Bioware Receives Cupcakes as a Thank You for Female Inquisitor

[lady nuggins]

I know, right!? Bioware should stick to its true audience and only pander to straight white men like always. Anything else is bowing to the evils of obscure tumblr blogs!

Well going by Mass Effect, more than 80% of their audience made a male character on their first playthrough.

So I mean, shouldn't they be demonstrating a character that most of their audience would probably make, rather than the idiots on BSN and tumblr?

Ignoring all the reasons why those numbers may have been skewed by male Shepard being advertised as the default for 3 entire games...

That still means that 20% of their audience would play as female. That is about 1 in 5. That means 1 in 5 posters should feature a female protagonist, 1 in 5 trailers should feature a female protagonist, 1 in 5 pieces of merchandise should feature a female protagonist.

Not asking for all the marketing. Not even necessarily asking for half, although that would be nice. Just asking for some.

 

[AgedGrunt]

"OH MY GOD FEMINISTS ARE NEVER HAPPY LITERALLY NOTHING EVER DONE TO INCLUDE WOMEN IMPROVES ANYONE'S LIVES WHARGAHBLARGHA"

It's good to remember sometimes that just because every form of progress doesn't satisfy somebody, steps forward like this do satisfy most people. It's just that the news cycle and social media scenes amplify distaste a lot louder than satisfaction.

Except this isn't progress. What people are doing is championing progress in the form of a different color frosting on the cover of their games, and to eat a different color cupcake in their video game.

Seems to me the only way you could make things "fair" for everyone (omg the *real* main character doesn't look like me!) is to just develop androgynous protagonists with no conclusive suggestion as to what sexual organs were attached at birth.

Or we could take a cue from a famous speech in 1963 and not see everyone and everything by color and/or sex and instead judge by the content of characters. You know, because we don't control the fiction, the plots and cannons are intended to be revealed to us (that's some introspective on generations raised on books and "screenagers" raised on interactive content, such as the web, which they can reshape).

What we have are generations of people whom have to feel represented in their worlds (in this case, video games). The next step beyond options for sex is to literally convince people that they are (or could imagined as) the little picture on their box/screen.

If this sounds immature, that's because it is. Seriously. There are a dozen other better investments of one's time to progress social issues than a fucking video game character's gender.

*Even if it's about representation, acknowledgement ("Hey, female gamers exist, too!"). As a male, I don't get it. I can play as a female character, let's say the game Tomb Raider, and don't need to feel that's me. It's a story. Although, as a roleplayer, I can play as her. So, really, it's a psychological argument, and it's just so petty to hear the divested attitudes.

 

[Scorpid]

Seriously, cupcakes to Bioware again? I seem to recall they were sent 400 cupcakes for the Mass Effect 3 ending thing back when it was first released, and now as a reward for doing what they did back then? I mean, Femshep showed up in the commercials for ME3, why didn't they get a batch of cupcakes then?

Clearly the answer is every time Bioware does a thing they should get punishment/reward cupcakes so they can think about what they did/be proud of their work.

Reward is a much stronger motivator for change than punishment I've heard. Cupcakes seem like a good way to show both displeasure and satisfaction with that in mind. I've always liked brownies the most though.

 

[littlewisp]

I uh. . .it's not okay for people to give cupcakes to people when they're happy about something? We're not allowed to do that? oh.....okay.






(I thought it was a very nice gesture, and it's nice to see female characters getting some time in the spotlight)


(I'll go back to the corner now. )

 

[Alhazred]

Social Justice, delivered in a delicious, cupcake-shaped form. What more could you ask for?

 

[wulf3n]

I know, right!? Bioware should stick to its true audience and only pander to straight white men like always. Anything else is bowing to the evils of obscure tumblr blogs!

Well going by Mass Effect, more than 80% of their audience made a male character on their first playthrough.

And, going by Mass Effect's marketing, only male protagonists existed except for a beauty contest and a single commercial for 3. Or are we just going to pretend that marketing white soldier man as the face of the entire series (and making that the default for character creation) didn't have any affect on the percentages?

It will be very interesting to see what difference this new approach will have on their statistics.

 

[CBanana]

I know, right!? Bioware should stick to its true audience and only pander to straight white men like always. Anything else is bowing to the evils of obscure tumblr blogs!

Well going by Mass Effect, more than 80% of their audience made a male character on their first playthrough.

And, going by Mass Effect's marketing, only male protagonists existed except for a beauty contest and a single commercial for 3. Or are we just going to pretend that marketing white soldier man as the face of the entire series (and making that the default for character creation) didn't have any affect on the percentages?

It will be very interesting to see what difference this new approach will have on their statistics.

Well, Dragon Age already has a higher percentage female player base than Mass Effect. According to Bioware, about a third of people chose female player characters in Dragon Age 2.

 

[wulf3n]

I know, right!? Bioware should stick to its true audience and only pander to straight white men like always. Anything else is bowing to the evils of obscure tumblr blogs!

Well going by Mass Effect, more than 80% of their audience made a male character on their first playthrough.

And, going by Mass Effect's marketing, only male protagonists existed except for a beauty contest and a single commercial for 3. Or are we just going to pretend that marketing white soldier man as the face of the entire series (and making that the default for character creation) didn't have any affect on the percentages?

It will be very interesting to see what difference this new approach will have on their statistics.

Well, Dragon Age already has a higher percentage female player base than Mass Effect. According to Bioware, about a third of people chose female player characters in Dragon Age 2.

Worth noting, though I wonder why?

Is it a result of gender disposition towards fantasy/sci-fi? Or was it marketing again?

If i remember correctly Origins wasn't too dissimilar from the current situation. To promote the "choose your origin" aspect they made numerous ads of all (in-game) races and genders, while not really promoting a single one.

Maybe it's nothing.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

nd the last of us had complications putting their female supporting character on the box due to marketing concerns.

Perhaps the celebrants should have waited to see if this were a continuing trend, or a one off, before they started to celebrate.

 

[Dragonlayer]

Well, how nice! Seriously, its a pleasant change to read an article about fans, A) being pleased with a company for once and B) a gender issues related topic that wasn't said fans bitching endlessly. Kudos to Bioware earning their praise and kudos to the kind-hearted fans!

 

[lady nuggins]

*Even if it's about representation, acknowledgement ("Hey, female gamers exist, too!"). As a male, I don't get it. I can play as a female character, let's say the game Tomb Raider, and don't need to feel that's me. It's a story. Although, as a roleplayer, I can play as her. So, really, it's a psychological argument, and it's just so petty to hear the divested attitudes.

It's easy to say that when you are already represented nearly everywhere. You don't need to search high and low for just one game that lets you play as your gender. Most women will play as male characters too (partially because our options would be very limited otherwise, although I personally enjoy role playing any gender), but it's nice to have the option, and it's nice to know when the option is there.

To put it another way, Tomb Raider was a one-off experience for you. You didn't mind having to play as a female character once. Maybe you would mind more if every new game coming out starred only women.

Perhaps the celebrants should have waited to see if this were a continuing trend, or a one off, before they started to celebrate.

If a company does a good thing and nobody recognizes it, how can we make sure that it becomes a continuing trend? If Ubisoft gets more attention for not including women than Bioware gets for including them, why should they bother? Conventional wisdom says that it's risky to feature women in video game marketing. Where is the push to take that risk if the people who wanted it don't show them that it's appreciated?

 

[Vegosiux]

Cupcakes? Don't say that word. I'm one of the unfortunate people who actually read that infamous fanfic. Thinking it can't be that horrible. Turns out, it was worse.

Oh uh, and receiving cupcakes for defaulting the protagonist's gender to female? Well I suppose, but I hope Obsidian received them back with KOTOR 2 as well then! This ain't the first time.

Captcha: The Big Cheese.
Mmmmm, chesse. CHEESE FOR EVERYONE!

 

[Vegosiux]

To put it another way, Tomb Raider was a one-off experience for you. You didn't mind having to play as a female character once. Maybe you would mind more if every new game coming out starred only women.

I know I wouldn't. If my character is customizable, I default to female, even.

 

[Shingeki no Gingerbeard]

So basically BioWare can do no wrong? They get cupcakes for ME3's ending, and now they get cupcakes for including a female character like they always have done?

 

[RicoADF]

I can't get the thought of the development teams being obese due to all the cupcakes their receiving for free. An office full of fat devs munching on cupcakes lol.

Seriously though, this is pathetic. Good on Bioware for the trailer but seriously people save the rewards for something worthwhile like removing DRM for good, adding their game to gog and/making the games better. Not for such shallow stuff as trailers.

 

[Kameburger]

You know for all the vitriol that gets hurled around in issue related video game stories, this is much more of the kind of thing I would like to see more of: Rewarding for inclusiveness rather than condemnation of un-inclusiveness. Everyone comes out looking better, and even the cynical companies pandering for this type of PR is far better then the "safe normal design then minimizing damage" pattern that we see today.

 

[fibchopkin]

Soooo... let me just make sure I have this straight: Angry fans who loudly question Ubisoft's decision not to put a female PC in their game are just loud-mouthed femi-nazis who need to learn how calm the frick down. Fans who simply and with no fanfare or trumpets, send some cupcakes and thank you notes to Bioware because they're happy about seeing a female protag in the trailers are insufferable idiots who similarly need to calm the frick down. So, basically, anyone who dares to stand up and say "I'd like to see more women featured as the heroes in video games," is wrong, no matter how they send the message? Even if it comes with frosting?

Okie dokie then. Shame on you, you horrible, ridiculous trolls who dared to tell a bunch of people working on a game "Thank you for listening". Double shame for gifting a bunch of human beings you admire with delicious cupcakes. Really, you ought to go examine your lives, and figure out where your parents and guardians went wrong. Imagine! Sending thanks and cupcakes to strangers without first seeking the approval of random, online cynics.


EDIT: ^That's sarcasm, by the way.

 

[Valkrex]

Okay I'm honestly baffled here. People are ANGRY at a company for acknowledging that the marketing for these types of games can be really one sided, male-centric, and honestly a bit fucked up? People are FURIOUS over a company going out of its way to break the mold in the marketing department by giving the female version of the main character the spotlight for once?

People are MAD that a company is listening to criticisms and doing a good thing? People are ENRAGED over the fact that the audience is HAPPY that a company is acknowledging female gamers exist and make up a significant portion of their audience?

People are SHITTING THEMSELVES over a group of gamers saying THANK YOU!?!? What the actual hell man? This is a GOOD thing. This is GOOD news, and people responded to GOOD news in a GOOD way.


Its a cool story, and a nice, fairly inexpensive, way of saying thanks. Maybe not needed, but still a harmless and ultimately positive gesture.

There is NO reason to be angry at ANYONE here.

Just figured I would step in and clarify a few things, since I was one of the main organizers of this.

First and foremost, this WAS done as a genuine thank you to BioWare for giving the female protagonist choice a LOT of coverage at E3. Yes, we've always been able to choose male or female in the actual game. We know this. This wasn't the point. The point was that BioWare had only showcased the male version of the protagonist for DAI up until this point. For ME3, FemShep's trailer came very late in the game, almost like an afterthought, and she was the backside of the game cover you could flip over. But most folks think of Shepard as the male version.

We had a thread on BioWare's forum asking "Could we please see more of the Lady Inquisitor?" The thread got big. Some BioWare devs actually conversed with us. Then, at E3, Lady Inquisitor got a trailer all to herself (the first for DAI), and then one of the demos they showed in several of their (publicized) interviews featured a female Qunari mage.

We thought it was wonderful and unexpected representation at a large stage like E3 to acknowledge the female protagonist option like that. We were surprised and happy by it, and enough of us were surprised and happy enough that we wanted to DO something to acknowledge that. So, we grouped together, pooled resources, and did this little Cupcakequisition.

We chose cupcakes for two reasons: 1. They were extremely economical in that we could purchase a LOT to try and make sure most the team got something and 2. Yes, for the irony to counteract the ME3 ending cupcakes. Those ME3 cupcakes were sent to show severe disappointment, and were donated by BioWare to a local youth charity because they felt properly chagrined and scolded by the action. Whereas these cupcakes were ones of praise and just general thanks, and, yes, they were accepted and eaten. They were also accompanied by 8 pages of personal message to BioWare from the individual members of the group who made this happen.

If you choose to see this as a publicity stunt, or a "social justice warriors go bananas" event, or an insincere or stupid act - that is your prerogative. I am sorry that you feel that way. But to us, it was just a genuine way to say "thank you" in a yummy way to a team that makes games we appreciate and that we felt went the extra mile at E3 to really show respect to female gamers. That's really what all this boils down to.

Thank you kindly,
DragonRacer

Good on you, DragonRacer, and you know, thinking on it now, why not showcase a game featuring a female character if it encourages inclusiveness? It's still medieval fantasy action, and all that.

I also think it's fascinating that fans are using cupcakes as a form of communication, one that can mean different things in the context they are given. S'like a new language that has icing.

Also this. +1 to DragonRacer, and ALL HAIL YOUR NEW CUPCAKE OVERLORDS! If a team under being whipped by EA can do this, then there is NO reason that any game's marketing needs to be only geared towards men.