Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win
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Thinking about it, that's everything that's needed to be said about this "controversy".Vault101 said:
(Especially since it was kind of resolved before most media, including this one, even reacted)
OR it implies that Girlfriends of Borderlands 2 Players need help getting through the game.Boudica said:
Wich surely is a problematic and often wrong implication, but reading this statement as an insult to the intelligence of women?
That is...well, paranoid.
So he referred to a mode that has some kind of aim assist for people that don't play games much as "girlfriend mode" and that makes him a misogynist? Whats so bad so bad about that? He might have easily referred to it as "Dad mode" or "Mum mode" or "non gamer relative mode".
Its obvious he meant it in the context of having a girlfriend that doesn't really play games wanting to join in a co-op game.
But no that's not acceptable, because the touchy internet doesn't see the context. The Internet reads it as if he had said "all girls suck at games so we added a mode that allow them to join us in our elite gaming".
No wonder real, genuine sexism is so hard to stamp out. People are to busy fighting and railing against non issues instead of focusing on the real problems.
Its obvious he meant it in the context of having a girlfriend that doesn't really play games wanting to join in a co-op game.
But no that's not acceptable, because the touchy internet doesn't see the context. The Internet reads it as if he had said "all girls suck at games so we added a mode that allow them to join us in our elite gaming".
No wonder real, genuine sexism is so hard to stamp out. People are to busy fighting and railing against non issues instead of focusing on the real problems.
Yeah, two things: One, the Content-rating of videogames is awful and no one seems to use it. Two: I don't really give a shit about if a protagonist is threatened, or beaten etc...But I am against a particular type of threat that in 99% of the cases of popular media is used against women.Vault101 said:
I'm...Not getting through your skull am I?Vault101 said:
Would that situation have been appropriate in Uncharted? In Assassins Creed? In ANY OTHER GOD-DAMNED GAME WITH A MALE PROTAGONIST?!
You see, rape is usually not about fucking, no matter what some people think. It's usually about power. Thus, it's a demonstration of how little power someone has to rape or even threaten to rape them. Which is why I don't like the entire rape-thing. It's used to degrade a female char, something which seems to draw out a glee-filled response. Look at the Lara Croft incident(I don't care if she bites his ear off btw, it's the situation in itself I am filled with loathing by) or by The Other M. It's not enough to present threats, no no, you need to devastate the protagonist emotionally.
And with methods you don't use on male protagonists. Easy as that. Disgusting as hell too.
It's not called Girlfriend Mode. It's called Best Friends Forever. I think it's quite cute.Boudica said:
*laughs* I'm sorry but when someone seems so determined to be offended by something so small, it's hard to take them seriously.Boudica said:
don't patronise meNortherWolf said:
no, it wouldn't be used with Nathan Drake, in fact if it were it would probably be played for laughs, which yes, is a huge double standard, but then it seems the "rape" thing feels different when its applied to females and males
and hold on...rape in Other M? I'm pretty sure the issue with that game was something else entirely (and in that case valid...the problem was with the whole game, not a few seconds in the trailer)
that scene in the trailer really offends you for some reason, I see it as merely as Lara in a disturbingly threatening situation ...much like Drake when he's tied to a chair and threatened/beaten by pirate (unrelated point but you don;t often see a female take a full punch to the face)
I'm not about to tell people what they should or shouldn't be offended by, I would guess that the majority of the game is Lara surviving in the harsh wilderness and maybe even kicking ass (eventually) not trying to escape from rape gangs
You really have no idea how silly you sound right now. This isn't a super-serious issue for super-serious discussion. A guy made a throwaway comment and you've decided to get your knickers in a twist about it. Stamping your foot and saying "You're not taking this seriously! Discuss this seriously! THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE!" just makes you sound like a child.Boudica said:
If you're really as easily offended as you claim to be, you must have real problems watching comedy!
You haven't been here long, have you.Bibliotek said:*opens forum*
Thats... not what I expected people would find most interesting about this article
To be fair, I think this particular website is a bad example. There seem to be a lot of White Knights and Neo-Nazi Feminists (as opposed to the normal, sane kind) who hang around on this forum. So mentions of anything related to gender-politics (however weakly) tend to get some knee-jerks.J Tyran said:
Different corners of the web get their knickers in a twist about different things. Try mentioning copyright law on deviantArt!
Be fair for a moment: you're not exactly contributing much either! Derailing onto a gender-war (based entirely on one line in the post) isn't giving your view on the actual topic.Boudica said:You continue to contribute nothing at all to the thread. If you are unable to debate the issue, I suggest you leave. Making comments and quoting people for the sake of insulting them cannot be the best way for you to spend your time and it's against the forum rules.MetalMagpie said:You really have no idea how silly you sound right now. This isn't a super-serious issue for super-serious discussion. A guy made a throwaway comment and you've decided to get your knickers in a twist about it. Stamping your foot and saying "You're not taking this seriously! Discuss this seriously! THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE!" just makes you sound like a child.Boudica said:
If you're really as easily offended as you claim to be, you must have real problems watching comedy!
Leave it be or actually debate the topic. Leave your childish, personal attacks at the door.
So let's get back on topic. The Mechromancer looks like she's shaping up to be a really fun character. And the "Best Friends Forever" skill tree could be really great for messing around. The skill "Close Enough" made me chuckle (ricocheting bullets are always fun) and the decoy robot could be really handy.
She is a DLC character though, so I'll have to see how much they charge for her.
You forget "mum mode" wouldn't be allowed because a mother is female, so it's still saying "all women suck at video games". /sarcasmJ Tyran said:
But, yeah, it was meant as a "partner mode" but because gaming (and game development) is seen and portrayed as a mostly male demographic (whether that's true or not) and the guy the coined the term is a heterosexual male, he called it "girlfriend mode". It's not even called that in the game! It's now BFF-mode.
I wonder if the people white-knighting this get offended this much at something in TV or film. Because there's never ever been stereotypes in them or anything.
Sounds interesting, nice concept for Co-Op / introducing someone to the game who's new to the genre.
For the term "girlfriend skill tree", well, i will always point out sexism or unequality wherever it occurs, but i think, looking at it in context, the background of the character, this is funny, kind of a nice pun.
But then again, i think a character being DLC is one of the most crappy moves of the industry to make. Just look at Skylanders, it looks fun and has Spyro - hey, serious, this may not sound like much, but it's Spyro! one of the best jump&runner / adventure characters of gaming history - but i'll NEVER buy it considering the fucking "you gotta' buy them all" mechanism of the game. A Character as DLC is only topped by horse armor.
Also, it blocks/ abuses the casual part of the deal.
Last but not least, i have a bad feeling about this. Borderlands (1) was a realy fun game, but it had huge gameplay flaws (bugs, balance issues, crappy rock/paper/scissor PvP)! In my opinion, this was kinda excusable considering it was a newcomer, but it is not to reproduce the same mistakes on the second try. Looking at Borderlands' development and how they desperately want to kick it out before they have secured its quality, i have doupts this will actually be a better game than its predecessor
For the term "girlfriend skill tree", well, i will always point out sexism or unequality wherever it occurs, but i think, looking at it in context, the background of the character, this is funny, kind of a nice pun.
But then again, i think a character being DLC is one of the most crappy moves of the industry to make. Just look at Skylanders, it looks fun and has Spyro - hey, serious, this may not sound like much, but it's Spyro! one of the best jump&runner / adventure characters of gaming history - but i'll NEVER buy it considering the fucking "you gotta' buy them all" mechanism of the game. A Character as DLC is only topped by horse armor.
Also, it blocks/ abuses the casual part of the deal.
Last but not least, i have a bad feeling about this. Borderlands (1) was a realy fun game, but it had huge gameplay flaws (bugs, balance issues, crappy rock/paper/scissor PvP)! In my opinion, this was kinda excusable considering it was a newcomer, but it is not to reproduce the same mistakes on the second try. Looking at Borderlands' development and how they desperately want to kick it out before they have secured its quality, i have doupts this will actually be a better game than its predecessor
Some people really need to get over themselves. Yes the guy was feeding into a stereotype. What a huge crime... cause they are all the same, right? It's a guy gamer talking about something that guy gamers easily recognize. It's personal anecdote, not a commentary about the abilities of the female sex. It never was. He is alluding to the fact that a lot of us males have girlfriends that aren't particularly into our hobbies, not just games btw.
It's a personal example that enough people have had for the MEANING to be easily understood. And the meaning is easy mode for a noob gamer. It's an example about differing interests and thus levels of experience, not inherent abilities.
It does not say women are worse than men, does not say women are too dumb or too clumsy to play a video game like a man. That is an insecurity you read into it all on your own and that strawman of your own making is what offends you.
No one is offending you, it's your own fetish to be perpetually offended. It's hip or something.
It's a personal example that enough people have had for the MEANING to be easily understood. And the meaning is easy mode for a noob gamer. It's an example about differing interests and thus levels of experience, not inherent abilities.
It does not say women are worse than men, does not say women are too dumb or too clumsy to play a video game like a man. That is an insecurity you read into it all on your own and that strawman of your own making is what offends you.
No one is offending you, it's your own fetish to be perpetually offended. It's hip or something.
It's definitely hip to be offended these days. It draws a lot of attention and that's the end goal really, to draw attention by being that one guy/girl who keep screaming "This offends me! Look at meeee, I'm so offended!"m19 said:
For the thousand'th time, women can have fair and equal representation in gaming when get off their asses and put as much effort into game development as men have. Game developers are still overwhelmingly male.
Uh oh! That guy detailed a real situation that happens when one partner of a relationship uses a co-op game to introduce the other to playing video games, and the unfamiliar interface makes it difficult! And since, statistically, this would be a male introducing a female to it, he's even decided to call it girlfriend mode. And he didn't even dwell on the topic and obviously had no malice in his comment!
It's time to rev up the PC crybaby machine and start a huge stink. He's got to pay for making a statement grounded in factual data that people don't like.
It's time to rev up the PC crybaby machine and start a huge stink. He's got to pay for making a statement grounded in factual data that people don't like.
This is the sort of prejudice we have within the games industry. Not everyone, but that minority that ruins things for everyone else, or gives gaming a bad name. "Girlfriend" mode is both sexist and ludicrous. If you want an easier setting - call it EASY. Not "Girlfriend" mode.
Seriously. That's not a creative way of disguising easy mode so that gamers that don't feel confident in their abilities to play the game - you are calling them girlfriends. Ok, what if a guy sucks at the game, or the girlfriend is better, or how about this - two men are playing, or two women?
Granted, everyone did start out as a newbie at one stage, but then you adjusted the DIFFICULTY not use a specific character and use a specific skill tree. It takes away the making mistakes and learning from them by experimenting with skill tree options.
Classic example, loading all skill points in Skyrim into Speech, Smithing and archery; not boosting your other combat skills, only to use a two handed sword. Or stumbling on a cool spell or skill that may make you think "If I combine that with..." The learning curve is stripped away, giving players only a shell of an experience.
Besides, games are supposed to be somewhat challenging right? If the challenge is taken away, you're playing Heavy Rain.
Seriously. That's not a creative way of disguising easy mode so that gamers that don't feel confident in their abilities to play the game - you are calling them girlfriends. Ok, what if a guy sucks at the game, or the girlfriend is better, or how about this - two men are playing, or two women?
Granted, everyone did start out as a newbie at one stage, but then you adjusted the DIFFICULTY not use a specific character and use a specific skill tree. It takes away the making mistakes and learning from them by experimenting with skill tree options.
Classic example, loading all skill points in Skyrim into Speech, Smithing and archery; not boosting your other combat skills, only to use a two handed sword. Or stumbling on a cool spell or skill that may make you think "If I combine that with..." The learning curve is stripped away, giving players only a shell of an experience.
Besides, games are supposed to be somewhat challenging right? If the challenge is taken away, you're playing Heavy Rain.
