Sexuality in Mass Effect

[Matu Flp Krwfe]

A male Shepard, on the other hand, can only romance women. Even if you WANT to play a gay ManShep, you're simply not allowed.

Because unlike the blank slate Warden, Shepard is not supposed to be a perfect analogue for yourself. Sure, you can decide the polarity of his personality just like with any other Bioware RPG of recent memory but that fact alone doesn't suddenly turn the game into a free worlding Fable where every choice and possibility for character development should be laid out for you.

 

[Doug]

A male Shepard, on the other hand, can only romance women. Even if you WANT to play a gay ManShep, you're simply not allowed.

Because unlike the blank slate Warden, Shepard is not supposed to be a perfect analogue for yourself. Sure, you can decide the polarity of his personality just like with any other Bioware RPG of recent memory but that fact alone doesn't suddenly turn the game into a free worlding Fable where every choice and possibility for character development should be laid out for you.

Hmmm...true, true. I suppose the Warden is meant to be less of "character" in of himself than Shepard. Though they should still try and give him a voice for DA:O 2 or DA:O Awakening. But I do see what you mean.

 

[Uszi]

Because unlike the blank slate Warden, Shepard is not supposed to be a perfect analogue for yourself. Sure, you can decide the polarity of his personality just like with any other Bioware RPG of recent memory but that fact alone doesn't suddenly turn the game into a free worlding Fable where every choice and possibility for character development should be laid out for you.

This I think is a valid argument. People have always complained about how you can't role play luke-warm Shepards effectively.

But honestly, I've always thought there was sort of a set narrative you fell into: Either Shepard is an ultra-violent human supremacist, trying to subjugate the entire galaxy, or he's some sort of George-Washington-esque character who, is, well, the paragon of humanity. To that end, there is an establish Shepard character who perhaps is not homosexual.

But... then again... George Washington did wear frilly clothes and a powdered wig. I mean, who knows.

 

[Doug]

there is no wheelchair bound character in the game.

I take it you never spoke to Joker.

A lot of the arguments here are based on the idea that including a same-sex option would be catering to a minority, implying that only gay people would want to roleplay a gay character. However, anyone who's ever been to TV Tropes, Television Without Pity, or a yaoi fansite knows that that there are many, many hetero women and girls who would love to do exactly that.

wait wait wait, are you insinuating that a lot of people WANT to have a homosexual character, even if they themselves aren't homosexual?

And question, why do only women want to play as homosexual character's?

Not only women (as this thread has shown, non-hetero men also play Mass Effect), but in the same way some straight men like the idea of female-female attraction, some straight women like the idea of male-male attraction. Ask your female friends.

True. Makes sense if alot of male like the idea of female/female sex, alot of women would be the same with male/male sex.

 

[Doug]

Because unlike the blank slate Warden, Shepard is not supposed to be a perfect analogue for yourself. Sure, you can decide the polarity of his personality just like with any other Bioware RPG of recent memory but that fact alone doesn't suddenly turn the game into a free worlding Fable where every choice and possibility for character development should be laid out for you.

This I think is a valid argument. People have always complained about how you can't role play luke-warm Shepards effectively.

But honestly, I've always thought there was sort of a set narrative you fell into: Either Shepard is an ultra-violent human supremacist, trying to subjugate the entire galaxy, or he's some sort of George-Washington-esque character who, is, well, the paragon of humanity. To that end, there is an establish Shepard character who perhaps is not homosexual.

But... then again... George Washington did wear frilly clothes and a powdered wig. I mean, who knows.

Being on the opposite side of the conflict, I wouldn't really consider George Wash a "paragon of humanity"; and didn't he own slaves too?

Sorry, off topic abit. I suppose whether or not the main character in a game is an extension of the player or not is abit of a grey area depending on the game in question.

 

[Uszi]

Being on the opposite side of the conflict, I wouldn't really consider George Wash a "paragon of humanity"; and didn't he own slaves too?

Yeah, but aside from that he was a pretty general bad ass. I mean, he was fairly selfless when it came to setting the country off on the right foot.

I'm also not sure how much you can fault him for owning slaves when so many other Rich Europeans at the time also owned slaves.

Er. On topic: Paragon ME2 Sheps should be able to own slaves? Wait no...

 

[Doug]

Being on the opposite side of the conflict, I wouldn't really consider George Wash a "paragon of humanity"; and didn't he own slaves too?

Yeah, but aside from that he was a pretty general bad ass. I mean, he was fairly selfless when it came to setting the country off on the right foot.

I'm also not sure how much you can fault him for owning slaves when so many other Rich Europeans at the time also owned slaves.

True - I just find it hard to classify someone as a paragon when they have slaves, heh.

Er. On topic: Paragon ME2 Sheps should be able to own slaves? Wait no...

Well, there are alot of Batarian slave traders in game....no....

Anywho, closer to on topic, the Rene-Shep always struck me as "Do things by force and sheer force of command" whereas Para-Shep was the "Do things by convincing and charm" - so not really a good/evil divide, persay.

 

[Jestere]

Well, i guess they tried to balance equality with the type of characters they were trying to make with the NPC's. I mean i don't think either the characters and backstory of garrus or wrex would really fit with homosexuality, perhaps Kaidan, but maybe they felt they couldn't implement it to their standards, and so decided to leave it out instead of shoehorning it in somewhere it could seem jarring.

I haven't played ME2 so i'll leave it be

 

[LiquidGrape]

Actually, they did plan on including male homosexuality in the original Mass Effect.


All of the content was fully voice acted and animated.
Still they decided to leave it out.
That is weak, and I don't care what excuse you produce to state the opposite.

 

[Dr. Doctor]

In the future, homosexuality is cured. I'm sure FemShep is in it for the novelty of bedding every bipedal species in the known galaxy, and in that case it's your fault she's a whore.

 

[Doug]

Actually, they did plan on including male homosexuality in the original Mass Effect.


All of the content was fully voice acted and animated.
Still they decided to leave it out.
That is weak, and I don't care what excuse you produce to state the opposite.

hmm, I see. Well... no idea why they cut it then. Maybe to try and avoid the blind side of Fox News, but that failed if it was so.

 

[BirdBot]

I'm more disturbed by the fact that Shepard has sex with creatures who have completely different anatomies to him.

Did someone say you can do Garrus and Thane???

I mean... really... Thane has gills for crying out loud, and how do we know Garrus doesn't have scaly plates on his man-bits?

If you chose to romance either one of them, you can unlock an awesomely hilarious conversation tree where Mordin gives you advice about chafing. He also recommends against "oral contact" with Thane as it can give you hallucinations... So be careful if you plan to lick the frog!

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

it's just a game, people! who cares about these little details... do you think that bioware will start a CensorshipTeam Hah!? XD

it's the complete package of ideas that count.

 

[Uszi]

I mean... really... Thane has gills for crying out loud

To be fair, as an embryo, you had gills too.
JUST SAYIN

 

[Doug]

I mean... really... Thane has gills for crying out loud

To be fair, as an embryo, you had gills too.
JUST SAYIN

True! And look at it this way - there are stranger things people imagine having sex with in Japan.

 

[LiquidGrape]

it's just a game, people! who cares about these little details... do you think that bioware will start a CensorshipTeam Hah!? XD it's the complete package of ideas that count.

Right. A package which completely ignores a vast portion of human sexuality.
I agree with what I believe is your fundamental sentiment; that these are factors of our existence which shouldn't really be a problem for anyone.
But before we can discard these issues as trivial, we must give them due time and effort to process them.
As long as there is a prevalent social inability to adress sexual equality, there will be a need for a movement to illustrate it.

 

[Uszi]

True! And look at it this way - there are stranger things people imagine having sex with in Japan.

Yes, at least Thane is a chordate.

 

[Woodsey]

Meh. I don't much like cutscenes anyway (not true), and I'm not gay either.
Sorry, but homosexuals are still the minority.

And they always will be - that's not the point she's making.

OT: I admit I found it odd too. However, I don't think you can say: "After Dragon Age, which allowed the PC to fall just about anywhere on the sexuality spectrum, I was sort of hoping that Bioware had come to understand that their audience is not entirely male and not entirely hetero." when you admit in the same sentence that they'd already put it in Dragon Age.

Maybe they'll amend it in the third.

 

[Doug]

it's just a game, people! who cares about these little details... do you think that bioware will start a CensorshipTeam Hah!? XD it's the complete package of ideas that count.

Right. A package which completely ignores a vast portion of human sexuality.

Erm, vast? I thought the majority of humans alive today where heterosexual?

 

[Doug]

True! And look at it this way - there are stranger things people imagine having sex with in Japan.

Yes, at least Thane is a chordate.

Indeedie. Though I want to see "Blasto" the Hanar now XD