Do you want to see more diversity in DoA's character designs?

[inochinagi]

Simple and straight forward question to get the ball rolling again. I specifically posed the question that way so that we can talk about whatever you see as diversity, be it more PoC or more males or less young pretty girls or more unique fighting styles, etc.

Diversity can mean as little or as much as you want, you can explain in the comments. Or maybe you just like the current trajectory of how the series is going as far as new characters go? These are just opinions, there are no wrong answers. Not everyone who votes yes is the same and not everyone who votes no is the same.

 

[KasumiLover]

Yeah , I'm super drunk right now but doa needs more characters who aren't lolis. They need to do a character contest so I cant submit my character whos not only cute but a GUY we need!!!

@axouel2009 did my ideas perfect, 8 love him!<3 he's th3 best!! PLEASE TN DO A CHARACTER CONTEST SO MAH KOREAN MIXED WITH NORWEGIAN CAN FIGHT TOO!

 

[Uberprinny]

Not diverse but more original and creative! I mean hairstyles for both genders would be nice once in a blue moon. Could you imagine Zack having the same costume as Chris Rock in the 5th Element complete with the microphone? XD

 

[Awesmic]

No, I don't want forced identity politics in DOA.

Focus on making a fleshed-out character that acts like a natural addition to the world of DOA first, with gender/nationality as an afterthought.

 

[Uberprinny]

Not i.d. politics if he is one of the characters that stood out during the film, yes? Don't know bout you but I found Chris Rock funny in the 5th Element. If you disagree, I ll play doa6 vs you for it. XD

 

[inochinagi]

@Uberprinny - Chris Tucker XD Great movie though.

No, I don't want forced identity politics in DOA.

Neither do I, but I wouldn't think it would have to be any more forced or political or unnatural than Zack, Lisa, or any other characters were. Even adding a male, Canadian, taekwondo user covered in weird tats was something different. With DoA's recent track record, just adding another male would be more diverse, just adding a female designed to be and look over 25 would be more diverse.

And I think at this point, making sense and all that has gone far out the window a long time ago. I'd love for there to be some semblance of reality when it comes to how they've implemented story and character design, but there isn't, lol. Just make a great character design that stands out... which is something I don't think yet another VV character will bring to the table at this point. I rather see them take some risks than be lazy in their designs. I want characters that are different but also designed to fit naturally into DoA too, but I could argue some of the last few did not do that. When I see match with MR against any character put in before her, I feel like they're from two different worlds.

 

[werewolfgold]

Focus on making a fleshed-out character that acts like a natural addition to the world of DOA first, with gender/nationality as an afterthought.

I don't see how this is tenable. Gender and nationality would factor into how a character is fleshed out to begin with. Otherwise, you get stuff like Marie Rose, which is just an anime trope with "Swedish" slapped on the label. Hell, Marie Rose isn't even a Swedish name. lol

 

[Anura]

I’d like new characters to be cool and distinct. I’m OK with goofy characters if they fit the setting but joke characters would feel like a waste of resources.

I wouldn’t mind TN designing a few characters with the international audience in mind. Bandai Namco did that for Leroy and it turned out fine (except for the balance issues). How is that worse than creating a character based on the ordinary high-school student trope?

Does DoA 6 have the same target audience than the idol raising simulators? (No offense to the fans of those games).

 

[inochinagi]

Does DoA 6 have the same target audience than the idol raising simulators? (No offense to the fans of those games).

I mentioned a similar thing in the last thread, that its as if the way KT sees DoA's audience right now is the same as a game like Senran Kagura (which is a series I have played and enjoyed to some extent, but I do not want DoA to become that). But another thing I thought about was Idolmaster, which I haven't played myself nor know much about, but its had some infamy going back around a decade for stealing the attention of prominent developers, magaka, etc in Japan, lol. I think the writer of Berserk falling prey being the most infamous example. Not saying that's the case here, just a funny thing I thought I'd mention, to show the power of idols in Japan and how they might be seen as easy cash cows.

Part of the problem of not seeing cooler characters might be because they'd have to get their act together with the story, first. If the story took more interesting and well told directions, new more interesting characters could come out of that. But I don't want to get too much into story ideas here. Since before DoA4 I've been on forums diagnosing the problem and coming up with solutions with other fans in terms of story and character development, but really they're just for our own therepy more than anything else, lol. Maybe they need to just hire a good story/scenario writer (but then, you could argue they tried that with NG3).

 

[Onryoki]

Not diverse but more original and creative!

That’s exactly what diverse means.....

No, I don't want forced identity politics in DOA.

Focus on making a fleshed-out character that acts like a natural addition to the world of DOA first, with gender/nationality as an afterthought.

But aren’t someone’s sex and nationality stepping stones for creating a character? Leaving sex and nationality behind, leaves us exactly with the bimbo’s that we’ve seen in DOAXVV. When creating a character and a backstory it’s important to know who they are and where they are from. Someone’s nationality says something about their upbringing, and how they view the world. Also what is “forced identity politics”??? You’re acting as if it’s a political agenda to add someone who’s diverse.

I want characters that are different but also designed to fit naturally into DoA too, but I could argue some of the last few did not do that. When I see match with MR against any character put in before her, I feel like they're from two different worlds.

In my opinion Marie and Honoka should not be in the fighting game series, the story and just their entire demeanour fit DOAX more than the fighting game series. They’re cool characters but to me they’re not fighters. I believe even Tammi is more of a fighter than Marie and Honoka.

 

[Ninoasker]

I wouldn’t mind TN designing a few characters with the international audience in mind.

They supposedly did that with Diego and it turned out... well, let's just say he's not what the players expected for a character made with the international audience in mind lmao. I myself do love him, but half of this forum? Not so much. And for what I've seen on Twitter when they bring up Diego, neither do people in there.

 

[inochinagi]

When he was first introduced, I wasn't too impressed with Diego, although he was the better of the two newbies. Now, at this point I wouldn't mind another Diego, lol. Still kinda hard to type that while looking at a Miguel avatar, though.

@Onryoki - completely agree

 

[KwonJigglypuff]

Diego's problem is not that they tried to add political identity, it's that they didn't not use much creativity. There are plenty of amazing designs for a "Latino fighter" on the internet.

I'd like more diversity.
But I also understand that tropes are important for marketing, since new players need to quickly understand which character they're discovering. It's a matter of balance.

Therefore, I think an Arabian, Australian and South Korean fighters are much needed. The tropes that come in my mind respectively are an exotic dancer/princess from Saudi Arabia, a cool adventurer/hunter from New Zealand and a mature soldier/agent from Korea. But they can mix everything and it would still work.

 

[Uberprinny]

@Onryoki with all due respect, I tend to stay away from words that reeks of the stale stuff found in articles, buzzfeed, and twitter. Even though, they have the same meaning.

 

[P2p1mbs]

No, I don't want forced identity politics in DOA.

In a series about fighters from around the world, I personally would not see additional nationalities/ethnicity as forced; it just seems natural.

When he was first introduced, I wasn't too impressed with Diego, although he was the better of the two newbies. Now, at this point I wouldn't mind another Diego, lol. Still kinda hard to type that while looking at a Miguel avatar, though.

Both NiCO and Diego were both explicitly made to appeal to eastern and western tastes respectively and while I kinda appreciated Diego's more realistic design and backstory over NiCO (a 20-something Finnish super-genius with blue hair and electrical gloves who uses Silat? REALLY ?), I grew to hate him almost as much as Leon and Jann because his personality was so unoriginal. I still like his fighting style at least though like you, I also see him as just a Miguel ripoff.



As far as greater diversity goes, I would like to see an African (preferably a villainous white South African like Kreuger from Elysium) in the cast and maybe a South American, either Brazilian or Argentinean. I wouldn't mind seeing maybe a black European as well.

 

[Onryoki]

They supposedly did that with Diego and it turned out... well, let's just say he's not what the players expected for a character made with the international audience in mind lmao. I myself do love him, but half of this forum? Not so much. And for what I've seen on Twitter when they bring up Diego, neither do people in there.

I mean... his appearance is cool but, I understand why people dislike him. He’s supposed to appeal to the west, but literally nobody in the west enjoys this basic, boring macho street fighter archetype. When you look at NiCO who’s designed for the asian fans you can see the difference in character quality. Her story has depth, her fighting style is unique, she looks unique (apart from her face) and her design has depth to it. Diego is just a lazy 15 minute design and feels like a huge middle finger to the western audience. Literally nothing is original about Diego, the fact that even fucking Honoka possesses more originality speaks volumes.

@Onryoki with all due respect, I tend to stay away from words that reeks of the stale stuff found in articles, buzzfeed, and twitter. Even though, they have the same meaning.

I wanted to ask why, but I’m gonna let it slide because I can be a bit of a bitch.

 

[Anura]

They supposedly did that with Diego and it turned out... well, let's just say he's not what the players expected for a character made with the international audience in mind lmao. I myself do love him, but half of this forum? Not so much. And for what I've seen on Twitter when they bring up Diego, neither do people in there.

Diego is a normal person who knows how to fight. Mila can get away with being normal because she looks cute even while kneeing a downed opponent in the head.

Leroy has Sugar, his tattoos, a corney rap song and a pimp cane.

 

[Awesmic]

I don't see how this is tenable. Gender and nationality would factor into how a character is fleshed out to begin with. Otherwise, you get stuff like Marie Rose, which is just an anime trope with "Swedish" slapped on the label. Hell, Marie Rose isn't even a Swedish name. lol

Forget Maria Renard, Sayaka Miki, and the Love Live character from an alternate dimension... I was moreso talking about Diego. You know, the one with an uber-lame reason for joining the DOA tournament that I can retcon to something ten times better in 15 seconds? Yeah, that one. I'm trying to prevent half-hearted storytelling for the sake of shoehorning a potentially good diverse character from happening again. And Diego definitely had that.

"But how can you improve Diego's motive in 15 seconds?", you're probably gonna ask. Well... his mom's ill, but we know nothing about his dad. How long has he been absent since his mom's been ill? Does he work for DOATEC? Could Diego's initial resentment for joining the tournament stem from his father's connection to DOATEC and his negligence toward his ill mother (at least from his perspective)?

Bam. I just improved Diego's backstory in 15 seconds. Hell, while we're at it, we may as well retcon Diego and Mila being childhood friends living in the Big Apple.

 

[Ninoasker]

When he was first introduced, I wasn't too impressed with Diego, although he was the better of the two newbies. Now, at this point I wouldn't mind another Diego, lol. Still kinda hard to type that while looking at a Miguel avatar, though.

I get it lol. Even if I like Diego, Miguel is just superior in both design and gameplay. PE-RI-OD. May have a bit of a bias tho since he's Spanish, kinda like I do with Mila... but hey at least they ended up being cool designs with fun gameplay styles hee hee

 

[werewolfgold]

Forget Maria Renard, Sayaka Miki, and the Love Live character from an alternate dimension... I was moreso talking about Diego. You know, the one with an uber-lame reason for joining the DOA tournament that I can retcon to something ten times better in 15 seconds? Yeah, that one. I'm trying to prevent half-hearted storytelling for the sake of shoehorning a potentially good diverse character from happening again. And Diego definitely had that.

"But how can you improve Diego's motive in 15 seconds?", you're probably gonna ask. Well... his mom's ill, but we know nothing about his dad. How long has he been absent since his mom's been ill? Does he work for DOATEC? Could Diego's initial resentment for joining the tournament stem from his father's connection to DOATEC and his negligence toward his ill mother (at least from his perspective)?

Bam. I just improved Diego's backstory in 15 seconds. Hell, while we're at it, we may as well retcon Diego and Mila being childhood friends living in the Big Apple.

I agree with this. But, this just means that you can easily create a good character with the added bonus of bringing something fresh to the game that makes them standout. There are still so many regions of the world not even in the game yet that could come with different fight styles, fashion, etc.

Instead we get...Tamaki. lol