Mass Effect 2's Nudity Level Decided by Dictatorship

[Callate]

This would be a better article if the last paragraph had been omitted. The news is the part that came from the mouth of someone who has an impact on the content in Bioware games and gives insight into where the person who makes those decisions is coming from. The last paragraph is the author's opinion, and belongs in an editorial. It only serves to cloud the informative portion of the piece and cause confusion as to what comes from Bioware and what comes from the author.

Extremely unprofessional, Mr. Goldman.

 

[Penitent]

I could probably understand everyone's complaints in this thread about Bioware taking things on a dictatorship level....if the topic in question (by Bioware, at least) was about game or story and not naked sex.

Seriously, guys! Pick your battles wisely.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Guys stop growing mentally at the age of 13 when it comes to this stuff XD id still giggle inside when someone says penis heh and i'm 24

"Game development is not a collaborative effort between developers and gamers; it is a dictatorship, where we alone determine what content goes into our game. You the player make the choice whether that content is acceptable to you (and/or your family) or not."

lol that makes me laugh, he fails to understand where the money from his paycheck comes from. But he has a point. Just went about it the wrong way of expressing it.

 

[GeekFury]

Funny how no one seems to be screaming blue murder at the lack of sex scenes in the BioWare classic Neverwinter Nights ( Not the sequel. ) I mean theres 2 brothels in that game and in one of them you can have sex with a 'courtesan' ( Prostitute to everyone else. ), all that happens though is the screen goes black then you, when it cuts back you're awake stripped of armour but in your loincloth and the woman falls down. Those where the days!

 

[Do4600]

I was more disappointed at the lack of content after the "sex scene". I mean in the kind of relationship Shepard is having, there would be more in depth talk after a sexual episode. Many people are more protective of deep secrets than their sexuality; those barriers usually come down after sexual encounters.

I suppose most would consider the "sex scene" the payoff or the end of the road, but this is a cerebral experience not a physical one, I wanted deep, dark secrets damnit!

 

[Jennacide]

Not only is Woo right, but the scenes in ME2 aimed for a different crowd, one I happen to be a part of. The scenes in the first game were basically just "we might die, let's fuck." But the scenes with Thane were heartbreaking. He's such a cold hearted killer, and it kills him that he cares about someone again. I literally cried a little when he showed up in my room.

 

[Outamyhead]

All I can say is, I agree with Woo's stand on this, down to the purchaser of the product and who they let play the game.

 

[The Warden]

Look, I don't care about the sex, I just want to see Tali's faaaaaaaace.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

If you want sex, there's 9 billion pornographic websites on the internet where you can find anything and everything your heart desires. There's no need to have it in games, honestly.

 

[misfit119]

Woo always did strike me as being more than a bit of an ass on the forums. His attitude has always rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, technically he's right, Bioware puts what they want in the game, we decide to buy it or not. But if Bioware gets too uppity and doesn't listen to the audience at all, they will find themselves selling a lot fewer games. From that point of view, the game creation is a collaborative process... if they are smart.

Regardless, it was a pretty arrogant way to say "We really felt this was the best way to do this for the game". That's really all he needed to say to justify the whole thing. But I've sort of always perceived him as being kind of an arrogant sort. That whole "End of line!" crap he posts on every thread he locks just pisses me off for some reason.

Actually he sounds like even more of an ass here than usual. Every. Single. Aspect. of ME2 is OBVIOUSLY influenced by what the fans thought. There's none of this "we put it in and if you like it good, if not toss off!" when you actually look at the damn game.

Everyone whined about the Mako, so it's gone. Now something similar is going to be DLC where you can either get it or not. Sounds like the fans had an impact. Fans didn't like the cooldown because it "slowed down the fighting" so they introduced weapon clips. Fans pissed and moaned about the inventory being too clunky? Poof, it's gone entirely.

I love me Bioware and I love me Mass Effect 2 but Stanley Woo is just a jackass. End of line!

But to the issue at hand it's clear that they did censor the scenes, regardless of whatever they're saying. However I'd definitely be willing to buy that they were trying to be a bit more artistic if not for the overly silly Dragon Age sex scenes. Bioware needs to just cut away and stop trying to be sexy if they're going to have characters looking silly about it. I thought Jacks Paragon romance, Tali and Miranda were all fairly well done. But the others... ehn. They should have just showed some kissing, cuddling and pulling away for all of them with some variances. It can be romantic without being sexual.

TL;dr: If you're going to pansy out go the whole freaking way.

 

[boholikeu]

"Game development is not a collaborative effort between developers and gamers; it is a dictatorship, where we alone determine what content goes into our game. You the player make the choice whether that content is acceptable to you (and/or your family) or not."

To me it just seems wrong to call game development a dictatorship. Sure the developers decide what goes into the game, but when you call it a dictatorship it sounds like you're ignoring player feedback completley. Though that's probably not the message that he meant to send.

It's kind of strange to hear a game developer say this, as I have always believed the best games can be made when you listen to the well thought out suggestions of your fans.

Surly sitting around going "this is good, shut up" would be bad for business...
Funny thing, though, this dictatorship apparently decided to trawl the Internet for every comment they could find about the first Mass Effect in order to "refine" the series.

Something doesn't seem right...

While I understand your point, it seems to me that this way of thinking is what's holding back the video game medium. Listening to the general public is good if you're trying to make a summer blockbuster, but you definitely need a "dictatorship" in order to make the next Citizen Kane.

 

[The Random One]

To me, sex scenes in a game or movie are almost pointless, sometimes only included for the thrill, not to add to the story.

Books are even worse. There, I said it.

 

[Tom Goldman]

I agree with him, the misuse of the word mature sometimes annoys me. Mostly because it's spelled by people with brats mentality, I'm glad to say I agree with him entirely, for plain Pr0n0s, there are plenty of places to get it, this could never be the subject of a really good game... and I'm saying this without liking ME2, it's not a game for me.

 

[DestroytheTyrant]

I agree, the sex scene in ME1 and Dragon Age were really awckward to watch and pulled me out of the experience.

 

[richasr]

Depending on how you go about Mass Effect 2, Shepherd has become more of a man-whore than anything, there are more than just the one choice of people you can sleep with, even if you do have to choose which one character is your main love interest.

Bioware can do what they want, but they should develop relationships between characters a lot better than they are doing.

 

[DC1]

From the title, I thought the North Koreans were deciding how much sex to put in ME2.