Borderlands 2 "Girlfriend Mode" Helps Noobs Win

chozo_hybrid

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.
Jul 15, 2009
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Talk about taking something the wrong way, it's called a bit of a joke. Not everything has to be all pc online does it, my girlfriend didn't take offense to it, because they didn't mean it seriously.
 

kickyourass

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Apr 17, 2010
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Really, 'girlfriend mode?' You are gonna go on record calling it 'girlfriend mode.' Are these people fucking with us or are they just idiots? I honestly can't tell.

I was kinda hoping this would be some NPC buddy thing (you know something that you can actually call 'girlfriend mode' without sounding like a douche bag), but I actually think this is a good idea. As they said it'll help people who like the RPG part, but aren't good with the FPS part not be a dead weight until they actually GET good at the FPS part. But calling it 'girlfriend mode' at a moment in time where misogyny in video games is one of the big discussion points? That's either earthshaking stupidity, or intentionally being a jackass and I'm not sure which is worse.
 

Kartoffelmos

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Feb 8, 2010
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Can we... please just stop using terms like "girlfriend mode" when talking about games that cater to less experienced players? I know, the phrase wasn't coined by Hemingway, other people have used it before et cetera, but guys, with the climate in gaming culture being what it is right now with constant discussions about sexism and sexual harrassment, it's just kind of... dumb. Not that using the term once in a comment like that is particularily damaging on its own, but it does reinforce the idea that games are for boys and girls are not good at them. Is it too much to ask that we try to move away from that? Is it really too much to ask that we acknowledge it as a joke in very poor taste and distance ourselves from it, and not mock the "butthurt feminists" who find a problem with it? Defeinding his usage of the phrase is not going to get us anywhere.

And yeah, "girlfriend" DOES mean "girl" and not just "friend who doesn't play games". He could have said "significant other", or "spouse", or even "boyfriend", but he didn't, and by doing so he's perpetuating a stereotype that we really should try to remove from gaming culture.
 

Calibanbutcher

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Nov 29, 2009
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Kartoffelmos said:
Can we... please just stop using terms like "girlfriend mode" when talking about games that cater to less experienced players? I know, the phrase wasn't coined by Hemingway, other people have used it before et cetera, but guys, with the climate in gaming culture being what it is right now with constant discussions about sexism and sexual harrassment, it's just kind of... dumb. Not that using the term once in a comment like that is particularily damaging on its own, but it does reinforce the idea that games are for boys and girls are not good at them. Is it too much to ask that we try to move away from that? Is it really too much to ask that we acknowledge it as a joke in very poor taste and distance ourselves from it, and not mock the "butthurt feminists" who find a problem with it? Defeinding his usage of the phrase is not going to get us anywhere.

And yeah, "girlfriend" DOES mean "girl" and not just "friend who doesn't play games". He could have said "significant other", or "spouse", or even "boyfriend", but he didn't, and by doing so he's perpetuating a stereotype that we really should try to remove from gaming culture.


Well, maybe he was referring to HIS actual real-life girlfriend. He probably is heterosexual, which is why "girlfriend" would be the first term that springs to his mind when he thinks "significant other", not because he hates women, thinks they are stupid and suck at games, and also hates homosexuals, but, maybe, because in his very own, very personal experience, he has had very few to no girlfriends that were actually good at playing video games.
And NO-ONE proves their maturity on here by starting to spew fire and brimstone over such an insignificant detail. He chose the word he chose, because he probably could relate to exactly that.
He did not say ALL WOMEN SUCK AT GAMEZ, GET BACK IN DA KITCHEN MAKE ME SAMMICH HER IZ MODE YOUR STOOPID WOOMENBRAINS WILL UNDERSTAND LOLOLOLLOLOLOO!!11!!!!1!111111
He said "girlfriend mode", because "girlfriend" is faster to say than "significant-other-mode", whilst "spouse-mode" would indicate that a marriage/civil-union thing was going on, which would make it hard for a big chunk of the target audience to relate to. As in: My honest guess is, that only very few members of the target audience are already married.

And is there a girl on here, that feels demeaned because he mentioned, that, in house, they used to call this girlfriend mode, if so, I am happy to hear that nothing at all in your life is not completely perfect, and that this is what bothers you.
 

Kartoffelmos

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Feb 8, 2010
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Calibanbutcher said:
Well, maybe he was referring to HIS actual real-life girlfriend. He probably is heterosexual, which is why "girlfriend" would be the first term that springs to his mind when he thinks "significant other", not because he hates women, thinks they are stupid and suck at games, and also hates homosexuals, but, maybe, because in his very own, very personal experience, he has had very few to no girlfriends that were actually good at playing video games.
And NO-ONE proves their maturity on here by starting to spew fire and brimstone over such an insignificant detail. He chose the word he chose, because he probably could relate to exactly that.
He did not say ALL WOMEN SUCK AT GAMEZ, GET BACK IN DA KITCHEN MAKE ME SAMMICH HER IZ MODE YOUR STOOPID WOOMENBRAINS WILL UNDERSTAND LOLOLOLLOLOLOO!!11!!!!1!111111
He said "girlfriend mode", because "girlfriend" is faster to say than "significant-other-mode", whilst "spouse-mode" would indicate that a marriage/civil-union thing was going on, which would make it hard for a big chunk of the target audience to relate to. As in: My honest guess is, that only very few members of the target audience are already married.

And is there a girl on here, that feels demeaned because he mentioned, that, in house, they used to call this girlfriend mode, if so, I am happy to hear that nothing at all in your life is not completely perfect, and that this is what bothers you.
The only point I'm trying to get across is that he didn't think about the implications of what he said before he said it. Sure, it's entirely possible that including your girlfriend in your hobby when they're not that familiar with it is a scenario he relates to, I'm not at all saying he meant anything mean spirited by what he said. But it does bother me that it didn't even occur to him that the phrase could imply that women are bad at gaming. I'm just saying that maybe developers should be more aware of that kind of thing, since sexism in the industry has been the major talking point lately.
 

clippen05

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Jul 10, 2012
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Mygaffer said:
Hey, a new (read "cut") character that is almost day one DLC? I'll skip your whole game, thanks Gearbox.
It's free with a new purchase of the game, unlike ME3's DLC which was only in Collectors editions. Its to make sure people buy new and not used, so that 2k gets there cut. I think its perfectly reasonable, its not like an online pass, you don't NEED this character to experience the full game.
 

Olrod

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Feb 11, 2010
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I really suck at FPS games so I may get this now there's this new skill tree.

Oh wait, it's going to be pay2win DLC?

Well then no, looks like I wont be buying this game after all. Congrats on losing out on my custom, Borderlands 2.
 

Easton Dark

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Jan 2, 2011
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Olrod said:
Oh wait, it's going to be pay2win DLC?
That's the thing that I notice the most about this. They include the part of the game that makes it a more hospitable and new-user friendly game in a DLC.

RadioactiveMicrobe said:
Holy jesus. It's a joke.
You mean it's so funny that it's like a joke, or the guy was joking when he said it? Because he wasn't.
 

Calibanbutcher

Elite Member
Nov 29, 2009
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Kartoffelmos said:
Calibanbutcher said:
Well, maybe he was referring to HIS actual real-life girlfriend. He probably is heterosexual, which is why "girlfriend" would be the first term that springs to his mind when he thinks "significant other", not because he hates women, thinks they are stupid and suck at games, and also hates homosexuals, but, maybe, because in his very own, very personal experience, he has had very few to no girlfriends that were actually good at playing video games.
And NO-ONE proves their maturity on here by starting to spew fire and brimstone over such an insignificant detail. He chose the word he chose, because he probably could relate to exactly that.
He did not say ALL WOMEN SUCK AT GAMEZ, GET BACK IN DA KITCHEN MAKE ME SAMMICH HER IZ MODE YOUR STOOPID WOOMENBRAINS WILL UNDERSTAND LOLOLOLLOLOLOO!!11!!!!1!111111
He said "girlfriend mode", because "girlfriend" is faster to say than "significant-other-mode", whilst "spouse-mode" would indicate that a marriage/civil-union thing was going on, which would make it hard for a big chunk of the target audience to relate to. As in: My honest guess is, that only very few members of the target audience are already married.

And is there a girl on here, that feels demeaned because he mentioned, that, in house, they used to call this girlfriend mode, if so, I am happy to hear that nothing at all in your life is not completely perfect, and that this is what bothers you.
The only point I'm trying to get across is that he didn't think about the implications of what he said before he said it. Sure, it's entirely possible that including your girlfriend in your hobby when they're not that familiar with it is a scenario he relates to, I'm not at all saying he meant anything mean spirited by what he said. But it does bother me that it didn't even occur to him that the phrase could imply that women are bad at gaming. I'm just saying that maybe developers should be more aware of that kind of thing, since sexism in the industry has been the major talking point lately.
Maybe, just maybe, he thought it was okay to say, because he honestly does not think that women are bad at games and believed his phrasing to be an innocent one with a clear cut meaning he would not have to explain to the world, since it was quite apparent to him, what he was talking about. Cue coming people, like you, that, in this phrasing, which, combined with the explanations given before is perfectly understandable as what it is, that seek sexism wherever they can find it, that tear him to shreds because of one word.
And now, just for fun:
What are the odds a woman is a gamer?
According to EA, there are 1 billion people that play videogames on this earth.
Of these, 47% are women.
That gives us a healthy 470.000.000 women on earth who play videogames.
Now, we have 7.000.000.000 people living on earth.
Roughly 50% of that are women.
Thus, the odds of "your" gf being a gamer are:
470.000.000 : 3.500.000.000
so roughly 1:7.
And this is a very high estimate, since I did not even mention the fact, that of all the women who are gamers, there are a lot who are middle-aged, which probably would have to be excluded, since my guess would be, that, on this forum, almost no-one is old enough to be in a dedicated relationship with someone that old.
So, concerning the "girlfriend mode": The odds of your girlfriend being a gamer, are very low. That is not sexism but based on varying statistics.
So, is it really that far fetched for a heterosexual male to call a mode that enables non-gamer to play the game with you the "girlfriend" mode?
Or is any mention of female gender in relation to gaming always sexist and worthy of being burned at the stake? Because if so, then I shall find another hobby with a more agreeable community.
 

Olrod

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Cognimancer said:
The Mechromancer is planned to launch about 60 days after the release of Borderlands 2, which itself is expected to be out on September 18. Players will be able to add her to their team via DLC for an unannounced price, though it's free to anyone who pre-orders the game.
Sorry but I'm not going to pre-order a game just to have to wait 60 days before I can play it properly.
 

laserwulf

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Dec 30, 2007
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Hmmm...
1.)Pre-order, pay $60 (plus tax) total, wait 60 days & pay $X for Mechromancer.
2.)Wait for inevitable GoTY edition, pay $30-40, get Mechromancer and other DLC for free.

It's like the industry is collectively punishing the faithful (read: impatient). These days it's a regular occurance to see the pre-order bonuses available as DLC afterwards, so there's even less incentive to buy on day 1. It's shenanigans like this that make me feel zero sympathy when developers and/or publishers bemoan dropping sales figures. That, and using piracy as a scapegoat as often as possible.
 

Calibanbutcher

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Nov 29, 2009
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NotALiberal said:
Lilani said:
"Kick him in the balls". Really? Really? "OH NOEZ HE OFFENDED MY OVERTLY LIBERAL AND IRRATIONAL FEMINIST SENSIBILITIES! KICK HIM IN THE BALLS!"
Because, as we all know, being offended calls for extreme measures of physical violence. THAT will make him see the error of his ways, that filthy [insert appropriate group here suggestions: Heretic, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Man, Woman, African American, Brony, Bioware Developer].

That's the way the church did it back in the dark ages and they were succesfull, where they not?
 

DementedSheep

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Jan 8, 2010
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It?s seems kind of strange that they have their newb friendly character as DLC or a pre order bonus. I mean, if anything I would expect it to be the other way around. Having the harder to grasp character as DLC for the dedicated fans.
Escapist, can you please stop making the titles inflammatory on purpose. Yeah calling it girlfriend mode in an interview wasn?t the best idea. I don?t think he meant to imply women suck at gaming. It?s the mode for that loved one who isn?t really into gaming but wants to play with you. He is a hetro male so that?s likely to be his girlfriend.
 

AngelBlackChaos

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Aug 3, 2010
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Lucane said:
KingsGambit said:
Wow, an ad and shameless plug delivered in the form of an editorial piece? Is this an Escapist first??

Fr said:
anc[is]At least they gave the girlfriend tree to the awesome female character and not the dolled up prostitute with an SMG
I'm sure you aren't referring to Lillith who is leaps and bounds the best and most powerful player character from the original game.
I think he's talking about Lilith's replacement siren Maya. Wearing what sorta looks like low-cut pants and a one piece wet-suit.
I don't think she looks like a prostitute. at all. besides, you can change outfits in this one anyways.
 

Easton Dark

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Jan 2, 2011
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NotALiberal said:
Lilani said:
"Kick him in the balls". Really? Really? "OH NOEZ HE OFFENDED MY OVERTLY LIBERAL AND IRRATIONAL FEMINIST SENSIBILITIES! KICK HIM IN THE BALLS!"
I like your name. And there's nothing especially liberal about feminism.

I'll kick someone in the balls if they offend me.
 

Lilani

Sometimes known as CaitieLou
May 27, 2009
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NotALiberal said:
"Kick him in the balls". Really? Really? "OH NOEZ HE OFFENDED MY OVERTLY LIBERAL AND IRRATIONAL FEMINIST SENSIBILITIES! KICK HIM IN THE BALLS!"
How is it "overtly liberal and irrational" to be offended when someone offhandedly says your entire gender sucks at first-person shooters?