate the fans and the source material. Rings of Power; fired the living expert of all things Tolkien. Any of the successful shows have either almost been canceled (The Expanse), or been based off of books (the four previous ones all are, it's just The Expanse was actually good!)
Modern day Hollyweird is all about taking old famous movies, and basically remaking them / ruining them. Sure remakes were always a thing, but at least here and there, there have been amazing ones (Scarface always comes to mind). New sequels for old movies would be great... if they actually got old school writers to extend the characters, instead of newer writers that weren't even born when the original movies came out. All we can do to them is hit them where it hurts. Don't see them in the theater, don't pay for streaming services to watch them, just go back and watch some of the classics already in your physical library. That's what I've been doing lately. Enjoyed A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures lately. Re-watched the Arnie Conan movies as well! I'm thinking I should fire up The Goonies tonight...
I definitely have the same view about Hollywood writers. I'm not impressed with the stuff I've seen in recent years. But I'm also afraid of turning into an old fart too early that shuts out all pop culture. I suspect I'll get to a point someday where I really couldn't care less, but not quite there yet. ;)
I haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...
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Quoting: slaapliedjeI haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...Money?
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slaapliedje Jul 12, 2023
Quoting: Purple Library GuyOne would think they would make more money by 1) keeping the fans of the source material. 2) getting new fans by making a great show.Quoting: slaapliedjeI haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...Money?
Instead a lot of these shows are trying to cater to a specific audience, which is not their original fan base, they outwardly despise them in many cases, and attempt to either ruin the shows by making them close to unwatchable, or the take beloved franchises and try to jumpstart new ones by decimating the things that people loved about the original...
If they wanted to make money for the audience they have been making things for, they should create new content... but that actually requires talent.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeOh, I see. I thought you meant "Why would someone take a writing job to write about source material they hate?"Quoting: Purple Library GuyOne would think they would make more money by 1) keeping the fans of the source material. 2) getting new fans by making a great show.Quoting: slaapliedjeI haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...Money?
Instead a lot of these shows are trying to cater to a specific audience, which is not their original fan base, they outwardly despise them in many cases, and attempt to either ruin the shows by making them close to unwatchable, or the take beloved franchises and try to jumpstart new ones by decimating the things that people loved about the original...
If they wanted to make money for the audience they have been making things for, they should create new content... but that actually requires talent.
Yeah, dunno. Although I have noticed that even though in our society profit is supposed to drive everything, often it's actually mental laziness. Like, nobody can be bothered to do the smart thing even if it would make more money, because it's too complicated, would require departing from the template they've got and so on.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 12 July 2023 at 2:13 am UTC
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slaapliedje Jul 12, 2023
Quoting: Purple Library GuyRight, it seems like instead of doing a great translation of a story to film (which arguably the first few seasons of Game of Thrones were amazing) we have now had a few examples where the show runners have publicly stated they hate the source material. Rings of Power, The Witcher and Wheel of Time. I maintain the only reason the Witcher was any good was because of Henry Cavill, who is a huge fan of the books and games. The Wheel of Time was so awful I didn't even finish the first season, and I am not even a fan of the books, I just didn't return to watch past episode 3 or so...Quoting: slaapliedjeOh, I see. I thought you meant "Why would someone take a writing job to write about source material they hate?"Quoting: Purple Library GuyOne would think they would make more money by 1) keeping the fans of the source material. 2) getting new fans by making a great show.Quoting: slaapliedjeI haven't seen season 3 of The Witcher yet, but the writers for the show have publicly stated their disdain for the source material. Like why are these people getting jobs to just trash the source? I don't get it...Money?
Instead a lot of these shows are trying to cater to a specific audience, which is not their original fan base, they outwardly despise them in many cases, and attempt to either ruin the shows by making them close to unwatchable, or the take beloved franchises and try to jumpstart new ones by decimating the things that people loved about the original...
If they wanted to make money for the audience they have been making things for, they should create new content... but that actually requires talent.
Yeah, dunno. Although I have noticed that even though in our society profit is supposed to drive everything, often it's actually mental laziness. Like, nobody can be bothered to do the smart thing even if it would make more money, because it's too complicated, would require departing from the template they've got and so on.
Rings of Power I just ignored after hearing about all the idiocy surrounding the show... mainly the firing of the best Tolkien scholar we currently have...
But... I still think there is money somehow in pushing these ideologies that are behind this... just haven't found out exactly where it is. There is definitely a push for companies to get a certain score to get funding on some chart...
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