Dragon Age 2 Lead Writer Blasts Homophobic Fan

[Gildan Bladeborn]

The only thing I noticed was that elf in the Brothel. The actual companions didn't seem to be pushy at all... unless provoked (the big heart next to the dialog was kinda a give away!) : P

Depending on your initial dialog choices with Anders, when playing as a male Hawke merely being nice to him and picking the diplomatic options will present you with conversation branch where you literally have only a choice between two "flirt with" responses and one "end relationship" choice, which makes you sound like a jerk and nets you rivalry points. It would have been better if there had been some kinder way to suggest that you're not into dudes, but the way they designed it now there isn't any way to play a male Hawke and be consistently nice to Anders without flirting back - obviously if you've picked snarky responses prior to that junction you wouldn't find yourself in that situation, but if I see a little heart icon and deliberately don't click on it, the last thing I'm expecting is a wheel suddenly full of hearts and nothing else.

Suggesting that Bioware was neglecting the straight male demographic though is rather silly, because they quite clearly haven't.

Merrill didn't mention that Hawke was a woman once (so far anyway)

Keep playing then, because it comes up - her dialog definitely changes depending on your gender.

 

[Axelhander]

Homophobia is a virus. The sooner it becomes extinct, the better. For everyone.

 

[mireko]

[]

You could hate Fenris for his ridiculous anti-mage stance, but he has a fantastic voice (Gideon Emery).

That he does... unfortunately it seems weird to me coming out of that ridiculous character model!

Yeah.. a frail body (not a bad thing on its own, but he's supposed to be a 2H warrior), completely white hair and a giant sword is something I would expect more from a bad mod or fanfiction than from BioWare.

Yes, mods are an option. But it requires you to play on the PC (I do myself, but not everyone does) and now you don't have to get a mod that will take care of it.

Oh, I completely agree. I was just pointing out that this mod exists. It can be a little strange or jarring for everyone in a setting to be bisexual, but I still prefer that to being locked out of content because I don't want to play a male character (looking at you, Mass Effect 2).

 

[jono793]

Perhaps he could just do in-game what civilized people do when being hit on by a gay guy in real life; politely decline (or not as the case may be).

That is assuming anyone would want to hit on some entitled, homophopic sweaty lump of neckbeard who smells like rotting garbage. Zing!

 

[Misho-]

The guy should have written something like: "Sure, there are a substantial amount of women who play video games, but they're usually gamers who play games like Cooking or Having Babies and bringing me Sammich"...

Anyhow...

 

[WorldCritic]

The guy is an ignorant moron, though I will admit that the game seems to push Anders at you a little too much.

 

[Mathak]

The only thing I noticed was that elf in the Brothel. The actual companions didn't seem to be pushy at all... unless provoked (the big heart next to the dialog was kinda a give away!) : P

Depending on your initial dialog choices with Anders, when playing as a male Hawke merely being nice to him and picking the diplomatic options will present you with conversation branch where you literally have only a choice between two "flirt with" responses and one "end relationship" choice, which makes you sound like a jerk and nets you rivalry points. It would have been better if there had been some kinder way to suggest that you're not into dudes, but the way they designed it now there isn't any way to play a male Hawke and be consistently nice to Anders without flirting back - obviously if you've picked snarky responses prior to that junction you wouldn't find yourself in that situation, but if I see a little heart icon and deliberately don't click on it, the last thing I'm expecting is a wheel suddenly full of hearts and nothing else.

Dunno if it's different for male Hawkes, but my Lady!Hawke simply asked Anders to 'keep it professional' when i used the 'no' option, no rudeness involved (still got rivalry..but /care, Anders friendship is almost as easy to get as Varric). She was diplomatic though, may be different if your Hawke is the snide or aggressive type.

I do remember Anders flirting with Nathaniel in Awakening btw. "You always wear those robes?" "Not when i'm naked..*eyebrow*", so his bisexuality didn't really come as a surprise to me.

 

[JediMB]

Felt a bit odd when I first realized that all companions in Dragon Age II were either bisexual or "straight + Hawke", but after I'd progressed a bit further I came to appreciate it. It's easily worlds better than the limited options in Mass Effect 2.

My Lady Hawke started by sexing it up with Isabela, and then moved on to Merrill when Isabela explained that she just wanted casual sex. My next character is going to stay with Isabela and see how things develop, though.

So, yeah, while a straight male I'm now considering aiming for a male-male relationship with Fenris in the future. It'd be cute. Not with Anders, though, since his role in Awakening stops me from accepting him as anything other than heterosexual, but that's my choice and nothing anyone else has to care about.

 

[lacktheknack]

While we're at it, can they make an option to keep the romancing but remove the sexual tensions and scenes? They're clearly not pandering to one of their key demographics, the any-orientation prude.

 

[Mathak]

I don't really know my history well, but seeing as these fantasy games are based around Medieval-esque "ages", it seems out of place that homosexuality would be so prominent and openly available. Except if it actually was back in those times, again I'm not really sure, this is just off of what I envision those times were like.

I'm no homophobe or anything so don't take this the wrong way, but it just strikes me as misplaced in the Dragon Age universe. Maybe I'm just brainwashed by all of the macho medieval stories of heroes and knights saving princesses and all of that. I'm sure it would exist, but a guy hitting on you is much less likely than a girl in [modern society, so it would be even significantly less back then.

Just a passing thought.

Loosely based. Very, very loosely. For a start, the Chantry doesn't care about the whole thing like the church did. Bio-canon is that homosexuality is seen as a bit eccentric, but nothing to think twice about. Rivain or Antiva being a bit more progressive, Ferelden a bit less.

 

[Galaktia]

This really does seem like an issue of a homophobic person hiding behind the tag like "straight male gamer."

I have seen people like this before, the individual who declares they are "not homophobic but..." they don't ever want a guy to approach them or see anything related to homosexual relationships, and wish to remove any suggestion of such from all media they consume.


I am a straight male gamer, and I liked the option to play as a female in DA1, I liked the option to have a relationship with a male character in DA1 both as a female and a male. Does this mean I will go down to the local gay club and try it out... no, I don't find men appealing. Do I understand that developing a role for a roleplaying game character, and exploring the options and personalities, the ideas and theories within that roleplaying game can be fun whether or not I myself would do so in real like... yes.


After all in one roleplaying game I have played I murdered someone for 500 bucks and an easy avoidance of some future hassel. Does this mean that the game was targeted at money motivated murderers and that I must be a money motivated murderer. No of course not.


This guy needs to take a long hard look at himself and how determind he is to avoid any homosexual suggestion in his experiences. Demanding they make an extra straight male sexual sub story just because he didn't find the ones they provided to be exactly what he wanted strikes me as a petulant child throwing a tantrum because he got the wrong kind of mints.

 

[DTWolfwood]

i did get more ♥ options when my dude hawke was talking to the dude companions XD

But there were always 3 other options other than that one if you're all homophobic.

also, Got into the sack with Isabella quick time yo! then again she suppose to be ez lol

 

[Terminal Blue]

Besides, it isn't as simple as characters being bi or anything, they retcon the characters so they suddenly are one way or another. Anders wasn't gay or even bi in Awakenings, but they tossed out his original writer for DA 2, which is more than easy to see since he isn't damn near as appealing as he was to have in the party as he was in Awakenings.

What? You thought a 2D clown who constantly cracked awful jokes was a good character? I'm surprised they even bought Anders back.

His sexuality never came up in Awakening as it was an expansion pack with no romance options. That doesn't mean they 'retconned' him, it means you assumed he was straight because he didn't carry a giant sign saying 'I LIKE COCK!' That's your problem, not the writer. Doubtless, if it had come up in Awakening you'd have complained it was unnecessary and forced in.

Loosely based. Very, very loosely. For a start, the Chantry doesn't care about the whole thing like the church did. Bio-canon is that homosexuality is seen as a bit eccentric, but nothing to think twice about. Rivain or Antiva being a bit more progressive, Ferelden a bit less.

See, what I like is, particularly in Origins, that they're really fucking consistent about it. Whenever someone talks about being a 'poetess', you know what they mean (google Sappho).

 

[theevilsanta]

While me initial response is to criticize Everyone being bi, when you think about the characters it makes sense.

Anders is randy as hell and borrows from our friend Zevhran's hedonistic streak. He also is half spirit (though I remember in DA:A his comments about mages not wearing underwear under their robes being specifically straight, hmm). He also likes cats. Just sayin.

Merril is obviously open to new things given the whole, you know, blood magic and resurrecting ancient artifacts thing. I think she'd be at least be open to experimentation - not to mention if you're nice to her she pretty much worships the ground you walk on.

Fenris has pretty obviously been used and abused in a sexual way most likely by both sexes. He at least wouldn't have any stigmas about homosexuality (though he does have a stigma about, you know, physical contact).

And Isabela is just, well, Isabela.

 

[cerebus23]

The only thing I noticed was that elf in the Brothel. The actual companions didn't seem to be pushy at all... unless provoked (the big heart next to the dialog was kinda a give away!) : P

Depending on your initial dialog choices with Anders, when playing as a male Hawke merely being nice to him and picking the diplomatic options will present you with conversation branch where you literally have only a choice between two "flirt with" responses and one "end relationship" choice, which makes you sound like a jerk and nets you rivalry points. It would have been better if there had been some kinder way to suggest that you're not into dudes, but the way they designed it now there isn't any way to play a male Hawke and be consistently nice to Anders without flirting back - obviously if you've picked snarky responses prior to that junction you wouldn't find yourself in that situation, but if I see a little heart icon and deliberately don't click on it, the last thing I'm expecting is a wheel suddenly full of hearts and nothing else.

Suggesting that Bioware was neglecting the straight male demographic though is rather silly, because they quite clearly haven't.

Merrill didn't mention that Hawke was a woman once (so far anyway)

Keep playing then, because it comes up - her dialog definitely changes depending on your gender.

That was my nitpick with the romance not that anders was hitting on me but that i only had <3 + relationship/romance or meh h8 +rivlary choices, and no diplomatic neutral choice. Not that it made any dif with my being a pro mage freedom anti templar player, but still it was annoying.

I am glad varric was straight tho was the type of character i would would be friends with in real life having flirty dialogue with him would have been lame to me personally .

Good on the dev, a guy claiming he was straight and he was entitled to not have any male characters flirting with him, so just do not pick the flirty options, optional romances mean optional.

And i would say zevron is more gay than bi in dao and da2 guy cannot talk to a male character without hitting on them, even tho he claims he sleeps with anything.

 

[bit_crusherrr]

My main problem with DA2 is if I tell Anders I'm not interested I lose friend points. Pretty dumb design choice there.

Furthermore calling the guy homophobic is a bit over the top. Just because he doesn't want to play a game where his character is flirting with other men doesn't mean he has anything against gays.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I can't say I agree with the fan who spoke up, but seriously...
If a guy starts hitting on me IN REAL LIFE I'm liable to punch him, or at least give him a strongly worded dismissal, so in a game I feel my first reaction might be to place a length of steel between their eyeballs.

Isn't just me of course, I imagine many people feel the same for different groups. I'm sure many women weren't comfortable with female advances, and I doubt homosexuals were too fond of the 20-year odd streak of all love interests being straight pairs.

Bioware says it's trying to please everyone.
I have a bit of sad news for them... you can't actually do that- it doesn't really work. If it did everyone would want the same thing.

 

[KarmicToast]

I'm sort of confused...when I click the link to read the full exchange I get a 404 error. When I click the source link at the bottom, I get a 2002 post from the escapist about Star Wars Galaxies...or something... And when I just type in the source, it's a girl's make-up blog? Erm...huh?

 

[Jaded Scribe]

[]

You could hate Fenris for his ridiculous anti-mage stance, but he has a fantastic voice (Gideon Emery).

That he does... unfortunately it seems weird to me coming out of that ridiculous character model!

Yeah.. a frail body (not a bad thing on its own, but he's supposed to be a 2H warrior), completely white hair and a giant sword is something I would expect more from a bad mod or fanfiction than from BioWare.

Actually, I didn't mind. A lot of his strength comes from his lyrium implants, and elves have a naturally thinner build anyways. I didn't see a major issue. And as a warrior, he could only be 2-hander or weapon & shield, the latter of which would have felt odd.

Yes, mods are an option. But it requires you to play on the PC (I do myself, but not everyone does) and now you don't have to get a mod that will take care of it.

Oh, I completely agree. I was just pointing out that this mod exists. It can be a little strange or jarring for everyone in a setting to be bisexual, but I still prefer that to being locked out of content because I don't want to play a male character (looking at you, Mass Effect 2).

I'm with you. It could be a little jarring, but by just not flirting with them, you only really get Anders and Isabela hitting on you.