LGBT topics in Video Games

[Zeema]

Do you think that there shud be more LGBT topics in Video games.

i reckon yeah because it may teach understanding which cud mean less discrimination and theres a hell of alot of that.

or even something about yourself that you didn't know may even help with a problem.


please explain your answers

 

[TacticalAssassin1]

If it's done in a way that nobody gets offended, sure.
But that's never going to happen. Just think about all the fuss Dragon Age 2 got because of the gay npc.

 

[ten.to.ten]

Unfortunately I think society's going to have to progress a little more on its own before lesbian sex scenes stop making up 99% of LGBT representation in videogames.

 

[Zaik]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

 

[Rayne870]

As long as it is natural and not forced. Any sexuality in games should essentially be optional unless it is the focus of the story. DA:O and DA2 handled things how I prefer, the options are completely out there but are up to the user to take. Yes some of the characters may have been unlikeable but I don't like most people I meet either so I don't have sex with them.

Even then having a game focus on a relationship is a bad idea. Even Epic recognized this in GoW2 as they decided not to make the plot point about Marcus/your girlfriend, but about Dom's GF. While the writing on that was no huge masterpiece it illustrates a point, and it would have been so much more awkward if they were forcing you into a relationship just for the sake of plot development.

 

[ShadowXX6]

Only if they write it well and don't shove it down your throat. And they manage to make me care about the character for some reason other than their sexual quirks.

Like her.
[/QUOTE]


This. If they have a good story just like a heterosexual character in the same game, and it's clear they're in the game as a person and not just because of their sexuality, I'm perfectly fine with it.

 

[monojono]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

So what stories and ideas would you say are not pointless and have absolutely nothing to do with videogames? Are you against anything more complicated than 'Here are bad guys kill them kthxbi'?

There are always going to be games without interesting stories, characters and morals. We should encourage the rarer games that do, even if they are trying to send a message. Just because they haven't been successful before doesn't mean they can't improve, and if they don't improve the variety and quality of storytelling in videogames won't either.

 

[Zaik]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

So what stories and ideas would you say are not pointless and have absolutely nothing to do with videogames? Are you against anything more complicated than 'Here are bad guys kill them kthxbi'?

There are always going to be games without interesting stories, characters and morals. We should encourage the rarer games that do, even if they are trying to send a message. Just because they haven't been successful before doesn't mean they can't improve, and if they don't improve the variety and quality of storytelling in videogames won't either.

What the hell are you talking about? Is this is some sort of elaborate ad hominem attack?

I wouldn't play a video game authored by Fox News to make conservatives look like deities, and I wouldn't play a game authored by some self-tortured gay guy trying to "fight for his rights".

Their message will always, now and forever, come before making anything of any real value.

 

[monojono]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

So what stories and ideas would you say are not pointless and have absolutely nothing to do with videogames? Are you against anything more complicated than 'Here are bad guys kill them kthxbi'?

There are always going to be games without interesting stories, characters and morals. We should encourage the rarer games that do, even if they are trying to send a message. Just because they haven't been successful before doesn't mean they can't improve, and if they don't improve the variety and quality of storytelling in videogames won't either.

What the hell are you talking about? Is this is some sort of elaborate ad hominem attack?

I wouldn't play a video game authored by Fox News to make conservatives look like deities, and I wouldn't play a game authored by some self-tortured gay guy trying to "fight for his rights".

Their message will always, now and forever, come before making anything of any real value.

There are plenty of films and books which have messages which are still considered great - I'm just saying that we shouldn't dismiss games that try to do the same. I don't understand why having a message must prevent a game having value. Hell, at least having a message means the writers are probably passionate about what their doing, as opposed to generic war games and such.
(and an ad hominem attack would be me attacking you personally instead of your points, and I dont think I really did that)

 

[Blood Countess]

If it's done in a way that nobody gets offended, sure.
But that's never going to happen. Just think about all the fuss Dragon Age 2 got because of the gay npc.

Honest it can never be done without someone being offended be it someone who is gay bitching about Anders being a pushy dick or someone using religion to see gays as evil and having them in games is pushing a make believe gay agenda.All one can do it have them and try not to be a stereo type

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Of course ... but i think games are struggling to even beable to put context into the quite obvious hash of military shooters born on the whole terrorist thing of the new century without properly exploring the issue of why there was anti-US rhetoric in the ME to begin with ... or even look at US imperialism of energy concerns, or Anglo-American-Dutch Financial system initiatives to keep developing countries in debt and hungry to established Old World/American industries.

So I doubt you're actually going to get any meaningful sexuality spectrum acknowldgement in games if they have, as of yet, been unable to promote basic political awareness into such media.

Hell, I'm just hoping for a game that might draw people in and make them question the nature of US and British banking institutions.

There is SO MUCH MATERIAL (whether converted for use in a shooter, stealth or Sim genre) to base a game on that alone and actuially show people what's happening in the big ol' world. But no, we still get shooters about guys waving their dicks or delusional paranoia that somehow armageddon will come with enemy invasion or use of nuclear warheads ... when the truth is quite simple, financial warfare.

There's a stealth game in that ... really deep and provocative stealth game to be had when looking at the underground secretive financial war that has been fought since the 50's... but no ... it always comes down to a dick waving contest.

Anyways ... to avoid rambling so much, yes there is plenty of room to explore such topics ... but no, we'll never get down to it because games are far too shallow as they are to actually approach matters which may educate and illuminate.

 

[Zaik]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

So what stories and ideas would you say are not pointless and have absolutely nothing to do with videogames? Are you against anything more complicated than 'Here are bad guys kill them kthxbi'?

There are always going to be games without interesting stories, characters and morals. We should encourage the rarer games that do, even if they are trying to send a message. Just because they haven't been successful before doesn't mean they can't improve, and if they don't improve the variety and quality of storytelling in videogames won't either.

What the hell are you talking about? Is this is some sort of elaborate ad hominem attack?

I wouldn't play a video game authored by Fox News to make conservatives look like deities, and I wouldn't play a game authored by some self-tortured gay guy trying to "fight for his rights".

Their message will always, now and forever, come before making anything of any real value.

There are plenty of films and books which have messages which are still considered great - I'm just saying that we shouldn't dismiss games that try to do the same. I don't understand why having a message must prevent a game having value. Hell, at least having a message means the writers are probably passionate about what their doing, as opposed to generic war games and such.
(and an ad hominem attack would be me attacking you personally instead of your points, and I dont think I really did that)

That's great when it's something you agree with. When it's something you *don't* agree with, you can't appreciate it at all. When it's something you don't care about at all, it just seems preachy and pretentious.

Want proof? Here's a quick one I thought up.

A gay mastermind creates a laser that can turn people gay. His plan is to fire it at the moon, and have it reflect down to the Earth and turn the whole world gay. You and your allies are the only people who realize that this would be the total destruction of the human race, because the only means of procreation that would remain would be willing surrogate mothers, which are few and far between. The "message" is that gay people don't procreate, and that the author thinks it is bad.

All the sudden "sending messages" doesn't sound so great once they're not ones you agree with, right?

Also you suggested that because I don't like media that "sends a message", all the sudden I can't appreciate a game that has a story greater than "go kill guys". That's ad hominem.

 

[Riobux]

LGBT topics in video games is something I agree with completely just because realistically they're bound to crop up. Done well, the game can be massively improved upon what it was (e.g. Dragon Age: Origins). However, shoe-horned into the game or using blatant stereotypes does more harm than good, even if the intention was comical (e.g. GTA IV:Ballard Of Gay Tony or Dragon Age 2). It's one of the main reasons why in recent months my respect for Bioware has increased massively. They've always been there to slide some LGBT recognition, although Dragon Age 2 was more of a shoe-horn in than recognition. I'd somewhat argue that LGBT topics in video games are doing more good than LGBT groups (well, from my experiences in them anyway which are either inane or militant).

 

[monojono]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

So what stories and ideas would you say are not pointless and have absolutely nothing to do with videogames? Are you against anything more complicated than 'Here are bad guys kill them kthxbi'?

There are always going to be games without interesting stories, characters and morals. We should encourage the rarer games that do, even if they are trying to send a message. Just because they haven't been successful before doesn't mean they can't improve, and if they don't improve the variety and quality of storytelling in videogames won't either.

What the hell are you talking about? Is this is some sort of elaborate ad hominem attack?

I wouldn't play a video game authored by Fox News to make conservatives look like deities, and I wouldn't play a game authored by some self-tortured gay guy trying to "fight for his rights".

Their message will always, now and forever, come before making anything of any real value.

There are plenty of films and books which have messages which are still considered great - I'm just saying that we shouldn't dismiss games that try to do the same. I don't understand why having a message must prevent a game having value. Hell, at least having a message means the writers are probably passionate about what their doing, as opposed to generic war games and such.
(and an ad hominem attack would be me attacking you personally instead of your points, and I dont think I really did that)

That's great when it's something you agree with. When it's something you *don't* agree with, you can't appreciate it at all. When it's something you don't care about at all, it just seems preachy and pretentious.

Want proof? Here's a quick one I thought up.

A gay mastermind creates a laser that can turn people gay. His plan is to fire it at the moon, and have it reflect down to the Earth and turn the whole world gay. You and your allies are the only people who realize that this would be the total destruction of the human race, because the only means of procreation that would remain would be willing surrogate mothers, which are few and far between. The "message" is that gay people don't procreate, and that the author thinks it is bad.

All the sudden "sending messages" doesn't sound so great once they're not ones you agree with, right?

Also you suggested that because I don't like media that "sends a message", all the sudden I can't appreciate a game that has a story greater than "go kill guys". That's ad hominem.

I was referring to when you said that gay issues had "absolutely nothing to do with video games". You could say the same about any topic or story other than "go kill guys", since thats what most gameplay is focused on. I didn't mean that you don't like games with deep stories.

And yes, of course I'd disagree with (and probably not play) an anti gay game. But I still think game stories overall would be better if more had deeper meaning or messages to their stories, even if i disagreed with some of those messages. I would hate any homophobic books, but plenty of authors have also done interesting stuff while looking at those issues.

 

[Sigilis]

No.

That's entirely pointless and it has absolutely nothing to do with video games at all.

Anyone who puts it in them is just trying to "send a message", and games trying to send a message have all unanimously been terrible.

So what stories and ideas would you say are not pointless and have absolutely nothing to do with videogames? Are you against anything more complicated than 'Here are bad guys kill them kthxbi'?

There are always going to be games without interesting stories, characters and morals. We should encourage the rarer games that do, even if they are trying to send a message. Just because they haven't been successful before doesn't mean they can't improve, and if they don't improve the variety and quality of storytelling in videogames won't either.

What the hell are you talking about? Is this is some sort of elaborate ad hominem attack?

I wouldn't play a video game authored by Fox News to make conservatives look like deities, and I wouldn't play a game authored by some self-tortured gay guy trying to "fight for his rights".

Their message will always, now and forever, come before making anything of any real value.

There are plenty of films and books which have messages which are still considered great - I'm just saying that we shouldn't dismiss games that try to do the same. I don't understand why having a message must prevent a game having value. Hell, at least having a message means the writers are probably passionate about what their doing, as opposed to generic war games and such.
(and an ad hominem attack would be me attacking you personally instead of your points, and I dont think I really did that)

That's great when it's something you agree with. When it's something you *don't* agree with, you can't appreciate it at all. When it's something you don't care about at all, it just seems preachy and pretentious.

Want proof? Here's a quick one I thought up.

A gay mastermind creates a laser that can turn people gay. His plan is to fire it at the moon, and have it reflect down to the Earth and turn the whole world gay. You and your allies are the only people who realize that this would be the total destruction of the human race, because the only means of procreation that would remain would be willing surrogate mothers, which are few and far between. The "message" is that gay people don't procreate, and that the author thinks it is bad.

All the sudden "sending messages" doesn't sound so great once they're not ones you agree with, right?

Also you suggested that because I don't like media that "sends a message", all the sudden I can't appreciate a game that has a story greater than "go kill guys". That's ad hominem.

Actually, I think i might play a game like that... Of course, if it was going to be a real game, the moral of the story should be about the ethics of mind control and the morality of changing someone's orientation just because it is 'undesirable'. But that premise would be likely bring in a whole demographic of paranoid homophobic fans (a small subset?) of militant fiction.

I actually like games with an over the top message that turn out to have a more subtle meaning behind their bombastic presentation. See: "Liberal Crime Squad".