Backgrounds.

[Vagabond]

Hello,

I know backgrounds might be a touchy subject, considering they were part of the rewards system...

I just think that it'd be better if they were all made ambiguous so they can work for both males and females of any name.

That's all,
Michael.

[jzero]

but we know wether they are male or female....so why?

[Vagabond]

jzero,

The point is to make them neutral so they can be used for male and females of any name. Not so we can identify them...Most of the backgrounds are limited in gender and/or name. By implementing this suggestion it greatly increases the amount of background combinations spawnable (or sensibly selectable if using EdB prepare carefully) in game.

Cheers,
Michael

[StorymasterQ]

Is there a particular background that you feel is only able to be selected for a certain gender? I can only remember a few, but IIRC they all can be for either. Tynan even made sure that any 'he/she' and 'his/her' in the backstories conform to the gender of the Pawn.

[jzero]

Is there a particular background that you feel is only able to be selected for a certain gender? I can only remember a few, but IIRC they all can be for either. Tynan even made sure that any 'he/she' and 'his/her' in the backstories conform to the gender of the Pawn.

I was pretty vague but this is pretty much what i meant. I mean, not too many backgrounds are THAT sexist

[Vagabond]

Hello,

Using EdB Prepare Carefully, I see many backgrounds that are restricted to specific names and genders. More than I would like to write down (I estimate at least a quarter, if not more)- I will if people are really interested in exact numbers, but there are a ton of them. Then there are the ones that are half way neutral but have random his/her that won't switch to match the rest. One has an error that reads "He's" or "Her's" where it's should be "He's" or "she's".

Cheers,
Michael

[StorymasterQ]

Hmm, perhaps those are backgrounds created for/by the Create-A-Background tier? That would actually restrict certain names to have certain backgrounds (and I suppose vise-versa, then)

So...it really isn't a generic background at all. It's a tier reward, and I don't think we should tinker with it.

[Vagabond]

Hello,

That is what I said in my first post. I knew backgrounds were a touchy subject, as they are part of the kickstarter reward system.

I still think they should be made neutral. It expands the amount of background combinations possible. It will also increase the chance of someone's background actually being seen. . . Theoretically.

Cheers,
Michael

[StorymasterQ]

Oh. Well, perhaps we Tynan could/should make up some restrictions/guidelines on how backgrounds should be written, i.e. gender neutral. For the already created ones, maybe we Tynan can ask the tier buyers to rewrite them to be gender neutral.

Your stated advantage does have merit... Having no definite gender in the background does increase the chance for it to be attached to a random pawn, so at least it's an incentive.

In the end, it would be the tier buyers' decision, though. If they created a background specifically to only be attached to a male Pawn, then it's their prerogative.

Tynan/Ludeon can't/shouldn't enforce background gender neutrality IMHO.

[_Shadowcat_]

Oh. Well, perhaps we Tynan could/should make up some restrictions/guidelines on how backgrounds should be written, i.e. gender neutral. For the already created ones, maybe we Tynan can ask the tier buyers to rewrite them to be gender neutral.

Your stated advantage does have merit... Having no definite gender in the background does increase the chance for it to be attached to a random pawn, so at least it's an incentive.

In the end, it would be the tier buyers' decision, though. If they created a background specifically to only be attached to a male Pawn, then it's their prerogative.

Tynan/Ludeon can't/shouldn't enforce background gender neutrality IMHO.

Looking at the Kickstarter there doesn't seem to be anything referencing a specified colonist trait requirement beyond those "a colonist background" and what traits the background gives. I support making them all gender neutral so we see more diversity in NPCs and colonists.

[Toggle]

Is it possible the backgrounds you're seeing that aren't for both genders are just because it's using prepare carefully, and they actually are for whatever gender the colonist is when in-game? I don't know if there's any actual restrictions on backgrounds for genders, but I'm pretty sure there isn't.

[EarthyTurtle]

A mercenary backer, I'm not keen on the idea of having to rewrite my entire character to make them gender neutral. It doesn't reflect my character's background and story in Rimworld. I made my character as a reflection of myself, a young vibrant designer.  I identify as he and so follows my character also identifies as he. While I am not oppose to the idea of adding character backstories that include gender neutrality (they), I can't see any benefit to making an entire community of backers rewrite their personal characters.

Gender really doesn't do anything in the game, so organizing an entire rewrite of paragraphs of text would be an enormous undertaking. Perhaps instead adopt the idea of gender neutral characters and expand on the existing system rather than replacing? Then allowing backers the option of rewriting their characters if they wish.

[Haplo]

To be honest you don't have to write your description gender neutral and that is also not needed by the game.
It's just that you need to write the HE, HIM, HIS in upper cases. This way the game knows that it needs to replace the 'HE' with 'she' instead of 'he'. Normally that would be replaced when your char was accepted, but sometimes it can happen that it is missed..
So if there is a wrong gender somewhere, that is most likely a case for the Bug section

[Vagabond]

A mercenary backer, I'm not keen on the idea of having to rewrite my entire character to make them gender neutral. It doesn't reflect my character's background and story in Rimworld. I made my character as a reflection of myself, a young vibrant designer.  I identify as he and so follows my character also identifies as he. While I am not oppose to the idea of adding character backstories that include gender neutrality (they), I can't see any benefit to making an entire community of backers rewrite their personal characters.

Gender really doesn't do anything in the game, so organizing an entire rewrite of paragraphs of text would be an enormous undertaking. Perhaps instead adopt the idea of gender neutral characters and expand on the existing system rather than replacing? Then allowing backers the option of rewriting their characters if they wish.

Your created backgrounds can be gender and name neutral and still be your character when it spawns as a male and with the name you chose. If you use EdB, you can still create your character with the name you want him to have and as a male.

From a designer's point of view, I don't understand why you'd want a bunch of backgrounds that can only be used when it happens to spawn a pawn with a particular name and gender. It greatly depletes the pool of usable backgrounds, because they are tagged as having names or gender ties in the code from what I can tell - it's how EdB Prepare Carefully knows to display the caution symbol when you pick a background that is possibly incompatible with whatever name/gender you've chosen.

I don't think it'd be against the spirit of the backer tier, as it would make the backgrounds more usable. I also don't see how making it gender neutral, and refraining from using a pre determined name in the background would be something people would be against because of that. It's as simple as using he, she , him, her, his, hers by calling the gender in the background.

Might just have to mod it.

Cheers,
Michael