Dragon Age 2 Lead Writer Blasts Homophobic Fan

[cainx10a]

Actually, you know what- yea I absolutely agree that there is a CLEAR neglect for ANYTHING that straight, male gamers like to see. Nah, nah he's totally right, I'm just so surprised I didn't see it before. I mean, I hope I don't sound like I'm being arrogant when I say that there were no women present at all in this game, at any point- they were all replaced with weird Sodomites (Gamorrhans, too if I recall) that were always trying to sex me up. I think it's fair to say that every single person employed by BioWare is a Homosexual interested in BDSM (you know, just 'cos)

That thing is a woman? Damn.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

lol - i thought the romance options were much better for girls (and gays!) this time. don't you know girls love brooding rebelious anti-heroes!?

Lol, yep... but I don't know many who hold a fascination with ones who look like a cross between Boy George and an elderly style Barbie Doll

 

[Craorach]

I definately think the romances options in this game are the worst I've seen in any which included it. It makes me feel like the only experience we are expected to want is the eqivilant of a one night stand in a bar.. characters can't slowly get to know each other through the course of the entire game and fall in love.. they have to flirt like mad things and then jump into bed at the end.

I think it gives the team members more character. They all have their faults but hey all also have their merits. If you can see beyond their faults and see their good side it means you are interested in that character be it male/female, gay/straight.

edit: In my opinion they could have made Merrill appear a bit older. If you romance her end in act 3 she does moves in with you it still feels weird(and yes due to the timeline she is 6(about) years older then the first moment you meet her it still feels weird trying to romance her).

I guess that is part of my problem with it.. they don't feel more characterful to me, they feel forced... you go from "Hello" to "How you doin... *nudgenudgewinkwink*" within minutes of meeting them. The relationships don't follow logical archs to me.

Your edit may hit the nail on the head however. The jumps in time made the game feel disjointed... the story made assumptions about what we did, while many of the characters didn't change at all.

 

[lleihsad]

As someone who had no trouble at all with (potentially) gay characters throwing themselves at my totally-not-gay male protagonist, I'm a little baffled as to what kind of random-ass approach you would have to take in dialogue to be able to relate to that CAD strip.

The only male NPC I can think of who makes the first (verbal) move on DudeHawke is the fruity elf in the brothel - and his every other line is punctuated with "stony disapproval" reaction shots from your party.

 

[Diligent]

How about cutting out the romances all together, because they feel very contrived and do nothing to further the gameplay?

I actually sort of see one aspect of where the guy is coming from. I haven't played DA2, but I'm playing the first one, and started getting hit on by Zevran a lot. It didn't piss me off per-se, but it was pretty goofy. I've never been hit on by a gay guy in real life, because in real life you have body language, and other subtle ways to show interest or disinterest. When your communication is broken down to canned 3 choice responses, you get thrown into these romances without even trying sometimes.

Frankly, I think if the straight "romances" aren't making you cringe just as much as the gay ones, you don't know what romance actually is.

 

[Craorach]

As someone who had no trouble at all with (potentially) gay characters throwing themselves at my totally-not-gay male protagonist, I'm a little baffled as to what kind of random-ass approach you would have to take in dialogue to be able to relate to that CAD strip.

The only male NPC I can think of who makes the first (verbal) move on DudeHawke is the fruity elf in the brothel - and his every other line is punctuated with "stony disapproval" reaction shots from your party.

The CAD strip and a fair few other peoples reactions are based more along the fact that there is a major "Rivalry" hit if you don't flirt.

If you want to make Anders the best healer... the game mechanics say you need to be max friendship or whatever its called.... you get punished in this goal for not being interested.

 

[joshthor]

the problem with dragon age 2's romance is the sheer number of bisexual companions. its just not feasable. statistically speaking bi/gay people make up only like 10% of the population...max. dragon age makes it seem like 75% are. and fenris? HE is bi? SERIOUSLY?? he seems the least likely of the whole crew to not be straight. dragon age: origins did it FANTASTICALLY. zevrahn was a fantastically written bi character. Liliana is too. if there were more, i did not notice, since the characters and responses to said characters were not pushy.

 

[joshthor]

How about cutting out the romances all together, because they feel very contrived and do nothing to further the gameplay?

I actually sort of see one aspect of where the guy is coming from. I haven't played DA2, but I'm playing the first one, and started getting hit on by Zevran a lot. It didn't piss me off per-se, but it was pretty goofy. I've never been hit on by a gay guy in real life, because in real life you have body language, and other subtle ways to show interest or disinterest. When your communication is broken down to canned 3 choice responses, you get thrown into these romances without even trying sometimes.

Frankly, I think if the straight "romances" aren't making you cringe just as much as the gay ones, you don't know what romance actually is.

i get asked out by a gay guy about once a month at my job, and there are a few that are like zevran. you would be suprised.

 

[JediMB]

I know, but I can't see how she's willing to use it even after practically every blood magic user we fight seems to lose themselves and everyone they love to the demon. Even Anders is a bit iffy because he has moments where he can't control himself and his reactions. Or even use the mirror after seeing what happened to her two bestest friends in DA:O. I really don't think she knows what she's really doing with it.

I think the greatest problem (for me, at least, as I haven't finished the game yet) is that the factors surrounding Merrill's acquisition of her blood magic are unknown. We have her word that was offered the knowledge without spirit asking for anything in return, and she doesn't seem like one to lie, but that does go against how transactions with spirits (demons) have been shown to go. She's clearly not an abomination, though.

I suppose I might find out during her act 3 quest, once BioWare finally release that patch...

Anyway... blood mages do usually make their deals out of fear or hunger for power. Some of them are simply insane. It's not he blood magic that is the issue, though, but rather the deal they make. If you think you're going to die, you might very well give up your will to a demon if it gives you an additional 5-10 years to live first, for example.

EDIT: An example of a blood mage who made some bad decisions, but seemed to still be a nice person who was very much in possession of all of his faculties, was Jowan from the Mage Origin.

And I don't know about the all spirits are dangerous thing. She's never met Grandmother Wynne and have her ass saved by the spirit that resides within her. Or actually met Justice. Justice was cool peoples.

Thing is that all spirits are supposedly personifications of a single human trait, which is part of why they're so dangerous. Take Justice, who is a spirit of "justice". It became clear to me almost immediately after picking him up on Awakening that his "justice" is little more than "vengeance". Only his sense of pride in being a "good spirit" really keeps him from being a rage demon.

Wynne's spirit is obviously harder to place, and does seem like a completely harmless creature... but that can just be because we never actually got to know it. Because it had already sacrificed its own existence to save Wynne. And what would happen if one of these spirits had instead become attached to a human like Loghain?

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

Because there were absolutely no romantic choices deigned to pander to the straight male demographic within Dragon Age 2.

The guy apparently said that she was "too exotic." Isn't she supposed to be Eastern European or something? Man, I guess the only real option is a white blond blue eyed woman, right?

That being said... I do think it's a little absurd to have equal representation of all people. After all, the demographics aren't equal. I think the fairest thing is to have proportional representation (of your audience if not society), though it might not always be practical. After all, you're trying to make your game appeal to an audience, so by representing the majority your able to please your biggest target audience. So I guess the guy did have sort of a point. At least from an economic standpoint it makes sense to try to please the main demographic you're marketing to. But you can still do that while also putting stuff in to please your other demographics.

As far as the "no homosexuality option" thing goes... talk about being oversensitive. Your character can reject their advances, is that guy really that upset about gay NPCs just hitting on his character? That seems rather insecure to me.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Why is this retard so worried about fucking in some game?

 

[emeraldrafael]

Oh yeah, the pirate girl Isabella I guess... she does flirt with everyone/thing.

Well she's just a whore. XD Kidding.

I'm glad the writer did this. You dont need people like that saying their fans, thats just bad for the company. I'm also glad that he said that he knew this wasnt he opinion of every straight male player (and thank god it wasnt, cause thats a HUGE demographic of the gaming market and to lose them would be community suicide).

on and off topic not, I like how when you go to see the link, the choice for English is a canadian flag. I'm not Canadian, I just think its funny since you usually see the UK or US flag.

EDIT: My room mate just disappointed me and agreed with the guy that said Dragon Age 2 is neglecting the Straight Male Demographic.

 

[Craorach]

I noticed that too, emerald.. I find it especially funny since, as far as I know, large portions of Canada speak french.

 

[Magnalian]

I may disagree with the guy on pretty much everything he said, but at least he had the decency to remain calm and polite. On the internet that can be hard to find.

 

[DSK-]

I must admit when I first met Fenris and Anders (especially Anders after I had met him in Awakening) I was a little bit surprised by the ever so slight advances. Didn't make me feel awkward or anything I just wasn't expecting something like that at such an early stage.

I guess the romance icons were a bit mis-leading. I thought of them purely as 'romance' and not 'flirt'. Oh well :/

 

[Blondi3]

Sounds like someone is extremely insecure.

 

[Actual]

I agree with the fan on this. I was playing a male character, there are 2 possible women to romance; Merill, who's pretty awesome, and Isabella, who's absolutely disgusting, you can date her if you want crabs and a romance that lasts until she gets bored the next week.

So my character likes Merill and has been pursuing her for the whole game with no solid response, which I don't mind because it fits her character. However, 2 of my male companions have come onto me despite me showing no interest! One of them, Anders isn't even gay! This was shown in the previous game where the only time gay sex is mentioned he says "Ewwww".

 

[t_rexaur]

No Anders I'm just not interested in you that way I'm sorry.
"It's cool Hawke just thought I'd ask you're a pretty awesome guy after all".

ANDERS DISAPPROVES +20 RIVALRY.

Wut?

 

[warprincenataku]

Little known fact, getting hit on by the same sex in a game will turn you gay.