“Hosting this mod was not for us and it is certainly within our rights not to host content on our platform,” Nexus Mods said in an email.
Article by 404 Media: The mod repository Nexus Mods removed a mod that allowed bigots to circumvent pronoun selection in the character creator of "Starfield". The bigots then pretended to be very outraged.
I don't understand. Like I know that bigots would want to skip pronoun selection, but I don't see how choosing to skip it makes one bigoted.
The article says it's "removing diversity," but if those users aren't going to choose different pronouns anyways, and it's not changing any NPCs, I don't see the issue. Or is it changing the NPCs?
It's about not providing a platform to people looking to only make a bigoted political statement. This isn't a mod for the game as much as it is a statement about who installs it.
This isn't a perfect lineup, but imagine a mod that just removes black people from the game. Making your own addition to the game and all the people are white? That's fine. But going out of your way to remove identities is inherently bigoted. If it's really just a menu prompt, why don't they just say he/him pronouns and play the game?
I think the equivalent there would be removing the option to be black from the character creator. Or maybe if it were like a Skyrim mod that prevents you from playing a dark-skinned Nord or light-skinned Redguard, since you could still choose between the two genders, it's just tied to the body.
If they were going and changing pronouns of NPCs, that would line up, but the mod is (presumably) only affecting the player character.
I agree it's silly for a mod to do that (unless the prompt is more in-your-face or hard to go through than I assume it is,) I just don't see how the mod is bigoted, unless we're assuming malicious intent behind posting it.
You don't make or install a mod like this unless pronouns bother you. Like why would you choose to take being black out of character selection? Why not just select a white character?
They are removing diversity by excluding people in their inclusiveness. Now I think the mods are fucking stupid since its not a big deal just pick one and be done with it. But I do think the mod should be allowed to exist
Inclusiveness is not a binary choice (include everyone or no one), it's a contract. If you break that contract by excluding others, you shouldn't (and won't) be included.
If I invite 10 friends and one of them starts spouting racist and sexist things against the other 9, the inclusive option is not to let them stay.