Some game forum threads are destined to become classics, enshrined in the annals of epic winningness. That's the case, I think, for the recent BioWare thread on the topic of the "straight male gamer."
The OP in the thread (who had apparently posted on this topic several times, in hopes that he would receive support for his views), was voicing his outrage over the fact that Dragon Age 2 allows romance to occur between any two players, rather than enforcing heterosexual norms. The centerpiece of his argument is that "straight male gamers" make up the vast majority of players, and their needs should therefore dictate the game's design.
I don't think many would argue with the fact that the overwhelming majority of RPG gamers are indeed straight and male. Sure, there are a substantial amount of women who play video games, but they're usually gamers who play games like The Sims, rather than games like Dragon Age. That's not to say there isn't a significant number of women who play Dragon Age and that BioWare should forego the option of playing as a women altogether, but there should have been much more focus in on making sure us male gamers were happy. [...] Its ridiculous that I even have to use a term like Straight Male Gamer, when in the past I would only have to say fans.
BioWare's David Gaider responded to the post magnificently:
The romances in the game are not for "the straight male gamer". They're for everyone. We have a lot of fans, many of whom are neither straight nor male, and they deserve no less attention. We have good numbers, after all, on the number of people who actually used similar sorts of content in DAO and thus don't need to resort to anecdotal evidence to support our idea that their numbers are not insignificant... and that's ignoring the idea that they don't have just as much right to play the kind of game they wish as anyone else. The "rights" of anyone with regards to a game are murky at best, but anyone who takes that stance must apply it equally to both the minority as well as the majority. The majority has no inherent "right" to get more options than anyone else. More than that, I would question anyone deciding they speak for "the straight male gamer" just as much as someone claiming they speak for "all RPG fans", "all female fans" or even "all gay fans". You don't.
While I do wish Gaider hadn't followed that with a bit of backpedaling in the "would I do it again?" paragraph, overall this response is made of win. Bravo, BioWare.
Gaming will never be a mainstream hobby if the bigwigs of companies like Bioware have to respond to fans who state flatly they find being gay "disgusting".
It will remain slightly disreputable like Nascar racing. No serious opinion-leader would link themselves to a nail bomb like that waiting to go off.
Posted by: Joe | Mar 27, 2011 at 15:16
I don't think Gaider considered the post to be worth response but rather he did what we all do once in a while; he responded to a random idiot on the internet that wouldn't shut up, despite knowing logically that it wouldn't fix the guy.
I don't consider homosexuality that great of a thing myself, but I also don't believe in writing code (or laws) trying to force other people into what I find acceptable. I thought Prohibition showed us all the efficacy of that kind of approach?
Posted by: Jim Self | Mar 27, 2011 at 22:47
Yh, nd prsnlly wndr why yr prnts wr llwd t rprdc.
sn't t grt cn tll y my pnn f y n th ntrnt?
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Posted by: Joe | Mar 27, 2011 at 23:43
Can I say: the parents of bigots like Jim Self shouldn't have been allowed to reproduce?
Posted by: Joe | Mar 28, 2011 at 20:29
Bioware screwed up and now they're trying to wiggle their way out of this by scoring "wins" over their customers. Sure, everybody has the right to enjoy the game, thus we will have 1/4 of all characters be heterosexuals, 1/4 homosexuals, 1/4 bisexuals and 1/4 transgender. To make it even more catered to everyone, each of those groups should include at least one Caucasian, one African and one Asian. Each of the represented groups should have at least one male and one female member. One should be autistic. All this in a medieval elite unit trying to rescue the world. To hell with immersion! What could possibly go wrong?
This is just lousy game design. Dragon Age: Origins had a gay elf and a bisexual former member of clergy; nobody complained. Homosexuality isn't the problem here either.
Posted by: Sir Knight | Mar 28, 2011 at 23:16
I suppose we'll eventually have clickable options for all this on the 'Settings' screen.
Posted by: ecastronova | Mar 29, 2011 at 09:23