Dragon Age 2 Lead Writer Blasts Homophobic Fan

[Arren Kae]

but if sample sizes are what impress you, here's a survey with 10,000 respondents, 23% of whom identified as "completely homosexual". (Of course as a voluntary survey that number is probably skewed towards homosexuals).

You're assuming that appealing to a minority will alienate the entire heterosexual majority. Most people don't care either way. The small minority who are offended enough to not buy the game are far outnumbered by the homosexual audience that this kind of content will most appeal to.

1) I trust surveys (especially an anonymous one) less than personal experience.

2) Gay content disenfranchises gamers in two ways
A = it shows the company, it's setting, game, etc. is less in touch with gamers
B = it shows development resources were wasted on something gamers don't want.
I wouldn't say gay content alienated most players until DA2 where players must endure gay come-ons.

3) The issue is not folks boycotting the game over gay romance vs. purchasers. It's
A = brand loyalty / maintaining the fanbase. How much does this latest game ensure gamers will want to buy the next product based on Bioware's name alone? How much of the marketing's team's work will be done for them vs. how much will they have to work against impressions players were given?
B = word of mouth and recommendations. How many people will tell friends to get this game, it's better or as good as the original, etc?
C = Transfer of the audience. How many gamers will choose the next Two Worlds or The Witcher offering over a Bioware product?

 

[Arren Kae]

Jesus.. What are you going to do next? Hold up your "GOD HATES FAGS" sign? You just used every cliche in the book as the what homosexuality will "lead to next"...

I didn't say it lead to anything. The point is folks are bullshitting and pretending gay romance is included for the sake of representing every type of sexuality. There are many sorts of perversions. Where's an S&M love interest? Where's a MILF? Where's a sugar daddy for female players? Where's an unfaithful woman for guys who want cuckolded? Etc. You can't make enough content for them all. It's a poor attempt at deception to say,
"we're trying to be fair to all sexual orientations"
no, Bioware's trying to be gay.

 

[Jamie Doerschuck]

There are many sorts of perversions.

You're not getting it. My problem is that you're being a bigot. Homosexuality is not a "perversion", nor should it be likened to serious problems like necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality.

 

[Kilgengoor]

no, Bioware's trying to be gay.

I'd mention Zevran's love for leather in the first game, but i guess that'd be beyond the point.

I don't think Bioware is trying to cover all the bases, nor that it's trying to appeal a specific audience. Dragon Age is a game in which you can play male and female characters, and in which you can get laid with members of your team. Since there is heterosexual options, I think it's fairly obvious and practical to get homosexual romances as well. It adds variety, choice and best of all, it doesn't really sacrifice plot for it. I really appreciate how the romance options, both hetero and homosexual are tucked away in these games (as well as Mass Effect), not interfering with the main plot in any way in case the player isn't interested.

However, Dragon Age is an RPG and not a sex simulator.

I don't see the point in including each and every sexual behavior in a game in which you kick Darkspawn heads off because this is a choice, and a practical choice at that. It's the same as adding suits for flavor, pets, mounts, you name it. It's an option. It's nice to have it there but it's not integral to the plot, and it shouldn't be more important than that, really, I didn't feel any of the male characters was making advances at my male Hawke, I didn't feel unconfortable with any sexual behavior and I didn't think there were any stereotipation. I can't believe how many people are overthinking and bashing at each and every detail and quirk about Dragon Age 2, while DA:O was the target of less than half of the flak people are spouting at it.

 

[Ceil-Sama]

At least Bioware is trying to include homosexuality. Most games stay away from that if they have romance in them. I would've romanced Merril if she wasn't a blood mage who thinks demons are friends. Besides, the romance isn't that big of a deal in the game. Don't want? just click no and turn around. The option is just there for those who want it. Romance is not an integral part of the storyline, and if you are so butthurt about something that you won't even care about, well...good for you.

And that moron who posted the crap was upset about Isabela and Merril too. He probably just wanted some dumb blond bimbo with a tiny waist and big ass and boobs. OR He was just a troll fishing for attention; surprised he's gotten this much attention.

 

[cobra_ky]

1) I trust surveys (especially an anonymous one) less than personal experience.

That's a good way to be wrong about a lot of things, but i suppose you're entitled to that. Just don't expect anyone else on earth to trust your personal experiences.

2) Gay content disenfranchises gamers in two ways
A = it shows the company, it's setting, game, etc. is less in touch with gamers
B = it shows development resources were wasted on something gamers don't want.
I wouldn't say gay content alienated most players until DA2 where players must endure gay come-ons.

I wouldn't say gay content alienated most players, ever. You're actually the first one i've heard of bothered by it.

They wasted development resources on a whole of things i didn't want. Things like the crafting system, all the other dialogue trees i didn't bother exploring, and the skill trees and classes I didn't care to play. i am OK with this, because i didn't expect Bioware to produce a game specifically tailored to my exact desires. Instead they delivered a game with a wide variety of content that would appeal to different audiences: Male, female, gay, and straight. That is how you expand your customer base, and THAT is good business strategy. Not precision-targeting your content for a young male demographic that's going to buy your game in droves regardless.

3) The issue is not folks boycotting the game over gay romance vs. purchasers. It's
A = brand loyalty / maintaining the fanbase. How much does this latest game ensure gamers will want to buy the next product based on Bioware's name alone? How much of the marketing's team's work will be done for them vs. how much will they have to work against impressions players were given?
B = word of mouth and recommendations. How many people will tell friends to get this game, it's better or as good as the original, etc?
C = Transfer of the audience. How many gamers will choose the next Two Worlds or The Witcher offering over a Bioware product?

Appealing to homosexual gamers is a net positive in most, if not all of those categories.

 

[Nightshard]

Jesus.. What are you going to do next? Hold up your "GOD HATES FAGS" sign? You just used every cliche in the book as the what homosexuality will "lead to next"...

I didn't say it lead to anything. The point is folks are bullshitting and pretending gay romance is included for the sake of representing every type of sexuality. There are many sorts of perversions. Where's an S&M love interest? Where's a MILF? Where's a sugar daddy for female players? Where's an unfaithful woman for guys who want cuckolded? Etc. You can't make enough content for them all. It's a poor attempt at deception to say,
"we're trying to be fair to all sexual orientations"
no, Bioware's trying to be gay.

"Perversion?" I'm sorry, what? You've just undermined your whole argument.
S&M, Milfs, sugar daddies aren't "orientations", they're fetishes and can apply to any sexual identity. And besides, why does this have to be sexual in nature to begin with? Emotional attachment is just as human for homosexuals as it is for hetero and bisexuals. Think about the implications of what you're saying.

 

[Ishiro32]

At least Bioware is trying to include homosexuality. Most games stay away from that if they have romance in them. I would've romanced Merril if she wasn't a blood mage who thinks demons are friends. Besides, the romance isn't that big of a deal in the game. Don't want? just click no and turn around.

You know that i mass effect i didn't care about gay romances. The same go for DA:O. I think the op has the problem with just the ratio. Most of us accept homosexuality but when it's shoven into our face, hell i don't like it. I can play homosexual when... Persona4, i mean, when game realy use this as trampoline to be awesome (when it has the story, when it has something in it). For now i see these romances as Black guys in some movies. When it's just one shoved just to be political correct except now it's half of the crew.
So back to ratio. 4 your companions are bi. Thats all the romance options (beside DLC). Your team could be maxed to 7 (without dlc). So 4/7 of your team is Bi. Hawke has strange taste i say ;P. And this ratio is obvious when characters hit on you without reason, all four. When i posted about romance mechanics i told why it's bad idea. But now i will continue it with quick story of my Hawke during the game.


When i played the game, as femHawke i romanced mostly with Isabela. Mostly because when i heard their talks to Merril i thought she could be someone really deep inside, so difficult personality and boobs, my kind of women. Also Isabela was from the begging defined as whore, she slept with women mens so ok. This character could hit on anyone just because it's consistent and it fits.
Merril, i liked her at the begging, we had few talks that changed it. We were neutral, no chemistry, and boom, she goes into my house. I slept with her just for sake. Merril is defined as naive, awkward girl that have problems... But when i don't really hit on her, why she goes into my house and want to sleep with me. Also she is so pure, that i don't know why she was lesbian. Her choice was so big risk in her situation, she could easily destroy the only relationship that she has. I think this character romance was inconsistent, it should be a lot harder to get her trust, not 3 talks+sex and she is not lesbian type, even is she were, does this universe accept it? I mean when awkward girl make first lesbian move, you see my point.
Fenris, he try to get me drunk. It was kinda good romance, but... I was mage. He hated them with all his hearth, he was so long in captivity i don't think the trust he gave me could develop into feelings just that fast. This character would be great romance, if you could in a lot talks change his mind about mages, for him to trully trust you. Because my mage can have opinions like fenris, but hell she is still a mage, and fenris opinions are that my mage should be dead. Kinda strange
Anders... let's not talk about Awakening. He is agressive, depressed and instable. I didn't play with him at all, and didn't care about him. But boom he shows and starts flirting with me... At this moment i was... What? He wasn't flirting before, i didn't flirt with him. Boom he does and, how he does. Maybe it fits, but... No, this was almost like in Mass Effect 2 when femShep was flirting without asking you, you know that sexy look to black guy.

I think it's lazy design that all are bi. I think it's lazy design that all hit on you.

Jesus.. What are you going to do next? Hold up your "GOD HATES FAGS" sign? You just used every cliche in the book as the what homosexuality will "lead to next"...

I didn't say it lead to anything. The point is folks are bullshitting and pretending gay romance is included for the sake of representing every type of sexuality. There are many sorts of perversions. Where's an S&M love interest? Where's a MILF? Where's a sugar daddy for female players? Where's an unfaithful woman for guys who want cuckolded? Etc. You can't make enough content for them all. It's a poor attempt at deception to say,
"we're trying to be fair to all sexual orientations"
no, Bioware's trying to be gay.

"Perversion?" I'm sorry, what? You've just undermined your whole argument.
S&M, Milfs, sugar daddies aren't "orientations", they're fetishes and can apply to any sexual identity. And besides, why does this have to be sexual in nature to begin with? Emotional attachment is just as human for homosexuals as it is for hetero and bisexuals. Think about the implications of what you're saying.

The deal is that those perversions are minority, the same as Homosexuality. Of course it's diffrent. But appealing for minorities is good political move, not buisness XD.
Half of the romance content is for minority. Half goes to minor, that doesn't have sense.
We have idiot age of games. BG2 had 4 romances, 3 were for guys and 1 was for women. No one carred that there is no gay, or that women are neglected, bacuse most of BG2 players were male, so it was logic that game concentrated on them. Most of DA:O fans are straight male, when you concetrate only half content for them don't expect they will love it. Most of them don't care, but some felt neglected. I think you don't see this problem. And i don't like that we are always talking about homo. Even name of this thread is Homophobic Fan, even though guy only talked about ratio and that he is awkward when guy hit on him. Which is not definition of Homophobic. I fell awkward when someone who i'm not intrested (men or women) hit on me, it's normal! When asian women hit on me, and i don't like her and i don't want her to hit on me you will call me racist?. In this game it happend, no matter what your character was, what did, 4 romances hit on you. It's not BIG deal, but it's kinda problem and in the name of politic we don't talk about it as we should. You don't concentrate on that player felt bad during the game and maybe is because of bad design and that we could just fix it so all players will happy, you concentrate on OMG what a homophobic asshole, he wants a game to have an option to turn off homosexual content because he don't like it!
Similar Problem was with Duke Nukem:Forever and mode "capture the babe". It was not political correct to implent slaping babe, but the target of this game is... i don't know. Propably me XD. The guys behind it knew that they would piss some people. Propably they just did it for free ad, but maybe they did it because they know who can be intrested in this game and create experience for them. And FYI most of us see slaping babe as a joke, funny.
Look that in ME2, ME, DA:O the gay romances weren't problem. In DA2 is just the ratio and that they hit on you whatever you did.

 

[Arren Kae]

You're not getting it. My problem is that you're being a bigot. Homosexuality is not a "perversion", nor should it be likened to serious problems like necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality.

Here's two separate issues.

1) Is homosexuality a perversion? Yes.

2) Is homosexuality like those other sexual acts? Yes in that it's a form of sexuality. But it's here you misunderstood me. Regular sex is categorically a type of sex, same as any of the other sorts I've listed. It's not special though so that there's anything queer about a developer including it. If a developer included S&M content in each game it put out you'd rationally deduce some higher-up in the company's development staff had an S&M fetish. Likewise, Bioware having gay characters since Knights of the Old Republic shows atleast one of the higher-ups is gay, has someone close to him who's gay, or has taken furthering buggery on as a cause arbitrarily.

 

[Arren Kae]

no, Bioware's trying to be gay.

I'd mention Zevran's love for leather in the first game, but i guess that'd be beyond the point.

I don't think Bioware is trying to cover all the bases, nor that it's trying to appeal a specific audience. Dragon Age is a game in which you can play male and female characters, and in which you can get laid with members of your team. Since there is heterosexual options, I think it's fairly obvious and practical to get homosexual romances as well. It adds variety, choice and best of all, it doesn't really sacrifice plot for it. I really appreciate how the romance options, both hetero and homosexual are tucked away in these games (as well as Mass Effect), not interfering with the main plot in any way in case the player isn't interested.

However, Dragon Age is an RPG and not a sex simulator.

I don't see the point in including each and every sexual behavior in a game in which you kick Darkspawn heads off because this is a choice, and a practical choice at that. It's the same as adding suits for flavor, pets, mounts, you name it. It's an option. It's nice to have it there but it's not integral to the plot, and it shouldn't be more important than that, really, I didn't feel any of the male characters was making advances at my male Hawke, I didn't feel unconfortable with any sexual behavior and I didn't think there were any stereotipation. I can't believe how many people are overthinking and bashing at each and every detail and quirk about Dragon Age 2, while DA:O was the target of less than half of the flak people are spouting at it.

Well-written. You're taking for granted that dudes doing dudes and dames doing dames is normal. It's not. It never has been and never will be. Being a poofter doesn't belong as a default choice.

What you're taking for granted is the crux of the disagreement. The developers believe as you do and want others to believe likewise. Their games suffer for it.

Every piece of content a developer decides to implement doesn't allow another piece which could have been made come into existence. To claim gay romance has no effect on the games other content is disingenuous.

 

[Arren Kae]

That's a good way to be wrong about a lot of things, but i suppose you're entitled to that. Just don't expect anyone else on earth to trust your personal experiences.

Consider the situation objectively: you have met more folks than any sample group scientists can assemble. You're drawing on a larger field of data than the scientists. The lack-of-trustworthiness of studies like the one you cited's compounded by the fact it's a survey/poll. How many people are writing for the lols? What % of the site's readership didn't mark themselves down? How many looked at the poll and didn't post a survey? How many feign their more comfortable with something than they are? Etc.

You should trust my experiences so far as I'm not lying to you. Likewise I tentatively believe tellings of your own experiences you give. Naturally, that's how people assess reality through conversation. Sociological studies polling groups isn't scientific in methodology or true in results. There's always an agenda behind such polls and ways to misrepresent the population through the phrasing of questions and how data's represented.

I wouldn't say gay content alienated most players, ever. You're actually the first one i've heard of bothered by it.

Really? You didn't read the forum post that this escapist article was in response to. You didn't read the article you're posting in a forum about. You haven't read any other forum comments saying the same thing.
More excusably, you haven't seen Angry Joe's review?
Bullshitting: you don't already know most of Bioware's fanbase is straight men and straight men don't flirt with poofters?

They wasted development resources on a whole of things i didn't want. Things like the crafting system, all the other dialogue trees i didn't bother exploring, and the skill trees and classes I didn't care to play. i am OK with this, because i didn't expect Bioware to produce a game specifically tailored to my exact desires. Instead they delivered a game with a wide variety of content that would appeal to different audiences: Male, female, gay, and straight. That is how you expand your customer base, and THAT is good business strategy. Not precision-targeting your content for a young male demographic that's going to buy your game in droves regardless.

You not playing it or wanting it doesn't make the expenditure a waste. Most gamers not wanting it or playing it does make it a waste.
Gays are an audience that's safe to ignore. Lady Gaga's the only thing that can attribute its' success (in part) to them and even then she's the typical pop so she's far from relying on her gay fanbase. They're too small in number to court as a business strategy.
If you want to look at how DA's designed to capitalize on other audiences consider their combat system's based off WoW instead of DnD.

Appealing to homosexual gamers is a net positive in most, if not all of those categories.

When you lie you should try to be convincing.

 

[De Ronneman]

I honestly think Gaider kind but firmly put that guy in his friggin place!

You can just ignore the avances. And what about the straight female gamer? Doesn't dude speak for them?

Guess not, because everyone knows the straight male gamer is the only marketingsubject...

(obviously disagrees with dude, go Gaider!)

Also, not one of the posts below the One Post in the link, there's a bug^^

 

[Nightshard]

The deal is that those perversions are minority, the same as Homosexuality. Of course it's diffrent. But appealing for minorities is good political move, not buisness XD.
Half of the romance content is for minority. Half goes to minor, that doesn't have sense.
We have idiot age of games. BG2 had 4 romances, 3 were for guys and 1 was for women. No one carred that there is no gay, or that women are neglected, bacuse most of BG2 players were male, so it was logic that game concentrated on them. Most of DA:O fans are straight male, when you concetrate only half content for them don't expect they will love it. Most of them don't care, but some felt neglected. I think you don't see this problem. And i don't like that we are always talking about homo. Even name of this thread is Homophobic Fan, even though guy only talked about ratio and that he is awkward when guy hit on him. Which is not definition of Homophobic. I fell awkward when someone who i'm not intrested (men or women) hit on me, it's normal! When asian women hit on me, and i don't like her and i don't want her to hit on me you will call me racist?. In this game it happend, no matter what your character was, what did, 4 romances hit on you. It's not BIG deal, but it's kinda problem and in the name of politic we don't talk about it as we should. You don't concentrate on that player felt bad during the game and maybe is because of bad design and that we could just fix it so all players will happy, you concentrate on OMG what a homophobic asshole, he wants a game to have an option to turn off homosexual content because he don't like it!

Homosexuality isn't a "fetish" or a perversion though and shouldn't be clumped together with those things that ARE fetishes, fetishes that can be applied to any orientation. You either like guys or you don't, you either like girls or you don't. It's not a matter of perversion any more than deciding hey, I like this girl so I thought I'd ask her out. People seem to focus too much on the "sexual" part of sexuality, as odd as that sounds.
As for being hit on by other races, or the same gender for the sake of this discussion, I'm bewildered as to why it bothers people so much if they really are as comfortable with their own sexuality as they think. It's not that hard to say "sorry, I'm not interested". I don't get why people get offended over this sort of thing. Is it awkward? Yes, I can admit that. But so is asking a girl out who isn't interested in you. But to take offense over something so relatively trivial is a sign of immaturity.
Now, I haven't played DA2, so I don't know to what extent the characters hit on you. But if people really feel that threatened by a virtual character hitting on their virtual selves, I don't really know what to say. It's a game, folks, and you have the option of turning them down or turning off the game if it really bothers you that much. They shouldn't attach a rivalry system to that sort of thing though, it pushes relationships into a weird statistical system instead of being an interesting addition and makes you think about the relationship for the wrong reasons.

 

[Ishiro32]

Homosexuality isn't a "fetish" or a perversion though and shouldn't be clumped together with those things that ARE fetishes, fetishes that can be applied to any orientation. You either like guys or you don't, you either like girls or you don't. It's not a matter of perversion any more than deciding hey, I like this girl so I thought I'd ask her out. People seem to focus too much on the "sexual" part of sexuality, as odd as that sounds.
As for being hit on by other races, or the same gender for the sake of this discussion, I'm bewildered as to why it bothers people so much if they really are as comfortable with their own sexuality as they think. It's not that hard to say "sorry, I'm not interested". I don't get why people get offended over this sort of thing. Is it awkward? Yes, I can admit that. But so is asking a girl out who isn't interested in you. But to take offense over something so relatively trivial is a sign of immaturity.
Now, I haven't played DA2, so I don't know to what extent the characters hit on you. But if people really feel that threatened by a virtual character hitting on their virtual selves, I don't really know what to say. It's a game, folks, and you have the option of turning them down or turning off the game if it really bothers you that much. They shouldn't attach a rivalry system to that sort of thing though, it pushes relationships into a weird statistical system instead of being an interesting addition.

I didn't say it was a fetish. I said that you can count homosexuals as a minority. The same way as you wold count ppl who like spanking or furry or icecream or candies. My problem with this is mostly about ratio. You can't say that half content for minority is good. I wasn't bothered so much, but this is mistake in my opinion. I didn't fell ofended by that game... hmmm... wait... i fell a bit, but for other reasons, not because there was option for gays to have romance. It's just what i posted before. Ratio, system, not well defined characters, those are mistakes that i would like to point out. And i do.

 

[Nightshard]

I didn't say it was a fetish. I said that you can count homosexuals as a minority. The same way as you wold count ppl who like spanking or furry or icecream or candies. My problem with this is mostly about ratio. You can't say that half content for minority is good. I wasn't bothered so much, but this is mistake in my opinion. I didn't fell ofended by that game... hmmm... wait... i fell a bit, but for other reasons, not because there was option for gays to have romance. It's just what i posted before. Ratio, system, not well defined characters, those are mistakes that i would like to point out. And i do.

I was making a more general point regarding the conversation above ours (and the thread as a whole) as well, sorry if it came off as implying that that was what you meant.
True, homosexuals are a minority. As a writer, I wouldn't implicitly try to crowbar it into a game just to appeal, either -- it just feels forced and artificial, like a lot of video game romance that is meant to appeal to the player. But if its a given part of a character's story, I don't think companies should shy away from it if it feels like the right thing for the character. It's all in character design and can help make a more interesting, wholly fleshed out character as long as that part of their identity isn't ALL of their identity.

 

[cobra_ky]

That's a good way to be wrong about a lot of things, but i suppose you're entitled to that. Just don't expect anyone else on earth to trust your personal experiences.

Consider the situation objectively: you have met more folks than any sample group scientists can assemble. You're drawing on a larger field of data than the scientists. The lack-of-trustworthiness of studies like the one you cited's compounded by the fact it's a survey/poll. How many people are writing for the lols? What % of the site's readership didn't mark themselves down? How many looked at the poll and didn't post a survey? How many feign their more comfortable with something than they are? Etc.

You do know what the word "objective" means, right? It refers to results that can be tested independently of the individual who gathered them. Relying on your own personal experiences is as far as you can possibly get from objectivity; it is in fact subjective.

At some point, it doesn't matter how large your sample size is; if your sample is not truly representative of the population you are trying to model, your results will be skewed.

There are universally-accepted methods of reducing bias in sociological data. There were obvious methodological flaws in the survey I mentioned, and anyone with an adequate scientific background could tell you how to design a more accurate study. Never mind the fact that that survey had 10,000 respondents (do you really know more than 10,000 people with an opinion on DA2?)

You should trust my experiences so far as I'm not lying to you. Likewise I tentatively believe tellings of your own experiences you give. Naturally, that's how people assess reality through conversation. Sociological studies polling groups isn't scientific in methodology or true in results. There's always an agenda behind such polls and ways to misrepresent the population through the phrasing of questions and how data's represented.

i believe you're telling the truth about your experiences. I just don't believe your experiences are representative of gamers as a whole. Nor do i believe mine are. Yes, there will always be some degree of bias in sociological studies. But studies can at least be peer-reviewed, and their methodologies questioned. You can't do that with personal anecdotes, and individuals are just as biased, if not more so.

I wouldn't say gay content alienated most players, ever. You're actually the first one i've heard of bothered by it.

Really? You didn't read the forum post that this escapist article was in response to. You didn't read the article you're posting in a forum about. You haven't read any other forum comments saying the same thing.
More excusably, you haven't seen Angry Joe's review?
Bullshitting: you don't already know most of Bioware's fanbase is straight men and straight men don't flirt with poofters?

Sorry, typo. You're actually the first one I've spoken to. I just watched Angry Joe's review, and yes, he complained about the gay flirting. Then he complained about Isabella's flirting too. HGe doesn't have a problem with the "gay" content in particular.

Of course I know Bioware's audience consists mainly of straight men. I never disputed that. What I'm saying is that most gamers, myself and my friends included, weren't really put off by a fictional NPC hitting on their fictional avatar, any more than they were put off by another fictional NPC trying to murder them with a broadsword.

Gays are an audience that's safe to ignore. Lady Gaga's the only thing that can attribute its' success (in part) to them and even then she's the typical pop so she's far from relying on her gay fanbase. They're too small in number to court as a business strategy.

aren't.

ntoe that all those references are from 2005-7. LGBT purchasing power has only increased since then, and LGBT consumers are more likely to business with companies that are supportive of them. If you want to argue that designing content to appeal to LGB audiences is a waste of time/money, you need to convince

Appealing to homosexual gamers is a net positive in most, if not all of those categories.

When you lie you should try to be convincing.

Weren't you saying something about trusting my experiences? There is absolutely nothing in my experience that would lead me to believe that marketing to homosexual audiences would negatively impact brand loyalty or sales. There simply aren't that many people who are offended enough by homosexual content that they will refuse to buy another Bioware game because of it. On the other hand, i've seen plenty of data suggesting that there are a number of LGBT individuals who are more likely to buy a game which appeals to their interests. Therefore, I believe that targeting LGBT audiences has a net positive effect on profits.

You're welcome to disagree with my opinion, but you have no business accusing me of lying.

 

[FarleShadow]

I love Kneejerk reactions.

"He wanted a less gay game, quick, LYNCH HIM! (on the internet)"

Chill out people, I'm sure any homosexual person can defend themselves on the internet...

...and it'd be faaaabbbbulllllousssss!!

 

[Lybs]

My, what a nice little fire you have started here ^_^ "grabs a stick and some marshmallows"

 

[BigZ7337]

Personally I'm a straight male gamer, and I really felt like there were no romances in the game for me. Of course I thought Isabella was really hot, and she had a pretty funny personality, but she was a pirate whhore with no want or need for change and love. She's fine to have sex with, but not someone to bring home to meet your mom. Then for Merril, I personally didn't find her attractive, mostly due to the general new elf modeling, and specifically where she's crazy thin (on the record I do approve of the new design). Also, she has a horrible personality, I mean she's an annoying evil bittch with very few if any redeeming qualities. However, I somehow ended up having her be my romance because I wanted the achievement and it didn't seem to work with Isabella, even though I was her rival and disagreed with her at every chance, which doesn't really make any sense. The only other female, Aveline, is also very unattractive though I really liked her character. I even tried to romance her but she ended up with that guard. On this point, I pursued both Isabella and Merrill, had sex with both of them, but only my last conversation with Merrill would give me the achievement. Yet at the same time, in the conclusion the dwarf said that Isabella was the only one that stayed with me after the events of the game.

So in closing, while I have nothing against homosexuals (I'm absolutely for equal rights in all matters) or women, I feel like Bioware neglected the average male in the romance options.

 

[KalosCast]

So in closing, while I have nothing against homosexuals (I'm absolutely for equal rights in all matters) or women, I feel like Bioware neglected the average male in the romance options.

No, they didn't. They just didn't have romance options that you personally liked.

Bioware ignored the "average straight male" (whatever that even means) by having Bisexual companions the same way Bethesda neglected "average law-abiding citizens" by having two of Oblivion's four major side-quest groups being about stealing and killing.