EA defends itself against thousands of anti-gay letters

[Merrick_HLC]

It seems to me like the spirit of inclusiveness should extend to those of us who think Don't Ask Don't Tell was good policy, and would like to be able to tell Steve Cortez so. You know, rather than being forced to commiserate with him or ignore him completely. But hey, inclusiveness only works one way, right? It doesn't count if you're on the wrong side.

I know I'm late here.


But here's the thing.

If you can't reach out to another human being and console them on the loss of their husband/wife because you don't like that they married that person, for WHATEVER reason you don't like it.
You are bad excuse for a human being.

I played the game, it never once says "Well ya know I'm glad you and your same-sex partner could get married" or asks you to do so.

Shepard, even playing full Paragon, never says "Yay gay marriage."

What he does is he shows compassion for another human being losing someone they loved & who loved them.

The gender is never made an issue, because it isn't one to the story or to what emotions are the character is having.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

The Mass Effect same-sex relations should be of no issue. You are given the choice and if you have a problem with gays then choose something else.

That being said, I can certainly understand people being uncomfortable with the DragonAge2 relationships. Since you are forced into the gay aspect. You can always say no, sure. But it's an issue forced upon you.

Still...There are more important things to be greived with EA for.

 

[Vivi22]

Yes - but there is not an option to disagree with the concept.

Why should there be? The concept is only relevant and even addressed in the game if you pursue the option to have a same sex relationship.

Fact: The vast majority of them are not bigots or homophobes. They simply disagree, whether for religious or logical reasons - neither of which renders them or their opinions irrelevant.

I'm also going to have to completely disagree here because I have yet to ever here a logical reason for denying homosexuals the right to marry, aside from the one arguing state involvement in marriage should be eliminated entirely. Something I can kind of get behind.

Here's the thing, and this is entirely my view on the situation, but anyone who complains about not being able to shun or ostracize a group of people, in a game no less, under the guise of equal treatment is a fucking hypocrite. No one is obligated to respect the idea that another group of people should be treated differently based on their sexual orientation because such a notion is completely antithetical to the notion of living in a free society, and should be offensive to anyone claiming to want to live in such a society.

I'm sorry if you actually have a problem with homosexuality, or maybe just it becoming publicly accepted, but such notions should absolutely be fought whenever they rear their head.

 

[Varrdy]

I have to say fair play to EA on this one! It never fails to amuse and annoy me when protestors conveniently forget key issues or outright ignore them in order to make their "point", which always ends up about as valid as a ten-year old bus ticket.

I remember the kerfuffle about the original Mass Effect where it was claimed that there was "full-frontal nudity" and the option to angage in "sodomy" with alien characters. That was outright lies based on misplaced hysteria (a common theme amongst people like the ones who make such claims) and they were rightly called out on it, in public.

This is slightly different in that the option for same-sex relations is there but it's optional (thus negating the "forced" claim) and not very graphic at all.

And then comes the question oft-repeated but conveniently never answered by these pillocks: "Why are you letting your children play a game whic his rated 18 / Mature, anyway?"

 

[Misho-]

Most of those letters are from Florida? Who knew.

As Tommy Vercetti would say: Dumb.Florida.Morons.

No disrespect to sane people of Florida.

I don't have a problem with gay romance option. I have a problem with how it was integrated in the game. But that's the least of ME3 problems.

I still think we should be able to choose character sexuality in character creator. It would make a lot more sense and it would put a lot of people at ease. In Dragon Age 2 Anders came on to Hawke for no apparent reason. If I had the option to choose Hawke's sexuality from the beginning that wouldn't have happened. Things like that can ruin your playthrough. You're perusing one romantic interest, and at the same time you're developing another one that you didn't want without realizing it. It's just bad game design.

I almost made the same mistake in ME3. Luckily I read about romance options before playing. The game doesn't even tell you that you're perusing a relationship with Cortez until it's too late. I blame the lack of sexual preference choice and I blame the dialogue wheel and Paragon interrupt because they never say what you're actually gonna say or do.

The only way to jumpstart an actual relationship with Cortez is to actually tell him "Ï'm eye candy too" in the Bar in the Citadel... And that is coming right after he's eyeing up a guy in the bar and a lot of conversations after he's mentioned his late husband over and over.

I mean only if you are so egotistical you have to tell every guy you are eye candy in the "hey I'm here too" kind of way I don't see how he can sneak up on you.

What I like was what was implemented in ME2. I was trying to pry Jack out of her tough-shell but I was trying to romance Tali. Jack, having experienced a lot of crap on her life, was starting to like my "I don't want to fuck you just want to get to know you" Shep. The problem was that I DIDN'T know that I was starting a relationship with her until Tali told me "Hey it's either me or Jack". (The equivalent of the game telling you "make sure you have the correct option before proceeding") It was more natural. I understand it's a game, but in Real life this kind of things happen.
As a completely oblivious guy I tend to get girls I wasn't trying to "romance" to like me and I don't even learn about it until a soon-to-be Gf tells me same as Tali (either it's her or me OR I noticed that you hang to much time with XX, do you like her or what?).

Anyway, dumb people who don't like the same sex option because they have personal issues with the subject and then try to shield themselves behind their offspring by saying "It's to protect THEM".

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Well this is an incendiary topic, isn't it. 99% of us will agree and nod our heads solemnly and say "Bigots, what can you do?", and lament that we have to defend EA about anything. And then a bigot will come in and say "Why should I have to see gays bein' gay hurr durr", and 10 pages later...

 

[Sandjube]

I'm so sick of gay people getting a bum rap. People seem really anal about this issue, and as such they seem to talk out of their ass.

Wordplay aside, I actually want to get every bigot/racist/idiotic piece of shit that pretends to be a human, round them up, and ask them one by one why they care so goddamn much about...well, ANYTHING that doesn't affect them. And when it's about a GAME with OPTIONS, it's ridiculous, and I literally, (and I quite mean literally) can't comprehend it. My brain just will not let me think about it. Which is probably for the better, actually, because if I could understand I'd probably commit suicide.

Yeah, those people are far to oral with their ideas, It should be kept tongue-in-cheek instead of shoving it down our throats.

Other-ended wordplay aside, D) the homophobic stuff just seems to be getting...old for me. The fact is that I keep hearing all of the anti-gay things etc. from across the pond (uk here) and It seems to be stopping some developers as they reply to this.

*sigh* I wish more game companies were Europe based (i.e. Main HQ in Europe). So these things wouldn't gain such momentum.

Heh, I actually was hoping I didn't somehow offend someone with my puns, but it seems I did the opposite, yay! And yeah it's a bit ridiculous. I try not to think about it, because if I think too hard about stupid things like this I'll have an aneurism.

 

[Avatar Roku]

So at pretty much the same time when EA gets an award for being an awful company this story has emerged:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-04-04-ea-defends-itself-against-thousands-of-anti-gay-letters

In a nutshell, EA has received lots of letters of complaint over the option for players to have their in-game avatars pursue same sex relation in some games (Mass Effect 3, etc).

Its something of a barometer of behavior in the modern world, you know you're a world class douche when you're doing something which makes EA look like the good guys.

And this is why the public doesn't get to chose the direction of a game. For good or for worse.

Well, actually...

A great deal of the same-sex relationships we got in ME3 are a result of "the public" asking for those options to be implemented. (See the "Fight For The Love" group on the BioWare Social Network.)

What we're dealing with now is an opposing faction... of bigots.

To be fair, the story apparently goes that they wanted Kaiden and Ash to also be gay options in ME1, but the face-model for default male-shep took offense to his likeness being used in a gay context and said he would not let them use his face for future games if they did that. This being the last game they'd need him for, they were able to just tell him to fuck off.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Most of those letters are from Florida? Who knew.

As Tommy Vercetti would say: Dumb.Florida.Morons.

No disrespect to sane people of Florida.

I don't have a problem with gay romance option. I have a problem with how it was integrated in the game. But that's the least of ME3 problems.

I still think we should be able to choose character sexuality in character creator. It would make a lot more sense and it would put a lot of people at ease. In Dragon Age 2 Anders came on to Hawke for no apparent reason. If I had the option to choose Hawke's sexuality from the beginning that wouldn't have happened. Things like that can ruin your playthrough. You're perusing one romantic interest, and at the same time you're developing another one that you didn't want without realizing it. It's just bad game design.

I almost made the same mistake in ME3. Luckily I read about romance options before playing. The game doesn't even tell you that you're perusing a relationship with Cortez until it's too late. I blame the lack of sexual preference choice and I blame the dialogue wheel and Paragon interrupt because they never say what you're actually gonna say or do.

I do agree that a sexual preference option would make much more sense (for example it was a little weird whenever i accidentally flirted with Vega seeing as my Shep is a Lesbian)

But. As for Anders, i don't understand why people are bothered about him coming onto you even if YOU don't want him to because it's not about YOU...I think Anders had good characterisation in this respect because he can't help but "love/like/whatever" Hawke and you can still reject him so i don't see the problem.

If Anders was instead a woman called Anderlina, and she came onto you regardless of your romantic interests, would you be complaining? No because girls are "supposed" to come onto you then.

But i would say part of the problem lies with Bioware, they make it wayyy to easy to get locked into romantic engagements, sometimes it's hard to know if what you're going to say is going to be flirty or not which can be a problem.

I know what you mean. I was playing Mass Effect 1 and, like a good Paragon, set out to know about my squadmates, talk to them when I get a chance, pick the nice, friendly responses to them. And I was honestly surprised when Ashley took it as attraction, and decided to make me choose between her and Liara.

Yeah this type of thing is even worse in ME3 when almost all conversations only have a paragon or renegade option to them with no middle ground.
So if you're playing a paragon you have to choose a renegade option if you don't want to flirt with them -.-
It would be better if the intentions were more clearly defined in your conversation options (DA2 started with this actually, will be interesting if they go farther with it)

 

[-Samurai-]

... who are these people that they have enough free time to worry and fret about inane things like homosexuality in computer games?

Seriously?

Probably the same people that are still bitching about the ending.

 

[chiefohara]

... who are these people that they have enough free time to worry and fret about inane things like homosexuality in computer games?

Seriously?

Probably the same people that are still bitching about the ending.

Well the bitching worked

http://www.destructoid.com/mass-effect-3-getting-free-extended-cut-dlc-225268.phtml

 

[latenightapplepie]

To paraphrase Mike Kraulik

I would burn everything I have built to the GROUND if it meant I could catch people like you in the flames.

Who is this fellow? And what exactly are you paraphrasing? Sorry, I tried searching for it, but I couldn't find it.

On topic: People hate EA because they include homosexuality in their games? Well, yeah, I suppose that makes sense; there are plenty of bigots in the world, and plenty of dumb parents who already thought that videogames (which are obviously simply more elaborate toys) were turning their kids lazy and violent. Now they're turning us lazy, violent and gay!

 

[Iron Criterion]

You are beginning from the invalid postulate that homosexuality is similar in classification to race or gender - that it is inborn, impossible to alter.

My God, how do people like you still exist? Is your life so empty and devoid of all meaning that you have to deliberately involve yourself into matters that don't concern you at all? It's cool that you're not gay and that gay marriage isn't your cup of tea; you can just ignore it. Like you can in ME3.

I'm finding myself in a strange position where for the first time I'm agreeing and siding with EA.

 

[JediMB]

So at pretty much the same time when EA gets an award for being an awful company this story has emerged:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-04-04-ea-defends-itself-against-thousands-of-anti-gay-letters

In a nutshell, EA has received lots of letters of complaint over the option for players to have their in-game avatars pursue same sex relation in some games (Mass Effect 3, etc).

Its something of a barometer of behavior in the modern world, you know you're a world class douche when you're doing something which makes EA look like the good guys.

And this is why the public doesn't get to chose the direction of a game. For good or for worse.

Well, actually...

A great deal of the same-sex relationships we got in ME3 are a result of "the public" asking for those options to be implemented. (See the "Fight For The Love" group on the BioWare Social Network.)

What we're dealing with now is an opposing faction... of bigots.

To be fair, the story apparently goes that they wanted Kaiden and Ash to also be gay options in ME1, but the face-model for default male-shep took offense to his likeness being used in a gay context and said he would not let them use his face for future games if they did that. This being the last game they'd need him for, they were able to just tell him to fuck off.

That has been debunked, actually. It was simply a matter of all dialogue variants being recorded by both Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer.

As a result, there's FemShep-Ashley and ManShep-Kaidan romance dialogue, as well as that one funny conversation when ManShep claims to be a woman.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

These games are hardly for children. EA should be questioning the parents for allowing their good Christian children to play 18+ games before they write letters of complaint. I think the Star Wars MMO is rated 16 actually.

I think it is great to see more homosexual relations in computer games. Seeing same sex couples is becoming more common on TV and Film so why not computer games?

 

[Blind Sight]

Meh usual complaints from the usual people. No harm done, they're welcome to their opinion. Arbitrary definitions of 'hate speech' are incredibly subjective and are almost as damaging to the public forum as notions such as 'offensive speech' (this is based on my experience in Canadian journalism, where publishing a picture of Muhammad to explain the dangers of undermining free speech can get you possible jail time). As long as there's not any actual threats of violence, I'm good with this. I'm with John Stuart Mills on this one, even the most unpopular opinions should be allowed in the public forum to be debated and discussed.

Just like how I think that the Bioware depiction of bisexuality/homosexuality is poorly done (just like their straight relationships really) and is really a desperate attempt to remain relevant and 'edgy' in the gaming culture.

 

[omicron1]

You are beginning from the invalid postulate that homosexuality is similar in classification to race or gender - that it is inborn, impossible to alter.

My God, how do people like you still exist? Is your life so empty and devoid of all meaning that you have to deliberately involve yourself into matters that don't concern you at all? It's cool that you're not gay and that gay marriage isn't your cup of tea; I feel the same way about many things but I just ignore it. Like you can in ME3.

I'm finding myself in a strange position where for the first time I'm agreeing and siding with EA.

Hmm. I'd say it's because the liberal view on this issue is not, in fact, concensus; because it is shared by approximately 50% of America and much less than that in a general sense; and because the sum total of the argument to date (our view of things is right because we're calling it a human rights issue) has absolutely failed to convince me, or the vast majority of conservatives.
And while it is true that the Escapist represents a very liberal bubble-world where 97% of people agree with you, out in the real world this is not the case.


On the general subject: my position here is quite similar to that espoused here, [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/128/index/5505121/3] albeit of a differing viewpoint. It's fine that this content exists - just as it's fine that Ashley is religious. But the option to say "I don't believe that" is sorely missed.

 

[EmptyOptimist]

Another thought that occurs to me. I hear a lot of guys ***** about how much they hate it when Zevran or Anders hits on you, but they never say anything about how sexually aggressive Isabella is. If you play a female, she hits on you out of the blue too. Yet the guys never complain about this. Hmm, I wonder why that is?

I'm going to make the broad - and very possibly incorrect - assumption that most of the people that have an issue with the way Zevran or Anders hit on you would never even consider playing a female character to begin with. They simply never even experienced the aggression presented by Isabella.

And no - this is not just a troll.