Dragon Age and Polygamy
- Thread starter heyheysg
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...Rayne870 said:
Jokes
Just a small joke amongst Australians, but I'm sure that it has no real basis in truth...
OT: It's a pretty damned large step from homosexuality in video games to polygamy. Many people, including myself, see polygamy as objectifying, well, generally women.[footnote]Think harems and mormons[/footnote] For a medium that's already under constant criticism, and is viewed by many as nothing more than a toy industry, it would be hard to justify the inclusion of this.
Furthermore, it reeks of sexual fantasy to many - the hero goes through the game and gets all the women at once. Anyway, I had this entire little speech written here, but deleted it because it was essentially pointless.
The key things are that polygamy is generally viewed in a negative light, is considered offensive by many, would probably interfere more in a story than it would assist, seems a lot like pandering, there's no niche market for it, and it has no mass appeal - actually, just screw it.
Rest assured that it won't appear in any triple A video games for a long time, and even the Indie devs would probably reluctant to approach it.
Sorry that post was so messy. I'm having a very hard time gathering my thoughts, because I've never even considered this particular issue before, and I've just taken the status quo for granted.
More important question, why not Isabella and Merill at the same time?
Seriously though, i think Bioware have done enough with relationships, not many publishers take them so seriously or cater to so many options and still people find something to complain about...
Seriously though, i think Bioware have done enough with relationships, not many publishers take them so seriously or cater to so many options and still people find something to complain about...
As a polyamorous man (yay a topic about my "deviancy"), I would suggest that it's because it's long, complicated, and doesn't add anything to a storyline. Having a homosexual character helps to develop that individual, but having a polyamorous relationship just seems to be ticking the boxes, so would be more detrimental to the storyline IMO
I can see where you are coming from, but there is no objectifying involved My girlfriends are very independent, have successful careers, and enjoy each others company as much as mine (more sometimes!). Like all of these things, polyamoury is generally misunderstood, and those who are polyamorous, generally don't tend to set the record straight.
The original beef with it was that it broke down the traditional values of marriage, but now that marriage is such a pointless sacrament, people still seem to be hanging onto a an ancestral mistrust of it. Also, some guys feel I'm hogging all the women, but that isn't true either
Bobbity said:...Rayne870 said:
Jokes
Just a small joke amongst Australians, but I'm sure that it has no real basis in truth...
OT: It's a pretty damned large step from homosexuality in video games to polygamy. Many people, including myself, see polygamy as objectifying, well, generally women.[footnote]Think harems and mormons[/footnote] For a medium that's already under constant criticism, and is viewed by many as nothing more than a toy industry, it would be hard to justify the inclusion of this.
Furthermore, it reeks of sexual fantasy to many - the hero goes through the game and gets all the women at once. Anyway, I had this entire little speech written here, but deleted it because it was essentially pointless.
The key things are that polygamy is generally viewed in a negative light, is considered offensive by many, would probably interfere more in a story than it would assist, seems a lot like pandering, there's no niche market for it, and it has no mass appeal - actually, just screw it.
Rest assured that it won't appear in any triple A video games for a long time, and even the Indie devs would probably reluctant to approach it.
Sorry that post was so messy. I'm having a very hard time gathering my thoughts, because I've never even considered this particular issue before, and I've just taken the status quo for granted.
I can see where you are coming from, but there is no objectifying involved
My girlfriends are very independent, have successful careers, and enjoy each others company as much as mine (more sometimes!). Like all of these things, polyamoury is generally misunderstood, and those who are polyamorous, generally don't tend to set the record straight.The original beef with it was that it broke down the traditional values of marriage, but now that marriage is such a pointless sacrament, people still seem to be hanging onto a an ancestral mistrust of it. Also, some guys feel I'm hogging all the women, but that isn't true either
im for polygamy but then again there are 2 kinds, guess ill have to say im only for one of them.
be nice to have it in a game but if it were, you can almost imagine it be a whole game in it of itself. having to please a whole bunch of mates instead of just keeping with one. Hmm...might be a fun play mechanic now that i think about it.
be nice to have it in a game but if it were, you can almost imagine it be a whole game in it of itself. having to please a whole bunch of mates instead of just keeping with one. Hmm...might be a fun play mechanic now that i think about it.
It's not realistic to expect Bioware to cover every possibility in terms of player choice, in every single game they make. They make story driven games, meaning their own preferences are going to sway the way the story can go. Of course, any player can deviate slightly from the default path in their games, but I presume that sometimes the writers may just not want some relationship types to be options because the types may not fit with the story they had in mind (just like they didn't want race choice to be an option in Dragon Age 2).
I wouldn't mind seeing more realistically portrayed (positive and negative sides shown) polygamous and polyamourous relationships in entertainment mediums in general.
I wouldn't mind seeing more realistically portrayed (positive and negative sides shown) polygamous and polyamourous relationships in entertainment mediums in general.
I actually doubt it's left out because of any sort of social agenda or anything. A decent and believable polygamous relationship just seems like it would be terribly difficult to write. A lot of work and writing would have gone into making Leliana as lovable as she was but imagine how much harder it would have been for the writers if they also had to find some way for Alistair to fall in love with both Leliana and the Warden (my canon is female) and for every character involved to be okay with it (probably by passing a speech check). It just seems like it would come off needlessly convoluted.
As it stands I'm comfortable with where games are in this respect. There's a lot of attention going into making believable and likable characters in games like Dragon Age and I'd rather that Bioware's writers devote time and effort into making that relationship with one person as loving and meaningful as possible (god I loved Leliana) rather than shoehorning in a polygamous aspect that may not quite fit.
I'm not opposed to the idea in the future but good writing, as always, needs to come first.
As it stands I'm comfortable with where games are in this respect. There's a lot of attention going into making believable and likable characters in games like Dragon Age and I'd rather that Bioware's writers devote time and effort into making that relationship with one person as loving and meaningful as possible (god I loved Leliana) rather than shoehorning in a polygamous aspect that may not quite fit.
I'm not opposed to the idea in the future but good writing, as always, needs to come first.
Seriously, why can't we establish sex cults in our game?heyheysg said:
Also, why aren't we given the option to get sex operations during the game. And I don't just mean have the 'gender' checkbox changed, I mean like, people realize we've had reassignment surgery and act all different and whatnot.
No, I'm not serious. But you have to realize that all your random little quirks for relationships or sexuality needs are not going to be realized in a role playing game. Especially not one that isn't ABOUT sex and relationships.
Well, I managed to get laid by Tali and Liara (twice, counting one in ME1) in Mass Effect 2, so I guess that it's not that of a big deal.
I wouldn't care either way, but it would be interesting.
I wouldn't care either way, but it would be interesting.
