Are we ready for games starring queer/trans heroes? Mainstream and Indie

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Link Satonaka

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Solaire of Astora said:
Well, I mean...NIER exists. And it seems to be a cult hit. But the character that is trans/hermaphrodite/whatever the hell she's classified as doesn't absolutely flaunt it everywhere, it's just an important story point.

Yoko Taro makes some weird-ass games for sure. I'll have to play them sometime.
That's what makes her a good character. Being transgendered doesn't define her- it's just one aspect to her fully fleshed character.

NieR is great.
 

Kingjackl

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I am. I'm currently working on a current affairs feature about the Mayang Prasetyo controversy, it'd be hypocritical to me and insulting to my sources to be transphobic.

The only time I've played a transgendered character in a game was in the demo for that indie game "You Are the Reason". I admit the only reason I gave it a go was because Jim Sterling did voice acting for it, but it was pretty interesting. It didn't directly address the gender of your character, but knowing that from supplemental materials made certain moments make more sense. There's this one minor character who gives you no end of grief over it, and is the first to call for you to be burned at the stake when the (apparently unrelated) magic powers come out.
 

Link Satonaka

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Autumnflame said:
Ellie's sexuality is a little more up in the air to personal interpretation. this does not add nor subtract from her character.
But fills a narrative of a teenage girl in the time of her life when she is discovering who she is
I agree with everything you said, but I must have missed the level of the last of us where Ellie explores her sexuality :D

To what are you referring?
 

Autumnflame

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Link Satonaka said:
Autumnflame said:
Ellie's sexuality is a little more up in the air to personal interpretation. this does not add nor subtract from her character.
But fills a narrative of a teenage girl in the time of her life when she is discovering who she is
I agree with everything you said, but I must have missed the level of the last of us where Ellie explores her sexuality :D

To what are you referring?
The left behind DLC

When Ellie spends some time with Reilly and you see how she was bitten
 

Dominic Crossman

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Silvanus said:
Akjosch said:
I think the time was never better. There's already a lot of queer/trans/... characters in games coming from Japan as well as small indie ones, so people - at least those who play more than the nth iteration of an AAA series - are rather used to them being there.
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places-- my efforts to find a game in which i play a gay character have come up blank. Any suggestions?
Ballard of gay Tony I think has a gay lead.
Your heirs can be gay in Rouge Legacy and I think the female archmages are transgender.

Certain RPGs let you be straight/gay.
Dragon's Dogma has clothes designed specifically so a male can be transgender.

Men and women can wear all avaliable clothing in Saint's Row games bra and the like for men and for women... are there any clothes considered male only? Women and men can walk and talk and even taunt like either gender as well.
...Is Saint's Row at the forefront of acceptance/tolerance of LGBT in AAA gaming!?!
 

Oroboros

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There have been plenty of gay/bi options in games, particularly more modern ones. Whether there are enough of them, or if they are high enough quality, can be debated.

Trans is another story- not often available to Player characters outside of sandbox games. The fable and saint's row games let players wear whatever they wanted, which was surprising and rather nice, considering the relative lack of cross-dressing in so many other games.

I think games are certainly getting better in this regard, heck-compare how Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and KoTOR treated non-straight relationships compared to Bioware's more recent games-it's night and day.

I'm not sure the playerbase is generally to the point where they can accept this sort of thing yet though. See all the complaints about gay relationships being 'forced down the throats' of players in many of those same modern Bioware games.

All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic. All this backlash about progressive views on gender and sexuality that has come out of late (certainly in part to this GG thing) definitely complicates things though IMO, and could make progress on these issues more difficult.
 

Belaam

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You mean other than Birdo? Because (s)he's been around 26 years.

And of course there are people who aren't ready. That's a good reason to do it.
 

Hectix777

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Well how do you write transgender? I assume that it's roughly the same to writing a gay character which I equate to a straight one.

This is one of those situations where overthinking it can lead to the opposite of what you want to happen or corrupt the message you want interpreted.

I can definitely say, yes I'm sure gamers would be open to more character experimentation from sexuality. Though, and I know this will sound hurtful and offensive, but maybe start off with a trans party member before going to a full on trans main character.

Hell, I would probably have a lot of fun playing a game where you live an ordinary life until one day, you recover memories of who you really are. Not some office jockey in a cubicle, but a former spy. More than that, you definitely remember not being female. And this leads to this quest of your old identity clashing with your new one and going down this road to figure out who you want to be.

Actually that'd make for a good mystery click-and-point or stealthy espionage game.
 

SonicMTD

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I think the world should be ready but isn't. The only way the world can ever be ready is by exposure to well thought out characters that aren't walking stereotypes.

I wouldn't mind playing a gay/trans character so long as they're handled with respect.
 

Netrigan

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KazuhiraMiller said:
Speaking as someone who gets pissed whenever people are like "No, it's unnaceptable to make the lead character a straight white dude" I fully support the idea of transgendered and homosexual characters MC's in video games.
Does anyone really say it's unacceptable to make the lead a straight white dude? I'm personally wish there were less of them, but it's largely because they so frequently play into really uninteresting cliches. Some productions (such as Watch Dogs which was pretty much just cliches piled on top of cliches) probably would have resulted in really uninteresting lead characters regardless of race, gender, or sexuality; but there's been some games where the lead character has been, by far, the least interesting character in the game... so hopes springs eternal that changing things up might have resulted in a more interesting character.

But point being, I really don't remember anyone coming down completely against the straight white dude. At worst, they point to the over-representation of the straight, white dude as proof we should have fewer of him. Not to eliminate him entirely.

Anyway, is the AAA game world ready for a gay or trans hero? Probably not, as they seem to think putting a woman on the cover of Bioshock games would be off-putting. If they're that cautious, I doubt anyone is willing to put his job on the line funding a multi-million dollar project around a gay or trans hero.

The audience would probably accept it in a proven franchise. I could see Assassins Creed pulling it off. Not sure about a new IP. I could see the press surrounding such a game being a bit oppressive and giving a false sense of what the game is and making it seem like a Message rather than a Game.
 

Netrigan

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KazuhiraMiller said:
Netrigan said:
KazuhiraMiller said:
Speaking as someone who gets pissed whenever people are like "No, it's unnaceptable to make the lead character a straight white dude" I fully support the idea of transgendered and homosexual characters MC's in video games.
Does anyone really say it's unacceptable to make the lead a straight white dude?
No dude, I'm partially exagurating there might be some people who hold that sentiment, but extremists are extrimists and I don't talk to extremists.

I'm personally wish there were less of them, but it's largely because they so frequently play into really uninteresting cliches. Some productions (such as Watch Dogs which was pretty much just cliches piled on top of cliches) probably would have resulted in really uninteresting lead characters regardless of race, gender, or sexuality; but there's been some games where the lead character has been, by far, the least interesting character in the game... so hopes springs eternal that changing things up might have resulted in a more interesting character.
I feel. Aiden Pierce was a boring twat, to me. But to be honest, the lead character being boring doesn't hamper my enjoyment in most games. I'm a gameplay before narrative kind of guy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying narrative is pointless, I just rarely come back to replay games because of narrative. I replay games because of the fun I have playing them.

And cliches and tropes might be often boring, but if the game is being light on story and pushes its gameplay as its main selling point then I can tolerate a boring lead.
For me, it's a rare game that gets a second playthrough, which requires my enjoyment of the story and gameplay.

And the lack of interesting characters really brought Dishonored down in my eyes. I really enjoyed the multiple ways to get through the game, but I practically had to force myself to finish the game because I just didn't care why I was doing anything. The gameplay is fun, but the game leaves me cold.

Borderlands 2 is pretty much my pedestal game and a large part of why I love, love, love, love that game is the endless supply of really fun and interesting characters. The lead characters (all six of them) are the least defined in the game, but there's such a sense of joy they all seem to be taking as they release mayhem onto the world. I've gone all the way through that game so many times I've lost count.
 

Danny Dowling

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if there's a reason for the character to be that then whatever, do it. If you want to call for it for the sake of it then I think we should leave that hipster stuff at the door.
 

Adam Lester

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I honestly wouldn't give a damn as long as the writing held up and it was handled in a respectful, restrained manner.
 

Adam Lester

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The_Kodu said:
Is gaming ready or are Social Justice Warriors ready to deal with it.

Social justice warriors? Deal with something...you mean like, get off their asses in order to take the time and effort needed to create a whole new and possibly interesting bunch of video games instead of just bitching at people to do it for them?

My sides. My fucking sides.
 

RaikuFA

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Tatsuya Suou from Persona 2, like Shepard in ME, can be made gay. And he's the main character of Innocent Sin.