Heteronormaltivity in games

[thebakedpotato]

Dear games industry, y u no gay characters in games?

I mean, I remember in Bully it was kinda cool that you could kiss the boys as well as the girls. Even though it sucked that you still had to give them gifts, even though you didn't with the girls if you leveled up. And it doesn't seem to have evolved past that in the last 7 years. With the portrayals of romance and relationships I can relate to being relegated to at best some kind of token afterthought to a system already in place. It just seems to be a cop out more than anything else.

I think that the gaming community mostly wouldn't mind a gay hero. No one really batted an eye at Bully, or Skyrim, or Mass Effect or anything like that. So why not give it a try games industry, y u no do that?

 

[thebakedpotato]

I don't want to play as a gay man in a game. I don't like playing as a female either. Thats probably why things like that are optional and can be skipped.

What if I don't want to play as a straight man? Can I skip that in Dead Space? Or Gears of War? Or Grand Theft Auto?

 

[shrekfan246]

No one really batted an eye at Bully, or Skyrim, or Mass Effect or anything like that. So why not give it a try games industry, y u no do that?

Well, no one who really mattered, at least.

There were stinks kicked up over the marriage situation in Skyrim ("Marrying a Khajit or Argonian is bestiality!"), Hawke being bi in Dragon Age II (and not just because of Anders), and Mass Effect 3 ("My kid is going to catch teh gay!!!").

It's just that they were mostly knee-jerk reactions from the types who think Fox News is the only reputable news source in the entire world.

I agree that we should have more gay characters, but considering the industry still has a relatively difficult time with an entire gender, I won't be holding my breath waiting for them.

 

[jehk]

I don't want to play as a gay man in a game. I don't like playing as a female either. Thats probably why things like that are optional and can be skipped.

What if I don't want to play as a straight man? Can I skip that in Dead Space? Or Gears of War? Or Grand Theft Auto?

I'd really like to skip it in GTA.

 

[thebakedpotato]

No one really batted an eye at Bully, or Skyrim, or Mass Effect or anything like that. So why not give it a try games industry, y u no do that?

Well, no one who really mattered, at least.

There were stinks kicked up over the marriage situation in Skyrim ("Marrying a Khajit or Argonian is bestiality!"), Hawke being bi in Dragon Age II (and not just because of Anders), and Mass Effect 3 ("My kid is going to catch teh gay!!!").

It's just that they were mostly knee-jerk reactions from the types who think Fox News is the only reputable news source in the entire world.

I agree that we should have more gay characters, but considering the industry still has a relatively difficult time with an entire gender, I won't be holding my breath waiting for them.

I will. If only so I can resist these love stories that are worse than Twilight being shoved down my throat.

 

[Miss G.]

Bill from The Last of Us is gay, as in he's a well written character that just happens to be gay. Guess since he's not all stereotypical, flamboyant and you don't get to romance him (but it's not like you get to romance anyone in this game) and you don't get to play as him, people don't mention him much, if at all, in these types of threads.

 

[Aerosteam]

Maybe some characters are gay, and it just wasn't told to us. What if Halo, Borderlands, Left 4 Dead or maybe Call of Duty had gay characters? We weren't exactly told some of them were straight, so it's a possibility they aren't. We just think that being straight is the default preference (which I say is a completely okay thing to think by the way) so we automatically apply that to characters in video games.

I'd be okay with a gay main character, as long I don't get blatant parts of the game solely about his/her homosexuality that feel like the developers are saying: HEY GUYS THIS CHARACTER IS GAY! GAY I TELL YOU! The character simply being implied he's/she's gay is enough, like Bill from The Last of Us:

He is not "a gay character"; he is a character who so happens to be gay.

 

[ellieallegro]

Saints Row 4. Wanna be a X? Yes, you can. Yes, yes, that too. And scene.

That said I don't mind playing a hetero-normative male if the narrative is well written and engaging (see: Red Dead Redemption) Not everything has to have the token xyz character. However, I find flat characters of either gender or sexuality pretty boring so the gameplay better make up for it otherwise it not going in my library.

 

[shadowuser10141]

I don't want to play as a gay man in a game. I don't like playing as a female either. Thats probably why things like that are optional and can be skipped.

What if I don't want to play as a straight man? Can I skip that in Dead Space? Or Gears of War? Or Grand Theft Auto?

Instead of focusing on the games themselves, everyone is so hung up on unimportant character traits.
Most people in society do not care if someone is gay. They do not care.
The media wouldn't shut up about Jason Collins. I don't care if he is gay. I care that he is a mediocre baller.

I play TF2 a lot. I'm from Texas, so is the Engineer. Does that mean I constantly play as the Engie because he's a Texan?
No because I find him boring to play as. I don't care where a bunch of pixels and some voice acting "originates" from, or what they do in their private life.

 

[thebakedpotato]

Bill from The Last of Us is gay, as in he's a well written character that just happens to be gay. Guess since he's not all stereotypical, flamboyant and you don't get to romance him (but it's not like you get to romance anyone in this game) and you don't get to play as him, people don't mention him much, if at all, in these types of threads.

Daww... that makes the last of us a little more tragic. Not even romance to be had there, just souls desperately clinging together for a hint of something before they die.

 

[TehCookie]

Maybe some characters are gay, and it just wasn't told to us. What if Halo, Borderlands, Left 4 Dead or maybe Call of Duty had gay characters? We weren't exactly told some of them were straight, so it's a possibility they aren't. We just think that being straight is the default preference (which I say is a completely okay thing to think by the way) so we automatically apply that to characters in video games.

I'd be okay with a gay main character, as long I don't get blatant parts of the game solely about his/her homosexuality that feel like the developers are saying: HEY GUYS THIS CHARACTER IS GAY! GAY I TELL YOU! The character simply being implied he's/she's gay is enough, like Bill from The Last of Us:

He is not "a gay character"; he is a character who so happens to be gay.

I agree with this. If you don't see gay characters your yaoi goggles aren't on tight enough. Besides unless there is romance in the game I don't see how it's even relevent, which is why it's not mentioned in many.

 

[LaoJim]

The industry still has a problem with with gender and race in games, let alone sexuality. Companies like Bioware have done great work in this area, but then their whole design philosophy is based on choice, so it's easier for them. In games where there is no choice then its usually male white young (or grizzled) protagonist.

Thing is, I think you are right, most people wouldn't mind playing a gay character, but suppose 5 percent of people do mind. If I'm a sales manager then losing 5 percent of sales is a big deal for me, especially if there is no compelling reason why a character has to be gay. At the end of the day gay gamers aren't going to boycott your game in favour of the gay-inclusive one because, well at the moment, there aren't really any. It comes down to the fact that if, say, 10 percent of the population is gay, then you would expect 10 percent of games to have a gay protagonist, but at the moment no developer wants their game to be in that 10 percent.

I think there are two levels of problem with the acceptance of gay characters. The first simply is that a proportion (I don't know how big) is bigotted and just doesn't want to have homosexuality in their games period. The second level is to do with how people perceive the character they are playing. When I play a game I view it as an interactive story, and chose or enjoy characters who are completely different in age, gender, race or personality from me. Other people, I think, view the main character as an extension of themselves, they maybe want to feel they are involved personally in the story. For this type of player, even if they are fine with homosexulality, might feel uncomfortable with gay content. (as of course gay gamers might be uncomfortable with straight scenes, or women games playing a male character throughout) While I understand that some people like having a character with a similar background to themselves, they can't really expect that every game will have exactly the protagonist they want and saying you won't play a game because the main character is female seems, well, strange. Why would you miss out on Portal, Bayonetta, Mirror's Edge etc. just because of one small aspect.

Personally I'd have no problem playing a gay character, in fact it would make a lot of games more interesting. Hell my Gandalf-style mage slept with Zevran in Dragon Age just because there were 10 achievements points available...

 

[The_Echo]

Dear games industry, y u no gay characters in games?

Because 95% of the time, sexuality has no bearing on the plot of the game at all.

And gay characters tend to be just that. Gay characters.

Very few games have handled homosexuality well, and those that have have done so by downplaying that character's sexuality (Persona 4's Kanji notwithstanding). In light of all the PC bullshit and rampant activism, it takes balls and careful writing to make a gay character be just a character. Despite all the good that's been done for them, homosexuals are still a touchy topic. Very few devs have said balls, and fewer writing teams can pull it off.

Until there is homonormality in real life, don't expect it in video games.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Maybe some characters are gay, and it just wasn't told to us. What if Halo, Borderlands, Left 4 Dead or maybe Call of Duty had gay characters?

Borderlands 2 had a couple of gay characters, Sir Hammerlock asks you to go after his old boyfriend and a few echo logs have mentions of it.

Echo 2
Male Test Subject: Please listen to me - I don't care what you do to me, just let my husband go! He's got the Shivers, he's no good for your ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ed experiments anyway! Just please let him go!
HJ: What's the holdup, Sammy?

DS: Don't call me -- This subject is... unsuitable for testing. His husband has the Shivers. He could have transmitted--

HJ: Hey, remember that wife of yours? And how you wanted to see her, like, ever again?

DS: You can't --

HJ: Still don't hear screaming...

MTS: AHHHH! AHHHH!

Echo log found during quest 'Doctors Orders.' I'm also pretty sure that the doctor is female as well.

To me this is some of the best references to gay people in gaming as it treats homosexuality as unremarkable as heterosexuality nor as a characters primary driving force.

 

[D-Class 198482]

Saints Row 4. Wanna be a X? Yes, you can. Yes, yes, that too. And scene.

I spent half of my time watching the cutscene with Matt Miller over and over and over again because I had a mysterious man-crush on him.
OT: Moar gay characters yes. That's good.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Someone already touched on this, but seriously, how often do you even know the character's sexuality in the games you are playing, either with player characters or NPCs?

If you want, you can declare that every playable character in Borderlands 2 is gay, and it can't be proven one way or the other. Diablo 3? All 10 characters (5 female and 5 male) are gay. Boom, 10 gay characters. Hell, you can play "StarCraft 2" and pretend that every Soldier you have is gay if you choose (well okay, maybe not Jim Raynor).

Likewise, even in characters where their sexuality is on display, the most generous estimate I've ever seen is that homosexuals make up 5% of the population, so theoretically (if we wanted the games to reflect reality) only 1 out of every 20 of these characters should be gay.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Because writing is hard and writing interesting gay characters spends valuable time and money that can be better spent shooting things.