Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win

[The Human Torch]

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

Ooooooor, you can still buy the game, play with the most difficult class available and then post a video on Youtube. With something like: "SUCK IT GEARBOX", as a title.

Yup, so they'll do it again since it gets them more customers instead of making them lose them.

Just because one developer at Gearbox is a giant ponce who should get his mouth sewn shut, doesn't mean that the entire game is evul. I don't agree with the 'title' he gave this class, but I feel more like patting him on the head and say: "aw, bless your soul, you don't know any better".

I am still buying Borderlands 2 and I am definitely going to play this class now. Cause it seems awesome to have a robotarm and pigtails...

 

[The Human Torch]

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

Ooooooor, you can still buy the game, play with the most difficult class available and then post a video on Youtube. With something like: "SUCK IT GEARBOX", as a title.

lol That actually sounds fun. I have been thinking about doing my own let's plays...

I am planning a let's play about this, if you want in, let me know and I will play the 'girlfriend' class and you can pick the most difficult one.

It's a gender swap.

THEY WILL NEVER EXPECT IT!

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Little bit of word vomit and condescension there, but it's a far cry from blatant sexism. I can sort of see where it's coming from too, after having played Borderlands. The one chick option to play is in all ways a bad-ass and, since I picked her just because she was a her, I didn't know that going into the game with my fiancé, who picked the bulky dude who turned out to be a field medic with his turret more than the meaty damage dealing boss he appeared to be. Now, if my skills hadn't been up to snuff that would have royally screwed with our gameplay and made it much harder to progress with the game. Luckily, I handled it like a boss and all was well, but not every girl has had the rigourous course in FPS that I've been undergoing these past 10 years (so many co-op games require pointing and shooting!)

It's probably nice to have, I'm glad it isn't mandatory by being her only skill tree. This is not that big a deal. Could have been if they went into an overemphasis on how this is for girlfriends exclusively, but they didn't. It could also be for your non-gamer friend visiting or a younger player with poor hand eye coordination or your drunk uncle who couldn't shoot straight on his best day. Fun for everyone!

 

[The Human Torch]

You know, I'm going to check some stuff out, see how busy I'm going to be around launch. This may be a pretty fun idea.[/quote]
I am game if you are game.

 

[Azuaron]

Ugh... the further dumbing down of a game.

Well it makes it easy. I don't want to waste money on a character whose 1/3 wasted skill tree. I like a lot of things they do but a skilltree to basically eliminate one of the key components of the game. That just seems like a stupid idea.

Sorry Gearbox but I'm not biting in this case.

Wow, um, the game isn't being dumbed down. "Dumbing down a game" is what happens when they either nerf the enemies or hypercharge all the characters. If you read the full article, you'll know that one of her other skill trees that they want to implement is basically a hard core mode.

This character is basically a walking difficulty slider. Besides, most people have highly specialized characters, anyway. I know I wouldn't lose sleep if Mordecai lost his gunslinger tree.

Besides, haven't you heard? That skill tree isn't for you. It's for your girlfriend*.

*I'm saying that ironically. I shouldn't have to explain that, but, on The Escapist, I'm certain I do.

 

[GeorgW]

I'm really loving this. A character that you can customize as either a hardcore challenge or beginner friendly, why don't more games do this? It may be a bit constraining with only having one skill tree if you want to play normally, but that's why it's a DLC character.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I think this kinda proves my assumption that Gearbox have no clue why people liked Borderlands in the first place.

Having a skill tree that basically makes even the last semblance of anything interesting to do go away is madness.

 

[natster43]

The ricocheting shots power actually sounds really useful and I would probably take it for my build.

 

[nexus]

I think Eurogamer is a better place. People here aren't realizing how offensive it is to refer to an easy mode as "girlfriend mode".

Poor you.

I hope you find a safe, comfortable place to call home.

Oh wait, as someone suggested, I'll refer to the hard mode as "manchild mode". Or as "foreveralone nerd mode". Let's keep on with the stereotypes, people!

You do realize it's not the actual name of the mode. It was something he said, based on his perspective. He probably has a girlfriend who isn't very good at games, but would enjoy playing with him. Out of the dozens of males I've known that play video games on a regular basis, I can safely say all of their girlfriends were not good at them, but would most likely play if there was a "girlfriend" mode.

I know this comes as a shocker, but what he is saying is culturally relevant, based on the medium represented.

 

[nexus]

I think this kinda proves my assumption that Gearbox have no clue why people liked Borderlands in the first place.

Having a skill tree that basically makes even the last semblance of anything interesting to do go away is madness.

You don't have to use it.

 

[theultimateend]

INB4 bitching about pre-order DLC and calling sexism because he said girlfriend tree.

Anyway. This sounds like a great idea, because my girlfriends main problem with borderlands was that she would die more often than me, and so if this perk tree can tip the scales a bit, we may get a LOT of playtime out of it.

Yeah the facebook comments on this article of pissy.

Is it the case now that anything that isn't outwardly positive about women is Misogyny?

That word gets thrown around so much now that I feel it has lost its meaning.

So far I'm not aware of any lady that I've shown this to that hasn't responded "lol" or something similar. It would appear only men are bitching about it.

Look guys, I know you're all making jokes about "oh here will come the people calling this name sexist", and all, but, hate to break it up to you.... it IS sexist.

Imagine the reverse situation: the "boyfriend mode", a mode so easy even a male could play it when you coerce him to try the game (since we know males don't play videogames unless their girlfriends makes them!).

I'm imagining it, I don't know the context it would be in but I don't see a problem. If folks want they can start doing that commercial thing where every man is an idiot, I don't really care because it doesn't change reality one iota.

I'm dreaming of the day that men are the targeted bunch across the board for stereotypes just so I can stop hearing about it from men (or perhaps you are a lady if so my apologies).

This doesn't seem like a bad idea to anyone else? It looks good on paper, but what if an experienced players goes and uses this tree? Won't it just let them destroy practically anything?

If the person is having fun then who cares? You don't have to play with them >_>.

1. My girlfriend was just awful when we played Borderlands on 360. She kicks ass on FPS's on PC When we tried playing it on pc some time later, she got a bad case of motion sickness. I wasn't forcing her to play it with me, she likes rpgs and got me into Torchlight. So she couldn't play it. If this character existed in the first game It would have helped her get better at the 360 version of the game for sure.

2. Yes what he called it is a horrible streotyping but should we really Start hating the developers for ONE thing they said. It's not even what it's called in the game. (I really don't understand why they said Girlfriend mode instead of BFF mode. It sounds better and more Borderlandsy)

He's likely heterosexual so his brain pulled the most relevant term in his head.

Had he been gay or female he likely would have said "Boyfriend Mode" or something like that. The brain isn't all THAT complicated when it comes to pattern recognition, it will often grab the quickest easiest reference in your brain when you are speaking off the cuff.

I doubt he meant anything by it at all, because few people say "mate" or "bff" in normal conversation.

Otherwise yeah to all your commentary, has been my experience but that's because its my life setup, it could just as easily be a guy if I was gay or female (or still in college where my roommates were terrible at anything short of Halo).

If you reconfigured this entire universe so that he ended up being a heterosexual lady he likely would have said the opposite. Personally I'd have found it equally uncontroversial. Because what people say doesn't impact my own personal evaluation. Likewise I really don't care how people feel about things I can't control. I can't stop being a guy and I can't stop being white, so any anger towards either of those things disinterests me since its meaningless. However if someone is upset about my views of say, Olives, then there is room for debate since that's potentially alterable and up for discourse.

 

[Podunk]

This will be great for my girlfriend, she wants to play Borderlands 2 with me but sucks at First Person Shooters. Thanks, Gearbox!

 

[Ariseishirou]

Is it the case now that anything that isn't outwardly positive about women is Misogyny?

"Women suck at videogames and need a special easy mode to help them out" is pretty much misogyny, yes. At the very least it's sexism.

So far I'm not aware of any lady that I've shown this to that hasn't responded "lol" or something similar.

Well, now you're aware of one. There are also several other female posters in this thread who are similarly unimpressed.

 

[Lucane]

In this case it would only be true if it was 100% of the time, Which it isn't.

98% is close enough.

No because every time wouldn't be true making it a stereotype.

If for example: [Just to make a point not saying it's true or even factual in the slightest.]
Saying every Irish born white person has naturally grown red hair would be a stereotype.(Irish people are commonly depicted in a variety of media as so but it's not an absolute.) Now if something occurred to make that a 100% possibility then it would stop being a stereotype and become a fact making it true about Irish people you've never met as it would always be the same answer to that question.

 

[theultimateend]

"Women suck at videogames and need a special easy mode to help them out" is pretty much misogyny, yes. At the very least it's sexism.

That's exactly what he said.

Except it isn't. You are being disingenuous.

Feel free to re-read my post above to see why you are being disingenuous. I wish you luck.

But whatever, I'll skip out now. These threads always devolve into self gratification and martyring.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

snip

More toward the first guy you quoted now that I think about it.

 

[GloatingSwine]

You don't have to use it.

No, but then the same would go for just having individual difficulty levels that gave you, for instance, a bit of damage resistance, an extra auto aim, maybe a period of mercy invincibility when you're at critical health when you played on the easy mode, but that would allow the player who was on easy mode to play any character and build and actually enjoy the game properly.

But hey, at least this time they're telling us the character balance is fucked, rather than letting us realise that Lilith is an unstoppable god-queen and Brick and Roland are borderline useless excepting in very specific class mods because elemental damage rules all.

 

[Lucane]

snip

More toward the first guy you quoted now that I think about it.

Awesome! Except for the whole... you know.

 

[Lyri]

So my options are piss easy or nut breaking?
Why can't I just have a serious character? The concept of "Girlfriend Mode" sounds demeaning to me, and I'm not even female.

Yes, giving people an easy way into a game is demeaning.

Control yourself.