Tracer confirmed first LGBT character

[Deleted]

You know, even as a straight man I was hoping for something more daring than Tracer. Any of the male characters for example.
Making Tracer lesbian isn't really pandering to the LGBT community, but to the straight male community... I mean who doesn't find that sexy?

Gay male characters are more daring to do and will offend far more people.

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How about let's not care about her sexuality, and focus on the fact it's a comic showing two lovers sharing a very happy and warm moment (That not just gays, but straights also could relate to) during the holidays.

Who cares about Tracer! Who's Torbjörn with and are they banging? Are they making little bearded crossbreeds?

[Xerra]

There are many pages so I haven't seen if anyone has brought this up but as I don't play Over Watch I thought Tracer had to use that body harness to maintain her anchor to this dimension yet seems like its just gear in this comic. Did Winston fix her so she doesnt need stuff to prevent her from jumping dimensions?

[Pendulous]

There are many pages so I haven't seen if anyone has brought this up but as I don't play Over Watch I thought Tracer had to use that body harness to maintain her anchor to this dimension yet seems like its just gear in this comic. Did Winston fix her so she doesnt need stuff to prevent her from jumping dimensions?

It's a chronal accelerator, and yes, she basically needs it to stay within space and time. However, after this comic released, Overwatch's Twitter confirmed she only needs it nearby for its ability to affect her. Makes sense. She's not Ironman, it's not literally her heart.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Does it mean Overwatch will be banned in Russia and China?

The comic isn't in-game, so probably not. Now the comic itself might be blocked, but people will doubtless find ways to circumvent that.

[zephid]

The obvious choice would have been Zarya not Tracer.

Which is probably why they didn't go with that.

[God Save The King]

I was hoping for a slew of triggered neck beards and fake Christians, I was not disappointed.

Merry Christmas, your salt will go well with the turkey

Casual. Everyone knows ham is bae for Christmas.

[Zandalarian Paladin]

You know, even as a straight man I was hoping for something more daring than Tracer. Any of the male characters for example.
Making Tracer lesbian isn't really pandering to the LGBT community, but to the straight male community... I mean who doesn't find that sexy?

Gay male characters are more daring to do and will offend far more people.

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Who cares about Tracer! Who's Torbjörn with and are they banging? Are they making little bearded crossbreeds?

In their defense, they did say they had multiple LGBT characters. I suspect they have at least one gay male character somewhere in there.

The comic isn't in-game, so probably not. Now the comic itself might be blocked, but people will doubtless find ways to circumvent that.

The comic is banned in Russia right now. Just the comic, however.

[Post]

Wasn't forced at all, wasn't the main in-your-face thing, it was just there NBD. Well done Blizzard. Even had some sad stuff in there and dropped lore hints.

[Rojaha]

Tracer is cheating on Widow!?

[delus]

In their defense, they did say they had multiple LGBT characters. I suspect they have at least one gay male character somewhere in there.



The comic is banned in Russia right now. Just the comic, however.

Ah, but there is a limited number of gay characters they can actually have. While a common misconception that one in four individuals identify as lesbian or gay the actual number is probably around 4 or 5%. That leaves a rather slim margin with 23 heroes. Naturally there would be some room for error with the characters being a specific group but it would be unlikely for more than 3 characters, 4 if they want to ship a gay /bi male romance and a transgender individual. Two lesbians would be pushing it if they want to be all-inclusive.
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...gbt-population

Now having said that I do hope that Roadhog and Junkrat are more than friends.

[Bluespiderman57]

It's not just a shooter, it is a shooter, a motion comic book and a set of CGI mini films and in all of these the lore, character and relationships are what drove the material forward. In all comics the character becomes more human and defined by having a cast of normal people to have relationships with, it makes them fuller characters and drives the narrative. The aunt may to the Spider-Man, the jimmy olson to the Supermam, the Alfred to the batman and the Foggy Nelson to the Daredevil. Extended cast roots the character in reality and enhances the entire product.

This isn't just a shooter, this is a character driven licensed product that expresses itself in many different media. If it was just a shooter we would have characters named Medic, soldier, sniper, spy, engineer, scout and heavy weapon guy, their roles and not names like Reaper, Winston, McCree, Symmetra, Anna, Pharah and Tracer. Names of characters, not roles.

Pretty much this. I'm really surprised people are so caught off guard by this. It was obvious since the first cinematic trailer that the universe would extend far beyond the game. They introduced a history of the world and showed a few glimpses of societies thoughts of the heroes. And every video they have released since then has expanded that world.

Also, as someone pointed out earlier, there is a reason they didn't do this in Warcraft. In that world, when you weren't fighting, you spent your time doing whatever it is you need to survive in a Medieval setting. Sure it has bunch of steampunk/high fantasy elements in it, but the majority of the people in that world still spend most of their time either farming or training. In Overwatch's modern setting, even warriors have time to have a life and form permanent relationships. So really, there is no reason for people to be surprised. Plus, if you don't like the extra comics or movies that may come out......just ignore it. If the character is nothing more to you than something you play in a FPS, why should care about extra shit.

One last thing, for all the people who say it should have been Zarya, fuck that. I want hot lesbians.

[ttak82]

It's not just a shooter, it is a shooter, a motion comic book and a set of CGI mini films and in all of these the lore, character and relationships are what drove the material forward. In all comics the character becomes more human and defined by having a cast of normal people to have relationships with, it makes them fuller characters and drives the narrative. The aunt may to the Spider-Man, the jimmy olson to the Supermam, the Alfred to the batman and the Foggy Nelson to the Daredevil. Extended cast roots the character in reality and enhances the entire product.

This isn't just a shooter, this is a character driven licensed product that expresses itself in many different media. If it was just a shooter we would have characters named Medic, soldier, sniper, spy, engineer, scout and heavy weapon guy, their roles and not names like Reaper, Winston, McCree, Symmetra, Anna, Pharah and Tracer. Names of characters, not roles.

This is the most sensible comment in the whole thread. How the definition of 'Literature' has changed over the years. It's really not just about books. Movies, computer games, blogs - all of these are in that body of works and should be included accordingly in academics (in terms of teaching about linguistics, themes and cultural references - the stuff you normally study in your literature class).

[Kaleredar]

I only wish that the other half of the LGBT pairing was a character IN overwatch.


Also, Mercy/Genji relationship confirmed?

[ttak82]

How about let's not care about her sexuality, and focus on the fact it's a comic showing two lovers sharing a very happy and warm moment (That not just gays, but straights also could relate to) during the holidays.

Agree here.

[TriHard]

Why exactly do you need lore in a shooter? Why do you need relationships at all in shooters?

It's pointless.

Because overwatch is 100% likely gonna be the next mmo blizzard will give us, diablo and starcraft don't have enough content for it.
And they're working on a single player component to OW atm I believe.

If you think about it, the way they're fleshing out the lore now is very close to how they used to do it in the past before WoW was revealed.
And if you heard the little cryptic response the co-founder had, it's very likely they're looking into adding a new mmo.

[Imnick]

I don't get this pandering tbh, why do we need to know the character's sexuality at all?
The fact that Torbjorn boned someone enough times to have nine kids is something that I just didn't need shoved in my face.

[ttak82]

You know, even as a straight man I was hoping for something more daring than Tracer. Any of the male characters for example.
Making Tracer lesbian isn't really pandering to the LGBT community, but to the straight male community... I mean who doesn't find that sexy?

Gay male characters are more daring to do and will offend far more people.

Imagine the uproar if they did that to McCree - Brokeback Mountain style.

[delus]

In a lot of places, gay men have it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than gay women. Examples: North America.

That's not to say that gay men aren't marginalized: they absolutely are. Nor is it to say there aren't spaces where they have it worse than gay women: there are.

Both problems are predominantly caused by straight men, regardless.

Actually I would say that lesbian women have it easier in North America, United States in particular.

[Kaleredar]

In a lot of places, gay men have it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than gay women. Examples: North America.

I don't know how demonstrably true that is... Even back in the days of puritanical colonies, women found in lesbian trysts would basically be given a slap on the wrist as a punishment. They even had a term for when two women lived together independent of having any men in the relationship- a Boston Marriage.

As far as social acceptance goes, it seems to me that gay women weren't nearly as highly stigmatized as men. Gay men were thought of as anything from sexual deviants to straight-up pedophiles for a good deal of the 40s, 50s, and 60s



But regardless, I find it hard to believe people are actually getting offended about the sexual persuasions of a make believe character in a make believe video game universe that takes place roughly 60 years in the future.


I think that most people complaining that it was "shoehorned" are dealing with latent anti-LGBT leanings.

[IKT]

I don't get this pandering tbh, why do we need to know the character's sexuality at all?

You don't, just don't read the comics. As far as I can see she doesn't burst out the pages and say "I'm Gay!!" she kisses another woman, so it's implied that she's gay.