#i am barely tan and i am darker than most of Sumeru and Natlan's cast

[localmacguffin]

https://www.tumblr.com/zeichannnnn/755317359918645248/they-arent-as-culturally-revolutionary-as-genshin?source=share

This post explains why

While I appreciate the insight, Hoyoverse's other writing decisions make me less inclined to be lenient towards them. They decided to put a bunch of vastly different cultures in one nation and then name several characters (who are paper white) after key religious deities in said cultures that probably shouldn't be invoked like this. (Yes this is about kachina). Also, Iansan is in the game.

In addition, in several other games (including Genshin) Hoyoverse has made some questionable writing decisions regarding darker skinned characters. (See Carole from HI3, Xinyan). In addition, despite extreme popularity, their darker skinned characters tend to have less usable kits.

Even if the CCP was breathing down their necks to make characters have lighter skin, their treatment of their existing slightly tanned characters (especially in Sumeru) indicates prejudice on Hoyo's writers' parts. Why is Kaeya, a launch character with the darkest skin in the game, portrayed as shady? Why are the desert people of Sumeru portrayed as bloodthirsty bandits?

If they have such a hard time with regulations, and know they can't put accurately portray a culture, then why include them in the first place?

I acknowledge that government regulation forces Hoyoverse to make certain choices they otherwise would not have. But given their history, forgive me for being angry that they made the decisions they have.