Skyrim Legalizes Gay Marriage

[WolfThomas]

Okay Escapist should my gay-warrior be based off Omar from the Wire or Midnighter from the Authority?

 

[IamGamer41]

Wait, so they took something completely useless from the Fable games and added it in? Sounds like a step back if you ask me.

But this begs another question...Will I be able to just bone anyone I want or do I have to tie the knot with them first?

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Dark Elf harem?

Darn, stole my idea

 

[Harbinger_]

Cool? I guess? Honestly though is this really such a big deal? I honestly thought to myself when I was looking through stuff on this game prior to finding this out. "Well at least they aren't like every other RPG out there that throws relationship elements in your face." I can't say that any more and that makes me sad. Whats next? Love-affairs between T block and Square block in Tetris?

 

[Erana]

But can I have a healthy non-sexual relationship in Skyrim? I don't like mandatory bonkings, and while we're talking orientations, I would like the asexual, hetero-romantic demographic to get to play. :3

Seeing as asexuals make up something like 1% of the population, I don't see us being a demographic that anyone thinks about ever.
Maybe they'll just tactfully step away from referencing boning because it's unnecessary. But failing that, you could always stick your fingers in your ears, squeeze your eyes real tight and pretend they are just hugging a lot.

Anyway.

I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It kind of seems like taking the easy way out.
I mean, yeah, good that it's not all hetero all the time, but would it be so hard to give your characters an orientation. "EVERYONE IS PANSEXUAL" is pretty much declaring you are giving up early on the off chance you fuck it up and offend somebody.

I was making a joke about how sex is handled in in-game marriages by bringing up my own orientation.

But if you're going to insist that minorities aren't worth the time simply because of their smaller numbers, I take it you aren't familiar with this recent Escapist news article [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.272766-Dragon-Age-2-Lead-Writer-Blasts-Homophobic-Fan].

I mean, Jesus Christ. Asexuality is not antisexuality. Is it really so hard to spend two minutes on Google to not spread misconceptions?

 

[tjcross]

Why does there even need to be marriage in Skyrim to begin with? In Oblivion you were a lone wolf hero. Sure, you could own houses, towers, and kingdoms, but it doesn't make sense to tag along a wife or husband (or now "partner") into keeps to only attract more vampires and undead.

dunno if someone got to this already but the marriage system is nonessential meaning skyrim didn't NEED it but they added it for the people who care if you don't care or or want to be a lone wolf then just don't get married you won't loss anything other than a companion and some side-quests (btw be thankful i reread my comments or you would of gotten a shit ton of irrational anger from misinterpreting your comment)

 

[tjcross]

FABLE DID IT! FABLE DID IT!

yes FABLE DID IT! FABLE DID IT! horribly with little emotional connection (honestly my marrages were always either you bastard i'm not getting paid enough for this or i love you honey lets bonk/here's a gift) but you're right fable did it but then again in fallout 2 you could be a gay pornstar and one of the ultima games let you be gay(albeit you couldn't marry but you were saving your village and the world respectively) and they came out before fable.

 

[alandavidson]

That sounds great. And the way they put it is great as well, "no big deal". Because it isn't.

 

[tjcross]

God I hate the writer of these sometimes.

Obvious bias is extremely obvious. Seriously.

This is not the first game to let you marry anyone you wanted to. This isn't the first game to let you marry whoever you want to and take them along with you. And its not the first game to try a useless mechanic try to seem like its a cornerstone for the game.

It will pretty much divulge into a "Press triangle press square moan-and-groan". Except inbetween that, you can go to a dungeon - a feature that has been done before in other Bethesda games (Fallout, anyone?) and the feature to have a companion degraded the gameplay, not added to it. Similar features exist in games that are highly praised (like banging people in your party), which once again - added nothing to the gameplay.

Its a useless feature. It won't add anymore to your immersion than Fable's marriage system or Fallout's partner system did. Its one of those features that gets tacked onto games of this genre today because games that advertise gimmicks like these get more publicity and sell better.

and how exactly it degraded gameplay? just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's useless i had family in every fable and pretty happy with this feature it's all about if you can immerse yourself in to this feature enough or not. "added nothing to the gameplay" for you maybe don't forget there are other people that will want this so no harm done, you just ignore it if you don't like it but don't deny it to people who is looking forward to it it's a win win situation. they don't force you to do anything.

Read more carefully. The companion system was already done in Fallout 3 (and New Vegas, which isn't a full-blown Bethesda game, but we'll count it for the sake of arguement). The companion system in both games was pretty awful. The partner was nothing more than shield. Your partner was nearly impossible to kill in most circumstances, which adds a level of unbalance if you have something that can continuously spray bullets and not die, and they were pretty much all programmed to be Rambo. They'd jump in and kill most of the stuff for you. Even New Vegas, which introduced new commands to make your companion better usually just festered into a nigh-invincible bullethose.

It doesn't add anything to gameplay because it doesn't add anything to gameplay. Its all going to be NPC's with stock personalities and sayings. There might be a few NPC's that differ from this, but its going to end up being like every relationship mechanic that's ever been incorperated. Its either going to be useless - where you get a stock NPC who you can show affection for and treat as an extra bag, or you'll get key NPC's to marry that unlock different and special things. These key NPC's will more than likely require something special or a quest, and the only way to know this is to have a strategy guide open. The second case is less of a marriage, and more of a way of disguising quests. If you want to marry me for this awesome sword, go kill X for me.

um at lvl 20 charon was killed by a death claw and butch died somewhere around lvl 12 and they stayed dead so i don't understand the invincible bullet hoses you are referring to (in nv if you are playing regular they ko then pop up after the fight but in hardcore they stay dead also in the higher levels you have so much loot that you are practically invincible at around 25 i 1shot killed a quarry deathclaw) and your second paragraph does have some good points but you can't judge something until you've experienced it who knows skyrim might use a new system that actually is realistic (you and lovey go to a good spot talk for a bit while eating maybe exchange gifts) or they might just be extra quest givers who knows those who look forward to this are optimists and you are a pessimist trying to spoil their anticipation and enjoyment of imagining this new system. damn if only i could write this much when essays roll around

 

[Rule Britannia]

Relationships do not interest me in video games whatsoever. I guess it's cool the element is there anyway but I'd rather it not. sort of a self contridictory sentence there.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I think the thing about the issue of same-sex relationships in videogames that irritates me is literally that is IS an issue. And this is something I blame both extremist sides of the debate for. On the one hand, sure, angry homophobes can't handle the idea that Anders might hit on them in Dragon Age II. But the fact that this fan is accusing Skyrim of 'being silent on the topic' is not helping anything either. It's conflating everything to the point of being 'with us or against us' that polarises debate in this manner. I think Bethesda should be applauded for simply putting it in the game without fanfare, as opposed to the Lady Gaga style of ostentatious publicity seeking. It's the way the world is nowadays. Those of us who have brains located in our head and not our anus accept people of any sexuality for who they are, and don't feel that not making a big deal about their presence is tantamount to not including them at all.

 

[Thoric485]

The thing i don't like about this is that characters aren't made with a set personality and sexual preference, but adjust to the player's gender.

So they're not straight, gay, lesbian or bi-sexual, they're all... protagonist-sexual. And that's bland, lame and quite frankly immersion breaking.

 

[OrenjiJusu]

There better not be a 360 achievement for gay marriage.

Acheivement unlocked - Civil Ceremony
5g

 

[GenericPCUser]

The thing i don't like about this is that characters aren't made with a set personality and sexual preference, but adjust to the player's gender.

So they're not straight, gay, lesbian or bi-sexual, they're all... protagonist-sexual. And that's bland, lame and quite frankly immersion breaking.

Baby steps. First it's no-homo, then it's all protagonist choice, then it finds a way to balance out. The problem with your idea is that it means creating a character that is specifically gay or straight, and for a triple-A gaming company to do something like that means that they are making a choice to include gay people whether you want them or not.

Chances are NPC's won't be gay unless the player wants them to be, that way people who don't want gay people in their Skyrim won't have them, while those who do can have them.

I can't really think of any recent triple-A game where one of the primary characters were specifically homosexual, Dragon Age II excluded.

 

[JimmyFury]

Imagine if Deus Ex: Human Revolution for some reason were to feature the ability to convert to Christianity (just Christianity, mind - not Islam or Hinduism, for the sake of discussion) with the resulting abilities to pray to recover health faster, summon guardian angels to fight for you, and return from the dead. Even assuming this was perfectly balanced, the mere presence of such a one-sided politico-religious world element in (a non-niche) game would likely be met with derision, scorn, and hatred from atheist gamers worldwide.

Bit tardy but I wanted to point out one thing very quickly.
Notice how your theoretical only works when you impose an analogy breaking restriction on it?
Excluding the ability to convert to other religions broke your comparison. Skyrim didn't institute only homosexual relationships. It was included alongside hetero and bisexuality. Possibly even alongside asexuality depending on just how much control we have over the sexual nature of the relationships with npcs.
I digress. I just wanted to point out that flaw in your argument.

 

[Lerasai]

This sounds awesome. I have to admit, in Oblivion I got pretty lonely all by myself out in the wilderness (and in creepy caves) and coming home only to my hoard of useless items. From the number of mods dedicated to having a companion (let alone a *romantic* companion) I'm certain this feature will be well-received by tons of people.

Plus, the promise of guy on guy romance will definitely get quite a few yaoi-lovin' gals to buy the game. You might not think they are a big group, but trust me; they're like pervy ninjas lurking in the shadows. Wanting you to boink other dudes.

 

[svenjl]

I will probably play through first as a straight male or a lesbian female warrior type. I do enjoy the odd in-game bonk, but hopefully marriage isn?t a pre-requisite for companionship and fireside lovin?. I hope Bethesda has factored in friendships too in terms of quest companions. Bit of bromantic men-in-the-wilderness platonic bonding is important, for example. All in all, a fantastic concept to have a companion (or perhaps more than one, please?) to roam the wilds and fight back to back with. I sense some epic moments of heroism and sadness. Woe betide the enemy that slays my lover/companion ? their heads will swing merrily in the wind on my front porch :-D

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Seeing as asexuals make up something like 1% of the population, I don't see us being a demographic that anyone thinks about ever.
Maybe they'll just tactfully step away from referencing boning because it's unnecessary. But failing that, you could always stick your fingers in your ears, squeeze your eyes real tight and pretend they are just hugging a lot.

I was making a joke about how sex is handled in in-game marriages by bringing up my own orientation.

But if you're going to insist that minorities aren't worth the time simply because of their smaller numbers, I take it you aren't familiar with this recent Escapist news article [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.272766-Dragon-Age-2-Lead-Writer-Blasts-Homophobic-Fan].

I mean, Jesus Christ. Asexuality is not antisexuality. Is it really so hard to spend two minutes on Google to not spread misconceptions?

I was being wry. It was more jokes.
My jokes were adding to your jokes. What I just said was a really dumb thing to say, how could it not be facetious.

This keeps happening.