Extra Punctuation: Roleplaying Homosexual in Dragon Age 2
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
lol, bravo Yahtzee, you irrepressible stud you.
Honestly, I have to say that I've never seen a problem with homosexual pairings in games and TV. Hell, before he passed, my Uncle was gay, and he was an awesome guy. Quite frankly, and maybe this is a bit of my Uncle's influence, I've never been afraid to admit a man is handsome or find a homosexual pairing in my games to be adorable or romantic. I'm 100% sure I'm into chicks, and although I've wondered before, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't enjoy another man's company in bed, regardless if I was pitching or catching.
I guess you could say I follow the Bill Engvall take on homosexuality. If not for the taking-it-up-the-butt part, I could totally see myself being gay. Being around other dudes is just so much easier than trying to deal with even a single woman. I'm not saying the rewards for dealing with the woman aren't worth it, but sometimes, and all men have been there, when the rewards are too few and far apart for the effort put into it, y'know?
Honestly, I have to say that I've never seen a problem with homosexual pairings in games and TV. Hell, before he passed, my Uncle was gay, and he was an awesome guy. Quite frankly, and maybe this is a bit of my Uncle's influence, I've never been afraid to admit a man is handsome or find a homosexual pairing in my games to be adorable or romantic. I'm 100% sure I'm into chicks, and although I've wondered before, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't enjoy another man's company in bed, regardless if I was pitching or catching.
I guess you could say I follow the Bill Engvall take on homosexuality. If not for the taking-it-up-the-butt part, I could totally see myself being gay. Being around other dudes is just so much easier than trying to deal with even a single woman. I'm not saying the rewards for dealing with the woman aren't worth it, but sometimes, and all men have been there, when the rewards are too few and far apart for the effort put into it, y'know?
I was saying it might be the case, or it might be that he just didn't show intreats in any man in the game previously. I actually haven't played awaking or origins so really I don't know how bad the transition is, but I know that some people won't realize there bisexual until the right person of the same gender comes along. It happens that way sometimes.LadyRhian said:
So he's saying that he actually role plays in RPGs? Wow. Too bad more people don't.
I'm inviting him to join my Rifts campaign now.
I'm inviting him to join my Rifts campaign now.
you know i don't think this is limited to homosexuals. i did go for anders as well but i'm female so i had 3 choices: Sebastian who was super hot, Fenris who was broken but tore out people's hearts with his hands and Anders who was possessed by the spirit of justice. I was really leaning towards the other two but I ended up doing all of anders quests because i knew him from awakening and kept hoping for sirpouncelot to make an appearance. It just clicked. Broke my heart a little at the end but I couldn't do away with him and now my blitzle is called Anders in memory of his blue glowy magic 
I'm glad someone's finally discussing Dragon Age 2's strengths as a role-playing game. I think the most interesting thing about attachment to characters in DA2 is how it averts gameplay-and-story segregation. When you lose characters, even if you're only kind of attached to them as characters it's still devastating because you're losing part of your carefully constructed team. At the end of the game, even though my Hawke had romanced him, I strongly felt that I couldn't let Anders get away with what he did. But that meant going through the rest of the game without a healer. It made my decision much more powerful and completely devastating.
I, not a big RPG player, am kinda impressed at the way video game characters can leave such a lasting impact on the players. It's kinda interesting how such a thing could leave an imprint, haha. I wonder if a year from now, the name Anders will still ring a bell in your mind.
I did that too and totally appreciated the romantic storyline...after having a one night stand with Isabella.C117 said:
{I got so fucked with that too in almost every sense of the word, I felt like Isabella took total advantage of me after she said it was a just casual thing. And then she left with that Qunari artifact and totally screwed me over, and then romancing Anders was totally heart wrenching at the end I felt so incredibly betrayed yet I ripped him apart and then chose to live my days with him where he will be forced to make things right in the end. I was originally going to exile him and simply see it as me saying "no you live with what you've done and spend the rest of your life on the run away from your love.}
I've never been that engaged in a romance plot ever, but it's interesting to hear the perspective of people who have been.
I actually managed to make my Fallout: New Vegas character gay by accident (foolish me for not knowing what a "Comfirmed Bachelor" is), so I can relate to just going with whatever suits the character instead of plastering your own sexuality on them regardless of how they relate to their companions. It's certainly refreshing to see someone play out relationships that go against their own preferences to experience emotional development, rather than just for the novelty of it, though.
Very well written article. As a bisexual male I find it fairly easy to fall in love with a "person" as opposed to a gender, and a lot of what he said makes sense. Of course, I don't think a proctologist's exam is going to set ANY man's world aflame; be they gay or straight - in the same way I think most women will tell you that going in for their pap smear at the gynecologist certainly isn't a turn on. That's... well, that's silly.
Bioware's collected data seems to indicate, from what the company has said, that many, many people explore the "gay" romances in their games. I am assuming that at least some of the people who do so are heterosexual and able to get over the fact that in a fantasy computer game with dragons and Templars and magic, you're not exactly playing a carbon copy of yourself. Some people DO enjoy roleplaying heroes as close to themselves as possible but I'd wager that Hawke's physical prowess and build alone sets him quite a bit different from your average "Escapist" forum reader.
I've roleplayed since I was a little kid and I've had fun roleplaying as both genders even though I am 100% certain that I would never, ever want to be a woman. (I've been married to my wife for 11 years now and seeing what they have to go through isn't appealing for me in the slightest. I am so, so glad I was born a man...) - This doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed roleplaying women in tabletop games. One of the most fun adventures I ever ran through at a convention was "The Terrible Tomb of Lum the Mad" where I played as a flirtatious, female bard. Did it make me question my gender identity? No. Did I have a lot of fun (and laughs) putting on the shoes (high heels?) of a woman for a roleplaying experience? Yeah, it was fun.
As I continue to notice more and more as I grow older, the people most secure in their gender identity and sexuality have no problem with gay themes or characters in games; it's the insecure people who perhaps question their own sexuality but are ashamed to admit it that have an issue with being exposed to anything that is not straight, male, and preferably objectifying of women.
Which is perhaps where this little study bears quite a lot of thought -
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014
Basically, it's a government study (one of many) that shows homophobes are those people who are actually most aroused by gay porn. Heterosexual men who have no problem with gays (and are secure in their sexuality) don't really respond to gay porn. People who are violently anti-gay, however... they tend to get a bit of a chubby watching man-on-man action.
And it's pretty easy to figure out why.
Again, great post.
Bioware's collected data seems to indicate, from what the company has said, that many, many people explore the "gay" romances in their games. I am assuming that at least some of the people who do so are heterosexual and able to get over the fact that in a fantasy computer game with dragons and Templars and magic, you're not exactly playing a carbon copy of yourself. Some people DO enjoy roleplaying heroes as close to themselves as possible but I'd wager that Hawke's physical prowess and build alone sets him quite a bit different from your average "Escapist" forum reader.
I've roleplayed since I was a little kid and I've had fun roleplaying as both genders even though I am 100% certain that I would never, ever want to be a woman. (I've been married to my wife for 11 years now and seeing what they have to go through isn't appealing for me in the slightest. I am so, so glad I was born a man...) - This doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed roleplaying women in tabletop games. One of the most fun adventures I ever ran through at a convention was "The Terrible Tomb of Lum the Mad" where I played as a flirtatious, female bard. Did it make me question my gender identity? No. Did I have a lot of fun (and laughs) putting on the shoes (high heels?) of a woman for a roleplaying experience? Yeah, it was fun.
As I continue to notice more and more as I grow older, the people most secure in their gender identity and sexuality have no problem with gay themes or characters in games; it's the insecure people who perhaps question their own sexuality but are ashamed to admit it that have an issue with being exposed to anything that is not straight, male, and preferably objectifying of women.
Which is perhaps where this little study bears quite a lot of thought -
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014
Basically, it's a government study (one of many) that shows homophobes are those people who are actually most aroused by gay porn. Heterosexual men who have no problem with gays (and are secure in their sexuality) don't really respond to gay porn. People who are violently anti-gay, however... they tend to get a bit of a chubby watching man-on-man action.
And it's pretty easy to figure out why.
Again, great post.
Regarding the question about male insecurity, I have experienced that a lot. I'm sure of my own sexuality, so I feel little to no desire to stand for it, when it's questioned. But my workmates are always trying to impress themselves with chicks they dig, or whatever they thought it makes them look manly.
I've been asked if I'm gay at least 10 times now, and even if I find weird how many people that doesn't know each other could thought of that. But in any case, it's something very common.
I am not fond of Dragon Age, but their approach as it seems it's something worth seeing.
I think that half the experience should be delivered by the game, the rest should be in the player, that's how it should be, that's how we got to think Peach was important to save in SMB, that's how we fill the blanks on old school games, and that's how it should be in those so called next-gen games as well. Pushing buttons and expect to be moved works only in microwaves, when you're get your meal out of it.
I've been asked if I'm gay at least 10 times now, and even if I find weird how many people that doesn't know each other could thought of that. But in any case, it's something very common.
I am not fond of Dragon Age, but their approach as it seems it's something worth seeing.
I think that half the experience should be delivered by the game, the rest should be in the player, that's how it should be, that's how we got to think Peach was important to save in SMB, that's how we fill the blanks on old school games, and that's how it should be in those so called next-gen games as well. Pushing buttons and expect to be moved works only in microwaves, when you're get your meal out of it.
Anders annoyed me in Dragon Age 2. I got "with" him in my first and only play through and because of that I found the end thingy alot more powerful.
I would love to play a second play through without him but unfortuntaly I don't fancy making my character a healer for ungreatful AI idiots. I don't want to choose the other option.
Goddamn Bioware, how dare you make me care about a fictional set of data and pixles.
I wouldn't be surprised if 75% of first time players of Dragon Age 2 copped off with Anders because of him being a healer or them being creepy wierdos (which I most certanly am not).
Bioware do sort of force him on you. It's like unintentional virtual rape.
I would love to play a second play through without him but unfortuntaly I don't fancy making my character a healer for ungreatful AI idiots. I don't want to choose the other option.
Goddamn Bioware, how dare you make me care about a fictional set of data and pixles.
I wouldn't be surprised if 75% of first time players of Dragon Age 2 copped off with Anders because of him being a healer or them being creepy wierdos (which I most certanly am not).
Bioware do sort of force him on you. It's like unintentional virtual rape.
Because in Awakening, his single loop gold earing oozed such heterosexuality? Let me put it this way, I wasn't surprised he went both ways in Dragon Age 2.