I see where you are coming from. I also think you are wrong.
While there are sexual connotations behind naked ridership, there is also several other connotations involved that are meant through the scene. I see the scene as meant to demean and dehumanize the human being ridden, a literal replacement for an animal. Nakedness is often used in media to show vulnerability and, especially in this context, power differentials, and since the rider is clothed, viewing this as sexual doesn’t feel like a correct interpretation. Using a child as the rider might make sense in some contexts (say, as a metaphor for innocence when enjoying an activity through the suffering of the exploited), but I do kind of agree that the current scene doesn’t meaningfully change with aging the character up.
The publisher is the one that acts like that scene is the only one that valve might have objected to and acting like it exists in a vacuum. Two years ago valve asked for a build of the game because of something concerning on the game page, and I would bet money ‘child rides naked lady’ was not on the page. It was clearly a decision based on the game as a whole at the time, not one scene.
Kind of like how Epic changed their mind at the last minute after doing their own age rating verification that had a different result than the one the publisher submitted. Again, not based on one scene but the game as a whole.
Also the developer saying the scene and all the characters makes more sense with adults is obviously bullshit. If the scene did not have the overall sexual context of the game then having a child pick their slave horse is more in line with the themes of the game. The player is described as playing a ‘young boy’ in some articles and early promotional materials but the publisher stresses he is 20+ just like the ‘young woman’ who picks the slave horse. Aging them up does significantly change the story. What college kid is sent to a farm to work? That is what you do with teenagers.
I am not saying that the finished product shouldn’t exist or anything like that, but that the story focused on one scene out of context is glossing over a larger picture that was being seen as more edgy in earlier builds and is still enough for Epic to back off. I am saying that storefronts being cautious makes sense.
I see where you are coming from. I also think you are wrong.
While there are sexual connotations behind naked ridership, there is also several other connotations involved that are meant through the scene. I see the scene as meant to demean and dehumanize the human being ridden, a literal replacement for an animal. Nakedness is often used in media to show vulnerability and, especially in this context, power differentials, and since the rider is clothed, viewing this as sexual doesn’t feel like a correct interpretation. Using a child as the rider might make sense in some contexts (say, as a metaphor for innocence when enjoying an activity through the suffering of the exploited), but I do kind of agree that the current scene doesn’t meaningfully change with aging the character up.
The publisher is the one that acts like that scene is the only one that valve might have objected to and acting like it exists in a vacuum. Two years ago valve asked for a build of the game because of something concerning on the game page, and I would bet money ‘child rides naked lady’ was not on the page. It was clearly a decision based on the game as a whole at the time, not one scene.
Kind of like how Epic changed their mind at the last minute after doing their own age rating verification that had a different result than the one the publisher submitted. Again, not based on one scene but the game as a whole.
Also the developer saying the scene and all the characters makes more sense with adults is obviously bullshit. If the scene did not have the overall sexual context of the game then having a child pick their slave horse is more in line with the themes of the game. The player is described as playing a ‘young boy’ in some articles and early promotional materials but the publisher stresses he is 20+ just like the ‘young woman’ who picks the slave horse. Aging them up does significantly change the story. What college kid is sent to a farm to work? That is what you do with teenagers.
I am not saying that the finished product shouldn’t exist or anything like that, but that the story focused on one scene out of context is glossing over a larger picture that was being seen as more edgy in earlier builds and is still enough for Epic to back off. I am saying that storefronts being cautious makes sense.