A thought on the Dragon Age 2 "Gay Debate"
Vampirate
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
My apologies in advance if this is located wrong, as it is my first post. I don't have much time for forums these days, but am an avid reader of the Penny Arcade comic. Like much of the gaming news I get the news that there was even a debate on the options provided by DA2 came to me from the comic. As a bisexual gamer I thought I might chime in.
I tackled the game as a male character mainly because I never do. I am prone to playing females, so I wanted a different perspective this time. I also tackled the game with the full intention of choosing the female, elf romance option. Yet, as the game progressed and I did my best to be virtuous and caring to all, and do what was right as often as I could, I found myself scorned by said elf and instead embraced by another of my party who always seemed to approve of my kindness. In short Anders was the one to accept and embrace my character as who and what he was. In the end I chose to actually go with Anders as the romance option.
The game itself gives you the option to be friends with any character and not go further. By choosing romance you choose to accept that characters desires, and their "feelings". If a character feels scorned by rebuking their advance, an advance you as a character choose to indicate is welcome, then that is the right of a character and the writer behind it. It also speaks ill for the homosexual gamer who made this complain, as the complaint he makes is not limited by sexuality nor gender in the game. If you spurn the advances of a female character as a male, you get the same reaction. It shows a certain small world view and gives a bad name to homosexual and bisexual gamers to cry "bigot" while ignoring the perspective of other gamers of differant sexualities.
The truth? In the end the fact that I ended up with Anders weaves a powerful tale the likes of which we usually don't get to enjoy in a game. Simply put... you get to find or be "found" by someone who accepts "you" for who you are. I was forced to give up the notions I had had, and chose the person that was right for my character, regardless of gender or sexuality. That is progress in a game that even our society hasn't equalled. It saddens me that instead of thanking the writer, people have chosen to scorn him. He changed the game, not just mechanics but how we look at story and character development. We are just so busy worrying about what goes in and out of what that we haven't taken a moment to realize it yet.
Thanks for your time,
Harry Moore
I tackled the game as a male character mainly because I never do. I am prone to playing females, so I wanted a different perspective this time. I also tackled the game with the full intention of choosing the female, elf romance option. Yet, as the game progressed and I did my best to be virtuous and caring to all, and do what was right as often as I could, I found myself scorned by said elf and instead embraced by another of my party who always seemed to approve of my kindness. In short Anders was the one to accept and embrace my character as who and what he was. In the end I chose to actually go with Anders as the romance option.
The game itself gives you the option to be friends with any character and not go further. By choosing romance you choose to accept that characters desires, and their "feelings". If a character feels scorned by rebuking their advance, an advance you as a character choose to indicate is welcome, then that is the right of a character and the writer behind it. It also speaks ill for the homosexual gamer who made this complain, as the complaint he makes is not limited by sexuality nor gender in the game. If you spurn the advances of a female character as a male, you get the same reaction. It shows a certain small world view and gives a bad name to homosexual and bisexual gamers to cry "bigot" while ignoring the perspective of other gamers of differant sexualities.
The truth? In the end the fact that I ended up with Anders weaves a powerful tale the likes of which we usually don't get to enjoy in a game. Simply put... you get to find or be "found" by someone who accepts "you" for who you are. I was forced to give up the notions I had had, and chose the person that was right for my character, regardless of gender or sexuality. That is progress in a game that even our society hasn't equalled. It saddens me that instead of thanking the writer, people have chosen to scorn him. He changed the game, not just mechanics but how we look at story and character development. We are just so busy worrying about what goes in and out of what that we haven't taken a moment to realize it yet.
Thanks for your time,
Harry Moore
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