Dragon Age Writer: Same-Sex Romance is Here to Stay
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
This is certainly a great point, but where was this guy when this subject came up in the development of Mass Effect? Biowares attitude towards gay romance in Mass Effect makes me doubt the sincerity of their efforts to please a minority, and makes me think that they don't have a fair attitude towards homosexuality, that its okay in a fun fantasy setting but not in a gritty military one.
Awesome. Way to say "fuck you" to all the haters. Nice to know that BioWare doesn't let the fan-base influence everything they do (examples where the fan-base can fuck stuff up, you say? Easy, look at Dragonball Z and the Street Fighter games).
Obligatory Girl-on-Girl-is-Hot Statement: I wonder what delicious morsels I can have the [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/Ruffin316/Hi-Def%20Sage%20Screens/CautiontotheWindKalem-1.jpg] twins [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/Ruffin316/Hi-Def%20Sage%20Screens/AttentiveKalel-1.jpg] feast on in this game. The two had more than enough shares of Leliana...
I just hope the so-called "action gameplay" holds up and doesn't railroad me into using the infamous "pause and play" nonsense like in the first game (sorry fans, but I fucking hated it; relied too much on luck and numbers).
Obligatory Girl-on-Girl-is-Hot Statement: I wonder what delicious morsels I can have the [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/Ruffin316/Hi-Def%20Sage%20Screens/CautiontotheWindKalem-1.jpg] twins [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/Ruffin316/Hi-Def%20Sage%20Screens/AttentiveKalel-1.jpg] feast on in this game. The two had more than enough shares of Leliana...
I just hope the so-called "action gameplay" holds up and doesn't railroad me into using the infamous "pause and play" nonsense like in the first game (sorry fans, but I fucking hated it; relied too much on luck and numbers).
I don't mind their presence at all, and I'm glad for Bioware's stance. But that said, I don't think they should be obligated to have a full gamut of sexual options just because romance is available to the player, any more than they should be forbidden, and for much the same reason: creative freedom. It's one thing to have a well-written character who just happens to be homosexual or bisexual, it's another to shoehorn a character with those traits into the game so no one feels unrepresented.
That and why not with Jack either. The dialogue seemed to infer her being bisexual. It just struck me as a bit off. There's that whole nasty "only a man can help her reconcile her past" bit too. It doesn't seem deliberate and that's what makes it so annoying.TragicHero84 said:
I think if Bioware (or any dev) really want to ride the gay rights/homophobia controversy bus to school then maybe they should incorporate it into narrative mechanics. Imagine the shit storm if when you boned Zevran you woke into a battle with Sten to the death (which lets be honest, would be so in keeping with his character).
We get the whole "good and evil" thing everywhere, but why not incorporate character creation choices into the narrative. Morrowind was a good example; if you chose a female character there was an entire mission you could skip because one of the characters was a feminist (sort of).
A possibility for DA2 (probably too late, I know); the Elves are a subjugated race so if you play as an elf and are a bastard then the world oppresses them more and if you are virtuous then no more alienages because the world has lost its fear and mistrust of your species.
We get the whole "good and evil" thing everywhere, but why not incorporate character creation choices into the narrative. Morrowind was a good example; if you chose a female character there was an entire mission you could skip because one of the characters was a feminist (sort of).
A possibility for DA2 (probably too late, I know); the Elves are a subjugated race so if you play as an elf and are a bastard then the world oppresses them more and if you are virtuous then no more alienages because the world has lost its fear and mistrust of your species.
I demand male Shepard on male Elcor hardcore action in ME3! What do you mean it's not going to happen?! You humans are all racist! Err, sexist. Or homophobic or something.
Okay, perhaps not
Although the Shep character is somewhat customizable it does not surprise me that they don't really give you a same-sex romance option in it. I can quite grok that the character was never intended to be bisexual or gay in his/her over-riding story arc. And hell, even if Bioware did intend originally on giving that as a possible option they are a company out to make money - and if that includes making sacrifices to potentially appease skittish customers, so be it.
Horribly stereotyping here, but I suspect their reasoning behind including same-sex romances in DAO and not ME/ME2 is that the type of people who play fantasy oriented games would probably be more open to that sort of relationship than the types who prefer more modern war-like shooters.
Small steps, and DAO is a step in the right direction for which Bioware and other companies should be commended
Okay, perhaps not
Although the Shep character is somewhat customizable it does not surprise me that they don't really give you a same-sex romance option in it. I can quite grok that the character was never intended to be bisexual or gay in his/her over-riding story arc. And hell, even if Bioware did intend originally on giving that as a possible option they are a company out to make money - and if that includes making sacrifices to potentially appease skittish customers, so be it.Horribly stereotyping here, but I suspect their reasoning behind including same-sex romances in DAO and not ME/ME2 is that the type of people who play fantasy oriented games would probably be more open to that sort of relationship than the types who prefer more modern war-like shooters.
Small steps, and DAO is a step in the right direction for which Bioware and other companies should be commended
Too true, too true. Myself I don't go for the gay romance option (unless it's two chicks like Shepard and Liara) but hey, art mirrors life and real life has gay romance in it. I don't want it for myself but that's just me.
Great thing though was that Zevran was at least acted like a guy and wasn't always worried about his nails or some other such marlarky. To add another quote to the one in the article: "It doesn't matter where you want to stick it, so long as you can do a sweet ass finisher move on an ogre."
Great thing though was that Zevran was at least acted like a guy and wasn't always worried about his nails or some other such marlarky. To add another quote to the one in the article: "It doesn't matter where you want to stick it, so long as you can do a sweet ass finisher move on an ogre."
this is so lame, Its not some massive Political statement about peoples right to their own sexuality its just a stupid gimmick that ALL games companies try to latch on to, in order to get more controversy. Romances and relationships in video games used to be a kind of cool addition to the adventure... until it became a seLling point for games! ;something thats blatantly advertised on the front of the game packaging! People are so lame!
Dragon age is a fantasy adventure tolkien-DnD mashup, how massively irrelevant is it that the games lead designer is even mentioning "relationships" when talking about the game, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
what the hell next? unlockable girlfriends in the new call of duty? i wish designers would keep their focus on their games and not on sucking in their "target audiences"
FAIL
Dragon age is a fantasy adventure tolkien-DnD mashup, how massively irrelevant is it that the games lead designer is even mentioning "relationships" when talking about the game, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
what the hell next? unlockable girlfriends in the new call of duty? i wish designers would keep their focus on their games and not on sucking in their "target audiences"
FAIL
Precisely.Knight Templar said:
Bioware's in an odd spot. Now that they're "The company with homosexual romances in their games", any time they DON'T have a homosexual romance in their games, it's somehow them caving in to "the man" in an attempt to be sales whores. Never mind that they rake in cash hand over fist by being one of the best western RPG makers out there, they're SUPPRESSING THEMSELVES FOR MONIES.
Simple answer: David Gaider is not on the Mass Effect dev team. If he were, there would be s/s relationships for Shep, and none of this evasive "Asari aren't girls!" doublespeak that Hudson and crew are trying to snow us with.Muta Ro said:
tl;dr Bioware could use some unity of vision, and I am firmly in Gaider's camp.
Way to go BioWare! Too bad you didn't stick to principle when you cut out the gay relationship with male Shepard and Alenko and the lesbian relationship with female Shepard and Williams, but hey, you had sex with aliens, so you reached the quota for sexual exploration. I might grab Dragon Age 2 just to see the lesbian relationships. You might say that sexist, but i honestly get sick of the same "Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl because she is conveniently there, boy doesn't get lucky because this is a Nintendo game and they wouldn't do anything controversial to save their grandma." I wouldn't mind a "Girl meets girl, girl falls for girl, girl kills potential male love interest and fucks girl" story for once.