The Gay Option

[Bolivar]

I do want to see more inclusiveness in gaming, just not in a heavy-handed way, as that can really damage the credibility of the author in my eyes. I'm trying to think of any games that have walked that line skillfully. The only one coming to mind might be Caithe's storyline from Guild Wars 2.

That said, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to see it. Obviously I don't care what anyone else does but I personally find the act of a man submitting to another man to be disheartening. That hasn't stopped me from being close with or very fond of gay people, especially over the years on this forum.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I find the idea that being penetrated is equilivant of submitting not only disheartening but an archaic view of sex and gender.

[Fynn]

Alright boys, let's stay on the topic of heterosixism in games, okay?

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

The problem is that it is on topic. The very idea that somehow being penetrated means you are submitting is deeply rooted heteronormative ideas about gender roles and sexuality. The very notion that being penetrated is to submit to another's power is at the root of sexism and homophobia. So I feel it is very much on topic.

Part of me realizes it could just be a bad choice of words, yet still remains problematic discussing sexual acts as being acts of submissive or dominating in a non-BDSM context.

[Fynn]

Okay, fair enough. I was just trying to avoid changing this into an EoEO-esque topic, but I guess you can't avoid these issues when touching on this particular topic.

So yeah, I agree. I often found it weird how whenever someone hears of gay people (at least here, in Poland, a very homophobic country), they start picturing them having anal sex. I don't get why people immediately start thinking of another person's sex life when they aren't straight and start making assumptions and judgments.

So coming back to video games, just because a guy (supposedly) likes to be penetrated from the back, that immediately means he's submissive and "womanly"? The problem of women being considered inferior aside (and oh boy, is that a topic for another thread or what), it literally boils down to a person's preferred sexual position disqualifying them from being a good video game character (not to mention not only gay men take joy in anal penetration, considering the male physiology and the existence of a little organ called the prostate, but I digress).

It's really disturbing how people can be so petty to not accept the existence of characters based purely on their sexuality. It's like Mat Pat said in the video - LGBT characters seem acceptable as the Other, the villain, despite straight, white, cis males being only part of the gaming demographic, even if it's so far the majority. The trend is mercifully changing (heck, the enhanced edition of BGII added two non-hetero romance options, so yay!) but the changes are slow, small, and I really hope this can change for the better.

I also have to say that, despite being a total trainwreck otherwise, FFXIII was really nice about the whole gender thing. Like her or hate her, Lightning is not written like a typical female protagonist, and Vanille and Fang are anything but subtle about the nature of their relationship. So I just hope that, if it isn't XV (not very likely at this point), some later FF will come out and they will have an openly gay character/couple and they will be awesome.

[Leigh]

Most games can barely write coherent heterosexual relationships. I'd love to have a butchers of how well they can pull off this can of worms. Personally, if the game is well written, then I don't give much of a care about what sexual orientation you wish to peg the lead, side, villain. Admittedly, I am not much of an "issues" kind of person, well only when I am being Devils advocate for 'teh lulz'.

As we know; game companies these days work solely on the grounds of financial remuneration. I'm willing to guess that a game, with public knowledge of a gay storyline, may not sell as well...if we are going to get controversial and put a slightly different spin on the discussion. Implied but not stated seems to be the sort of "meeting halfway" agreement.

I expect more overt homosexual relationships, amongst the lead characters, will be the domain of the Indie community, especially if they are trying to portray a social message. Homosexuality in triple A games; the equivalent of Asians in Hollywood.

Only time will tell, for nothing is certain.

[Mirage]

The games with gay options also usually let you choose a gender for the main character. I usually pick female so the gay option becomes a lesbian option for me. I've picked gay options when playing male characters too, though. It all depends on if I find any of the guys hot or not.

[Fynn]

Most games can barely write coherent heterosexual relationships. I'd love to have a butchers of how well they can pull off this can of worms. Personally, if the game is well written, then I don't give much of a care about what sexual orientation you wish to peg the lead, side, villain. Admittedly, I am not much of an "issues" kind of person, well only when I am being Devils advocate for 'teh lulz'.

As we know; game companies these days work solely on the grounds of financial remuneration. I'm willing to guess that a game, with public knowledge of a gay storyline, may not sell as well...if we are going to get controversial and put a slightly different spin on the discussion. Implied but not stated seems to be the sort of "meeting halfway" agreement.

I expect more overt homosexual relationships, amongst the lead characters, will be the domain of the Indie community, especially if they are trying to portray a social message. Homosexuality in triple A games; the equivalent of Asians in Hollywood.

Only time will tell, for nothing is certain.

But that's kind of the whole point - there's this whole untapped market of women and non-straight people. Broadening the appeal of games seems really profitable, logically speaking.

[Hollycat]

I usually play gay female character, so I think it should be in most games that have romance options. That's not to say it should be like skyrim where any romanceable character will marry any regardless of gender, race, and so on. In real life people have preferences, and I like seeing that reflected in games. Dragon Age does this really well.

[blackmage_nuke]

Im happy with anywhere between 2-10% of games featuring at least one non-straight character.

[Fynn]

Found another cool video on the topic.

[Loony BoB]

Do I need more, on a personal level? No, it is not important to my personal self.
Should there be more regardless? Yes, I recognise that such a thing would be beneficial to society. It's also important that it's done in the right way.

[Shauna]

Most games can barely write coherent heterosexual relationships.

Well then, if they're crap at writing relationships, they shouldn't be afraid to write an incoherent homosexual one.

But I think some of the issue is the fear that the relationship they write won't be good enough, and they will be torn to pieces because they have butchered it. A heterosexual relationship will never be put under that much scrutiny, so to save some of their sanity, just play it safe.

[Mirage]

yeah, if you're straight and writing a straight relationship, you could always just defend yourself with "no seriously guys, this is literally my last irl relationship"

[Fynn]

yeah, if you're straight and writing a straight relationship, you could always just defend yourself with "no seriously guys, this is literally my last irl relationship"

Well, you could do the same with gay relationships and say "no seriously guys, this is literally my last irl relationship, only gender-flipped".