Lack of Gay Character Options in RPGs "A Shame," Says BioWare Producer

Jacked Assassin

Nothing On TV
Jun 4, 2010
732
0
0
A lot of this could be resolved if besides a Create-A-Character there was also a Create-A-Love-Interest. Then apply that love interest to a story line with at least 5 or more missions. Allowing the PC & NPC to bond before they become lovers.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
RatGouf said:
A lot of this could be resolved if besides a Create-A-Character there was also a Create-A-Love-Interest. Then apply that love interest to a story line with at least 5 or more missions. Allowing the PC & NPC to bond before they become lovers.
Hm...Dragon's Dogma had something sorta kinda similar to this. You customize your own sidekick (AKA mentally handicapped slave...yeah) after you customize your own character (Lots of customization options too). I'd like to see something like this.
 

nomotog_v1legacy

New member
Jun 21, 2013
909
0
0
RatGouf said:
A lot of this could be resolved if besides a Create-A-Character there was also a Create-A-Love-Interest. Then apply that love interest to a story line with at least 5 or more missions. Allowing the PC & NPC to bond before they become lovers.
I don't know how well it would fly, but why not just give the player the power to design every major NPC. I guess it would increase the amount of voice work, but a lot of games already have robust NPC creation systems.
 

Imre Csete

Original Character, Do Not Steal
Jul 8, 2010
785
0
0
Well I'd rather see them making decent skill systems (DA2 was a step ahead, but a few awesome cookie cutter ones among a dozen of sub par isn't the way to go) and great encounter designs (sneak ahead, place traps, sneak attack squishies > I spawn behind ur doodz, killing all your magez!) with a distinctive enemy roster, but kids these days need dating sim elements in their RPGs I guess.

Who cares about the gameplay you will be doing 70% of the time if you can screw waifus.
 

RedmistSM

New member
Jan 30, 2010
141
0
0
Don't the major RPGs already include gay character options? I'm pretty sure I could play a lesbian in Dragon Age and Mass effect obviously, but also Kingdoms of Amalur, Skyrim and Dragon's Dogma. The only RPGs I've played recently where I couldn't are the ones with a predetermined character they're telling the story about(Persona 4, Tales of Vesperia, Witcher 2) and the Dark Souls games(because they don't have shallow romancing options and dialog trees at all in those games). In the games where you choose your appearance and your love interest, I think they're all good about letting you pick whatever gender you like. What's he talking about?
 

NemotheElvenPanda

New member
Aug 29, 2012
152
0
0
As much I like it how Bioware does make an effort on making LGBT characters, I feel like they've been focusing too much on romances in general to not only where sexuality feels hamfisted, but they're taking too much room on stage from all the other important aspects of their games. People play Bioware games for the world, character development, and story, not romances. I remember in earlier Bioware games that romances weren't advertised or even touched upon, they were just little rewards and easter eggs you could get for taking the time to get to know and connect with your party members. Then there's the issue on having LBGT characters only existing for the PC to experience which makes it feel like these characters are gay for the sake of being gay, and not because it's part of a overall complex and detailed character. It be nice for once to actually have a LGBT party member that you couldn't romance at all so that one trait wouldn't define everything.
 

DSD12

New member
Feb 12, 2011
131
0
0
You know why is it I never hear anything about Dragon Age Inqusition's gameplay, combat and how the game is going to run, everything is about whether or not there are gay characters in it, I want to see gameplay improvements not romance stuff because that stuff is not my main focus to play an RPG.
 

UberPubert

New member
Jun 18, 2012
385
0
0
Adamantium93 said:
If this were a story about one specific character with a clearly defined identity, then you would be perfectly right in your assessment: the creator should be able to tell the story they want.
Not only is this statement trite but it's needlessly focused. Of course a creator should be able to tell the story they want, and what does it matter if the story includes more than one specific character or several clearly defined identities?

Adamantium93 said:
However, the producer is pointing out that an RPG is supposed to be about creating your own character.
Uh, says who? Yes, there's many RPGs that absolutely follow this mantra but that's not how the entire genre is defined.

Adamantium93 said:
An RPG asks that you choose a sex, race, age, appearance, area of expertise, combat skilset, fighting style, origin, background, motives, and personality that appeals to you and allows you to better appreciate this fantasy world. Given the massive level of customization that these games often sell themselves with, it seems odd that they would choose homosexuality as a sticking point.
No one "chose" homosexuality as a sticking point, it's just been largely deemed irrelevant, and your list of customizable features is misleading to the point of dishonesty. Even your typical Bioware game doesn't include all or even most of these options (or they're such footnotes they're barely worthy of mention). What's more, some of these features are actually required in order to even begin creating the character, their sexuality is not.

Adamantium93 said:
If we are asking people to fully create a fantasy version of themselves (and not just play a pre-defined character) should we not also allow them to actually create a character who alligns with their sexual orientation?
But we're not (and who is we anyway?). Some RPGs allow players to create the kind of character they'd like to travel the world in as a vehicle, but their options are always going to be limited based on what the developers thought was important to include into the game. Sex and romance is not always at the top of the list of priorities, neither is sexuality.

Adamantium93 said:
Like I said, not every game needs to do it, but games that sell themselves on customization and role playing should.
Very few games actually do this; most of them are trying to sell the setting, or the combat, or magic, or dragons or whatever is most impressive looking or painstaking. Blank slate characters are not a reliable selling point to people because they are typically only as valuable as the player treats them. Some people dedicate pages of art or slash fiction to their character, some people can't even remember their names.
 

zombiejoe

New member
Sep 2, 2009
4,108
0
0
Agreed. I really do not see any problem with having gay characters/gay romance options in a game. I can understand the argument if every character is bisexual, but even then I have seen games have that and still pull it off well. To me, a big part of RPGs should be about roleplaying and making your own persona as you play. And while obviously not every RPG goes for this route, I think that those that do should allow you to bone whatever gender you please, if they do allow boning at all.
 

Erttheking

Member
Legacy
Oct 5, 2011
10,845
1
3
Country
United States
NemotheElvenPanda said:
As much I like it how Bioware does make an effort on making LGBT characters, I feel like they've been focusing too much on romances in general to not only where sexuality feels hamfisted, but they're taking too much room on stage from all the other important aspects of their games. People play Bioware games for the world, character development, and story, not romances. I remember in earlier Bioware games that romances weren't advertised or even touched upon, they were just little rewards and easter eggs you could get for taking the time to get to know and connect with your party members. Then there's the issue on having LBGT characters only existing for the PC to experience which makes it feel like these characters are gay for the sake of being gay, and not because it's part of a overall complex and detailed character. It be nice for once to actually have a LGBT party member that you couldn't romance at all so that one trait wouldn't define everything.
You know, I don't get the hamfisted sexuality argument. I mean, I haven't seen that much of Dragon Age 2, but from what I've seen in it the characters don't go "Oh by the way did I mention that I'm gay? Because I'm gay," every three seconds. If a person's sexuality completely defined who they were, you literally should not be able to name anything else about them and they would bring it up every three seconds. And that would be an appallingly bad character. Again I haven't seen much, but I haven't seen anything like that from DA2, or really any Bioware games. Heck, Traynor in ME3 only off handily mentions that she's a lesbian if you go out of your way to woo her (And in the Citadel DLC). I just don't follow your argument.

Would be cool to see a non-romancible gay character though.
 

UberPubert

New member
Jun 18, 2012
385
0
0
fight me in space said:
How are you gonna explain fucking a man?

Even if we squash the beef, I ain't touching your hand.
Oh man, I laughed so hard at this.

DMX - Where the Hood at, those were the days (of casual homophobic remarks, unfortunately)
 

NemotheElvenPanda

New member
Aug 29, 2012
152
0
0
mechalynx said:
That's nice and all, but what would be even nicer if Bioware could actually write a male romance interest without them being dweeby emos. Off the top of my head I can only think of three - Garrus, Jacob and Zevran, who don't at some point devolve into overly sensitive crybabies with abandonment issues, which they promptly transfer on to the PC. Hell, nowadays gay romances are more mature than heterosexual ones for the female PC.

Mind you, I haven't played SW: the Old Republic enough to fully explore the romance options there, so maybe the TOR team wrote some decent relationships. But when it comes to single player RPGs, BioWare might want to remember that their audiences aren't solely composed of tweens.

Edit: forgot Thane. But then BioWare did everything in their power to bury him as fast as possible.
I think the only objectively good and believable male romance, especially a gay one, was Sky from Jade Empire. Not only was he not a emo and stereotypical mess but kept his cavalier, roguish attitude throughout the game no matter your relationship with him, you also kind of had to go out of your way to romance him as a male character a bit more than a female one since, just like in real life, relationships between people of the same-sex doesn't really happen often. That single touch made it incredibly realistic and relatable for me.
 

the_retro_gamer

New member
Apr 8, 2013
51
0
0
The problem comes when you make the character's defining trait as gay. I find that the character is just there to make a social commentary and nothings else. I know that this has been mentioned before but look no further than Fallout New Vegas. Veronica was a lesbian and she only mentioned it once or twice and that was it. It wasn't her defining trait it was just a extra tidbit of information to make the character feel more real.
 

Ratty

New member
Jan 21, 2014
848
0
0
Makabriel said:
SMH

Is it too much to ask that creators be able to tell the stories they way the want to without having to be all inclusive of every minority/orientation/political view, etc? I'm honestly getting tired of wondering which activist group gets to pounce on the next new game.
You mean like how Jennifer Hepler was embraced by the fans for telling the stories she wanted to tell?

But real talk, here is a creator talking about the kind of games he and his people would like to make. Yet because these stories aren't exclusively about straight white men the assumption is they must be doing it out of some evil mandate for "political correctness".

Have you considered that maybe they want to reach a wider demographic with their games beyond teen to middle age straight white men? Or that maybe, just maybe, they want to write stories that could star characters of different types?

And again, this is all optional content in the RPG. No one is going to sit you down and force you to take the same sex game options. If the fact that those options EXIST and that someone else might be enjoying them bothers you so much, you really should stop to ask yourself why that is.

Nicolaus99 said:
"resistance to its inclusion within the game industry is puzzling to him"

Many people don't want to see that sh_t. Same goes for pedophilia, bestiality, mutilation and any number of other perversions. Poll the public if you have the courage. No lead in/steering, 1) Want to see more gay. 2) Want to see less gay.

That's entertainment as a business in a nutshell. Hate on Michael Bay all you want but the public clearly wants to see more. Of course, with the rampant politically correct thought police these days, you'll have to make it an anonymous poll. A fear to speak one's opinion truthfully; isn't an over abundance of tolerance grand?

Just ask California about Proposition 8. Even the most naive conservative would never have bet on such an outcome in California of all places.
That's fucked up bro. I'm sorry you apparently grew up on/still ingest those Rush Limbaugh-levels of hatred and bigotry. Whenever you feel like seriously examining your beliefs and thinking beyond those hateful, illogical slogans the talking heads shout every day the 21st Century will be over here for you.
 

TWEWYFan

New member
Mar 22, 2012
343
0
0
This is ridiculous. Everyone knows that only straight, white males play video games and that the only characters they can identify with are straight, white males. Where does this guy get off acknowledging that other sexualities exist?

Seriously though, the lack of same sex options in games that bill themselves as "role-playing" is a bit sad and it's nice to see someone else point it out.
 

Ratty

New member
Jan 21, 2014
848
0
0
Also it's funny that just this week George R. R. Martin came out talking about how he got requests for gay m/m sex scenes mostly from female readers.

Clearly there is a large audience of straight people who enjoy male/male and female/female romances. This isn't the work of some secret gay organization who torment poor creators into including "their kind" in games, it's simple market demand. And if creators catering to market demand bothers you, you really shouldn't be playing AAA games in the first place.
 

Nimcha

New member
Dec 6, 2010
2,383
0
0
Kinda cool to see all this happening. It would be pretty awesome to have a game where almost all characters are gay! Why not! :D