Poll: Would you still play it if...

[whyhalothar]

If the main protagonist was gay/lesbian? Anyway I got into this debate with my friends, I for one don't really care. While they start whining on how it would "destroy" the game completely. How so? I mean... it's a fictional character in a fictional world who falls in love with another fictional character of the same sex...

[sarcasm]You see, this is why all video game characters should be asexual...[/] So what are your opinions on this?

 

[Don Alejandro]

Depends. If it's done well, sure. Why not? I'm pretty secure in my sexuality, and as long as the protagonist and the other game elements are otherwise likable I'd still play the game.

You see, this is why all video game characters should be asexual... So what are your opinions on this?

I disagree on this point. Removing romance in games merely because they're both fictional characters (As in many plays and novels; the characters there, too, are fictional quite often) seems rather silly. Any kind of romance done well can be a touching or valid plot point, but quite often romances between homosexuals in games and other media seem lacking.

No, not in quantity (Though that, too, is true). In quality. Homosexuality is played as a gimmick, and it really becomes as superficial a point as the race of the lovers in the case because of the ham fisted treatment.

 

[llafnwod]

These story elements are only really useful if the player can relate. No game with a serious plot features, say, an irresistible urge to eat mushrooms as a major protagonist motivation, simply because the players will not be able to relate. There is not (to my knowledge) a particularly high proportion of gay gamers, so I don't really see a reason for it. Even games that feature female leads usually do so to appeal to male gamers.

 

[Geoffrey42]

There is not (to my knowledge) a particularly high proportion of gay gamers, so I don't really see a reason for it.

I would bet that it's about the same proportion as LGBT individuals to heterosexuals in the general populace. Whether that's high or not, I leave up to other surveys to indicate.

@whyhalothar: What's love got to do with it?

Don Alejandro, while to some extent I agree with you, the passive versus interactive experience in plays/novels versus videogames has to be accounted for. There are some games where the character is intentionally set apart from the player, and it is easier to deal with controlling the character in what may be foreign situations. Other games invite the player to project themselves onto the character. Those situations might be a little bit stranger to deal with, if the character you're playing is significantly different from the player. Gordon Freeman remains a blank slate, throughout all of the games, for us to project ourselves onto. Gordon Freeman is me, and everyone else that plays him. If the storyline starts forcing sexual preference onto that blank slate, it is no longer a blank slate for projection, but a template that you have to match to fully meld.

Not sure entirely where I'm going with this, but essentially, in a case where the player has control over the character's sexuality, I think you'll see a lot of experimentation, and role-playing just for fun. If the game chooses for you, but wants you to feel like the character, then there's potential for a mismatch, and non-immersive gameplay. If the game intentionally makes the character fully fleshed, and distinctively NOT the player, then you can really do whatever you want, because the character is not the player.

One last thought: this all goes back to the age old issue of destroying immersion by taking control away from the player, during cut scenes, etc. It's like an Escher drawing, where you're in control, and everything looks one way (I am the dude holding the gun, I just stormed the compound), and then a cutscene hits, and suddenly everything turns itself inside out (Joanna is the babe holding the gun, she just stormed the compound). It's hard to get 100% emotional buy-in without giving the player control, and it's hard to tell a convincing worthwhile story without taking some of the control away.

 

[the_carrot]

Master Chief is gay, and everybody likes halo, I doubt all of those people have a problem with it.

 

[Elguappo]

I think if cleverly done, it could actually make for some funny situations. I think the line I'd draw on playing it is if I'd have to actively pursue another dude, not a whole lot of satisfaction in playing that fantasy out.

 

[LordOmnit]

I think that it always comes back to if the game is well done.
I know that that is a very ambiguous and vague answer, but if the main character is gay, that's just dandy. Does it work?
If it's just, "Oh, well... he's gay," then I don't see it as being a major issue either way, but if it is a major issue, then it has to be dealt with properly, otherwise it's just going to be in the way and screw stuff up.

 

[-TM]

I don't think it'll work. Did many gamers like Brokeback Mountain for its love story? After all, if it's well done, it doesn't matter if they're the same sex, right?
Don't think it'll hold for a lot of games, unless the whole plot is carried over into the absurd/funny area.

Lesbians might work though, but that's because some people play TombRaider for the wrong reasons ;-)

 

[xbeaker]

I don?t think we will see a gay protagonist for a long time. There are several problems with it. First and foremost the developer and publisher is going to be looking at sales. A gay main character could severely hurt sales from homophobic teens not wanted to play a game featuring a gay main character and from uninformed parents who already believe that games are turning their kids in to mindless killers (now they will be turning them into GAY mindless killers to boot!) And these two groups would also have backlash against the publishing company. Look at all the trouble Rockstar had just because of Bully. EA could get away with it because they are so big, but a smaller company would probably gain notoriety as ?The company that made that gay game.?

Then add to that, the most likely reason a company would produce a game featuring a gay main character is *because* it would gain a lot of press. The odds are, any game that used that as it?s hook is not going to very good to begin with. So any game released where that was mentioned would be approached with caution, by me at least.

There is a reason Mass Effect has relationships between Male/Female Female/Male and Female/Female but don?t allow for Male/Male. The idea of lesbian sex can drive a few more sales, gay relationships drive them away.

This also bleeds into the topic Shadow Skill put up about black heroes. It was mentioned that if you never see the character, he or she can be whatever you want. Very few games focus on the sexuality of the protagonist. If you are gay, and want to play Gears of War thinking Dom is more then just a buddy (as the ?Dom Curious? Achievement might imply) then good for you. If you prefer to think of him as a heartless killing machine, that is also fine. Gordon Freeman spends days alone with Alyx and never makes a move. Maybe in some player?s minds he is gay. Games are interactive and ask the player to put part of themselves into them. You are free to fill in all of the blanks you want.

To the main point though, it depends on the game itself. If it turned out Altair were undeniably gay it wouldn?t stop me from picking up the game. But an RPG that focused solely on the struggles of a gay main character probably wouldn?t hold much interest for me as I would not relate as well to him.

 

[gameloftguy]

There is a game for Brokeback mountain?? *rushes out to get it!*

Seriously I don't see an issue with this but I believe my opinion may be colored. I am not a homosexual but I don't mind homosexuals. I team with a few in the MMORPG I play, one regularly (last night was one instance) and while he is open and always flirty it is no big deal. I figure it is just like my being flirtatious with the women who play on the game, so why shouldn't he.

I am sure some would not play due to the sexual orientation, others might play due to the sexual orientation but overall I don't think it would be a major issue, except for extremists on either side who have to politicize everything.

 

[supermanNBC]

I don't mind if the main character is gay or whatever, just as long as they don't go too far with it. What I mean is if you have played Enchanted Arms a character is a transvestite, which I am assuming he is gay. The way they protray him in the game is way too ridiculous. I am an adult with a very disturbing mind and every time he speaks I just crack out start laughing, even my roommate has come in and read what this guy says and he laughs as well. Gay people do not talk like that at all. Enchanted arms gameplay is actually really good, thought that character really ruins the game for me, not the fact thats hes gay, but the way he talks.....leaves mid sentence.....HOLY CRAP...BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN VIDEO GAME....rushes to EB....

Well anyways, if a company is gonna have a gay protangonist, at least have him protrayed as a normal person, not some fancy boy from queens.

 

[Arbre]

Regarding the thread's question, it's hard to say.

There'd be a big chance that the game would be sold by treating this feature as a gimmick.

As long as women have sexual relations with other women, it's ok, that's make more women to look at.
But men with men, huh, that's gross.
This bit above, of course, being a sarcastic n+1th degree rated joke.

 

[runtheplacered]

We haven't even gotten to the point where they're making black protagonists.. let alone gay ones. Which is sad, to say the very least, but it's reality. To answer the question, yes I would play the game despite the ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other labels they would like to attach to the protagonist, because at least it wouldn't be the old stale, tried and not too true muscle bound, white, silent guy type. Although Final Fantasy has been close a few times with some of their main characters, however they never really got over the metro sexual hump.

 

[capcom_konami]

If it was a game with a high emphasis on story, then... yeah it would make me stop playing if a a major character was gay. If I found out Snake was gay, I wouldn't play Metal Gear Solid anymore. If I found out that Wesker or Leon were gay I wouldn't play Resident Evil anymore.

 

[Chilango2]

It's unfortunate that, things being the way they are, a male gay character would likely be done just for the gimmick of it, or the shock value. Similar to how lesbianism is often handled, except for whereas Lesbianism is supposed to be a turn on, or somesuch, a gay relationship would likelier be played for comedic effect, or something similar.

In general, I myself wouldn't care, wouldn't mind, and am honestly disturbed by anybody who *does* mind.

 

[Num43]

I couldnt care less really, he can be into donkey porn if that what rocks his boat if the game is good enough I'll play it.

 

[Don Alejandro]

Don Alejandro, while to some extent I agree with you, the passive versus interactive experience in plays/novels versus videogames has to be accounted for. There are some games where the character is intentionally set apart from the player, and it is easier to deal with controlling the character in what may be foreign situations. Other games invite the player to project themselves onto the character. Those situations might be a little bit stranger to deal with, if the character you're playing is significantly different from the player. Gordon Freeman remains a blank slate, throughout all of the games, for us to project ourselves onto. Gordon Freeman is me, and everyone else that plays him. If the storyline starts forcing sexual preference onto that blank slate, it is no longer a blank slate for projection, but a template that you have to match to fully meld.

On Gordon Freeman: He's not so much of a blank slate as of Episode 2, but I see where you're going with this and agree for the most part. But generally games that have a romance story don't really let you play a blank slate or have a slate-able character, they're very much scripted in storyline. Sort of like how playing your average JRPG is like reading an amateurish play script, I suppose. There's not much you can do to change it. In Half-Life character interaction was basically moot, and in F.E.A.R. it was more ham fisted than a boxing pig. It just seems to me that romance subplots really wouldn't fit for blank slate characters, and I haven't really seen a game that really tries to do this.

Now Baldur's Gate II did have an interesting optional romance sideplot, but there weren't gay or lesbian choices. Of course this always will boil down to sales (Free Market, gotta love it, right?).

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Master Chief is gay, and everybody likes halo, I doubt all of those people have a problem with it.

If by "gay" you mean he's into holographic AIs, maybe...

Like others have posted above, sexual orientation of characters doesn't really bother me so long as it's pertinent to the game/story and well executed. If it's gratuitous or stupid, I'd probably drop the game as pointless exploitation probably for lame shock value.

-- Steve

 

[The Irrelevant Gamer]

Any game in which sexual preference matters should leave that preference up to the player, and have viable options for heterosexual, and homosexual choices. I figure if developers are going to include an optional romance subplot the least they can do is give the player a choice of who he/she wants to pursue.

If suddenly in Episode 3 Gordon Freeman express his love for Alex shouldn't there be an option for the people who are hot for Barney?

I would still play a game in which the protagonist is gay, but I don't think sexual preference should be forced on a player in the fist place.

 

[gameloftguy]

If it was a game with a high emphasis on story, then... yeah it would make me stop playing if a a major character was gay. If I found out Snake was gay, I wouldn't play Metal Gear Solid anymore. If I found out that Wesker or Leon were gay I wouldn't play Resident Evil anymore.

So if the storyline remained basically the same, including dialogue, yet the main turned out to be gay you would play it?