The easiest solution is to change the template to have 4 skin tone options (light, medium, dark, deep dark) so that she could use a simple if/else statement that would change the overlays based on whichever option the player chose. That being said, perhaps she didn’t think of that. While I doubt she excluded people on purpose, she had to know POC would read her story. It’s also weird to just leave in all the other features and only exclude skin tones. If I were in her position and I wasn’t a great coder, I would’ve limited CC. But that’s just me.
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I really can’t stand arm overlays. Very rarely are they done well.
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It used to be very rare in a story, now everyone’s doing it and the quality is… meh.
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The way I see it, if the MC being white is critical to the storyline, I might not have a huge issue with it.
But if I can’t change the skin tone because you have some art scenes or have some scenes where the LI is thinking or talking about the MC’s appearance, I’m definitely going to feel a little cheated. Being able to insert myself in an Episode story is the best part of the app. I lost this opportunity because you just had to write about MC’s green eyes.
I definitely think that bigger authors should be held accountable for doing this. As someone else already said, they are setting the standard. And a lot of people are probably drawing inspiration from them. That being said, smaller authors are not off the hook either.
I can’t say I’ve seen any of this criticism, though I wouldn’t be surprised if people have issued their grievances with bigger authors. Whether or not they addressed them, how they addressed them, or left the feedback up for all to see, is a different conversation, I think.
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I beta read a story that has full customization and overlays for skin tones and the author said it resulted in 50 overlays per scene (because of presence of tattoos or not). I don’t think it’s about being bothered about doing overlays for different skin tones, I think it’s about the massive amounts of coding required for all the different skin tones. The 50 overlays per scene was in Ink, just imagine all the overlays required for full CC in Limelight.
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if you allow you’re readers to change skintone then you would need to create one hell of a code!
it’s not easy! just saying! ( I’m talking about the overlays)
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In my opinion, if an author is going to offer limited CC, it should be due to the story relying on the MC having that certain feature. That I can understand 100%.
It shouldn’t be just because the author couldn’t be bothered to code for the overlays, and not because they say “that’s how I envisioned them”. If you want readers to read your story with the MC how you envisioned them, don’t offer CC. If you don’t want to code overlays for different coloured skin, either don’t offer CC, or don’t use the overlays.
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I see tons of polls every day on Instagram asking about CC. Most readers prefer limited CC over no CC, so I view it as a compromise with the readers. Authors will never satisfy all readers. There are authors that no longer offer CC because every other episode they get constant fan mail asking to recustomize. Others that have CC and art scenes get fan mail complaining because the characters in the art scenes don’t look like the ones they created.
Unless an author is doing it to be racist, it is their story.
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Yeah, I was just stating my opinion hahaha I’ve had those fanmails before about re-customising and I’ve thought about doing limited CC before, but it is the author’s story. If you want to include art scenes + full customisation, then you expect people to be unhappy about it. I only have a problem when the sole reason for limited CC is because of the art scenes. Though this might just be because I’ve never been a fan of art scenes in stories… Idk I might be biased, but it is an opinion.
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I think it’s either you allow full customization or no customization. I think I know what story you’re referring to, because I’m reading it. I think if you want to use custom overlays with the different skin tones, research a little and learn how to do it to match the player’s choice. I think it’s weird how the MC has a name set and all, but you can customize them. Idk, it just seems like they had a set character in mind when making the story, but they wanted to add customization as a last thought or something.
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It really matters if they say you can make a character or play as yourself. It’s stupid to not make us change our skin tone or just not let us only have light skin.
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does this mean that you guys rather not have CC at all ?
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Well, some might say that or some might say we should just be able to have some dark skin tones along with the limited CC. They continuously make them white or lightskin when they should also have some ability to make them dark.
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This is a sensitive subject to touch onto especially because everyone thinks differently. I want to share my view on this as I actually have stories with full CC, no CC and for my current story limited CC so this does pique my interest a lot. All in all, I think we can all agree on the fact that no matter what you (authors) do, there is simply no way we can satisfy everyone. There just is not.
When an author simply wants the main character to look this or that way because it might make it more relatable for said author while writing, I think that’s totally fine. After all, it depends on the kind of story you’re writing. Let’s say, the author envisions the main character to be and look a certain way… tell the author how that is a lame excuse for avoiding diversity all you want but in my opinion that is simply unfair. Unless the whole cast is white and literally non-diverse (which then I can understand why you want to call them out but still not everyone grew up in a multicultural environment and many authors are still young - educate them instead of bashing them for something they never intentionally did) I don’t think people can label all authors who don’t have a POC or Asian (e.g.) main character to be racist just like that. Racism in itself is on a whole other level.
It all depends on the type of story you’re writing and believe it or not, the author themselves. No, an author is not suddenly racist just because the main character was not ‘diverse’ in terms of skin color. In a lot of cases, the author creates the main character to look similar to themselves while perhaps changing certain features to make the character look either more conceptually beautiful, cool, magical or whatever. I know that I like to create my main characters, not to look like exact replicas of me irl, but at least give them common traits or features like mine. Every story will be different and starring different characters, of course. But generally speaking most people unconsciously create characters similar to themselves so that they, while writing, are able to connect to them somehow. Obviously giving your characters a different hair color which is something you can easily dye these days or a different eye or nose shape isn’t that big of a change (especially because none of your actual human features are accurately represented in animations etc. so it’s more like a mix and match) however, something like your skin color going from one side of the spectrum to the other can make your character feel much more ‘distant’ to your actual self. Again, I think this is an unconscious thing a lot of us do to feel more connected to your main character in a way.
Before I get backlash for the paragraph above, I do know it might comes across as somewhat ignorant. Obviously I know that isn’t ALWAYS the case and media in general is simply put very white-washed and has always been which consequently influences a lot of beauty standards and the minds of young people while growing up. But the point I was trying to make is that I don’t think it’s okay to call someone racist (which shouldn’t be just thrown around like it carries no significant meaning) for not having a POC main character.
On to the next point, what bothers people in this thread the most is when authors include limited CC but don’t let you change their skin color and that’s somehow racist. I actually recently added limited CC to my story myself without letting readers change her skin/hair color, but only a selected few of her features. The main reason for this (and I’m sure this is the case for many other authors too) is that I envisioned the character to look a certain way, and on top of that people kept on asking me if they could at least change her brows or whatever so this was the best option to satisfy both parties. As for the envisioning part: no, that’s not bullshit. We’re authors, not teachers or educational activists. We just want to write and shape our stories the way we want, and let our readers embark with us on our fictional adventures. YES I KNOW diversity is definitely something that needs to be brought more awareness to and I’m in no way against creating diverse casts and reading stories with POC characters! But as a writer, there’s no way to satisfy everyone.
To break it down for you: if I were to add FULL CC to my story (which I wouldn’t feel super stoked about in the first place as I like to look back on my stories and recognize my characters, which I wouldn’t be able to if she looks different in the eyes of every reader - it’s just not the same) people would complain about how she doesn’t look like she does on the cover/flashes/fan arts at all. And overlays is gonna be a pain in the ass too. I know some of you pointed out how it’s ‘easy to code it in’ and stuff. Tell you what, if I had to study the codes for a test it’d be freaking easy. That’s not the point. It takes a lot of time every time you add a certain overlay and you’d have to code in all the different options - it’s very time consuming on top of writing the actual story itself which is already eating up a lot of time. If I were to add no CC, people will still complain and even NAG me in the fan mail asking to recustomize. The only mid-way here for authors is to add limited CC which gives readers the chance to customize a selected few of the features according to personal preference (like eye/nose/lip/brow shape) without changing the general appearance of the character too dramatically.
Now, there should be a difference in when to apply these forms of CC in my opinion. If you’re writing a very interactive story like Episode’s featured Pretty Little Liars, Demi Lovato etc. which let the reader embark on an adventure AS THEMSELVES - then definitely FULL CC should be a must including all skin tones and other features’ color shades. However, some authors aren’t into those type of stories, and much rather just like to write out their own fantasies and put their own imaginations and visions on paper (portal) for others to just join in and peek along. Telling an author off for envisioning the looks of a certain character, to me, is literally the same as yelling at them for envisioning their entire story.
You know, I’m a Chinese having grown up in Europe. Not even a big city (contrary to where I study now) but more of a very white small town. Aside from POC people, Asians have never really gotten much representation in the Western media either - if any. Well, speaking of Europe not the USA. Instead, Asians have always had their own media in a sense. Their own movies, TV shows etc. with full Asian casts. I didn’t grow up watching a lot of those obviously but I guess this just kind of shows how people of different cultures and ethnicities like to create stuff relating to their own. It’s not always ‘just racist’ by taking a single glance at someone’s work. Sometimes people just don’t know better, or feel more comfortable that way. That is not to say I don’t encourage thinking outside of the box and exploring new cultures and relations. If anything, I highly encourage it. But I also think it should be done by people who can do it well. Who are educated and brave enough to explore and experiment. Otherwise we’re just gonna get those repetitive “Oh my gosh, they just added in a gay character to give the false perception of having a diverse story,” kind of stuff. Again, there’s always something to complain about with everything. I stand a 100% for speaking up about important topics and being open-minded, but sometimes people really are being too hotheaded and overdramatic to the point they lose sight of what is really important: educating, learning and having fun, people. Not fighting, bickering, and being right.
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If writer doesn’t allow to change skin - he has a reason for it. I know it myself, as I don’t allow any customization due to directing. If you can’t deal with skin tones other than yours - don’t read the story. I donnow what the issue is about. I’m white, and I have no problems reading stories with all other skin tones, If author can’t let you choose the skin tone, he will naturally pick one he thinks will fit character more. End of story.
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This is gold.
I was into these types of conversations about POC and diversity in Episode stories for too long I guess, because now I find myself thinking about it too much. Like when I create white or tan character, I think, well shit, I’m gonna be scolded for not including enough POC, and then again what is enough? Or when I create secondary POC character I think that I’m gonna be blamed for not creating main POC character. This whole tolerance and diversity crap is bugging my brain, so I kinda stopped reading it. I have like 95% of my country white, so this is even non-intentional, and I still try to include different characters, but these conversations, quite aggressive btw, are seriously way out of line. At least at the present way of discussion on Forum.
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Okay, I’m going to offer my opinion, for what it’s worth, as an author that has written stories with full CC, limited CC, and no CC.
My experience with stories with full CC, you will never please readers. They constantly ask for recustomization. In a story that I am actually going to revamp and remove CC, I had to go through complex coding because you were able to CC both MC and LI and then I got complaints about how they made the couple biracial, but the child did not look biracial (only took on one parent’s skin tone). It was a never ending barrage of fan mail asking for recustomization, fixing this detail with family members, complaints about this or that. It was disheartening that all the hard work I put in was just constantly getting unappreciated. There is one art scene in the story that I finally decided to put in (with the characters in my image) and yes, I got a LOT of fan mail asking why the characters looked different then they way they were customized. That is one reason I am removing CC when I redo the story. Not only because I plan more art scenes, but because the MC is a version of me as a person and it is not a YOU story, even though many readers feel they can personally relate to the MC.
I do currently have one story with NO skin CC (you can change the hairstyle) because of the character’s heritage (Indian). It was a contest story, and I have heard that in order to even have a chance at contests, you have to have CC because people won’t read, yet trying to make a story that was very culturally diverse was overlooked. To me, CC does not equate diversity.
I am currently writing a story with limited CC meaning you can change all features except skin tone. This is NOT a YOU story, in fact the MC that has CC is a male main character. The reason I did limited CC is because I use a LOT of overlays and there are genetics that play into the story later on. I only added CC because people always want to change hair, eyes, and face.
The story I am entering into the MC contest has complete full customization of main character and love interests. Episode 1 ALONE is over 12,000 lines long. Why? Because I have 50 different overlays for each scene that overlays are used. Not ALL authors can do that or want to put in the extra hours of creating 50 (with or without tattoos) overlays, submitting them, and coding a scene 50 times for the skin tone differences. That’s just for the main character. I don’t even want to think of the coding nightmare I will be in once the romance starts and I will have 50 overlays for the MC and 25 for EACH of the two love interests. There is a limit on how many lines an episode can be and I know I will test those limits in later episodes.
As people said before, there are multiple different reasons for either having no CC or limiting CC. IF a story is truly a YOU story, where the reader picks the name… I expect FULL CC (which I personally don’t like and always give the characters weird names and never make them look like myself). Otherwise, I am reading a story about someone the author envisioned. We don’t get to pick what people look like in the movies, and a lot of times in traditional books, authors describe the characters to give the reader an idea of what they look like in their head. It all comes down to what kind of story it is.
That being said. There are stories out there that are completely white washed and have no diversity. I don’t know if it is ignorance, that the story takes place in a time/place where there is not much diversity, or whatever it may be, but I think almost every story should have some degree of diversity.
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I agree. I don’t want to be like oh ya’ll are overreacting and this isn’t even important - obviously it’s important, not just on Episode but everywhere. But there is only so much we can do and resorting to an aggressive method of calling out everything you do not agree with or deem ‘insufficient’ isn’t making it better for anyone 
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I think the problem is–People think that just because they live in a specific area, they don’t have the capability to teach or learn different things. That being said: I live in a area where you will mainly see Black and Hispanics of different colors. I see them a lot everyday. I am also black and Muslim. Does that mean I don’t have the capability to add other types of people into my story? No, it doesn’t. “You write what you see,” I get that but does that mean you can’t learn or “see” other things instead of what you regularly do? A change of pace I would say. You learn as you write. Adding different and unique types of characters makes you a writer. Stop making it seem like just because you are insert race, doesn’t mean you can’t add other people. I am Muslim and I add Jewish characters, I add Christians, I add Catholics. I LEARN about them AND I TEACH myself something new. Being a specific person or being in a specific area does not limit you to not learn and teach your own self of adding varieties of people. Diversity is just the human race as a whole: WE ARE ALL ONE BUT WE ARE DIFFERENT! We come in all shapes and forms and colors. Just saying…
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That coding is hard! I have seen people write so much stuff for it. I understand limited customization or no customization at ALL at times. It’s just some of those stories lack a lot of diversity.
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