Gay protagonists in AAA games

[rayvio]

I think BioWare's approach of the player choosing their own sexuality is the best method. the games with the greatest immersion are always the games with the widest customisation. chose your race (if appropriate in setting), gender, sexuality, appearance...

sad fact is that games with non-customisable characters tend to sell best if the player character is either a heterosexual male or an overly sexualised female

[-aiko-]

The gay SWTOR romances/flirts really angered me. Why?

Because I accidentally flirted with one too many guys. PUT A DAMN WARNING ON IT BIOWARE.

Bioware has always had trouble with relationships honestly. They don't do the whole 'friends' thing very well.

I just wanted to be friends Isabella! Stop taking it the wrong way!

[Deleted]

Nothing to do with the fact that its taboo. It just doesnt make much sense.
Most games where it would matter if one was gay or not, would be some sort of RPG, and quite frankly, most people arent gay and hence its just logical to make games catered to the majority, isnt it? Gay people can be as gay as the want, but they'll have to realize they are a minority and with that comes terms they have to accept, such as main chars in rpgs that arent gay.

And make sure to take out all the elves, orcs, tauren, trolls, goblins, gnomes, worgen, pandaren etc. out of WoW because the majority of players are human so they can't associate with a something that isn't human.

Seriously if people can associate better with a mythical creature that doesn't now and never has existed than they can a gay person I think the problem lies with them.

[Wilian]

This is one of those things that the SJW front has blown far out of the propotions.

[chazlazy]

Then congratulations to you, you are not the standard person of the gaming community. Join our little club of 'we like quality.'

You have to understand that our little club is the minority, here, however.

I don't think anyone truly cares, as long as the game is fun. You'd be suprised how many people DON'T care about that.

[wombinator04]

I see this thread going places.
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Hell who am I kidding. /popcorn


Post constructively. Infracted.

[Wilian]

Sexuality is a part of one's identity. That's why nearly all video game characters are heterosexual; because sexuality is a part of the character's identity, and homosexuality is still too much a taboo.

Or like most of the times, it simply doesn't matter because it carries no relevance to the game itself.

[private420]

This is why I don't post anymore everyone is too young to remember the ps1 =/ god forbid I mention a dos game

[chazlazy]

I think BioWare's approach of the player choosing their own sexuality is the best method. the games with the greatest immersion are always the games with the widest customisation. chose your race (if appropriate in setting), gender, sexuality, appearance...

sad fact is that games with non-customisable characters tend to sell best if the player character is either a heterosexual male or an overly sexualised female

Entirely untrue. Do you have any facts do back that up?

[Deleted]

Or like most of the times, it simply doesn't matter because it carries no relevance to the game itself.

If it doesn't matter then why the big deal about not putting gay characters in? If it's a FPS war game have a male character mention his husband back home briefly. "I miss him sometimes." or "After this I can go back to my husband." That's it. That's all it would take.

[lapianan]

Why do you care? Most games at least that I've played with the exception of Duke Nukem and God of War don't even specify the characters sexual preference. If you are demanding an openly gay character in a video game you may need to rethink your priorities. And before anyone starts I'm not against homosexuality at all I'm all for letting someone being happy I just don't get why it either has to be in every aspect of life or zero aspects of life. I simply don't see how a character being gay could at all be relevant in a good games plot. For example finding out that Leon Kennedy is gay is not gonna change Resident Evil 4 because sexuality is a pointless part of the characters identity.

[Unholyground]

Taric is definitely fabulous and I enjoy playing him. My wife loves Vi and she plays her. People are just retarded is all.

[Deleted]

Why do you care? Most games at least that I've played with the exception of Duke Nukem and God of War don't even specify the characters sexual preference. If you are demanding an openly gay character in a video game you may need to rethink your priorities. And before anyone starts I'm not against homosexuality at all I'm all for letting someone being happy I just don't get why it either has to be in every aspect of life or zero aspects of life. I simply don't see how a character being gay could at all be relevant in a good games plot. For example finding out that Leon Kennedy is gay is not gonna change Resident Evil 4 because sexuality is a pointless part of the characters identity.

Exactly. It wouldn't change anything. So why not? Why not let gay players have someone that represents them?

[-aiko-]

This is why I don't post anymore everyone is too young to remember the ps1 =/ god forbid I mention a dos game

I'm not sure if Fear Effect qualifies as a AAA game (although it was commercially successful, I do not believe it had a high production cost for the time).

[thatguy181]

I honestly just don't care one way or the other what my video game character's sexuality is. If I'm presented with the choice of deciding, I will make them like me, or maybe skip the love story all together (Commander Shephard was a very lonely man in ME2. Ash or nothing.)

But honestly? I just don't care. It's not important to me and I struggle to see why it's important to advancing the GLBT community's cause for there to be such clarifications on videogame characters... I'm as supportive of the GLBT as one can be. I'm all for everyone being happy... But I don't see how a set of polygons being programmed with a sexual preference helps one way or the other, especially when in the long run it should have little to no impact on the game itself. Back to the ME series... if your Shephard was part of the GLBT community, you still saved the world and -NOTHING- changed between your story and mine assuming all of our other choices were identical. The sexual choice of Shephard is meaningless. For that matter, the gender of Shephard doesn't matter.

I'd rather fight the good fight in the real world than in Azeroth or whatever other game world comes next.

If it doesn't matter then why the big deal about not putting gay characters in? If it's a FPS war game have a male character mention his husband back home briefly. "I miss him sometimes." or "After this I can go back to my husband." That's it. That's all it would take.

But why does it need to be mentioned to begin with? Say I'm playing Halo, I'm ready for the cutscene to finish so I can go slaughter some Grunts and Elites, I'm sure all the soldiers miss their families and significant others, why do I specifically need to hear Random Male Soldier 1 say "I hope I make it out of here, my husband is waiting for me." What does it add to the game?

[Stir]

Or like most of the times, it simply doesn't matter because it carries no relevance to the game itself.

But it does, all too often. Otherwise, why would (nearly) all the memorable characters (let's leave out things like Yoshi, or random Pokémon) have a clearly defined sexuality?

The truth is: People don't care because homosexuals are a minority, and so they're generally not homosexual themselves. They don't see the sexual orientation of the character they love as defining because they perceive it as the standard. The norm. They simply don't question it, they don't even think about it. They frankly don't care because of confirmation bias.

I'm not saying that characters suddenly have to be gay. I'm saying it would be nice if a kick-ass main character could be male AND gay, and not be a joke. And yeah; female and gay doesn't really count here, because I'm betting most straight male gamers would love to play a female gay character, with sex scenes in mind. There's not exactly a taboo on that, because it doesn't threaten their sense of security, and actually sounds very attractive to a lot of young males.

[Thelxi]

If it doesn't matter then why the big deal about not putting gay characters in? If it's a FPS war game have a male character mention his husband back home briefly. "I miss him sometimes." or "After this I can go back to my husband." That's it. That's all it would take.

There are some very subtly gay characters in BL2. Hammerlock is gay which you find out through recordings of his BF and Gearbox actually says that Axton (playable) and Mr. Torgue are bi.

[Tastyfish]

So much this! I think this is one reason that I don't care. I feel like if they made a homosexual main character he/she would be stereotypical and fake. Or catered to male gamers...I can't wait to see lesbian couples in a game who make out in skimpy clothes.

That be amazing if you had a team, and at the end the main does not get the girl and you see the classic little black dress wearing sex bomb run up to to your female teammate and just wrap her arms around her and give her the hollywood epic lip kiss. lol And errbody is like, Waaaaa? LOL

[Deleted]

I honestly just don't care one way or the other what my video game character's sexuality is. If I'm presented with the choice of deciding, I will make them like me, or maybe skip the love story all together (Commander Shephard was a very lonely man in ME2. Ash or nothing.)

But honestly? I just don't care. It's not important to me and I struggle to see why it's important to advancing the GLBT community's cause for there to be such clarifications on videogame characters... I'm as supportive of the GLBT as one can be. I'm all for everyone being happy... But I don't see how a set of polygons being programmed with a sexual preference helps one way or the other, especially when in the long run it should have little to no impact on the game itself. Back to the ME series... if your Shephard was part of the GLBT community, you still saved the world and -NOTHING- changed between your story and mine assuming all of our other choices were identical. The sexual choice of Shephard is meaningless. For that matter, the gender of Shephard doesn't matter.

I'd rather fight the good fight in the real world than in Azeroth or whatever other game world comes next.

Representation is hugely important for a lot of people. I can find a list of quotes from people who're minorities (LGBT or otherwise) who feel much more accepted when a character on the big screen (or in a book/video game) is part of that same minority.

[chazlazy]

If it doesn't matter then why the big deal about not putting gay characters in? If it's a FPS war game have a male character mention his husband back home briefly. "I miss him sometimes." or "After this I can go back to my husband." That's it. That's all it would take.

Why? Why does he need that dialogue. What purpose does that serve in anyway beside it being "loledgey".