Should Every Game Allow You to Choose Your Gender?

[lapan]

If you want your main character to be bland, have little personality, and sabotage the narrative of your game - by all means let the player choose the gender.

Only Mass Effect has been able to have a strong customizable character, and that's due to both good writing and excellent voice acting. No other game comes close.

If it's a game that's more about the content than the story like Skyrim then a blank customizable character is fine. But if you want your game to be narrative driven, a customizable character sabotages this goal.

Better to have a game like The Witcher where your character is already a character and then they let you choose stuff than a game where the main character is so characterless that even their gender can be switched without any impact to the story.

Also Yahztee, you got DANGEROUSLY close to addressing Gamergate!

Clearly someone's never played Saints Row...

No, I haven't. So good, there's two examples. The rest of my words remain true.

Do you have an example of a customizable main character interfering with the narrative?

White Knight Chronicles.

So two games indicating it works fine, and one that doesnt. Any others?

And would the story of the Witcher really change much beyond pronouns if Geralt was a woman?

Geralt could not have the same personality as a female, or it simply wouldn't fit. The relationships with other characters and the relationship dynamics and motivations wouldn't be the same, unless you're going the Dragon Age 2 route and making every character inexplicably bisexual. Come to think of it, use Dragon Age 2 as another example.

Would you care to elaborate? What about Geralt's personality is exclusively male?

And for the record, out of the nine companions in Dragon Age 2, only four were bisexual (Five if you count Tallis from Mark of the Assassin, and then it's still only half of the companions).

The main problem about making Gerald a female would be that he is an adaption of a novel series. Original characters would be better examples

 

[likalaruku]

Only if it's a sandbox/sandpark game. If the game is very story-driven with a predefined antagonist & no character customization, then there's really no definite need, though having the option to play a butch chick or feminine man in place of a feminine woman or manly man would certainly suit my taste & make it a little more fun.

 

[Duffadash]

Syberia, and to a lesser degree, The Longest Journey only works with a female protagonist. The focus on the characters' backstories and the slow change in personalities really only work with females in the context of the games.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Like Yahtzee says, there's almost no games out there where being a woman is relevant. Males get treated better than that.

But how does one make a female's gender specifically relevant to a game in the fps/action/adventure/rpg/etc genres that dominate the industry?
Mother rescuing her children? But if you threw that idea at a publisher they'd just convert it to father rescuing his children since male protagonists sell better and make for slightly more convincing men-of-action.

But if there's no point in the gender one way, or the other, then why not have both genders be available? Make your work a bit more welcoming in exchange for it being shallow? Of course its optional, but expecting people to like it when you only pick one gender when the plot doesn't call for gender, is not going to go well.

Because designing, coding and animating an extra gender isn't free and effortless. "Why not just have optional stuff catering to EVERYONE?" is a very easy question to ask when you're not the one having to create all that. At that rate people will start asking every game two have multiple genders and at least 4 races (of all those genders) because it's apparently just so easy. Where does it end?

Sure if we're talking about an indie game using basic sprites/models then having tons of inclusive options isn't an issue, but the cost skyrockets if we're talking about AAA games using current/next-gen graphics. I mean when looking at something like The Witcher, a female option would involve cost/effort that I can't even begin to imagine. When you're sitting there as a dev for the 100th hour animating the woman's cheekbones (or something) you begin to wonder "exactly how many people are even going to play as her? Is this worth it?". If a dev doesn't ask that question, the publisher certainly will.

After Mass Effect had only something like ~18% playing as female Shepherd I think Bioware had to stay pretty damn determined to keep offering full-fledged female options. But not every dev is Bioware, not every dev has a corporate monster like EA backing them. They either have to create something that sells or shoot their own profits in the foot.

I don't fault you for wanting more female protagonists/options, it's perfectly understandable. But you'll having to keep putting up with this for a very long time to come

 

[softclocks]

Thank you Yahtzee, for managing a piece where you don't attack either side.

The Escapist needs it considering its prior unfounded attack on 'gamers'.

 

[Serioli]

Replace all protagonists with Dralasites?

<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dralasite>These things

 

[XDSkyFreak]

[/quote]

First in The Witcher...There are no female Witchers, there is a lore reason you learn in the first game, but i'm not remembering now. So yep, to play a game called The Witcher as a Witcher, you would have to be male. The "female type" are the Sorcerers in that lore, but the thing would be different, since even mistrusted a sorcerer is not really viewed as badly as a Witcher, who is basically a useful pariah. And changing the character would impact the game, specially the ending of the first one, since you can choose the Human path, the Scoia'tel Path...Or the Witcher path. The second part of the crux is that you HAVE to take sides, and that is something that Witchers hate to do, so, it adds to the drama, Geralt being a cynical, sarcastic and selfish character just adds to the drama...Since he really don't care about someones agenda...It's hard to when everyone hates you already.

Actualy there is ONE case of a female witcher. Well, a partial female witcher. She has the training of a witcher, but she could not go through the mutations. Her name is Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (Ciri for short), and she is going to be the crux of the story in witcher 3 due to her connection with both Geralt, Yennefer and the Wild Hunt (hell she even shows up in the trailer), as well as her unique nature in the witcher universe. And if you had payed attention to the plot of Witcher 1 and Witcher 2, both games have massive references to her character and her connection to Geralt and Yennefer. They are just a bit hard to spot at times . (go back to chapter 4 in witcher one and ask the inkeeper to tell you a story).

On-toppic: Trust yahtzee to give us a buble of sanity.

The only other thing I want to add is this: Ok, so if a characters gender doesn't matter to the plot, then the dev should put a gender switch in, right? 2 problems: This means extra work and funds (not huge amounts like ubi lied, but still nees these 2 things) and since this is an aspect that doesn't affect the game or the story at all, it's something that is placed lowest on the priority list. So when the deadline comes and this feature isn't in, what will the dev do? Delay the game to add this unimportant element? Wil he even be alloweed to by the publisher? No, of course not. The gender swtich will get cut first thing. The second problem is this: some devs simply don't see the reason to do it. Some devs don't care. Some devs are lazy. This is something you can't change, this is something that is fixed with time.

TBH, whenever I see agame offer the gender switch, but that does nothing to affect the game in any way, I just see it as pointless pandering. The only exception to this rule for me are sandbox games, because those are all about freedom, so freedom to be whatever you like in them is a good thing (hello diamond skined genderless alien turned criminal mastermind of the 3rd street saints). But in any other game where you can just randomly flip from male to female and it changes nothign beyond what your character looks and sounds like ... what is even the point beyond cheap pandering. I mean beeing a female in those games does nothing, it portrays no female traits or strenghts or anything, it's just the same blank cardboard cutout with either meat or coconuts atached. Worse still is the shit Diablo 3 pulls out of it's ass: Yeah, we have these clases but some are guys and some are girls. Why? No reason, but we are inclusive! No, you're actually less inclusive than the blank cardboard pandering games. And that's a new low.

 

[Aurion]

One of the better EP columns, I think.

I'm really rather confused about how the whole thing about "diversity in games" became "more vaginas in games" at times; it seems like advocating for less blank slates voiced by Nolan North and more interesting characters be they male or female or whatever other permutations that may or may not exist has somehow managed to fall by the wayside.

Instead, we want blank slate characters voiced by the female equivalent of Nolan North (please god let this person not exist) because female characters for everyone? I'm half convinced that the whole thing is an excuse for the games industry to slap some boobs on a character model and take a afternoon nap after their blistering innovation session.

On the one hand it feels like the industry is getting away with murder with the above apparently being all they have to do now... but on the other hand they can't even seem to manage that.

"Maybe the game developer just wants a character to be a generic cipher, so they make them a white male, because that's what they themselves are, and it's what generic means to them. To demand diversity for characters that are essentially blank placeholders is to put way more thought into it than the creator did."

Probably, but it's still BORING. So BORING. I can't even tell most game protagonists apart anymore. Where are our Marios and Sonics and I don't know. Now there is Watch Dogs "iconic cap". YAWN.

Generic is often used as a synonym for boring, yeah.

 

[blackrave]

Depends on the game really
If game is story driven, I's prefer to have certain character (see Witcher for example)
The fact that romantic interest never called Shepard "John" was a bit strange for me

On the other hand if game is a sandbox with bland character then give us all the characterization in the world

 

[Robbo]

So I was reading through some of this and noticed someone was banned permanently for posting in here. Followed his discussion and holy crap why? Seems the people that a lot of posts here mention (the ones who will abuse anyone who doesn't agree on this topic) is one of the moderators/admins.

How is this a ban?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.860732.21401650

I haven't posted here in forever and I guess this is why.

Yahtzee mentions freed speech in his article, shame his article is on a site that lacks it.

I understand this guy was on his last warning or something but still.

 

[Robbo]

So I was reading through some of this and noticed someone was banned permanently for posting in here. Followed his discussion and holy crap why? Seems the people that a lot of posts here mention (the ones who will abuse anyone who doesn't agree on this topic) is one of the moderators/admins.

How is this a ban?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.860732.21401650

I haven't posted here in forever and I guess this is why.

Yahtzee mentions freed speech in his article, shame his article is on a site that lacks it.

I understand this guy was on his last warning or something but still.

I would assume because of the multiple personal attacks, like calling someone delusional is a pretty good reason to give someone a warning. The warning system does the rest; multiple warnings result in an autoban, which is like an autobahn, but less fun.

I'm not sure why nobody ever seems to be getting warnings for calling people hateful towards women simply for wanting to discuss videogames.

Because that it is what misogyny means. Hate for women. It's the most offensive thing I've been reading for a while, that I hate women.

Hmm fair enough. Maybe they should be adding reasons to the posts with bans. Would show why they were banned and also give other posters examples of what not to do.

 

[Haru17]

Outside of games like the last of us where the characters are so well crafted and tie into their gender roles, there's nothing wrong with having gender select options. It requires a new model be created and, if the game is voiced, for a new voice actor to be cast, but all that effort only improves the game, adding functionality and value.

Gender didn't matter for Mass Effect, I don't see why it matters for games like Uncharted, Halo, or Zelda.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

Agreed, up to a point.

In general I have trouble with the whole "identifying" thing. Honestly, what does it even mean anymore? For some it means that you feel like you're the main character in the game, for others it means to put themselves in the shoes of that character.

Neither applies to me. I don't play a character or game to pretend I'm that character and I rarely pick a character because I can put myself in their shoes.

I pick characters because of their thought-provoking actions, or their unusual situations (which are miles away from my own) or their creative writing. The characters I've played have done both unspeakable things which I could never get behind and have led lives that are more interesting than my own ever will be.

So I don't care about the arguments of identifying with an audience. It's about creativity and the white burly dude is about as far as you can get from that at the moment.

 

[Elexia]

I feel if it's a kind of game where you aren't in control of the story and events to great effect, the choice for gender isn't neccessary because it'd be like reading a novel and going at it with a red pen to change things. The story was written specifically for that character alone. I happily play games like Phoenix Wright or COD and accept the default character choice because I'm just along for the ride so to speak.

If it's something like an RPG, sandbox, simulator or MMO where a great many hours/days are invested into an organic game where there isn't a set linear plot, I appreciate the choice of gender. I am female so if I want to feel like I'm inserting myself into the game world I'd pick a female.

I played a few of these free-choice kind of games then wanted to be a female manager of a team in FIFA14. Boy was I let down.


If games are art let's look at it this way - a two-dimensional paiting usually only needs to be viewed from one angle. A sculpture, however, requires multiple angles to fully capture the essence of it. I feel that's the same for gender in games in a way.