Yes, If you played Dragon's Dogma as a female character (like Yahtzee did), or just watched ZP this week you know where this is going....
For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the scenario:
My Arisen (read Player Character) had just delivered the Duke a Hydra head to show how badass they were. On their way out of the castle, they notice a young woman minding the flowers. After a crippling awkward (and frankly creepy, thanks to the fact your character never says a word) scene in which the woman (who is, incidentally, the Duke's new bride) flirts with me the way a 12 year old would, I came to the realization this was the Love Interest in the story.
One problem (you know, aside from the fact she acts way too young). My Arisen was female. And certainly NOT a lesbian.
I'm not going to ask why companies do this, as the answer is fairly obvious. I would, however, like to hear two things:
1. What other games do this (i.e. allow the PC to be male or female, but center all romantic/flirty exchanges around one or the other).
2. How do you feel when this happens.
The only other game I can think of that does something like this is Divinity 2, in which you (numerous times) get the option to say flirtatious things to female NPC's regardless of your own gender, but never to male ones.
As to how it makes me feel/view the game. Well, it doesn't really bother me, but it does make me disappointed. For one thing, it pulls me out of the game/story, because it makes it clear the designers expected me to play as a male. It also says the developers didn't have time/money/desire to accommodate a female character in the dialog.
The other reason it bothers me is because it makes it more difficult, or at least less engaging, to play a female character. There are already few enough games that feature female protagonists, it's disappointing when one that does makes a gaffe like this.
I know it's just because most studios assume all (or at least nearly all) gamers are male and will select male avatars, but still, it bugs me. Seems like a very silly mistake to make.
For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the scenario:
My Arisen (read Player Character) had just delivered the Duke a Hydra head to show how badass they were. On their way out of the castle, they notice a young woman minding the flowers. After a crippling awkward (and frankly creepy, thanks to the fact your character never says a word) scene in which the woman (who is, incidentally, the Duke's new bride) flirts with me the way a 12 year old would, I came to the realization this was the Love Interest in the story.
One problem (you know, aside from the fact she acts way too young). My Arisen was female. And certainly NOT a lesbian.
I'm not going to ask why companies do this, as the answer is fairly obvious. I would, however, like to hear two things:
1. What other games do this (i.e. allow the PC to be male or female, but center all romantic/flirty exchanges around one or the other).
2. How do you feel when this happens.
The only other game I can think of that does something like this is Divinity 2, in which you (numerous times) get the option to say flirtatious things to female NPC's regardless of your own gender, but never to male ones.
As to how it makes me feel/view the game. Well, it doesn't really bother me, but it does make me disappointed. For one thing, it pulls me out of the game/story, because it makes it clear the designers expected me to play as a male. It also says the developers didn't have time/money/desire to accommodate a female character in the dialog.
The other reason it bothers me is because it makes it more difficult, or at least less engaging, to play a female character. There are already few enough games that feature female protagonists, it's disappointing when one that does makes a gaffe like this.
I know it's just because most studios assume all (or at least nearly all) gamers are male and will select male avatars, but still, it bugs me. Seems like a very silly mistake to make.
