Poll: Games aren't gay enough.

[Manji187]

Yes, I did give it that title to be eye-catching. If your reading this, it worked. DANCE PUPPETS.

I've come to a disturbing realization recently. I was playing Persona 4 with a friend about a week ago (she's a lesbian) And she asked if the main character could be gay. He couldn't, and she found this weird, as one of the lead characters in your party was.

And...I kinda found that weird as well. And then I noticed something worse: I couldn't think of a single decently portrayed gay character besides that one guy. In all of gaming. Period.

I mean, I'm not exactly a champion of political correctness, but that kind of horrifies me that 2012, we only have ONE well-written gay guy in the whole mainstream gaming spectrum. 0 well-written lesbians. I'm sure some of you can point me in the direction of indie games and some visual novels that defy this, and that's better than nothing, but what about the mainstream? And I know Shepard and other such open-world leads can be gay, but I'm talking about in-canon characters that are written as GAY. I'm not so sure I consider his/her love interests to be all that well written at times, personally. I mean, they're great characters, but I feel like they act...odd when you get them in the bedroom. I dunno, maybe that's nitpicking.

Either way, that's only 2 mainstream games that does this (debatably) right. Does this disturb anyone else? I thought our little medium was growing up. Was I wrong? I don't think it should be mandated that all games include a member of every race, gender identity, sexuality etc. But inclusion is a good thing, no? I'd like to see a bit of variety to next cast of heroes, for more reasons than one.

First of all, unless the game is somehow predominantly about the protagonist being gay and all the accompanying issues, in most cases his or her sexual preference is irrelevant to the plot/ story.

Second, be mindful of target audience and demographics. It is likely that a lot of people would not appreciate the lack of choice on such an issue (i.e. being forced to play a gay character) and thus probably would not be able to relate to the main character. Being progressive for the sake of being progressive is likely to backfire as a business decision (sales/ profit). Don't forget, gaming is big business. Also, developers don't like creating controversies and appearing on Fox News.

Also, obviously, the maturity of the medium as a whole does not solely depend on the amount of "inclusion". With a few exceptions, most games don't properly portray (if they portray at all) even the most basic of human relations. There's more than plenty of "growing up" to do.

 

[Dio]

Well like said before, Caithe from Guild Wars 2 is a lesbian and they don't make that much of a point of it. Even though there is a whole dungeon about Caith and her ex-lover. I did like the story of it but not going to post it here, since I don't know how spoiler tags work here. It portrait it as nothing was wrong with it and that is how media should portray it. Stuff like this make me love Guild Wars even more.

Also, if you pick a certain storyline in the character creation screen(the green knight) then you will actually help a gay couple.

Then again. I'm not sure if there can be stuff like sexual orientation in trees and plants. I think it can, especially if the characters are portrait so humanized and there is a clear difference between men and women. Gogo Sylvari!!


I do agree with krazykidd. I'm gay. But when there is no romantic interaction or a good reason to showcase sexual orientation in a game, then there is no need to force it. Even if there is some romantic interaction, the writers can still choose the sexual orientation to whatever fits the story best. And in a world of stereotypes, a manly human saving a lady is usually what works.

SPOILER MASS EFFECT 3.

Spoiler

I personally think that the whole Kaiden hits on Shepard scene was really really weird. I thought I would have said yes, just because of my own orientation, but I really couldn't since it did not fit the role I thought Shepard played in my game. It felt a bit rushed too, so maybe that was the problem. (Still enjoyed the whole game though.)

 

[Bertylicious]

Regretably I have friends who are gamers and who have enormous difficulties with homosexuality in general so I imagine there is a commercial concern for companies in terms of having homo characters, but we shouldn't endorse pandering to people's insecurities.

Why, if we did then we'd never never let Stephen Fry on telly and we'd all be poorer for it.

Saying that though, I think a character's sexuality & romantic features are part of the oil of a good story and shouldn't replace the engine, chassis and wheels.

 

[Overusedname]

Next thing you know transgenders/transexuals/phedophiles/beastiality is going to want to be represented in gaming . That forcing your views on people ! Then again enchanted arms had an idiot , and gay guy and a transgender as the main cast ...

Also i laughed when you said the medium was growing up . It isn't .

As for me personally . I'm not homophobic, but i don't want homosexuality shoved in my face , and forced upon me in my games . It would be enough to stop me from buying a game i want .

I'm sorry, but this literally made me throw up in my mouth a little. I cannot believe I just heard that whole 'Homosexuality acceptance will lead to pedophilia acceptance' thing on the escapist. I'm not dignifying that with a proper response. I trust I don't need to explain what's wrong with your implication.

And isn't heterosexuality forced upon people in most games with romantic subplots anyway? :/

...I don't think people get what the point of the OT was. I'm surprised this upset people to this extent. It's a pretty simple idea.

Regretably I have friends who are gamers and who have enormous difficulties with homosexuality in general so I imagine there is a commercial concern for companies in terms of having homo characters, but we shouldn't endorse pandering to people's insecurities.

Why, if we did then we'd never never let Stephen Fry on telly and we'd all be poorer for it.

Saying that though, I think a character's sexuality & romantic features are part of the oil of a good story and shouldn't replace the engine, chassis and wheels.

^This. Someone eventually has to defy the standard if anything is ever going to change. Black people didn't magically become equal in the media overnight. Hell, they're still portrayed as stereotypes very often and relegated to Hip-Hop and Tyler Perry movies all too often.

It's just another character trait, and it's rarely seen. It might spice things up a bit is all.

First of all, unless the game is somehow predominantly about the protagonist being gay and all the accompanying issues, in most cases his or her sexual preference is irrelevant to the plot/ story.

Uh...a huge amount of games have romantic subplots. In FF7, I think Cloud's heterosexuality is quite important to parts of the plot. Including his love interests and his deep emotional connection to Aeris.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

To be fair, how many games have WELL WRITTEN Heterosexual romances?

 

[sextus the crazy]

Also, please add "Gayben" to the poll options.

God yes.

OT: It would be nice to have a protagonist for once who is unabashedly homosexual. Especially, I homosexual male since those are less likely to turn into fap fodder for straight men, whose still make up most of the gaming community.

 

[bafrali]

Sure lets add more to the list of awkwardy written love stories. What can go wrong?

What i mean is: WHY?

 

[Arakasi]

I chose 'Bengay', as I think that it really doesn't matter.
If a developer feels the need to include a gay character, they can, if not, so be it.
We do not nessecarily need every color of the rainbow to achieve a good story or a good game, nor is a game racist, bigoted, or prejudiced for not including any minority.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

In most games it is not important so in those cases I kinda have to say .

That is kinda my attitude in most cases if there is no love/romance interaction. For all I care Dom and Marcus secrectly have orgies with other Gears or dress in drag at the weekends.

There are some cases where it does need to be explored and more and given as an option. Although, in most cases in games it is completely non important and would be jarring aside from having it as an off hand comment. Firstly, we should work with getting what we know right before moving on. Let us get some more decent male and female characters done first and then move on to other options.

Spoiler

Well like said before, Caithe from Guild Wars 2 is a lesbian and they don't make that much of a point of it. Even though there is a whole dungeon about Caith and her ex-lover. I did like the story of it but not going to post it here, since I don't know how spoiler tags work here. It portrait it as nothing was wrong with it and that is how media should portray it. Stuff like this make me love Guild Wars even more.

Also, if you pick a certain storyline in the character creation screen(the green knight) then you will actually help a gay couple.

Then again. I'm not sure if there can be stuff like sexual orientation in trees and plants. I think it can, especially if the characters are portrait so humanized and there is a clear difference between men and women. Gogo Sylvari!!


I do agree with krazykidd. I'm gay. But when there is no romantic interaction or a good reason to showcase sexual orientation in a game, then there is no need to force it. Even if there is some romantic interaction, the writers can still choose the sexual orientation to whatever fits the story best. And in a world of stereotypes, a manly human saving a lady is usually what works.

SPOILER WARNING MASS EFFECT 3.


I personally think that the whole Kaiden hits on Shepard scene was really really weird. I thought I would have said yes, just because of my own orientation, but I really couldn't since it did not fit the role I thought Shepard played in my game. It felt a bit rushed too, so maybe that was the problem. (Still enjoyed the whole game though.)

[ spoiler ]spoiler goes here[ /spoiler ] without the spaces in the [] brackets. Also if you ever want to know how some did a bit of BBcode just quote them.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

To be fair, how many games have WELL WRITTEN Heterosexual romances?

That too. In lots of games sexuality simply isn't mentioned, whether they're gay or not. And to ask for a well written homosexual romance is a lot considering haw badly most heterosexual relationships are written.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

---

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

Next thing you know transgenders/transexuals/phedophiles/beastiality is going to want to be represented in gaming . That forcing your views on people ! Then again enchanted arms had an idiot , and gay guy and a transgender as the main cast ...

Also i laughed when you said the medium was growing up . It isn't .

As for me personally . I'm not homophobic, but i don't want homosexuality shoved in my face , and forced upon me in my games . It would be enough to stop me from buying a game i want .

I'm sorry, but this literally made me throw up in my mouth a little. I cannot believe I just heard that whole 'Homosexuality acceptance will lead to pedophilia acceptance' thing on the escapist. I'm not dignifying that with a proper response. I trust I don't need to explain what's wrong with your implication.

I personally don't see anything wrong. Its his opinion. We don't see 'straight pride parades' or anything. Being gay isn't a big deal, I guess this is because I live in England and people really don't care over here. The worst you get is getting called a fag in like year 10 or something but I was getting called that in year 7 like all the geek kids. Its not homophobic to not like something for a legitimate reason.

EDIT: My quoting is really messed up today, it must me something with my netbook or something.

 

[wings012]

Kanji isn't actually gay, he just has some confused moments.

Personally I don't think it matters. Just when you do include gay people in games, handle it with some care and grace rather than going all stereotypical BS on it.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I think this is a non issue... personally if I am playing a love story like Enslaved: Oddessy to the West I would only play it if it was a male/female relationship... not because I am homophobic, but because gay fiction doesn't interest me...

Also, camp males are annoying...! I can do slight campness, but OTT flamboyant camp really pisses me off... and that would also start to appear in games that I would avoid! You see elements of it in JRPG's, but it tends to be minor cases, and usually a bad-guy trait, for some reason!

Also, if a game was released, focussed around a gay relationship then you are going to have problems with it's release... Someone somewhere will take the religious nut approach, and burn copies and somehow get it banned!

And finally, would it appeal to the whole target audience as much? As much as it is ok when games allow you to choose homosexuality in a RP environment, actually enforcing it will, unfortunately, greatly reduce your audience...

 

[Overusedname]

I personally don't see anything wrong. Its his opinion. We don't see 'straight pride parades' or anything. Being gay isn't a big deal, I guess this is because I live in England and people really don't care over here. The worst you get is getting called a fag in like year 10 or something but I was getting called that in year 7 like all the geek kids. Its not homophobic to not like something for a legitimate reason.

EDIT: My quoting is really messed up today, it must me something with my netbook or something.

Um...I fail to see his legitimate reason, he just said doesn't like seeing gay people in entertainment.

And...well. The 'straight pride' thing...

Okay fine...Straight people aren't told everyday that there's something wrong with them. They don't need a parade to show courage; we're the safe default. I have a friend whose 20 years old and can't even tell his own family he's gay. I know a lesbian who was beaten up everyday on her way back from school for being gay. Gay men (and jews) are currently the most likely hate crime victim in America, etc.

Of course it isn't a big deal to be gay. It has no effect on who a person is. That's true. But tell that to the guy that just murdered a kid for giving him a valentines day card.

 

[The Lunatic]

Discovering one's sexuality can be a very interesting and emotional time for people.

Yes, it'd be nice if it was represented well and was part of a main character's progress through the game and their lives, but, I'd fear it'd be more likely that the medium couldn't represent it well enough and in less accepting markets, it'd impact sales very negativity.

At the very least the option would be nice sometimes.

Being gay and having to play as a straight character forced to interact passionately with female characters to get "Progress" or "Bonuses" in games, is about as uncomfortable as it would be for a straight guy going along with an overly gay storyline right now.

They're rarely fleshed out and tend to be nothing more than "We're dating now" after like 2 encounters with the person.

 

[Vault101]

No no no no no no no ! We are not ready ! We can't even get past heterosexual relationships without cries of sexism . We are not ready to tackle homosexual relationships . One group at a time dammit!

baby steps...theres nothing wrong with trying..abitraiy limits are stupid


[quote/]OT: Is this really necessary? I mean really? If you are playing a game , and the thing that bothers you the most is the lack of homosexual relationships , there is something wrong . There are so many other things wrong with the gaming industy , this is not a priority . Next thing you know transgenders/transexuals/phedophiles/beastiality is going to want to be represented in gaming[/quote]

are you fucking kidding me? you just lumped pedophelia and gayness together? I mean honestly?


[quote/]That forcing your views on people![/quote]
what? ok then...if thats foricng ones veiws on epople then what the fuck is this?
[quote/]As for me personally . I'm not homophobic, but i don't want homosexuality shoved in my face , and forced upon me in my games . It would be enough to stop me from buying a game i want .[/quote]
*sigh*....you know what? maybe I don't like the macho man sausage fest being shoved in my face..or the Nathan drakes. or the oversexualised female characters or lack of decent female protagonists...you never consider that?

the fact is if you don't like something..YOU FUCKING DEAL WITH IT...the whole entertainment world does not need to cater to yours or anyone's specific tastes, I highly doubt will will have "teh gay" shoved in your face in many games, and I may seem hypocritical when I say this but the reason is that games/alot of fiction as always favored one demographic over the others..so it really doesn't hurt to add variety

and if Kaiden from Mass Effect hits on you?..go cry about it somewhere else

if something is there and its stupid and out of place..then sure. but if somthing is there with at least the attempt to make it work then no...its up to the creator


[quote/]Also i laughed when you said the medium was growing up . It isn't .[/quote]

proving more engaging experiences...I'd say it is

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

To be fair, how many games have WELL WRITTEN Heterosexual romances?

Good point, most games lack any form of meaningful relationship. As for more/less gay issue I don't really mind that much if it is done well.

Case in point Dragon Age 2's Anders, I was friendly and don't think I selected any relationship activation dialogue and he still kept on making advances. Compared to Arcade Gannon from Fallout New Vegas who's orientation was a a single aspect of his personality rather than an all defining purpose.

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

I personally don't see anything wrong. Its his opinion. We don't see 'straight pride parades' or anything. Being gay isn't a big deal, I guess this is because I live in England and people really don't care over here. The worst you get is getting called a fag in like year 10 or something but I was getting called that in year 7 like all the geek kids. Its not homophobic to not like something for a legitimate reason.

EDIT: My quoting is really messed up today, it must me something with my netbook or something.

Um...I fail to see his legitimate reason, he just said doesn't like seeing gay people in entertainment.

And...well. The 'straight pride' thing...

Okay fine...Straight people aren't told everyday that there's something wrong with them. They don't need a parade to show courage; we're the safe default. I have a friend whose 20 years old and can't even tell his own family he's gay. I know a lesbian who was beaten up everyday on her way back from school for being gay. Gay men (and jews) are currently the most likely hate crime victim in America, etc.

Of course it isn't a big deal to be gay. It has no effect on who a person is. That's true. But tell that to the guy that just murdered a kid for giving him a valentines day card.

I know no gay people because like I said, in England its no big deal. This is obviously a culture thing since religion and sexuality are heated issues in america. My point all along with this whole issue has been to sit on the side line. Deconstruct it far enough and being gay is a sexual preferance, so is preffering under age partners. Then we start getting into dangerous waters. I don't like to get too involved because we are supposed to feel pity for one sexuality and despise another. Why are there parades for one and court sentances for another?

I know 1 lesbian. End of story. She wasn't beaten, bullied or anything. She just got on like the rest of us and didn't need a parade to feel like she did.

 

[Zhukov]

Oh I say, bring on the gay.

...

Yay.