Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win

[Vault101]

Damn. I was looking forward to this game. But alas, I won't be giving money to a group using such silly terms and helping to propagate stereotypes.

-1 sale

don;t be silly

youre essentially giving the finger to all those people who worked on the game because of one guy who said a stupid thing...I don't know if they are caling it "girl-freind mode" in the actual game..but if it not then...well thats even more silly

why not suport a game that actually gives us decent female playable charachters?

 

[idodo35]

sounds like a good idea...
a tiny bit sexist but i can totally get over it
i wont be using it though but definitly am going to get the game!

 

[Vault101]

Have you been commenting and discussing this the whole time without reading the OP? >_>

oh

ok, I skimmed a bit...I'm an awful person

BUT my point still stands..a stupid comment made by the lead designer...and the "joke" isnt even in the actual game

yeah I don't particually like it eather but you know what? you have to pick your battles..and this is not worth it

there have been more important issues before, liek that felecia day incident, the lack of female avatars in Brink and Aliens cournel marines

but this? I don't mean to insult but with an attitude like that its a wonder you buy any games at all

but then I can't exactly dicate to you what to get angry over and what not too..I can only explain my opinion, and you may think my credibility is dashed because of my poor reading comprehension (not me though...my point still stands)

 

[Frybird]

Wow that's a really fucking stupid thing to say.
Still, they've distanced themselves from the (stupid) comments, so there's that.
Making games accessable- good.
Foot in mouth- bad.

Yeah, the intention here is (more or less) good, but his wording of it was very poor. And with how casually he said it, I have a feeling that wasn't just an on-the-fly description. I feel like that's a term that he's used to describe it before, which paints a very bad picture of both him and the development team.

I mean, there were so many ways he could have worded it. And with how much sexism has been a topic in the video games community, you'd think he'd have caught a little of it at some point and chose to use a different phrase to describe it. Even if it was geared toward the girlfriends of male gamers (which is a valid market, mind), he could have presented it as a general introduction mode to friends and loved-ones rather than pissing in the face of every girl or girlfriend who may or may not already play games. So either he's just been living under a rock for the last three months, or his use of the term is so casual for him it didn't even occur to him that others might take umbrage. Which at best is...unsettling. And at worst it makes me want to march straight up to him, kick him in the balls with the pointiest pair of shoes I have, and ask him to say it again [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPHuE5pDlEs] to my face.

"For a lack of a better term." My fucking God. There are plenty of other terms, he just didn't bother to use any of them.

You know the thing that makes me angry about your post is that you are basically advocating against game developers speaking openly and freely about thier games.

Yes, THERE ARE so many ways he could've worded it. Yes, HE USED A STEREOTYPE to describe this game feature.
But do you really, TRUELY think he wouldn't word it better if he did come up with a better term? Give me a break.

It was a poor choice of words, yes, but that happens in an open, unscripted conversation.

And you know what? I rather have game developers slipping up from time to time than not have them speak at all.

Because that is what you seem to want. We are talking about a lead designer here, not some public relations guy with a college degree in communication. So such things will happen unless game developers are only allowed to read pre-prepared, carefully worded, politically correct statements. And we have enough of this s**t in politics.

The thing that blows my mind is that just about everyone knows what he meant, and that he didn't meant to insult anyone, but still everyone bitches about it and makes it a big thing.

INCLUDING F**KING KOTAKU, who just a week before bitched and moaned about how game developers don't talk enough to the press...well...there you have the reason why.

Games journalism comes dangerously close to being on a level with newspapers like The Sun, Bild or The New York Post, and the games community goes right along with it for falling into every blown up controversy.

I weep for my hobby and my passion.

 

[MetalMagpie]

The unfortunate choice of title for this mode aside, this really does sound like a great idea! My wife can't really keep up with me, my son or my daughter. Something like this would allow her to play along with the rest of us and not get frustrated.

Why not just call it Casual-mode or some such?

I think "Best Friends Forever" is actually quite fun as a silly skill tree name.

The title of this post is a bit deceptive. There isn't actually an entire mode that makes the game easier to play (like "Story Mode" in an RPG). It's just one skill tree on one character that's geared towards requiring less skill. So calling that skill tree "Casual Mode" would be a) boring and b) a bit insulting to anyone who uses it!

 

[Vault101]

I plan to send a clear message that what he said (casual sexism) isn't alright and I'll do that by not giving them any money. The only way businesses improves is when their money goes elsewhere. It's a vote, if you will. A gentle warning to consider their words better in future.

Borderlands is a game that gives us good female playable charachters (and another one in-game that is not sexualised at all) so by your logic your hurting that too

[quote/]People spouting sexist nonsense so casually just adds to the overall sexist atmosphere. Every time such things get said, it becomes more and more normal to do so. If you let it slide, you're inadvertently part of the problem.[/quote]
this is not making a difference though, because the issue is not clearly conected to the game...so lets say they did lose sales I doubt the reasons would lead back up to this guys comments.... it was acomment said "in relation to the game" it has nothing to do with the game itself, this wasnt like the felecia day incidetn or the incident before that where a female player was being "harrased"

[quote/]Sucks that he slipped up and now the entire game is to pay,[/quote]
kind of petty if you ask me

[quote/]but that's how business works. I make companies work tooth and nail for my money.[/quote]
no one is fighting tooth and nail for [b/]your[/b] money...you are but one in a sea of millions

[quote/]The harder they have to try to keep you as a customer, the better services you get and the more surplus money you save to spend on important things, like charity in my case.
[/quote]

this is not a customer service issue (that would be like the female playable charachter thing in Brink)

this is a slip up

a frivilous comment

it was not made with intent....if they were calling it that in the game then sure but I am really not seeing the issue here

 

[MetalMagpie]

so I couldnt choose this charachter if I wanted play "non-derp" mode?

Best Friends Forever is currently the Mechromancer's only finished tree, but Hemingway mentioned that he would like to try using another of her trees as a counterpoint to the casual aspects of BFF. "Right now, I'm thinking of it as a hardcore mode. So if you are a really expert player, and you want to do some tricky, difficult things, this is the tree for you, for just a totally different experience. We're not ready to talk about it, because we have no idea if it's even going to pan out. But we've got some interesting ideas there."

You're welcome.

"I want to make, for the lack of a better term, the girlfriend skill tree."

I plan to send a clear message that what he said (casual sexism) isn't alright and I'll do that by not giving them any money.

Oh, get off your high horse before you fall and hurt yourself. Making a reference to the cliché of a gaming guy struggling to get his girlfriend into gaming is not "casual sexism". But, if it makes you happy, let me redress the cosmic balance.

*clears throat*

I propose a toilet that automatically puts the seat down after the user exits the room. I call it, for lack of a better term, the "boyfriend model".

Anyone want to be offended by that?

 

[Vault101]

I propose a toilet that automatically puts the seat down after the user exits the room. I call it, for lack of a better term, the "boyfriend model".

Anyone want to be offended by that?

I am going to out you on my ignore list for that

but before I do that I'm going to go through your freinds list and ignore those people too since I wont stand anyone who's frends with a misandrist

but BEFORE that I;m going to find out what your favorite games/drinks/foods are because I will NOT like that same things as a misandrist

BUT BEFORE that I've got to check what country you live in because I cannot live in a country that allows people like you to live in it

BUT BEFORE THAT I have to check your birthday and month you wre born because I cannot stand to have the same star sign...so I much change my name birth date and skip the country

then I'll put you on ignore

 

[Vault101]

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssnip

Nothing makes people rethink their words quite like their boss publicly chewing their ass out and their game losing sales. Don't let it slide now and no one in that position will say anything like it again.

"I wanted to make a skill tree that specializes in thievery and stealing items. For lack of a better term, the Black Guy tree."

If that's what he said, very few people would be alright with shrugging it off. Casually referencing a stereotype is destructive. So, just as they consider that impossible to ignore, so do I this. I won't be a part of publicly sending the message that it's any form of okay to feed into the trope.

if the guy said that I would fully expect him to be harshly reprimaded (mabye even fired) and I would still buy the fucking game

its a PR issue...people say stupid shit all the time in gaming PR

 

[Vault101]

Oh, get off your high horse before you fall and hurt yourself.

You can't expect anyone to give you their time if you're going to act so immature. What's the point in even pretending to want discussion when you make your aggression clear from the start? You may as well open your comment with "You're wrong and I'm never going to agree with you" for all the good it does.

You'll find addressing the topic and not the individual works better for productive debate.

you can't go around getting offended over ever single little thing, what he said I actually think fits perfectly...In fact let me try

"that hoarse is so high you could buy a parachouce and try base-jumping" *bud-um-tsh!*

look, I get my feminist on now and again, but THIS? this is petty, this helps nothing, sure, I get so mad and angy at some of the bullshit people pull in regards to thease issues, but somtimes you just have to have thicker skin and know when somthing is worth your energy

 

[upgray3dd]

My incompetent self appreciates this. I'm deadly with all weapons you don't have to aim.

I tend to be stuck as the medic