BioWare Explains Why There's No Homosexuality in Mass Effect 2

[Something Amyss]

Actually the "third-person narrative" explanation is the one I can understand the most. It's like asking a writer why the character in his novel isn't gay.

Which would make more sense if they didn't tout choice as one of the major options in both games. I get that the conversation wheel isn't truly a roleplaying element, but it was marketed as such. You can't have it both ways, arguing the freedom of the player and the sanctity of the narrative.

 

[DrHoboPHD]

Hi there Bioware, thanks for coming go ahead and have a seat.

Now I called you in here so we could have a rather....unpleasant conversation. Now, I've had a lot of fun with the Mass Effect games. In fact I loved the first one more than I care to admit, and yes I also had fun with the second one. However, I have also had a lot of problems with your latest installment, such as the fact that you unlock short conversations with your crew every time you do a mission (as opposed to unlocking them through other conversations and actions they approve of as in Dragon Age) which makes any kind of emotion or backstory that gets revealed feel token and artificial, like I'm looking at a lazy imitation of character interaction and development. Let's also not forget your oversimplification of some aspects of the game and the lack of good dialogue.

There are other things I could list but that's not why I called you in here. In Mass Effect 2 there was a conspicuous lack of homosexual relationships, which is odd given both Dragon Age's inclusion of them AND the presence of a lesbian relationship between femshep and Liara in the first Mass Effect. Now normally I'd be perfectly content to mark those down as yet another flaw and move on with my life but recently you made some claims about the subject that are.....well obviously bullshit.

Firstly, the claim that Mass Effect 2 was meant to be more like a PG-13 action film.... Well there are a few problems with that. Such as why exactly is this PG-13 action film rated M for mature, and I find it funny that you suddenly want the series to be PG-13 when you didn't before (or maybe you did, and you just didn't think of homosexual relationships as being 'inappropriate' until you got a bit of bad press.)Also, do you know what an RPG made in the style of a PG-13 action film sounds like? A bad game.

Secondly, on the claim that you didn't envision Shepard as a homosexual character. Oh really? That is not how you envisioned your Shepard? What about my Shepard? This is an RPG, Bioware you of all developers know what that means. The only thing you get to decide about my character is that it's last name is Shepard (and even that is usually up to us in your other games.) And don't feed me that bullshit about sometimes having a defined idea for your characters with a defined view. I get to decide Shepard's sex, childhood, early adult life, attitude, personality, and behavior. I control what Shepard says and does. So is that all your 'defined view' is? That Shepard be straight? That is completely ridiculous. I mean whats next in Mass Effect 3 is Shepard gonna make all his crew put on chastity rings and put money in a swear jar because you all decided swearing and sex isn't up Shepard's alley?

And even if you ignore the fact that our characters are supposed to be up to us, it's still a bunch of crap. If you never envisioned shepard as a homosexual then why are we able to have sex with Liara as a female? Why is femshep able to hit on Samara? Why do you acknowledge the lesbian relationship between femshep and Liara?

Now this isn't the first I've heard of these quotes, I remember the comment that you wanted to exclude nudity and homosexuality because you were going for an artistic approach, which showed not only an immature aversion to sex through the juvenile idea that sex will always make something less artistic, but also the fairly insulting idea that homosexuality makes things less artistic.

Bioware, you are my favorite game company, but this whole thing is insulting in multiple ways. Bioware just how stupid do you think we are? We aren't going to buy these transparent obviously untrue excuses. It's no secret you got bad press after Mass effect, particularly from the christian and right wing news station (Fox News.)I mean I dunno whats worse the fact that you think we'll believe you excluded homosexuality and nudity for "artistic reasons" or because you didn't "envision shepard" in that way, or the fact that there are actually some pathetic fanboys who DO believe you, and are defending you for it....

 

[TitsMcGee1804]

its just a load of PC-mongers moaning because they want equality, makes my blood boil

i reckon these idiots would struggle to actually find a gay man who actually gives a rats ass

they took away the sexual preference choice of a load of 1's and 0's, OMG BURN THEM AT THE STAKE!

There are plenty. The fact your insulting us is really, really unnessecary bro.

so you are gay?

well im sorry if I offended you, but if I was gay, I would take more offense at somebody including a 'gay option' (forgive the crudeness of that term) merely to tick boxes and not for actual story/character/gameplay choices....

seriously...i think any homosexual or ethnic or any kind of percieved minority who believes that things should be included for 'the sake of equality' is just an idiot, that doesnt mean I think ALL of those minority groups are idiots, just the ones that feel anything made for public consumption 'owes' them diversity

equality? the devs thought adding a gay scene to ME2 would have been detrimental to the experience (would have been a sacrifice to the consumer)...putting one in, all for the sake of keeping a few whiners (gay or not) happy?

In my books thats preferential treatment, which is quite frankly the opposite of equality

I do understand that you are not arguing the fact that they made the Sheperd character straight, just that they took away the choice of making him gay or straight, which, meh, i guess is reason to get annoyed, I just think if that upsets you, you need to stop being so easily offended, there are much problems with discrimination in society for you to smash your PC hammer against and rightly so, i am a firm believer in equality

bad grammar and punctuation...sue me

No, I'm not gay, but read the bold in your first quote, that's how you insulted us
And we're not angry they included the option AT FIRST. We're angry they had it, and then chose to get rid of it, and then make up bullshit as to why they got rid of it.
The real reason they got rid of it: Homosexuality scares our TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC and less people buying it becuase of their homophobic views means less money for us. So we chose to go with a safer way and completely undermine the first game and DA:O.

Im struggling to see your position here...i have offended you but you are not gay (even though i havent said anything that would offend a gay person)...so you are a carebear who takes it upon yourself to whine about an issue that is like, not directly your problem

see that makes you worse than a gay person whining that they feel left out, that can be understood if not condoned, they might get bullied about their problems and this kind of attitude in gaming doesnt help, fair enough...

and i never played ME1 till the end and i didnt know it had a gay option, therefore saying that they took it out of ME2 for character development sake is a little nonsensical...as they were the same character, so in that respect i disagree with their excuses, and i stand corrected

still, there is hunger, disease and poverty in the world...stop getting your knickers in a twist about such a trivial issue (in the grand scheme of things), and also, the 'real reason' you explained about, do you not understand that this is an industry, do you really think the suits at EA really care about peoples feelings when their dividend could be 41 cents instead of 40?

yeah it sucks, but some people love money more than their fellow man...no pun intended

edit: at any of the points in that last sentance

Hey dumbass, instead of insulting me because you didn't follow my post, read what I said before, you insulted us in the bold. Your not going to make it very far if your going to flame someone without actually paying attention.

what?! you make no sense lol...i can see that there is some kind of language (or douchebag) barrier goin on so im gonna nip this in the bud and wash my hands of it

christ almighty, is he gay? is he not? strange person

BYEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

[The Forces of Chaos]

Complete bull shit. If they had a vision for the Commander they shouldn't have let you customize her. She is supposed to be a BLANK SLATE. Bastards. I can't believe they would throw us out to the cold. I feel so sorry for homosexual males who play this game. I was heartbroken when all I got was a peck from Liara. Honestly, it was in the first game. I can't believe they'd change it. Disgusting.

This is, right here, an example of why I don't buy into equality movements. Equality movements (No longer) are about equality, but instead, are a dictatorial movement simply looking to take control.

Look at Femmenists now-a-days. During a sex scene in a movie, the man is on top, so obviously (To them) the movie see's women as less. But if the WOMAN was on top, and you pointed out that in this case, it is not equality, but SHE that is controlling the situation, suddenly you are a chauvinistic pig.

Same goes for the Gay Rights movements. It is starting to turn into what the women rights movement has turned into. Not EVERY FUCKING CHARACTER has to be GAY OR BI. Not EVERY GAME, MOVE, OR BOOK HAS TO INCLUDE GAY OR BI CHARACTERS.

Like the commenter that I am quoting, it seems many are starting to want NOT equal rights, but instead domination, FORCING people to HAVE to have gay or bi cast in their movie, game, or book or else they are being "Intolerant".

I am half expecting next "Why is there only a Black MAN? Why can't there be a Black WOMAN in the crew?"

Seriously people. Get off your cross, and use that wood to build a bridge and GET OVER IT!

Honestly WhiteTiger225 Has it right!.

 

[GeraltofSmeg]

Shephard is stereotypical toughguy hero, ffs, how could he be homo?

 

[Axelgear]

The most likely reason they did this is that it would hurt sales. There's lots of possible reasons it might do so, but that's the obvious concern. Perhaps they were also worried about ratings but that's another story.

I think people getting offended over it is ludicrous, though. Bioware is out to make money for themselves and, if they felt this would hurt sales, they had a right to do it. If you are so upset by this as to want to send them a message, don't buy their games. If you like the game enough to buy it, though, you clearly aren't so offended as to turn up your nose at it.

The person on the first page who said that they seem to imply that gay relationships are more illicit by doing this (paraphrased) was absolutely correct. It's because they ARE. I'm not saying gay relationships are somehow lesser, merely that societal reaction to them tends to be disgust or lechery (usually the former if of the same gender to the onlooker, the latter if the opposite gender). Since canon-Shep is male and the majority of gamers are male, it stands to reason that they didn't want to potentially frighten away a portion of their largest customer base.

It was a business decision. Nothing more. If you don't like it, don't buy the game. Buy Dragon Age instead, or buy another game that's more in line with your values.

 

[Axelgear]

Honestly WhiteTiger225 Has it right!.

This too.

 

[wolf thing]

mabby nun of the developers are gay. if they made shepard to be what they want and if nun of them are gay they probly wodint put them in. either that or they where afraid of the bashing they would get from the new.

 

[wolf thing]

Complete bull shit. If they had a vision for the Commander they shouldn't have let you customize her. She is supposed to be a BLANK SLATE. Bastards. I can't believe they would throw us out to the cold. I feel so sorry for homosexual males who play this game. I was heartbroken when all I got was a peck from Liara. Honestly, it was in the first game. I can't believe they'd change it. Disgusting.

This is, right here, an example of why I don't buy into equality movements. Equality movements (No longer) are about equality, but instead, are a dictatorial movement simply looking to take control.

Look at Femmenists now-a-days. During a sex scene in a movie, the man is on top, so obviously (To them) the movie see's women as less. But if the WOMAN was on top, and you pointed out that in this case, it is not equality, but SHE that is controlling the situation, suddenly you are a chauvinistic pig.

Same goes for the Gay Rights movements. It is starting to turn into what the women rights movement has turned into. Not EVERY FUCKING CHARACTER has to be GAY OR BI. Not EVERY GAME, MOVE, OR BOOK HAS TO INCLUDE GAY OR BI CHARACTERS.

Like the commenter that I am quoting, it seems many are starting to want NOT equal rights, but instead domination, FORCING people to HAVE to have gay or bi cast in their movie, game, or book or else they are being "Intolerant".

I am half expecting next "Why is there only a Black MAN? Why can't there be a Black WOMAN in the crew?"

Seriously people. Get off your cross, and use that wood to build a bridge and GET OVER IT!

ok i see your point but shepard is meant to be your shepard and if you want to be gay you should be alloed to be gay. you comment would make sence in a liner game but in a game which prides itself on choise it is just strange to leve homosexlity out.

 

[Normalgamer]

Shephard is stereotypical toughguy hero, ffs, how could he be homo?

Oh man, you did not just say that did you? It was sarcasm right? Right?

 

[metalhead467]

Oh come on, people. Just because -one- character isn't a homosexual/bisexual, doesn't mean that the devs are being cowardly ot homophobing or what-have-you. It just means that that one character is straight. Especially since there's never been anything homophobic about the games.

 

[GeraltofSmeg]

Shephard is stereotypical toughguy hero, ffs, how could he be homo?

Oh man, you did not just say that did you? It was sarcasm right? Right?

Yes. :/

 

[Nohra]

All I wanted was female Shepard and Tali. QQ.

 

[robinkom]

I don't think any answer they give will be suitable enough for anyone. I don't know for sure if it was a different team and different project lead within Bioware that does Mass Effect but, if so, I'd say there's still a little repressed homophobia in that particular office.

Even with straight men, which the majority of their team designers are, they don't mind seeing girl-on-girl action (a female Shepard option). It's when it's two guys going at it that they start to feel uncomfortable... sort of a double standard and pretty hypocritical.

It's 2010, homosexuality is genetic, these people exist and have feelings too. Grow up, world.

 

[Gaming King]

Boo hoo, there's no gay fucking.

Honestly, it's entirely juvenile to give half a crap, just like it's incredibly juvenile to put fucking in a video game in the first place. So, I guess the whiny homosexuals actually ARE justified.

 

[tehweave]

I'm going to go out on a limb and translate the entire article into one sentence.

"BioWare Explains why there's no homosexuality in mass effect 2:"

BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T SELL AS WELL.

Most gamers are still male, and the idea of simulated sex is still as appealing as ever. So really, bioware doesn't care if it offends anyone, it just really wants to make money.

You know, like everyone else.

 

[Krelias]

I get Muzyka's point of view Shepard is a much more defined character than the Dragon Age PC it's normal that they would set some boundaries regarding what Shepard may or may not be so that shepard's persona would hold up within the lines of the story, whereas the Dragon Age character can take many different directions but this instills in my opinion a sort of emptiness and lack of attachment to him.

 

[Correleon]

I might as well go and put what I see here/my rage on the board, and while you are free to disassemble it in any way you wish, as well as post critiques, please do not post derogatory and unnecessarily rude responses to it. It just makes you look stupid.

My first view: Shepard is a defined character. By this I mean instead of the blank page Gray Warden in Dragon Age: Origins, who can be practically ANYTHING, Shepard is much more placed as a character. While he/she has some things you can change, all of the background picks are not as important as his/her history in the military. It's reasonable to me that Bioware has much of his/her background set out, as well as his/her sexuality as hetero. Even if this were not the case, it wouldn't matter as it is unlikely they will publish homosexual content in ME:III, as they have not done so before. (See below for Asari Justification.)

My second view: Asari are not female. They may look female, act female in many occasions, but they don't have a gender. Femshep and Guyshep with Liara is probably not a gay or straight relationship but a xenophillic one. Yes, I know the duck argument.

My third view: Homosexual people are gay. /sarcasm