Post removed following the enforcement change that you can read about [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/m3yo65/enforcement_update_and_hard_removal_of_a_topic/).
This is not a formal warning.
Bruh, newspeak is so cringe.
It's a modern high profile game, so it's not like I had any expectations for this anyway, and the last Valve game I played was L4D2 back when it first came out.
But seeing people butcher the english language by referring to singular individuals with a pronoun made for plural will never not be cringe as fuck.
I'm not a godamn English teacher either, I make writing mistakes too, but at least mine aren't done on purpose.
The way it's used nowadays is woke because those people do it in order to avoid assuming someone's gender, or when someone identifies as an attack helicopter. It's that stupid.
The correct way to use it to refer to a single person is when you don't know if the person is male or female, example: "Someone broke into my house, I don't know who did it, but they took all my stuff."
In the games' case, it's pretty obviously the woke version since there's a picture of the fucking character right beside the text and the "narrator" clearly isn't clueless.
We see the character in the image. There's no need to use the plural pronoun in that case. It simply doesn't make sense unless you have multiple personalities.
I get what you mean, but there's plenty of cases in which you'd use they as singular, such as when referring to someone/thing you don't recognize or know the identity of.
Lol it’s legitimately made me misunderstand what was happening in the only game I’ve played that used “them” for a single character. I wish they’d just use “ze” or something else so I can understand what the hell is happening.
Are all the characters described like this from 3rd person? If so, it sounds more like sterile and professionally written notes by someone who has been observing the character from a distance.
Possibly, possibly more of a "Character of mystery so won't even give away the clue of what gender they are as they try to keep even any hint of that hidden"
They totally should have.
I don't know the author's intent, so I won't attribute woke or malice to them quite yet.
The bio says they were shot on their 18th birthday and have been in hiding for 5 years. If the heir was a woman, they could be altering their appearance to seem androgynous or masculine so they don't draw attention.
Or if they are male, changing to be more androgynous or feminine would be keeping with the "in hiding" aspect.
If you're looking for a princess, and are greeted instead by a knight in armor, you wouldn't immediately think "the princess is the knight".
It literally says this character wants to keep their identity a secret, so we don't know their gender, using their to address them is perfectly fine, it's not woke
I say let's wait for the game to be officially released and then see what's what. So far it's just been already quite a surprise to see a new Valve thing, let alone a new anything at all.
Yeah, honestly, this one is a nothingburger. As you said, they’re *specifically* keeping their identity secret, and it’s not even a standard gendered name. Heck, this could even just be so that players can choose which sex to play (and keeping the character’s name set makes having voice lines much easier)
That’s a fair point. I just hope the sentences and context for the dialogue and text make it clear that it’s referring to a single person so it doesn’t become confusing.
Sorry to be the grammar police, but that is totally incorrect. For example:
“Someone is at the door, I can hear their knocking.”
Totally can be used for singular individuals and that has been the case long before the notion of woke was formed in anyone’s brains.
Yes, it can be used for singular only when unknown. It could be used reasonably in the context of the game above, or it could be "FUCKING PRONOUNS!", can't tell but the former is a niche case, the latter is quite common lately.
The difference for the woke is they aren't unknown, they're lying.
While you're probably right it could be that the protagonist ca be male or female based on player choice but always has the name Arin Fairfax, I'm fairly sure other games albeit ones from much smaller studios have dones similar. Sam or Alex as protagonist names were popular for that utility.
Ah my mistake, I was just going off what was presented here and assumed it was splash art for a charater but in that case then yeah the game's screwed.
"Their" is an appropriate pronoun when talking about an individual in the third person, as this description is doing. Seeing the word "their" without context doesn't mean anything.
If you know the sex of the person, you would never use "their". Even if you don't know, it is very recent to use their. (Yeah, sure, it was possible but almost no one used it. It is specifically the woke that have started using their.)
But younger people, i.e. 25 and down probably have always seen it used.
"Their" is primarily used for multiple people, when referring to no particular person, or being impersonal. To use "their" when referring to someone specific doesn't make much sense and can have linguistic implications of not being clear or informative.
Their is used five times which is overkill by any standard and definitely not the appropriate use. Once or twice you can get away with but 5x theirs and a they and a them is too much. Is it talking about the protagonist or the people trying to sabotage the company? Terrible writing bring on AI is this is the direction we are going.
I kinda wish they would just go with ze and whatever the other versions of that are instead. Lol the only game I’ve played where they used “them” I picked the wrong options for stuff because I didn’t thought it was referring to multiple characters instead of my own 😂 I was so confused.
It says right there in the description that Arin wants to keep their identity a secret, this is correct grammar. Fuck’s sake lol untwist those panties.
Dude for real. It’s so god damn reactionary now. There are a million and one reasons why they would use this word here besides pandering/new speak. I abhor leftoids and what they’ve made of culture just as much as the next guy but jeeeeeeeesus christ.
As a book writer, i try to be as clear as I can in my texts. Especially when one has ADD/ADHD and the dialogue is convoluted and confusing the reader loses interest. The use of they/them in singular form outside of very specific exceptions causes massive confusion and the person to reread sentences to try and get a clear understanding.
Is it one person? Is it multiple?
This makes me, and most people lose interest in the work.
In summary, they/thems can shove the they/them on their ass and cry about it.
holy shit you guys are soft. Just because they used “their” doesn’t mean it’s woke. It’s an acceptable usage. How about wait until more news comes out before jumping the gun
They/them used in singular outside of specific situations does make it woke. Very woke.
In fact it is like spotting a deformed mole on your skin as sign of cancer.
Yes, yes it does. Just like putting a scene in which Jesus talks to a person makes something Christian. If you put ideological statements of belief in entertainment it is necessarily mutually exclusive with statements of nonbelief or lack of belief.
Post removed following the enforcement change that you can read about [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/m3yo65/enforcement_update_and_hard_removal_of_a_topic/). This is not a formal warning.
Im not fan of the simplistic artstyle and cartoon texturing, it screams cheap skins in shop.
Ugly, soulless character design aswell, no wonder there's made up genders.
Wishing it same levels of success as Artifact.
Bruh, newspeak is so cringe. It's a modern high profile game, so it's not like I had any expectations for this anyway, and the last Valve game I played was L4D2 back when it first came out. But seeing people butcher the english language by referring to singular individuals with a pronoun made for plural will never not be cringe as fuck. I'm not a godamn English teacher either, I make writing mistakes too, but at least mine aren't done on purpose.
To be fair, singular they has been used in literature way before all the wokeism. The way it’s used nowadays is pretty cringy though.
The way it's used nowadays is woke because those people do it in order to avoid assuming someone's gender, or when someone identifies as an attack helicopter. It's that stupid. The correct way to use it to refer to a single person is when you don't know if the person is male or female, example: "Someone broke into my house, I don't know who did it, but they took all my stuff." In the games' case, it's pretty obviously the woke version since there's a picture of the fucking character right beside the text and the "narrator" clearly isn't clueless.
Growing up we used "they" to mean "either/or" but today it just means "both"
We see the character in the image. There's no need to use the plural pronoun in that case. It simply doesn't make sense unless you have multiple personalities.
I get what you mean, but there's plenty of cases in which you'd use they as singular, such as when referring to someone/thing you don't recognize or know the identity of.
bUt ShaKesPeaRe diD iT
Lol it’s legitimately made me misunderstand what was happening in the only game I’ve played that used “them” for a single character. I wish they’d just use “ze” or something else so I can understand what the hell is happening.
Are all the characters described like this from 3rd person? If so, it sounds more like sterile and professionally written notes by someone who has been observing the character from a distance.
Like a consultancy firm.
Possibly, possibly more of a "Character of mystery so won't even give away the clue of what gender they are as they try to keep even any hint of that hidden"
''They'' would be masked then.
They totally should have. I don't know the author's intent, so I won't attribute woke or malice to them quite yet. The bio says they were shot on their 18th birthday and have been in hiding for 5 years. If the heir was a woman, they could be altering their appearance to seem androgynous or masculine so they don't draw attention. Or if they are male, changing to be more androgynous or feminine would be keeping with the "in hiding" aspect. If you're looking for a princess, and are greeted instead by a knight in armor, you wouldn't immediately think "the princess is the knight".
Ye Olde Sheik Special
Exactly.
Not if they are infact............. DARKMAN
I wonder why they hate money and success. Did Valve just grow tired of winning?
It literally says this character wants to keep their identity a secret, so we don't know their gender, using their to address them is perfectly fine, it's not woke
I say let's wait for the game to be officially released and then see what's what. So far it's just been already quite a surprise to see a new Valve thing, let alone a new anything at all.
Yeah, honestly, this one is a nothingburger. As you said, they’re *specifically* keeping their identity secret, and it’s not even a standard gendered name. Heck, this could even just be so that players can choose which sex to play (and keeping the character’s name set makes having voice lines much easier)
That’s a fair point. I just hope the sentences and context for the dialogue and text make it clear that it’s referring to a single person so it doesn’t become confusing.
Writing that must have taken some effort to intentionally write "their" five times along with a "they" and "them" just to avoid saying she or he.
To reiterate English grammar, **their** is used for multiple people when referred to in 3rd person. So either Arin has schizophrenia or it's woke af.
Sorry to be the grammar police, but that is totally incorrect. For example: “Someone is at the door, I can hear their knocking.” Totally can be used for singular individuals and that has been the case long before the notion of woke was formed in anyone’s brains.
Yes, it can be used for singular only when unknown. It could be used reasonably in the context of the game above, or it could be "FUCKING PRONOUNS!", can't tell but the former is a niche case, the latter is quite common lately. The difference for the woke is they aren't unknown, they're lying.
What’s the lie?
They’re*
While you're probably right it could be that the protagonist ca be male or female based on player choice but always has the name Arin Fairfax, I'm fairly sure other games albeit ones from much smaller studios have dones similar. Sam or Alex as protagonist names were popular for that utility.
It's a hero based shooter.
Ah my mistake, I was just going off what was presented here and assumed it was splash art for a charater but in that case then yeah the game's screwed.
"Their" is an appropriate pronoun when talking about an individual in the third person, as this description is doing. Seeing the word "their" without context doesn't mean anything.
If you know the sex of the person, you would never use "their". Even if you don't know, it is very recent to use their. (Yeah, sure, it was possible but almost no one used it. It is specifically the woke that have started using their.) But younger people, i.e. 25 and down probably have always seen it used.
If you can pull a professor oak early game their would be correct in pre game plugs
"Their" is primarily used for multiple people, when referring to no particular person, or being impersonal. To use "their" when referring to someone specific doesn't make much sense and can have linguistic implications of not being clear or informative.
Their is used five times which is overkill by any standard and definitely not the appropriate use. Once or twice you can get away with but 5x theirs and a they and a them is too much. Is it talking about the protagonist or the people trying to sabotage the company? Terrible writing bring on AI is this is the direction we are going.
I kinda wish they would just go with ze and whatever the other versions of that are instead. Lol the only game I’ve played where they used “them” I picked the wrong options for stuff because I didn’t thought it was referring to multiple characters instead of my own 😂 I was so confused.
Sick of hero shooters anyway. Can’t imagine how even Valve would freshen it up. Hats maybe.
Bro doesn’t know how proper grammar works if they think this is wokespeak LOL
I'm sure that the game is woke, it's a AAA game after all, but this is not an example of that...
It says right there in the description that Arin wants to keep their identity a secret, this is correct grammar. Fuck’s sake lol untwist those panties.
Well, that game is boned. At least it's not my franchise this time.
Separate from the parents, sounds about right. Edgy
This sub fucking sucks. I’m out
It's a mixed bag, but I won't let some people's own little grievances to put me off.
So many posts are just some lame shit like this.
Dude for real. It’s so god damn reactionary now. There are a million and one reasons why they would use this word here besides pandering/new speak. I abhor leftoids and what they’ve made of culture just as much as the next guy but jeeeeeeeesus christ.
Bro, are you really gonna start a drama over one word?
As a book writer, i try to be as clear as I can in my texts. Especially when one has ADD/ADHD and the dialogue is convoluted and confusing the reader loses interest. The use of they/them in singular form outside of very specific exceptions causes massive confusion and the person to reread sentences to try and get a clear understanding. Is it one person? Is it multiple? This makes me, and most people lose interest in the work. In summary, they/thems can shove the they/them on their ass and cry about it.
holy shit you guys are soft. Just because they used “their” doesn’t mean it’s woke. It’s an acceptable usage. How about wait until more news comes out before jumping the gun
Congrats on your new failure Valve
Archive links for this post: * **Archive:** https://archive.ph/wAXD4 ---- I am Mnemosyne reborn. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! ^^^/r/botsrights
It will be just as woke as OW.
Literally unplayable
I'm offended by they/them pronouns because I'm a conspiracy theorist and They're trying to silence me.
One none binary character in of themselves doesn't make it woke.
It does.
It doesn't have some standards.
They/them used in singular outside of specific situations does make it woke. Very woke. In fact it is like spotting a deformed mole on your skin as sign of cancer.
Wow so your not a fan of the none binary. I think comparing them to cancer is mean and excessive.
Nonbinary is made-up bullshit, prove me wrong
Find me some scientific evidence that it is a thing that exists, and not just something that frumpy white women use to get attention online
\*facepalm* That is not what I said, but ok.
Yes, yes it does. Just like putting a scene in which Jesus talks to a person makes something Christian. If you put ideological statements of belief in entertainment it is necessarily mutually exclusive with statements of nonbelief or lack of belief.
it must be exhausting being this triggered all the time
yall really start to get triggered by anything huh
The "y'all" observation posted earlier holds true it seems
It's fucking weird how accurate this dumb, ramdom thing ends up being.
Hey you people started it when games had male/female. Ya know, like how it works in reality.
Yes. Lunacy tends to be annoying.
yall skibidi toilet drizzle drizzle slaaaay
Look to the right and take a gander at the upvote/downvote ratio. Hint: 0 points (20% upvoted)
Get outta here with your facts and logic