I’ll take a moment to explain this tool (given the limited info we have on it) so hopefully the forums can stop outraging and move onto something more important (and productive). I’ll also just use this thread to link to whomever misunderstands the tool in another thread so I don’t have to repeat the same explanation times infinity.
Each individual trait has a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is the standard for that trait in the average main hero / protagonist, and 10 is the most rare version of that main hero / protagonist.
Here are the scales (more or less, since we don’t have the exact definitions MIT used):
0 = Standard, 5 = Somewhat different from standard, 10 = Extremely different from standard
Culture: American = 0, From very uncommon countries in movies = 10
Race: White = 0, Black = 5, Very uncommon race combinations = 10
Age: 30’s = 0, Teenager or 40’s = 5, Child or Old person = 10
Cognitive Ability: Average / Moderately intelligent = 0, Genius OR with Mental Health disorder = 5, On the Autism spectrum = 7, Combination of Cognitive rarities = 10
Physical Ability: Able-bodied = 0, Some physical abnormality (like missing a limb or an eye) = 5, Disabled = 10.
Body Type: Athletic + Muscular OR Slim + Curvy (basically hot) = 0, Slightly overweight or underweight (average body) = 5, Obese or malnourished (basically unattractive) = 10.
Facial Features / Beauty: Handsome / Pretty face = 0, Ugly = 5, Extremely deformed = 10.
Gender Identity: Male = 0, Female = 5, Trans / Nonbinary / Gender nonconforming = 10
Sexual Orientation: Straight = 0, Gay = 5, Pan / Ace = 10.
Socioeconomic Background: Middle Class = 0, Rich or somewhat poor = 5, Filthy rich or Destitute = 10. (Guessing on this last one, it’s possible that rich and poor get different scores due to sociological connotations, but mathematically it should be done like this)
Now, those scales just measure how different a trait is from the norm, now how much better someone is for having individual traits.
For example:
You are very likely to find a hero in movies or games that is:
- American, White, in his 30’s, averagely intelligent, able bodied, muscular / hot, handsome, male, straight, and middle class.
I can personally think of a lot, like the lead characters in: Fast and Furious, Pacific Rim, Power Rangers (nearly all the leaders of every team), Captain America, Thor, etc.
All those characters would get’s 0’s across the board. Not because they are WORSE, but because they are STANDARD.
On the other hand, you are very unlikely to find a hero that is:
- North Korean, Arabic, in his 80’s, mentally challenged, obese, facially deformed, non-binary, pan, and destitute.
I personally have never encountered this unicorn in any form of media, be it movies, books, games… anything. A hero might have a few of those traits, but I’ve never seen one with all those traits.
This character would get 10’s across the board, not because they are BETTER, but because they are EXTREMELY FAR FROM THE STANDARD.
Another example in WoW terms:
The most common character in WoW is:
Female, Blood Elf, attractive, Paladin.
She would get 0’s across the board. These are everywhere and I can guarantee you’ve seen at least one in the forums just today.
The most uncommon for each of those traits is:
Male, Mecha-gnome, ugly, monk
He would get 10’s across the board; I have literally never seen one.
Now, does that mean the ugly mech is BETTER than the pretty elf? No, it does not. All it means is the ugly gnome is very very very very rare… yet possible, while the pretty elf is very common. The numbers are a measure of rarity, not a measure of value. There is NO correlation between rarity and value.
As another side example, in Hearthstone, rarity is supposed to signal value, but some legendary (orange) HS cards are garbage, and some common (white) HS cards are God tier. So, in HS, there’s a MODERATE correlation between rarity and value.
In comparison, in WOW, Legendary is always better than white trash items. So, there is a STRONG correlation between rarity and value. Stop using WOW logic to understand real world math.
Lastly, I’ll point out that:
(1) This is done for character CREATION, it is not done to put EXISTING humans into boxes.
(2) We have been doing this process without math for thousands of years, for as long as stories have existed, this is how the Greeks created their pantheon starting from Zeus (their standard) and or how Shakespeare created the side characters for Romeo and Juliet.
(3) All the tool does is make it faster to create diverse characters by suggesting untapped mathematical combinations.
And, (4) yes, I’m very aware that Blizzard in its infinite wisdom could find an idiotic way to turn a harmless, useful tool, into a bad thing… but stop complaining about the tool itself without understanding it. It’s like complaining about hammers because they could potentially be used to kill people, even though they are an extremely useful tool to build houses or furniture. Very few people use a hammer to kill… there are better tools for that; and very few people would think of using this for harm, there are better tools for that too.
PS: this is a very long thread, I tried to format it as clearly as possible, but I take suggestions. If there’s a specific thing you don’t understand, I also don’t mind explaining it. No, I am not a Blizz shill, I’m just tired of dumb or misinformed people outraging over nothing. There are more important things to outrage about.
