Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
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You know what, I'm convinced that half the stupid going on here is thanks to the needlessly inflammatory title and subtitle this thread carries. I usually don't count myself among the "Escapist news is shit" crowd, and the news itself is actually pretty good, but the headline makes this all seem fairly tabloidy - trying to create a problem that really doesn't exist.

As an FYI, here's something Randy Pitchford (president of Gearbox) posted on Twitter:

I'm sure Hemmingway is getting noogied now, but not his fault. A personal anecdote has been twisted and dogpiled on by sensationalists. Fun!
 

Lucane

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Mar 24, 2008
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Rule Britannia said:
Don't get me wrong this sounds cool and I'm really looking forward to Borderlands 2 BUT this is the noob tube theory. The new players will hardly get better if it's being made easy for them. The only way you get betterv at something is if you play with better players or more powerful npcs.

Looking forward to this game soooooo much :O
That's why it's not on every class or even at launch of the game(I'm upset about not being able to use the Mechro for a while skill trees aside) you don't start learning to drive a car at 60mph and i didn't here them say every missed shot will for sure hit it's intended mark so aiming would still be the biggest benefit. unless you've got the enemies attention in which case the ricochet for partial damage from shots fired maybe better than direct fire for standard damage while taking fire. Which I would believe would be a learned decision/skill.
 

Ariseishirou

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Aug 24, 2010
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Why not "Casual" mode? Or "Novice" mode? Or "Support" mode? Or "Recruit" mode? Or, hell, "Easy" mode?

There were already a plethora of terms that not only describe precisely what he had in mind, but do it better than the sexist horseshit he came up with. Why didn't he choose one of them instead?

My male BFF can't keep up with me when we play CoD together either - what, should I write Activision to throw in a Boyfriend Mode just for him?
 
Aug 25, 2009
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So don't want to make this into another feminism thread...

I can think of at least three better words for it right now off the top of my head.

'Beginner skill tree'
'Casual skill tree'
'Tutorial skill tree'

I mean come on, there's genuine issues about what constitutes correct treatment of women both in the gaming world and as gamers in real life, and then there's just being insulting.

And this isn't even being done with a sense of witty self-irony, this is a developer who, unable to think of a better term for inexperienced beginner players who need an easier difficulty (there's another few terms) apparently only being able to think of 'girlfriend' as an example of someone who can't play videogames.
 

Zachery Gaskins

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Mar 29, 2011
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DVS BSTrD said:
If you can't point at something using a joy/analogue stick and if you've never played in an arcade, then you're not a real gamer.
Strange. I thought a gamer was someone who likes and wants to play games.



We shall strive to be worthy of your sense of grandeur.
 

NathLines

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May 23, 2010
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Seriously? I read the entire article and I didn't even react to the guy saying "Girlfriend Mode". I had no idea that people would be so up in arms about this.

The character sounds really interesting. Makes me even happier that I'll get her for free with the pre-order. I'm lucky I have friends, making the game cost me a meager $35. A good deal, I say D:
 

Lucane

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Mar 24, 2008
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Rocklobster99 said:
Boudica said:
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
Did you miss the part where it was just what one guy is calling it and not the actual name of the mode?

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

nexus

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May 30, 2012
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The PC brigade.

Ugh.

I want to quit the internet. Game over, no continues.

It's only a problem because it's inferred that the girlfriend is the significant other of a straight white male, right? Right? If it was implied that the relationship was homosexual, then you wouldn't feel you were allowed to say "foot in mouth" etc., right? Right?

First world problems much. May you all roam the desert with no water.
 

Zachery Gaskins

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Mar 29, 2011
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NathLines said:
Seriously? I read the entire article and I didn't even react to the guy saying "Girlfriend Mode". I had no idea that people would be so up in arms about this.
Thing is, I don't think anyone is getting up in arms about this. I think most of us just acknowledged the momentary poor judgement, gave him the knowing glance, and went back to being excited for Borderlands 2.

It's when you have 1000s of people giving you the knowing glance at one time, thanks to the Internet, that it just resembles that scene in Inception where Cobb tells Fischer he's dreaming.

Being up in arms is reserved for when someone says something reeking of stupid, like, I dunno, "Sexism and misogyny is part of the fighting game culture. Take that away and you have Starcraft."
 
Mar 20, 2010
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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)
 

Goofguy

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Nov 25, 2010
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I'll just to take to calling it my "Drunk Mode". I suck at FPS when I'm plastered so at least this way, I can kick ass in Borderlands 2 while being completely inebriated. Meanwhile, I can have Axton for my more serious, sober playthrough. Thanks Gearbox!
 

FoolKiller

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Feb 8, 2008
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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.
 

The Human Torch

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Sep 12, 2010
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Boudica said:
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.
 

Eri

The Light of Dawn
Feb 21, 2009
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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?