Thread by @BlerdsOnline

Oooo shit, the creator of Cyberpunk 2077 stopped by black reddit.

I'm disappointed. It's just him saying he never realized that part of reddit existed & then people started asking him questions and he didn't come back.

Well, time for your semi-regular black reddit recap. This time featuring Mike Pondsmith, Cyberpunk 2077 & the original Cyberpunk 2020.

So it all started with people asking questions about Cyberpunk 2077 after seeing some gameplay at E3. This footage saw the main character shoot through two gangs, both black gangs. One called The Animals featuring a black woman named Sasquatch leading them.

Of course questions get asked and a white guy writes an article calling the game racist. That's important to mention. Here's the article:

rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/12/cyb…

Mike does an interview to explain some things. Starting with The Animals are actually a gang exotics. In the original Cyberpunk 2020 exotics are people who get surgery to take on animal features.

cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Exotics

Additionally in the original The Voodoo Boys were white guys who stole the term and was Mike's spin on cultural appropriation.

cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Voodoo_Bo…

Now in Cyberpunk 2077 apparently the name has been taken back by a black gang. I'm just not sure how people would know that.

A lot of things get said about Mike not being involved with the game and his vision was wrong. Mike stops by to clarify a few things in the game's sub.

Mike is also very tired of people telling him what he should and should not be offended by. A trans person stops by to state they are not offended by the trans advertisement features in game.

On one hand, I get it. As a black man why would you want a white guy talking you what you need to be offended by especially if they are unaware of the lore in the game you created.

On the other hand just because you aren't offended doesn't mean other people can't be.

We see this all the time with one word, "nigga." Many black people are uncomfortable with the word be used. But many do not care and will use it anyway. Oprah & Sam Jackson view that word very differently.

So if you don't know there's a "Diaspora" of black subs on reddit none of which have more than 30,000 users compared to the millions in other subs.

One such sub turned to discuss the game. There was a fair amount of criticism but also congratulations to Mike for being one of the few black faces in video gaming.

Mike stopped by. He had no idea such subs existed. He has not been back.

Black Reddit is very simple, if you know you know.

So we'll have to wait and see how it turns out. There's a lot of lore than can address the issues people have, but people don't know that lore. Additionally what is offensive to one person may not be offensive to others.

This has been your reddit recap