Homosexuals in gaming.

[Punisher A.J.]

Just don't mention it at all unless it's relevant. The only people who go around constantly informing people of their sexuality are the ones who are completely insecure about it. I knew one guy who'd greet people by saying 'Hello, I'm gay'. Wrong way to go about it.


I think it would be funny if a main character just casually mentioned he's gay after somebody asked him about it.

"So Master Chief, you got a lady back home?"
"No, I'm gay"
"...Riiight... That's cool"

That could be comedy gold, but it'd be interesting to see how people react to it too.
I wouldn't mind myself. For as we all know, Master Chief is a pretty cool guy, eh kills aliens and doesn't afraid of anything. (sorry, I just love that meme)

"So Master Chief, you got a lady back home?"
No, she is in my pocket....... wait she mov"hooo"ved.
"................."

(as for the actual subject)
1. I don't care or would not care..... zev was gay or by or tri, (I think he would screw anything that moved)but I still use him.
2. you can't plug a lamp in a lamp - G.W. Bush
but watching those outlets together is just fun - B. Clinton
3. I'm pretty sure its been done.

 

[DTWolfwood]

*Snip*

It was originally not "Homosexuals in gaming".

gots u

 

[Contextualizer]

Just don't mention it at all unless it's relevant. The only people who go around constantly informing people of their sexuality are the ones who are completely insecure about it. I knew one guy who'd greet people by saying 'Hello, I'm gay'. Wrong way to go about it.


I think it would be funny if a main character just casually mentioned he's gay after somebody asked him about it.

"So Master Chief, you got a lady back home?"
"No, I'm gay"
"...Riiight... That's cool"

That could be comedy gold, but it'd be interesting to see how people react to it too.
I wouldn't mind myself. For as we all know, Master Chief is a pretty cool guy, eh kills aliens and doesn't afraid of anything. (sorry, I just love that meme)

Of course it makes sense for people who fall into normative sexuality to not base a lot of their identity on it. But there's nothing wrong for someone to base a lot of their identity on their sexuality, normative or not.

Besides, straight males base a lot of their identity on their sexuality. They just can't tell because it's considered so overwhelmingly normal.

 

[Doitpow]

Well, at least it would get the dumbasses off of games.
So to say: Homophobes and other people who throw the word 'gay' and 'fag' around would get the hell off the games I play.
Or at least I hope they would. But they'd go ruin something else...

But I suppose companies won't risk their sales...

This is sadly true. Young kids and fratboys are homophobes (generally speaking), and they are the target market, games companies only care about characterization at all to sell their game. So as opposed to using their influence over the young to promote tolerance, games companies merely re-enforce the illusion that the world is universally heterosexual and homosexuals are an obscure minority, mainly known for their contribution to fashion, dance and theatre (thanks to the image portrayed by the majority of the mainstream media). Gamers underestimate themselves, they made sci-fi and fantasy nerds socially acceptable, how about pulling that trick here and creating some tolerance out there?

 

[bobknowsall]

Just don't mention it at all unless it's relevant. The only people who go around constantly informing people of their sexuality are the ones who are completely insecure about it. I knew one guy who'd greet people by saying 'Hello, I'm gay'. Wrong way to go about it.

Quoted for absolute truth. Unless it helps to drive the story, sexuallity (gay or straight) is best left unmentioned.

This pretty much sums it up. It would appear that certain writers believe that making a character gay/bi automatically makes the game all edgy and mature. It just comes off as silly and token. I mean, the only time you hear someone's sexuality get mentioned in real life is when it gets discussed (or when teenage guys decide to gay-bash, cuz that's so cool and manly), and games just don't really discuss or feature that aspect of life. Having a bunch of asexual characters and one flaming gay in a game is just jarring to the player.

 

[Valiance]

Who gives a shit. Why does gay culture have to penetrate (lol) everything? You've got people complaining about Avatar because it's has heterosexual themes in it. What the fuck?

Wow.

It's funny that the OP brings up the question of "Gordon Freeman could be gay - nothing's stating explicitly that he isn't!" because it was the same thing I said in a few of these other threads.

I would gladly play and enjoy a homosexual character because, for all I know, they -have- been homosexual characters. Generally, I like my sex relatively far away from my violence, so most games I play don't have explicit statements about a person's sexuality. I mean, I don't think anything heterosexual or homosexual would have really fit into a game like Bioshock or Half-Life. I mean if you think about it, most games don't focus on that sort of thing, and I don't think I would enjoy most of them if they did.

I don't think orientation adds or takes away from anything aside from possible characterization.

Like, when I think of Solid Snake, I don't think of him around women or men, I'm thinking of the action-hero activities he partakes in.

However, part of Duke Nukem's character involves him being straight. Part of Max Payne's character and story involves him being straight.

On the same line, a lot of game-heroes are totally positioned away from sex and relationships like that, and it really wouldn't matter. Your examples of Master Chief and Gordon Freeman are great to show this.

I think people would still play most games, though some people might be turned off from a story-heavy game that forced your main character ("You" in the game) into being a flamboyant homosexual. Like, say, if a Final Fantasy game made you play for 40-50 hours with a character you didn't agree with the viewpoints of and had no choice to change them. (like Tidus personally, but he grew on me. Irrelevant. ) However, at the same time, I wonder how a homosexual feels being involved in a heterosexual love story with a character they identify with...?

I'm sure there's room for it, and for me it wouldn't matter, but maybe some people would refuse to play a game like MadWorld if the character was gay.

 

[pcload1etter]

Honestly charging a game with "X is a homosexual" for a sexually neutral character is a lame political play to cause controversy, and more press; because as we all know all press is good press.

Like the whole Dumbledore thing. SNL made fun of this by including "missing scenes" in their sketches.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/18881/saturday-night-live-dumbledore

Trying to jam homosexuality down peoples throats is just going to cause more divisiveness.

Also Homosexuals are gay.

 

[i did it 4 the lulz]

Got no problem playing i gay character but i cant stand this guys! http://gaygamer.net

I mean whats makes the game experience so different if you gay or not?

 

[Xanadu84]

Homosexual characters, if it naturally fits into the story, would be a great idea. However, Gordon Freeman can't be gay. Nothing to do with image, but it would ruin the carefully built romantic pretext with Alyx.

 

[The Unskilled78]

I don't really care that much about game characters' sexual preferences. IMO, it's best if it's not even spoken about. I mean, really, I'm sick of seeing sex selling every junk out there. Commercials, ads, Tomb Raider, anime, etc.

It's not that I'm frigid, conservative or anything. I'm just sick of seeing sex everywhere I look at.

agreed. But I am a frigid conservative (Insert emoticon here)

 

[bobknowsall]

Trying to jam homosexuality down peoples throats is just going to cause more divisiveness.

Hoo boy, now there's a very intentional double entendre.

And yes, announcing that such characters are gay is a rather silly way of courting controversy. But since non-heterosexuality triggers such a knee-jerk response from gaming's main demographic (young males), it's pretty effective at causing a lot of fuss over otherwise unexceptional games.

 

[p3t3r]

i like dragon age's approach you can be gay but don't have to be. i wouldn't mind the option being there but i would not liked to be forced into the position of one

 

[bobknowsall]

i remember one of the five characters in i have no mouth and i must scream was a homosexual, and a major psychological plot point was his admittance to his wive about that fact. that was in the late 80s or early 90s, mind you^^ would have been controversy fuel unleaded if the game would not have had a million really bad mindfucks up the sleeve that made this fact fade into the backround somewhat^^

I can just imagine a possible exchange:

1st guy- "Man... I just had to admit to my wife that our whole marriage was a sham so I could fit in with societal norms. It was awful..."
2nd guy- "I just had to walk fifteen miles through broken glass to get a f---king can of peaches. And guess what? We haven't got a bloody can opener. Somehow, I find my sympathy strangely lacking at the moment."
- *a strange, muffled noise emanates from the corner of the room*
2nd guy- "Oh, and Larry got turned into an amorphous blob. He can't even complain about his problems, man."

 

[bobknowsall]

i like dragon age's approach you can be gay but don't have to be. i wouldn't mind the option being there but i would not liked to be forced into the position of one

Well, I appreciate any game that allows you to be bi, because then you've got the option of playing as any orientation. It's the best of both worlds, hah.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Who cares!! CANT WE JUST DROP THE ISSUE ABOUT HOMOSEXUALS AND SUCH AND JUST GET ALONG! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS STUPID ARGUMENT ABOUT GAYS AND STRAIGHTS SCREW IT IF YOU LIKE IT IN THE ASS THEN YOU LIKE IT IN THE ASS!

The joy of forums is that you get to pick the discussions you enter into. If you are bored of a topic, then stay away from threads, because all caps spam will result in moderator action.

 

[collegestudent22]

It's completely unnecessary. For one, keeping it ambiguous for the player's main character lets you put yourself in there. If you're straight, you play as a straight character, and if you are gay, you play as a gay character.

Furthermore, it isn't something that I want to see. People that focus too much on sexuality piss me off. Alright, I get it, you are gay, I DON'T CARE. The only people that need be concerned with your sexuality are people that you may be interested in/might be interested in you. Everyone else doesn't give two shits.

 

[Kathinka]

i remember one of the five characters in i have no mouth and i must scream was a homosexual, and a major psychological plot point was his admittance to his wive about that fact. that was in the late 80s or early 90s, mind you^^ would have been controversy fuel unleaded if the game would not have had a million really bad mindfucks up the sleeve that made this fact fade into the backround somewhat^^

I can just imagine a possible exchange:

1st guy- "Man... I just had to admit to my wife that our whole marriage was a sham so I could fit in with societal norms. It was awful..."
2nd guy- "I just had to walk fifteen miles through broken glass to get a f---king can of peaches. And guess what? We haven't got a bloody can opener. Somehow, I find my sympathy strangely lacking at the moment."
- *a strange, muffled noise emanates from the corner of the room*
2nd guy- "Oh, and Larry got turned into an amorphous blob. He can't even complain about his problems, man."

i...don't think this is how it went. still that made me laugh inapropriatly hard xD