LGBT topics in Video Games

[omega 616]

The way I see it is, all the people in the game are a sexual till otherwise stated. Even if they do have sex how will effect (affect?) the story or there chacter? I was going to use DA:O as an example of what I meant but I have only done a play through were I "did" morrigan, so I have no idea how the story unfolds if you don't "DO" anybody or have a lesbian or a gay man, I would imagine the story wouldn't be all that different.

I get what you mean by your story but how does that translate into a game? You could get to the same point with any configuration of gay/lesbian/straight/bi/a sexual just with different, to go with your example that dad of the person your playing could have beaten the person for not being straight or for being straight and wanted to ballet instead of football.

They might have been picked on in school for there sexuality or 'cos they had big teeth and glasses, there still getting bullied.

I hope that makes sense.

Context, I know I'm not good at explaining things but the ending of DA(for example) has a very different context if you romance morrigan to if you don't and another different context if you befreind her but don't pursue the romance with her.

The point I'm trying (and apparantly failing) to get across is that it does matter.

For example in Harry Potter, word of god says that Dumbledore is gay and may have been in loive with Grindlwald, now you might say that it makes no difference, but it changes the context of the battle between him and Grindlwald in his backstory.
In one version he was betrayed by and then killed his best freind, in the other it was the man he loved.
It makes rather a big difference.

Now granted that's hardl;y the best example but imagine if a charecters sexuality were written in to them from the start, it makes a difference.

Besides which, as I have said a few times now, there's simply no good reason NOT to.
To illustrate my point I'm going to ask you, why should they put black charecters in to games?
It doesn't affect how they play so why do they feel the need to?

The only reason this is even a question is that homosexuality still isn't fully accepted, I mean how many times have you heard people say "I'm not homophobic but, I don't want to see two guys kissing, it's gross."?

To be honest I don't want to see anybody kiss anybody, I think it's all "gross".

They put black guys in so they can say "hey, were being PC", thats the only feeling I get from it. Like they made everybody white, then realized and thought "we better make one of them coloured so we don't get hated on for it", the example that springs to mind is ME2 and I think gears only had one black guy in it.

Seriously, I have no idea who those people are, I have never seen a Harry potter film. I can gather what your point is though and to be honest, all it seemed to do was add a little emphasis to fight. If they had made it so they were bestest friends from the age of 1 and they were like brothers, would that be so different from one loved the other? I think it sounds like they used it as a surprise/twist aswell, "omg, he's gay! I never saw that coming!".

I will have to complete some of my other save games on DA:O 'cos I have like 5 left to do. I love character creators.

 

[Pearwood]

But hey, at least they tried to put a male homosexual in there. I mean, he turned out to be a rather unlikable slut, but at least they tried.

He wasn't unlikable, he was really sweet once he opened up. And what he said when I chose to take someone else into the final mission was by far the most emotional response out of any of the romances. But I'm just one of what seems to be about five Zevran fanboys so I'm biased

About having more LGBT characters in games sure if it's done nicely. Compare Dragon Age Origins to Dragon Age 2, Zevran and Leliana were both well designed characters even if Zevran made himself look like one night stand material only and Leliana had some freaky moments ("I was just watching you sleep" being the one that instantly comes to mind). On the other hand the Anders retcon combined with the fact he's the most flirtacious of the romances does make me think they just wanted to showcase the PC aspect of it. Fenris is still good though, still on my first playthrough so haven't really tried the others.

 

[moretimethansense]

To be honest I don't want to see anybody kiss anybody, I think it's all "gross".

They put black guys in so they can say "hey, were being PC", thats the only feeling I get from it. Like they made everybody white, then realized and thought "we better make one of them coloured so we don't get hated on for it", the example that springs to mind is ME2 and I think gears only had one black guy in it.

Seriously, I have no idea who those people are, I have never seen a Harry potter film. I can gather what your point is though and to be honest, all it seemed to do was add a little emphasis to fight. If they had made it so they were bestest friends from the age of 1 and they were like brothers, would that be so different from one loved the other? I think it sounds like they used it as a surprise/twist aswell, "omg, he's gay! I never saw that coming!".

I will have to complete some of my other save games on DA:O 'cos I have like 5 left to do. I love character creators.

Yet you took the Morrigan romance option first?
Interesting.

But do you think that they should all be white?

Actually, SPOILERS FOR THE HP FANS THAT HAVEN'T READ IT YET, AND IF YOU HAVEN'T WTF ARE YOU PLAYING AT IT'S BEEN OUT LONG ENOUGH, Dumble door is effectively the big good, he is the headmaster of the school and one of Harry's mentors, at any rate in his back story Grindlewald was a dark wizard that Dumbledore started knocking about with after his sister was beaten by muggles (regular humans) so they started to wreak a bit of havok, after a while they started looking for certain magic artifacts so they would be effectively unstoppable, Dumbledore got a hold of one, the most powerfull wand in excistance, you could oinly use it's full power if you killed the previous owner.
Grindlewald decided that he wanted it so he tried to kill Dumbledore, he failed, as such Dumbledore saw what the lust for power had done to Grindlewald and was doing to himself, combined with the shock of killing his best friend (and according to Word of God, the man he loved) caused him to give up his ambitions for power.

END SPOILERS

Granted this is hardly the best example, but it does give it a bit of a bitter edge.
As for the difference between someone you love and the closest friend you've ever had?
It's just different, I can't really describe it.

 

[EllEzDee]

Another reason why i hated New Vegas: everyone was fucking gay. I mean seriously, is that what happens in a West coast American apocalypse? Everyone turns gay? Is there no way of portraying gays in videos games without it being completely fucking stupid?
A straight character doesn't mention anything to do with their sexuality, but when a gay character is introduced, they immediately talk about their sexuality. Why can't we just leave sexuality out of games unless it's abso-fuckin-lutely necessary.
Oh yea, because having a gay sex scene generates publicity for the mainstream video game market.

 

[Cronq]

If you're offended, it's your fault entirely. "Discriminate" is not a bad word, it's just been the victim of a smear campaign by the weak and fearful.

 

[Busdriver580]

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.

Yeah, I hated Metal Gear Solid too

 

[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.

Yeah, I hated Metal Gear Solid too

I know, right?

Peace this, peace that, war sucks despite the fact I killed over 9000 dudes, it's okay when I do it cause it's for peace and killing metal geerz.

I actually enjoyed playing the game parts, but shit damn are the cutscenes awful.

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.

Colour me confused. Do you mean to say that homosexual content should not be included because homosexuals only care about their message, not the quality of the game in question?

How do you even come to that conclusion? I don't care about homosexual content.

I care, or rather don't care, about any sort of moral, spiritual, political, ethical, or whatever message forced into something that is supposed to be for my own amusement. If I wanted that crap forced down my throat I can argue with people on a forum all day for free.

Someone writing for any form of media in order to "send a message" will put any and all enjoyment or other merit of said product as secondary to pushing their agenda, and I've got no interest in it whether they're right or wrong.

Kind of weird how people keep reading over that and seeing me say the words "no" and "gay" in the same post and being like "what, he hates all gays and is in the KKK?".

 

[Busdriver580]

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.

Yeah, I hated Metal Gear Solid too

I know, right?

Peace this, peace that, war sucks despite the fact I killed over 9000 dudes, it's okay when I do it cause it's for peace and killing metal geerz.

I actually enjoyed playing the game parts, but shit damn are the cutscenes awful.

I was being sarcastic, MGS did a pretty good job of displaying the moral ambiguity, i'm saying games can have a serious message and theres' no reason it can't be related to LGBT

 

[Freechoice]

Having them for the sake of having them is inappropriate and disrespectful.

Oh, and the proper term is LGBTQ. If you want to be as PC as possible, QUILTBAG.

Queer/Questioning
Undecided
Intersex
Lesbian
Trangender
Bisexual
Asexual
Gay

I shit you not.

I get your point, but doesn't it strike you as odd, maybe not PC that they throw 8 different lifestyles in one heap? It's almost saying everyone that's not normal.

If you're not straight, you need to be classified in the same manner that if you are not white, you are some type of continent/country with a hyphen in addition to American. And the more of these terms I see, the more I think people are just being underconfident and trying to justify anything they want to do. Anything you consider inherently normal or true, you do not discuss in detail. If it's cool with you, you do not give a flying fuck what other people think.

I've been called all kinds a' shit. Sticks and stones.

 

[omega 616]

To be honest I don't want to see anybody kiss anybody, I think it's all "gross".

They put black guys in so they can say "hey, were being PC", that's the only feeling I get from it. Like they made everybody white, then realized and thought "we better make one of them coloured so we don't get hated on for it", the example that springs to mind is ME2 and I think gears only had one black guy in it.

Seriously, I have no idea who those people are, I have never seen a Harry potter film. I can gather what your point is though and to be honest, all it seemed to do was add a little emphasis to fight. If they had made it so they were bestest friends from the age of 1 and they were like brothers, would that be so different from one loved the other? I think it sounds like they used it as a surprise/twist as well, "omg, he's gay! I never saw that coming!".

I will have to complete some of my other save games on DA:O 'cos I have like 5 left to do. I love character creators.

Yet you took the Morrigan romance option first?
Interesting.

But do you think that they should all be white?

Actually, SPOILERS FOR THE HP FANS THAT HAVEN'T READ IT YET, AND IF YOU HAVEN'T WTF ARE YOU PLAYING AT IT'S BEEN OUT LONG ENOUGH, Dumble door is effectively the big good, he is the headmaster of the school and one of Harry's mentors, at any rate in his back story Grindlewald was a dark wizard that Dumbledore started knocking about with after his sister was beaten by muggles (regular humans) so they started to wreak a bit of havoc, after a while they started looking for certain magic artifacts so they would be effectively unstoppable, Dumbledore got a hold of one, the most powerful wand in existence, you could only use it's full power if you killed the previous owner.
Grindlewald decided that he wanted it so he tried to kill Dumbledore, he failed, as such Dumbledore saw what the lust for power had done to Grindlewald and was doing to himself, combined with the shock of killing his best friend (and according to Word of God, the man he loved) caused him to give up his ambitions for power.

END SPOILERS

Granted this is hardly the best example, but it does give it a bit of a bitter edge.
As for the difference between someone you love and the closest friend you've ever had?
It's just different, I can't really describe it.

I'm into the gothy looking types, so why wouldn't I play me in an RPG? Seems as good a profile as any. (that's why I went with the morrigan path first)

Would it matter if they were all white? Would it matter if they were all black? Unless your going to start stereotyping black people by making them all come from the ghetto and they act all though 'cos your from the street then the colour of there skin doesn't matter.

I'm sorry, is this HP reference for me or you? "combined with the shock of killing his best friend (and according to Word of God, the man he loved)" were they best friends or gay lovers? I'm awfully confused!

EDIT: I know some may called closed minded and flame me on other ways but who else is a bit sick of all this making up shit to be? First it was be hetro or be ashamed (which I think is wrong) and now we have 300 flavors of sexual being.

There's straight, gay and bi ... your thinking what else is there? There's metro sexual, a sexual, pansexual (I have just learned) and probably 294 more others. Sexuality is starting to look like metal at this point, there's so many divisions and sub genres people are going to be about 6 different sexualities!

I have just read a few lines on pansexuaility, it is basically a non racist bi sexual ... so a bi-sexual then, yeah?

 

[moretimethansense]

I'm into the gothy looking types, so why wouldn't I play me in an RPG? Seems as good a profile as any. (thats why I went with the morrigan path first)

Would it matter if they were all white? Would it matter if they were all black? Unless your going to start sterotyping black people by making them all come from the ghetto and they act all though 'cos your from the street then the colour of there skin doesn't matter.

I'm sorry, is this HP referance for me or you? "combined with the shock of killing his best friend (and according to Word of God, the man he loved)" were they best friends or gay lovers? I'm awfully confused!

Hey, whatever floats your boat, I liked her because I fucking love snark, and there was plenty to go around in that game.

The thing is, there is simply no reason not to have black charecters in, unless it doesn't make sense for your setting the only reason to NOT have them in is if you don't like them or if you simply forgot they exsisted, both of which are equally bad in my book and both of which apply to gays.

In the book its self there isn't any real indicater to his sexualioty either way, the author however has said flat out that he was gay, implied that he loved Grindlewald but (unless my memory has failed me) Grindlewald wasn't gay.

 

[godofallu]

The gay community is bad enough at promoting themselves in real life, how are they going to get anything done in videogames?

I can only think of a few games that added gay characters to the mix, and those games all did it poorly and in bad taste.

It could be done properly, but I don't see that happening often.

 

[Baneat]

I mean, he turned out to be a rather unlikable slut, but at least they tried.

Eh, there was unlikable (Fenris) and there was the slut (Anders)

 

[Shikua]

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.

Colour me confused. Do you mean to say that homosexual content should not be included because homosexuals only care about their message, not the quality of the game in question?

Having them for the sake of having them is inappropriate and disrespectful.

Oh, and the proper term is LGBTQ. If you want to be as PC as possible, QUILTBAG.

Queer/Questioning
Undecided
Intersex
Lesbian
Trangender
Bisexual
Asexual
Gay

I shit you not.

That still excludes pansexuals/omnisexuals. I am, oh, so very offended. D':

It's okay, I'm here for you! Pansexuals unite! *championing hug*

 

[Shikua]

Having them for the sake of having them is inappropriate and disrespectful.

Oh, and the proper term is LGBTQ. If you want to be as PC as possible, QUILTBAG.

Queer/Questioning
Undecided
Intersex
Lesbian
Trangender
Bisexual
Asexual
Gay

I shit you not.

That still excludes pansexuals/omnisexuals. I am, oh, so very offended. D':

It's okay, I'm here for you! Pansexuals unite! *championing hug*

Yay! Hugs for all the pansexuals!! Why is THIS not an option in videogames?! D:

Well, if it were, it would probably go past hugging reaall fast XD

 

[YawningAngel]

The reason this topic is never addressed is because games generally only sell well if people can relate to them, and most of the population can't relate to being LGBT simply by virtue of not having experienced it. Similarly, it's hard to treat such an issue in a credible manner if you're unfamiliar with it.

 

[ultratog1028]

Should there be? Yes. Will there be? Yes. Soon? Probably not.