Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win

[the December King]

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!

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.

...

Sorry, I was momentarily blown away by the level- headedness of this particular exchange.

Great conflict resolution!

I have no internet cookies to give, but I would if I had some.

On topic, I'll be getting Borderlands 2 for the PS3, but I don't think i'll be jumping at all of the DLC this time. Although, I do think that this is a cool idea, I have an SO who does not like these kinds of games AT ALL, so it wouldn't work.

 

[Twilight_guy]

First of all, "girlfriend mode" wants me want to strangle at a puppy at not only the sexism but also not understanding the gaming audience in general.

Secondly, this is a stupid idea. Why? Because it would far easier to creat a difficulty setting option then to fuck around with one class and its skill trees. Why not make all your classes assessable to people who can't use the mechanics as well, why force them to play only one skill tree. There is a reason difficulty options exist, and this is the kind of thing you alter with that option.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

If you can't aim a pistol you shouldn't be playing FPS. Period.

And how are people to learn, then?

 

[Meight08]

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)

Just so you know borderlands 2 will have proper fov options so your girlfriend can probably play the game.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

I resent the idea of calling this casual mode or girlfriend mode. As if skill means being a 14 year old boy, hopped up on caffeine, who can hit the the buttons quicker than anyone else. I think tactics should count more than twitch skill. Chess is probably the most cerebral game of skill out there, and it has zero twitch skill required.

As for balance, if the "noob" is wasting 5 points on a skill that simply lets him do something you can already do, then you should still have the advantage.

 

[Thespian]

"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.

You're totally right. Or at least, you're right on Alternate Earth #234 where they called it "Girl Mode" and not "Girlfriend Mode".
"Girlfriend Mode" is there for people who aren't the target audience of the game, but are only playing because the target audience wanted a companion. Since in this case, that target audience is young males, the likely companion they'll want to play it with is their girlfriend.
Odds are fairly likely that games won't be that person's top interests, and let's be honest; FPSs are damn hard if you aren't used to them. Seriously.

Add to that the fact that Borderlands is well known for being a fun game for couples to play co-op and it's a logical name.

The fact is that it's not specifically for girls. It's for any sort of acquaintance who is being roped in without being well learned in the genre. No doubt several of the devs were thinking "Yeah, this'd be perfect for when I play with my girlfriend" and thus the name is logical.

Please don't be so easy to enrage. Nowhere in this article was it even implied that girls are inherently bad at games. And once again, this "special easy mode" is NOT for women. It's for the group of people being represented by the archetypal "reluctant girlfriend".

 

[Gnoekeos]

If you can't aim a pistol you shouldn't be playing FPS. Period.

So if someone picks up a game and they're not instantly good at it they shouldn't even try?

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

The Borderlands guy announcing this is called Hemmingway? This is perhaps more an amusing co-incidence I've had at least one Ex complain Ernest Hemmingway was a sexist pig. So... just throwing it out there.

I have also had a mix of girlfriends who kick my ass at games and some that don't get how the other stick controls the camera so while it's a poor choice of words it's probably more personal experience/bias than out and out sexism. Least by my perspective.

 

[Dogstile]

Fucking called it. Half the people complaining about this seem to think its actually called girlfriend mode.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I honestly think I'd play as that character solo. Skill tree that makes it easier and breaks the gameplay over its knee with an adorable female protagonist? Yes, please. You should see my stealth/archery/alchemist wood elf in Skyrim.

 

[Yal]

Secondly, this is a stupid idea. Why? Because it would far easier to creat a difficulty setting option then to fuck around with one class and its skill trees. Why not make all your classes assessable to people who can't use the mechanics as well, why force them to play only one skill tree. There is a reason difficulty options exist, and this is the kind of thing you alter with that option.

If you ratchet down the overall difficulty there'll be no challenge for "Boyfriend" and he'll be bored. Less fun for both of them. Putting this in the character customization options is definitely the way to go.

It's the same principle as a lot of those Nintendo "asymmetric multiplayer" games, where one person plays the main character and has to be good at the game, and the second player can participate and be helpful but can't really become a liability. You get to play together but you don't have to play the same game. Borderlands presumably isn't going to allow quite that wide a skill gap, you won't be giving that second controller to a seven year old like you could with Mario Galaxy, but it's not all that different otherwise.

 

[Ariseishirou]

"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.

The fact is that it's not specifically for girls. It's for any sort of acquaintance who is being roped in without being well learned in the genre.

Then why didn't they call it the "Acquaintance" skill tree, then? Or the "Casual" skill tree? If the answer is "demographics" or "target" audience being male, then he's still stereotyping and using exclusionary terminology.

In which case, consider me excluded! Sad, because I am a huge FPS fan and was originally going to buy it. You know, to play with my boyfriend. He's not as good as I am, but since there's no boyfriend skill tree, just a girlfriend one, I'm not sure how he'll manage.

-1 sale here.

 

[Ickorus]

Dammit Gearbox, we were just getting past the sexism threads and you go and add fuel to the fire.

OT: I'm unsure of this, it's a great idea but I wish it wasn't locked to the character class I wanted to play the most.

 

[GameMaNiAC]

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

Wow, what a stupid reason to-

"AHMAGAHD TEHY SAID ITS GURLFRUND MOED GREABXO AM SO SEXSST"

Oh, thank you, haza.

OT: I think it's very nice of them to add this. They make it more accessible to people without 'casualizing' the entire game.

 

[Ljs1121]

Not the noobs! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

If I get the game I'll probably not use that particular skill tree but I guess it's nice that they added it.

Also obligatory reference to sexism.

 

[Ickorus]

"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.

The fact is that it's not specifically for girls. It's for any sort of acquaintance who is being roped in without being well learned in the genre.

Then why didn't they call it the "Acquaintance" skill tree, then? Or the "Casual" skill tree? If the answer is "demographics" or "target" audience being male, then he's still stereotyping and using exclusionary terminology.

In which case, consider me excluded! Sad, because I am a huge FPS fan and was originally going to buy it. You know, to play with my boyfriend. He's not as good as I am, but since there's no boyfriend skill tree, just a girlfriend one, I'm not sure how he'll manage.

-1 sale here.

When people speak they generally draw on personal experiences and say things that are relatable to them, he probably had or has a girlfriend who's more of a casual player but still likes to play with him.

You have to remember developers are people too and he's only a designer, not a public speaker; he was likely speaking in an informal environment as is the wont of game developers.

I'm not saying everything everyone says is forgivable but I think in this case it was just a slip of the tongue.

Spoiler: Just checked the original link and Randy Pitchford has a similar opinion and explanation to me.

Update: You may have noticed Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford speaking out against the "girlfriend mode" nickname on Twitter.

As reported below, the Mechromancer skill tree that helps video game newcomers is formally called Best Friends Forever. But Borderlands 2 lead designer John Hemingway referred to it numerous times as "girlfriend mode".

"Borderlands 2 does NOT have a girlfriend mode," Pitchford stated on Twitter. "Anyone that says otherwise is misinformed or trying to stir up something that isn't there.

"The future DLC Mechromancer class has a skill tree that makes it easier for less skilled coop partners (any gender!) to play and be useful."

Pitchford didn't deny that Hemingway had said "girlfriend mode". Instead, he labelled the term a "personal anecdote" that had been spun by the media.

"There is no universe where Hemingway is a sexist," Pitchford added. "All the women at Gearbox would beat his and anyone else's ass."