Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win

[NortherWolf]

I think the best part of it all is that we've got a shitload of people running in screaming.
"IT'S NOT SEXIST! LOLOLOL! GRRRLSSS REALLY CAN'T PLAY VIDEGAMZ! IM NOT SEXIST; SHUT UP WHITE KNIGHTY-PERSON!"

That right there is a sign that videogaming has some serious fucking issues with manchildren to deal with.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

I think the best part of it all is that we've got a shitload of people running in screaming.
"IT'S NOT SEXIST! LOLOLOL! GRRRLSSS REALLY CAN'T PLAY VIDEGAMZ! IM NOT SEXIST; SHUT UP WHITE KNIGHTY-PERSON!"

That right there is a sign that videogaming has some serious fucking issues with manchildren to deal with.

Both sides are overreacting like the internet loves too. What I find funny about it is I would be abusing the crap out of that tree myself. This could be a very effective method of destroying enemies with guns that have really high dakka. Will have to see myself when the game comes out.

 

[flames09]

Way to totally cause controversy through misquoting developers and misleading those with the title, this is the last time I will be reading anything by you on the escapist.

Highly unprofessional.

?Borderlands 2 does NOT have a girlfriend mode,? wrote Pitchford. ?Anyone that says otherwise is misinformed or trying to stir up something that isn?t there.?

 

[NortherWolf]

Both sides are overreacting like the internet loves too. What I find funny about it is I would be abusing the crap out of that tree myself. This could be a very effective method of destroying enemies with guns that have really high dakka. Will have to see myself when the game comes out.

No, and you know why I disagree with your first sentence?
Because according to the manchildren(even the female ones) of "gaming"...It's overreacting no matter how bad it is.
Implied rape of Lara Croft making people angry? Grow a pair of DEM TESTICLES!
Uneasy about how women are seen overall in gaming? GROW A PAIR OF DEM TESTICLES!
Annoyed that even in development some ass hat decided that the best way to name a mechanic meant to be easy for newcomers "Girlfriend Mode"? GROW A PAIR OF DEM TESTICLES!
It's got to stop, and yesterday would have been nice.

I do love it (read: despise it) when someone says it's not sexist/a stereotype if it's true.

A lot of people genuinely believe women that enjoy games and are good at them are some kind of rarity. Don't we make up like, just under half of "hardcore" gamers? There's a reason most women don't speak up when playing games or join gaming sites like this and that's because... Well, because of threads like this lol.

Yeah, that sort of mentality works for racism as well. And it's equally stupid then. Girls are people, which I think a buttload of the male gamers forget..:They can be great at games, or good, or bad. Just like everyone else.
And yes, women make up about 42% of the gaming community. Of course, if you reference that you'll get a male gamer going "Well that counts casual games and shit like Minesweeper so it's not true!!!"
Great Cthulhu I hate my hobby sometimes -_-' I'm starting to think the Escapist is a pretty shitty place to talk about anything actually.

 

[Easton Dark]

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

It's one of the three branches of the skill tree.

 

[NortherWolf]

The Escapist is a great place! I dare you to start a thread about sexism on, say, Gammefaqs lol.

Things will change and things will get better. Although stupid things are still said and women are still some kind of "variable" to the video game formula, I think it's already gotten better, really. You don't hear "girl gamer" said much anymore, for example. Well, I haven't, anyway.

Yeah, I guess you're right. But that isn't in itself speaking very highly of this place, or the debate in general.
And I mostly hear it online...In the real world no. My wife is as avid a gamer as me, my sister enjoys games, my mom and one of my wife's aunts play games. My best friend is a budding game developer and she's a girl.

The market changes, but views get stuck :/.*sighs*Fills me with despair this topic does.

 

[Vault101]

Implied rape of Lara Croft making people angry? Grow a pair of DEM TESTICLES!

I'm female and I actually take the "over-reaction" side over the Lara Croft issue....if people don't like seeing a female charachter in a diffucult situation then it worries me they just make them "overpowerd mary sues" with big tits

but then again thats a whole other dead hoarse that was sent to the glue factory a long time ago

but "generally" speaking overall I think the "issues with women" here are mabye inflamatory..but most peopel are more or less reasonable

it seems to be an inflamatory thing on ALL game related sites

 

[Overusedname]

Nice title, jackass. -_-

Someone just earned a darwin award. I realize it's nice to brush this crap off and pretend it doesn't matter but...it does. As someone said, there was a better term than that.

What a company.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

Both sides are overreacting like the internet loves too. What I find funny about it is I would be abusing the crap out of that tree myself. This could be a very effective method of destroying enemies with guns that have really high dakka. Will have to see myself when the game comes out.

No, and you know why I disagree with your first sentence?
Because according to the manchildren(even the female ones) of "gaming"...It's overreacting no matter how bad it is.
Implied rape of Lara Croft making people angry? Grow a pair of DEM TESTICLES!
Uneasy about how women are seen overall in gaming? GROW A PAIR OF DEM TESTICLES!
Annoyed that even in development some ass hat decided that the best way to name a mechanic meant to be easy for newcomers "Girlfriend Mode"? GROW A PAIR OF DEM TESTICLES!
It's got to stop, and yesterday would have been nice.

I do love it (read: despise it) when someone says it's not sexist/a stereotype if it's true.

A lot of people genuinely believe women that enjoy games and are good at them are some kind of rarity. Don't we make up like, just under half of "hardcore" gamers? There's a reason most women don't speak up when playing games or join gaming sites like this and that's because... Well, because of threads like this lol.

Yeah, that sort of mentality works for racism as well. And it's equally stupid then. Girls are people, which I think a buttload of the male gamers forget..:They can be great at games, or good, or bad. Just like everyone else.
And yes, women make up about 42% of the gaming community. Of course, if you reference that you'll get a male gamer going "Well that counts casual games and shit like Minesweeper so it's not true!!!"
Great Cthulhu I hate my hobby sometimes -_-' I'm starting to think the Escapist is a pretty shitty place to talk about anything actually.

And how bad is it exactly? A guy made a offhand joke about girlfriends sucking at games. Was it sexist? For sure but the people who yell "sexist" handle it with as much grace as the people who are telling people to grow "DEM PAIR OF TESTICLES." I would defiantly call that overreacting despite them(people calling sexist) being right.

Anyway, was it bad as people are making to be? not really, The Tree is actually called "Best friends forever" which gaming sites seem to be skipping entirely to focus on this sexist comment. The only reason the "Girlfriend Mode" is in the title of the article because the author knows sexism is hot news right now. I would call it somewhat manipulative but I'm going to stop there.

As for Escapist being shit, it's actually one of the better gaming sites. There is a little bit of elitism here like every other site but it still has more on average, well mannered convo's. As long as you stay away from PC vs Console threads, there is a lot of great people here, you will have a hard time finding a place better that are this big.

 

[NortherWolf]

*hug* We can get through this. We can get through the dark times...


You know, that there is even discussion about this shows that some progress has been made. If he had said that and no one cared or spoke up, I'd be more worried. He said something that was most likely unintentionally sexist--in that it stems from and reinforces the stereotype of women being... less than great at electronics and needing their boyfriend to do it for them, etc.--and people straight away said hold up, that's not alright. Their PR team is in full swing trying to put out this fire.

That's progress right there.

Yay Monthy Python \o/
I don't know if i agree, but I'll keep the hope up I guess.

Implied rape of Lara Croft making people angry? Grow a pair of DEM TESTICLES!

I'm female and I actually take the "over-reaction" side over the Lara Croft issue....if people don't like seeing a female charachter in a diffucult situation then it worries me they just make them "overpowerd mary sues" with big tits

but then again thats a whole other dead hoarse that was sent to the glue factory a long time ago

but "generally" speaking overall I think the "issues with women" here are mabye inflamatory..but most peopel are more or less reasonable

it seems to be an inflamatory thing on ALL game related sites

Okay, it might be that I come from tabletop rpiging as well as gaming that I see this differently. Or it might be that I want my kids as well as the children of friends and family to have a nicer environment when they game.
But, back on topic...So to speak.
When was the last time you saw a male protagonist be at the end of a rape threat? Come on, surely a "difficult situation" is gender-neutral?
It isn't? Shock! Outrage!
Sexual violence threats are in the majority of fictional cases aimed at females. It has got to stop.
If some people enjoy it so damn much they can go play FATAL or Cthulhutech.

 

[NortherWolf]

And how bad is it exactly? A guy made a offhand joke about girlfriends sucking at games. Was it sexist? For sure but the people who yell "sexist" handle it with as much grace as the people who are telling people to grow "DEM PAIR OF TESTICLES." I would defiantly call that overreacting despite them(people calling sexist) being right.

Anyway, was it bad as people are making to be? not really, The Tree is actually called "Best friends forever" which gaming sites seem to be skipping entirely to focus on this sexist comment. The only reason the "Girlfriend Mode" is in the title of the article because the author knows sexism is hot news right now. I would call it somewhat manipulative but I'm going to stop there.

As for Escapist being shit, it's actually one of the better gaming sites. There is a little bit of elitism here like every other site but it still has more on average, well mannered convo's. As long as you stay away from PC vs Console threads, there is a lot of great people here, you will have a hard time finding a place better that are this big.

*rubs temples*Calling it The Girlfriend tree and in no way clarifying it's *HIS* girlfriend he is talking about until after the initial interview is negates the option of jokes.
I've seen a very few cases where the sexism-cry was unneeded, but mostly it's from people who genuinely want change.
Like I do. Personal anecdote incoming in 3-2-1-Go.
Tabletop rpgs, the backwater cousin of video games. In that genre a game called Cthulhutech was released a bunch of years back. Cthulhutech was ostensibly about mechas duking it out with Cthulhu and the mythos-creatures.
What players got was a game where comments like: "We use the male pronoun for players because using 'she' is Political Correct bullshit. Our hobby is mostly men. Deal with it." "All the moderate Muslims in the world has been killed by their fanatical brethren, leaving Islam a fanatical, murderous religion."
It is also infamous for using rape machines, using rape as a very ill-suited plot device...Oh, and female characters will sooner or later run into an enemy that rapes them and then they DIE.
I've argued just as much if not more that this trend of viewing women as some odd "thing" has got to stop. In tabletop gaming and in video games. Because it breeds that kind of bullshit thinking.

And yeah, I guess Escapist is alright after all. Decent enough folks like you and Boudica to debate with.

 

[Vault101]

Okay, it might be that I come from tabletop rpiging as well as gaming that I see this differently. Or it might be that I want my kids as well as the children of friends and family to have a nicer environment when they game.

Adult content is adult content, don;t let the kids watch or play it

[quote/]But, back on topic...So to speak.
When was the last time you saw a male protagonist be at the end of a rape threat? Come on, surely a "difficult situation" is gender-neutral?[/quote]
I have seen men tortured, beaten, killed in grusome and disturbing ways....a rape threat (not actual rape) seems trivial in comparison...though in prison settings...when it isnt being played for laughs (like shawshank redemption) it was shown for the terrible thing is it

[quote/]It isn't? Shock! Outrage!
Sexual violence threats are in the majority of fictional cases aimed at females. It has got to stop.
.[/quote]

why?

the situation is Lara Croft is a young attractive girl out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hardass thungs/mercinaries....in that context its a plausable outcome, so its not out of place that there is an "implication" not actual rap or ANY physical/sexual assult

what actually happens is the guy makes some threatenaing comments/actions ..Lara Bites the fuckers ear off and escapes

thats it

rape is an incredibly difficult subject to handle even at the best of times...let alone an "imature" medium like games....so of coarse there is no actual rape in the game...nor would I want there to be,

it was merely a thing to make that particular situation seem more scary/intense