Brink : No Girls Allowed

[Duskflamer]

Well I could argue the same for non-male games. Mirrors Edge, Portal, Tomb Raider, Metroid Prime, Beyond Good & Evil, Diablo 1&2 (I wanted to have a male Sorceror or a female Necromancer, Buuuut NOOOOOOO says Blizzard), Eternal Darkness, Heavenly Sword, ect.

The thing about those games (At least, the ones I'm familiar with) Is that there is little or no aspect of character customization to them. in Mirror's Edge, it's not just that you have to be a girl, you have to be Faith, because that's who the story is about. Portal is about Chell, Metroid Prime is about Samus, these games do not have any character customization in the slightest.

When you do add character customization, and a more vague main character, forcing certain limitations on the customization becomes noticable. Nobody cares that you can't play Mario female, but if you could design your own character for play in a mario-esque platformer, and you were limited to making a male character, people would take notice and offense.

 

[Irridium]

Did Halo have female charecters in IT'S multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

The last one did have females, didn't it? Or was that just the campaign?

In Halo Reach you can set your Spartan to be male or female at any time. All the armor attachments worked fine with the models as well. In Halo 3 all you could do was set your voice to be female in the multiplayer.

 

[Edwin Maya]

Does Halo have female charecters in ITS multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

Brink is the upset because, aside from forcing your character to be male, it has a very robust character customization aspect. The fact that it put so much focus into character customization, yet forced your character to be a guy, makes the issue (which is still present in other shooters mind you) more obvious.

Imagine if Bioware came out with a new RPG with their standard level of customization, but decided that your character had to be a girl, how do you think people would react? It's the same issue here.

Well in both portal games you play as a girl yet no one complains about it. You also have to consider the story of the game. It's possible that there aren't that many women on the island and they don't want to get them killed or maybe there aren't any left which I doubt but then again they probably didn't have time to make them if they were focused on getting the game out on time.

 

[LHZA]

I actually made this exact same thread some months ago. I'll say now what I said then, I prefer to play as a female but I am willing to over look that fact if the game turns out to be awesome. After all I have had to play as a male character plenty of times and still managed to have fun. I've read why the developers choose one gender, to allow for greater customization, and that's not a good enough reason for me. However, if including females meant taking away from some element of the game play, then I would understand.

 

[Saelune]

Did Halo have female charecters in IT'S multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

Uh...yes they did. Well, Halo 3 was half assed with just female groans, but Reach had more official female spartans.
WHen you take steps forward, it is unwise to take steps back, in terms of innovation anyways.
A game about customization is being foolish to not include female models. It is just laziness.

 

[Duskflamer]

Does Halo have female charecters in ITS multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

Brink is the upset because, aside from forcing your character to be male, it has a very robust character customization aspect. The fact that it put so much focus into character customization, yet forced your character to be a guy, makes the issue (which is still present in other shooters mind you) more obvious.

Imagine if Bioware came out with a new RPG with their standard level of customization, but decided that your character had to be a girl, how do you think people would react? It's the same issue here.

Well in both portal games you play as a girl yet no one complains about it. You also have to consider the story of the game. It's possible that there aren't that many women on the island and they don't want to get them killed or maybe there aren't any left which I doubt but then again they probably didn't have time to make them if they were focused on getting the game out on time.

The developers have been quoted as saying that they would have added female player characters if they had the time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they're terrible people for not following through on that, I'm just explaining why people find this particular case offensive. When you're playing a defined character, people will accept whatever gender/race they are. But if you add incomplete customization, it makes it more obvious.

And the fact that the developers were even considering adding females to the character customization means there was no in-story reason for the player not to be able to be a girl.

 

[kzeelio]

imagine a female heavy :S that doesnt really fit.

It sounds like your imagination is limited.

 

[s0meNo0b]

Well I could argue the same for non-male games. Mirrors Edge, Portal, Tomb Raider, Metroid Prime, Beyond Good & Evil, Diablo 1&2 (I wanted to have a male Sorceror or a female Necromancer, Buuuut NOOOOOOO says Blizzard), Eternal Darkness, Heavenly Sword, ect.

But in this case...yes...Brink is just being lazy

Ehh, I'd like to think this has to do more with customization. Mirrors edge, Portal, Tomb Raider, Metroid, Beyond Good and Evil, those have a story to tell with their own characters, there's no customizing them, (Those are the ones I know well of.) You could wish to play as a male in those games, but you can't, there's a story in there. I don't think in the multiplayer of brink you play as a certain person out of the list of characters you choose, you make your own, but it's not really a "Make your own" when you can't choose to create a female if you wanted to.

Diablo on the other hand, yeah, I was dissapointed that the classes were the way they were, but I went with it anyways since Diablo classes could be seen as characters.

 

[Ham Blitz]

It is unfortunate for those that want to play as a woman, but if the gameplay is good, it shouldn't matter. Granted, the characters seem quite vocal, maybe they couldn't get someone to do female voices in time.

 

[BigKush]

God forbid we should get up in arms and create threads every time we want to be a male in a video game.

Here's one girly: Don't play Brink.
Pretty easy, eh?

Typical also that you would give such an evocative and inflammatory title to a non-topic.

Drama queen.

 

[zombiejoe]

Did Halo have female charecters in IT'S multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

Halo 3 did let you play as a female. Can't say the same for Section 8 however.

 

[high_castle]

I'm female. I don't always play female characters when given the choice (for instance, I prefer m!Hawke to femHawke in DA2 because of the VA), but I prefer having the option in a game like this (story-based games centered around a set protagonist are another matter). Being outright excluded from representing my gender in a multiplayer title bilked around customization...that's just tacky and a little offensive. So nope, won't be buying or playing Brink.

 

[Weskerbot3000]

PEOPLE CHILL THE FUCK OUT!!!!!
The devs will probably fix this either before the game launches or release a patch later

 

[SteewpidZombie]

Well I could argue the same for non-male games. Mirrors Edge, Portal, Tomb Raider, Metroid Prime, Beyond Good & Evil, Diablo 1&2 (I wanted to have a male Sorceror or a female Necromancer, Buuuut NOOOOOOO says Blizzard), Eternal Darkness, Heavenly Sword, ect.

The thing about those games (At least, the ones I'm familiar with) Is that there is little or no aspect of character customization to them. in Mirror's Edge, it's not just that you have to be a girl, you have to be Faith, because that's who the story is about. Portal is about Chell, Metroid Prime is about Samus, these games do not have any character customization in the slightest.

When you do add character customization, and a more vague main character, forcing certain limitations on the customization becomes noticable. Nobody cares that you can't play Mario female, but if you could design your own character for play in a mario-esque platformer, and you were limited to making a male character, people would take notice and offense.

Well my point was more or less that yes there are other great games with Female leads or characters that aren't male (Though I do wish I could customize my char in Mirrors Edge 2 as male or female and maybe just some small visual touches like different gloves or shoes, just cause I find that I'd rather have my own style or char for maybe a multiplayer mode). More or less for most games, a Male model is just the most basic and easiest model to use (Thus you get the wide/tall guy as strong, short/slim as fast, and basic as basic). But when adding female models you normally need to add distinguishing features and varied body types (Cause it's more likely to be a huge hulking muscled guy as the warrior compared to women who tend to be more slender or toned in muscle).

However the model argument is more for games that don't have the time to work on separate genders and options, but Brink doesn't have that excuse. Some games even just try and be cheap and have specific character/gender roles for classes (It's easy to just go...CHICK #1 IS CLERIC, CHICK #2 IS MAGE, yet it shows just how little effort or time a company is willing to put in). In the end I think I don't care much about gender and I'll play as a chick or a dude so long as I can enjoy the game itself.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Any game that offers even the most basic of character customization options, but does not include the option to select your gender, is immediately ignored by me. That's why I have not and will not play the Gothic series.

But... there is no character customization in the Gothic games - you're always the same exact dude, Gothic is just like The Witcher in that way, or heck, Planescape: Torment. You're playing a set character in all of those games, you don't get to change a single detail about their physical appearance - it's no different than playing a game like Prototype really in that sense.

Well... okay, that was a bad example since Mercer can technically shapeshift into a woman if you happen to eat one, but the point is that the player can choose which powers to unlock but they can't give Alex a beard or make him wear glasses or what have you - cosmetic appearance changes are something most games with a fixed character simply don't include, and Gothic is no different in that regard.

If that's the only reason you've been avoiding Gothic then that's a pretty ridiculous "line in the sand" to draw - you can't even pick your character's name, you're just "The Nameless Hero".

 

[internetzealot1]

Two words: Body Types.

There are three body types. Light, medium, and heavy. If you've seen the game, you know that light bodies are lean and muscular, medium types look like bodybuilders, and heavies are freakishly huge. If women were to be in the game, they would be relegated to light body types; not only would medium and heavy sized women be impossible, but they would also be grotesque. So any females playing the game would compelled to play as a woman, which would limit them to playing the role of a light character, no matter the actual combat role that they would have the most fun playing. Therefore, its just better to bite the bullet and play as a male character.

 

[Trolldor]

Does Halo have female charecters in ITS multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

Brink is the upset because, aside from forcing your character to be male, it has a very robust character customization aspect. The fact that it put so much focus into character customization, yet forced your character to be a guy, makes the issue (which is still present in other shooters mind you) more obvious.

Imagine if Bioware came out with a new RPG with their standard level of customization, but decided that your character had to be a girl, how do you think people would react? It's the same issue here.

Good point.

Would there be upset over that?

I wouldn't be. Most people wouldn't be. Nobody gives a shit.

And to point out the obvious flaw with several pieces of non-logic - it is extraordinarily robust character customisation. To add in a female model requires doubling everything.

Fuck that shit.

Being female adds nothing to brink as your gender plays no part in how the game rolls.
You can't be a girl in TF2, where's the rage for that huh?

 

[Saelune]

Did Halo have female charecters in IT'S multiplayer? What about Section 8? I don't know why Brink is the upset. Of course, it is a little more jaring since there isn't power armor for everyone. Despite Spartans in Multiplayer looking male, it doesn't take much to imigine one as a girl.

Uh...yes they did. Well, Halo 3 was half assed with just female groans, but Reach had more official female spartans.
WHen you take steps forward, it is unwise to take steps back, in terms of innovation anyways.
A game about customization is being foolish to not include female models. It is just laziness.

I know Reach does, I was talking about the first two.

The first two had nothing to do with customizing though, short of selecting a color for free for all.

 

[BigKush]

PEOPLE CHILL THE FUCK OUT!!!!!
The devs will probably fix this either before the game launches or release a patch later

What are you, stupid?

Fix what? What is broken? And what is this idea everyone has these days that "WHATEVER-I FIND-THE-GAME-TO-BE-LACKING-IN will be patched."

 

[Mute52]

Did Halo have female charecters in IT'S multiplayer?

Yes. It did.

As for Brink, i don't care really, if the game is good that's all that matters.

Looking at it another way, if a game had only an option to play as a female, i wouldn't be offended at how sexist it was and demand a playable male character.