Dragon Age Inquistion players: How do you feel Bioware handled Dorian?s sexual orientation?
- Thread starter Burnouts3s3
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All I hear is "If a gay character isn't quiet enough about their orientation that I can pretend a they're straight then it's ham-handed/forced/shoved-in-my-face".
Seriously, so many criticisms being leveled at faults that would be almost totally ignored if it weren't regarding a gay character. I would argue that Ashley (ME) was a far worse character than Sera (although personally I didn't terribly mind either), and while she got some hate, it wasn't anything near what I'm hearing here and other places. Likewise, the "cruel parent" trope is used regularly without anyone batting an eye, but if it's about teh ghay, then everyone is suddenly hyper critical.
Seriously, so many criticisms being leveled at faults that would be almost totally ignored if it weren't regarding a gay character. I would argue that Ashley (ME) was a far worse character than Sera (although personally I didn't terribly mind either), and while she got some hate, it wasn't anything near what I'm hearing here and other places. Likewise, the "cruel parent" trope is used regularly without anyone batting an eye, but if it's about teh ghay, then everyone is suddenly hyper critical.
I really don't get this idea that Dorian's orientation was somehow 'forced.' I mean, people have sexual orientations in real life, and Bioware games have always reflected that (except DA2, arguably). Dorian is perhaps unique in that his sexuality plays a big part in his back-story and personal quest, but again I don't see how that makes it 'forced.' Sadly, social rejection due to orientation (particularly by parents) is still something that a lot of LGBT people have to endure, and so it makes sense for the writers to incorporate that into one of their characters. I suppose you could say its a little odd that homophobia seems to exist in Thedas only now (it clearly didn't before), but even that is explained by the fact that Dorian is from a different cultural background (Tevinter) which we haven't really seen first-hand anymore.
And its not like Dorian lacks for personality other than his homosexuality: he's excellently written and has a lot of interesting views on Tevinter culture, magic e.t.c.
For people criticising this portrayal, it seems like they are only willing to have LGBT characters when the portrayal of their sexuality is so tepid that it can easily be ignored. But in reality, sexuality is a massive part of some people's identity, and it seems odd to suggest that Bioware shouldn't recognise and deal with that.
And its not like Dorian lacks for personality other than his homosexuality: he's excellently written and has a lot of interesting views on Tevinter culture, magic e.t.c.
For people criticising this portrayal, it seems like they are only willing to have LGBT characters when the portrayal of their sexuality is so tepid that it can easily be ignored. But in reality, sexuality is a massive part of some people's identity, and it seems odd to suggest that Bioware shouldn't recognise and deal with that.
Other than wanting to hear his party banter and exclusive quests... I hardly used the man for much.
It wasn't worthy of close inspection
It wasn't worthy of close inspection
But...
I can't join the Sera hate... I actually ended up using her heavily and was quite surprised of the results... she was even part of the last fight ( the laughable fight).
Yeah she was fart humor/cockney rebel but...everyone needs one of those around for comic relief.
I can't join the Sera hate... I actually ended up using her heavily and was quite surprised of the results... she was even part of the last fight ( the laughable fight).
Yeah she was fart humor/cockney rebel but...everyone needs one of those around for comic relief.
I found this video on Youtube. Very interesting analysis. The poster, StarduskLP, has analyzed other Bioware characters in the past.
I stumbled on a codex entry that discussed homosexuality in Thedas, apparently the only people who tend to have issues with it are nobility and thats purely because of carrying on the blood line and even then its accepted they will have same sex partners as well as their husband or wife
Dorian was charming i found, an ok character although i was wary of a tevinter mage in my group
sera, well she initially grated on me, so random it was hard to keep track alot of the time but once you get to know her i actually grew to like her, its obviously a defense to keep people from getting to know her
Dorian was charming i found, an ok character although i was wary of a tevinter mage in my group
sera, well she initially grated on me, so random it was hard to keep track alot of the time but once you get to know her i actually grew to like her, its obviously a defense to keep people from getting to know her
Being as my first thought when playing these sort of game isn't "I'd like to bone this character until they begin bleeding from their other orifices" , I can honestly say I don't care.
StarduskLP reasons that because David Gaider is gay, he is self-projecting when he creates a character whose sexuality plays a large role in his storyline? That's not a well supported argument, really; the number of times straight developers have written straight characters must be in the tens of thousands, including many examples of straight characters whose plotlines involve romance or sexual interest.Burnouts3s3 said:
He says he finds it "weak" that Dorian's sexuality is central to his story, rather than one of the other elements of his personality. Why is that weak? Would he consider it "weak" if Dorian's plot had predominantly focused on one of the other elements? Every side-quest focuses on a certain aspect, a certain part of a character. There's no rational reason given why this one is considered a "weak" basis, more so than others.