I wonder what the ratio of girl-girl romances explored by straight-white-males vs. real lesbians/bi-sexual people is.

If you take this argument and subject with just about anything (e.g. condoms, cars, shirts, shoes, etc.) it shows how ridiculous this person’s (il)logic truly is.

I’m a straight male geek that works in the technology industry and I approve of this message.

Mostly because lordy, we need some gaying up and we need it bad.

Pretty amazing.

Thanks for sharing this great story! It’s nice to see companies stand up for equality. We shared your post on The Solipsistic Me: http://hulshofschmidt.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/bioware-practices-virtual-equality/

Refreshing as all get out! I have been a woman gamer for more years then I care to admit. It is hard not to get angry when you come up against the attitude expressed by that guy so often.. not by the “fans” as he calls them but the game makers themselves who too often seem just as narrow minded, bigoted and blind to the idea that there might just be someone other than young straight males out there who are playing.
They just sold a copy of that game to me just because of that wonderful response by David Gaider and BioWare. I am so playing that game!

Personally, and as an aformentioned ‘straight, male gamer’, I’m kind of disgusted that I have to share my ‘branding’ with this knuckle-head.

Seriously, out of all the worthlessly opinionated and utterly useless comments I’ve seen on forums before, this mysoginistic chest-beating makes me utterly baffled at some people’s train of thought that could ever spell out this opinion as ‘valid’.

To that end, however, I’ve just been given another reason to tip my hat to Bioware. Not simply for their amazing games, but for the fact that with a well-worded and intelligent response rather than the pseudo-intellectual blather that this ‘straight male gamer’ rattled off, David Gaider sucessfully defended one of a number of outstanding Bioware creations and the right for every man and woman, no matter their gender preference to enjoy a good videogame, and feel accepted by the story that’s presented to them.

Fantastic work, Bioware. Keep it up!

This was hilarious I say bring on the flirting

I think the lady (straight male gamer) doth protest too much.

I’d like to see stats on DAO2 sales…

I am a female gamer. I grew out of playing Sims years ago and I love action RPGs! Dragon Age, Fable… there are so many games out there where your character can have a relationship with an NPC. I suppose that the game companies could market different versions of each game, such as “Dragon Age: For straight females” or “Fable for bisexuals.”

But honestly, is people can’t take an NPC hitting on their characters, they need to stop playing. Because real life is so much more “scary” than a game. Maybe they should go walk the streets of downtown at night and get hit on in person before playing these games so they won’t be so offended by a GAME.

Or maybe someone should remind them that it’s a GAME. And really, the in game mechanics of NPC approval ratings allow the player to NOT get hit on by the same sex NPCs. All you have to do is not make them like you so darn much. Don’t agree with them, don’t give them presents, and definitely don’t follow their line of morality. Then they won’t hit on you.

Problem Solved.

So would you be willing to post links to these “findings”? While I would ask for reputable, peer-reviewed journals, I’d be surprised that you would even be able to post something from Answers in Genesis!

Hello,

I’m a straight male who plays RPG video games and I feel I can speak on behalf of all of me when I make fun of the complainer for being sexually threatened by an NPC and for not really understanding that just because the option exists, doesn’t mean he has to take it.

Straight white male entitlement can be hilarious, as evidenced by that guy’s post. The response? PRICELESS. Any other company would have written some pandering, wishy-washy response. This is a masterpiece. Just when I think I couldn’t love Bioware any more…

I would say that if there’s one single advantage to there being bigotry in the world, and I can only think of the one, it would be the sense of satisfaction one gets when karma or whatnot bites these bigots in the ass.

Homophobia:
An uncertainty about one’s own heterosexuality.

I’m extremely happy with Bioware’s reply. I went and read the original posts, and the clipping in this article only shows about 1/8th of how closed off the OP is to other ideas.

According to the ESA (Entertainment Software Association)

“5. Forty percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (20 percent).” – http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

I did some number crunching based on 2009 census data and information compiled by the ESA in their 2010 yearly report on a lark, and have it posted here – http://bit.ly/eSthGg

but to sum it up, the numbers give this information:

If every gamer chose one game to purchase, based on the census data and %’s of the population who game (by gender) from the ESA 5,227,364 men and 3,484,909 women would buy RPG’s. Which means more than 1/3rd of the RPG playing community would be female.

I tried finding empirical data to run numbers on the whole straight/bi/gay aspect, but I couldn’t find any reliable demographic data other than US census data from 1995, which in my opinion is too old to compare to 2010 figures for games.

I have to laugh at the comments he made about Isabella and Merrill being “clearly designed for the straight male gamers”. Anyone else find Isabella 100% butch-femme?

His comment about the ladies being too “exotic” also boggles the mind. The shy white Irish girl is too exotic? Really? Is it the face tattoos or the big ears? Either way, get over it – she’s just a game character, not a Lavalife profile.

Perhaps BioWare should include a new character in DragonAge3: a red-blooded 12th generation American girl from Nebraska who likes cheeseburgers, Nascar and Wheel of Fortune. Her dialogue can be less “How should we kill this dragon?” and more “Would you like a Pabst Blue Ribbon with your tuna melt, honey?”

I humbly suggest this gentleman should overcome his aversion to playing “girly games” and retreat from the obviously complex and disturbing world of fantasy RPGs back to The Sims, where he can build himself a really macho personal avatar and a hot-for-cock virtual girlfriend from scratch, then make them emulate a real relationship in a painfully sad fashion.

I’m male, straight and a gamer. But I think what Bioware did was excellent! Now I’ve not played that far into the game, apparently Anders hits on the character, I’ve not experienced that. But it wouldn’t bother me. I’ve kind of got my eye on Merril right now.

I applaud Bioware both for making the game so open in the first place and standing by it in the second place.

This is the same BioWare that left voiced M/M romance dialog on the Mass Effect 1 game disc and then had the balls to come out and say they never planned on having gay romance in the series. Because the main character—with no predefined background, morality, politics, relationship, specialization or allegiances—is ‘too defined’.

*applause*

I find it ridiculous that he says he is speaking for the straight male gamer. My boyfriend is straight and male and he doesn’t mind at all that there are options for gay male romance built into the game. And neither do any of my other male friends that aren’t close minded.

I read it from Biological Psychology. If it’s established fact that sex itself does not influence behaviour, I suggest you contact professor Kalat. I bet he would be greatly pleased to stop spreading crap.

games are meant to be progressive and innovative, not just in their stories and graphics, but in their politics as well. kudos to bioware for standing up for their princples.

I’m a straight male gamer. I like anyone else no matter what your gender, sexual preference, skin color, religion, etc. may be can appreciate when a product or company “caters” to my liking/demographic. I can’t imagine anyone that wouldn’t take some sort of personal satisfaction in having something made to their specific interests. If someone wants to go out of their way to make me happy I certainly won’t object. However unlike this other straight male gamer I certainly don’t feel entitled to have everything my way, and am grown enough to find it reasonable that I won’t always. I realize that I am only one person out of billions in this world, and while it’s possible straight males may make up the “majority” of gamers (I’m sure there’s no evidence to back this, especially for the sort of diverse fan base a Bioware RPG might have due to the type of open-ended story telling their games employ) that doesn’t make me any better or worse than anyone else. Unless Bastal grew up in a cave and is a clone of some sort he too must know what it feels like to not only be in some sort of minority in one way or another, but to be looked down upon or shrugged aside for being that way. As someone who is adopted, raised Jewish, and is currently atheist I certainly do.

Onto another point, since this isn’t a gaming website, you or some of your readers might not be familiar with the type of game Dragon Age is or the type of games that Bioware makes (and if I’m incorrect please excuse me). They make very open ended games that allow the gamer to make many different decisions, whether that be how you complete the story, what path you take, how you interact with other characters within the game (romantic or not), and even whether or not you’re good, evil, or somewhere in between. In short the ability to make choices is usually a key point in their games, and as far as I’m concerned this is just another choice that allows gamers to play the game in whatever way they want to. Choice is not inclusive to “blond, brunette, or redhead?”

This is the same company that in Mass Effect allowed for the main character to have a romance with someone from another species (alien, not animal). Homosexuality is “disgusting”, but that’s considered wholesome?

I have to say that with these action RPGs I have the issue with saying the wrong thing. In dialogue I select something I think the character I have created should say and suddenly find myself saying almost the exact opposite. So when it comes to romances it is a little frustrating when the strong lone wolf character who doesn’t have time for sensual interludes is now flirting with guys or girls. It kind of sucks because I really like the stand alone concept. But I see nothing wrong with a man hitting on another man or a woman hitting another woman. You can make any variation you like on what npc hits on my hero and I wouldn’t mind as long as I could figure out a way to politely turn them down.

Personally, I didn’t care too much for some of the romance options, but as diverse as the players of Dragon Age 2 (and any other game for that matter) are, I completely understand why the options are available in the game.

As for the relative demographic for video games, sure a lot of females play the games too, but I guess here where I live in the Pacific Northwest, the guy gamers outnumber the girls. It’s nothing to do with catering more toward males than females, a lot of females just don’t find gaming high on their priority list. It’s not rocket science, just take random polls…it’s a fact.

Yeah but, isn’t it counter-productive to have a gaming console in the kitchen?

I haven’t read all of the comments, so I’m not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet. (If so, I sincerely apologize). In DA2, if you do not wish to pursue a given romance, you can end it easily, just like in real-life. All you have to do is not choose the dialog option indicated by the heart, or better yet, choose the one with the broken heart. In the former option, you just never show your interest to the companion character, while in the latter, you put your feelings on the issue right on the table. So if you are a Straight Male Gamer, and it offends you when an imaginary male video game character hits on your male hero, try doing in the game what you can do in real life. Rather than taking a rape shower and grabbing a baseball bat to go teach that fairy a lesson, why not calm down and say “Hey, I appreciate that you find me so awesome, ’cause let’s face it I am! But, I’m not interested. We can still be friends though, if that’s OK!”

as a “straight male gamer”, i certainly didn’t elect this jackass to speak for me. i don’t even bother with romance options until around my third play-through (or later. i don’t think i bothered at all in ME2.) the fantasy aspect of RPGs, for me, has nothing to do with sex. i have sex in RL. no, the fantasy is hitting people with a big, honking sword. or perhaps blasting them with lighting (aside: my love of TES is partly due to being able to do both of those things with the same character).

everyone plays RPGs differently. while one can certainly use them to explore being a character unlike themselves, i tend to play as a fantasized version of myself. thus, as in RL, i do not mind a man hits on me. i may even flirt back, to be playful, though it likely won’t go beyond that (i did tease poor zevran in DA:O. feel a little bad about that). despite my, and my character’s preference for women, i don’t see why i should even consider being bothered by a man hitting on me. doubly so when it’s fictional, optional and easily halted. that it does bother people astounds me. annoys me too.

there are very valid complaints about the game. map recycling and the decided lack of arcane warriors would be my top ones. having NPCs assume you’ve accepted a quest, despite saying NO would be another one. easily ignored/dissuaded homo-sexual advances shouldn’t even register.

all this is a rather rambling way to say: this guy is an asshole and speaks for none but himself.

Straight male gamer here. I was able to bang isabella and merrill so im fine with that. The real issue is that Dragon Age Origin totally shits on DA2. DA2 sucked lol.

So, I’m a straight male gamer. Guess what? I don’t explore relationships that I’m not interested in real life, so I don’t do that in games either. I assume, given the option everyone else would do the same, as is apparently the case with Dragon Age. Cool. If you don’t like the non-straight male gamer alternatives don’t play through them. ‘Kay? As for it potentially taking away from development time, there’s not really a whole lot to develop in the romantic side-plots. They can(and usually are) just cookie cutter plots with people swapped in and out and lines changed to make them appropriate and slightly unique for each variation.

I’m reminded of the expression, “Making a mountain out of a mole hill.”

“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”

That anyone would reply, calmly and meaningfully, to a statement as foolish as this is admirable to say the least.

I, like every other reasonable straight male, am not bothered by the inclusion of various romance options in DA2.

What does bother me is the fact that there are more options for a gay male-male romance than there are for actual male-female romances in the game. That’s when things get a little weird, and that’s when they actually are ignoring the game’s main demographic.

I strongly agree with the message of this article and wanted to point out that even though I am a straight male gamer I chose to play a Female Mage so just because their main demographic is straight male it doesn’t mean we all want to play straight male characters.

When I want my precious heterosexual masculinity pandered to I pick up Playboy. Dragon Age is for a wider audience and has no reason whatsoever to bow before Straight Male Gamer’s spoiled little tantrum.

An excellent response, thank you David Gaider.

Frankly I think that it is ridiculous that he had to use a term like “the straight male gamer” as well, it shows how close minded straight men can be and it clearly shows that he believes that straight men are in a separate category to everyone else how can we ever expect to achieve equality when people have attitudes like that, he is complaining that the straight male gamer cannot be lumped into a single category, well neither can homosexuals or women, we are all different we all like different things his complaint is based on stereotypes and there is no real factual evidence in his complaint to support anything that he is saying. Later in reply to Gaiter’s reply he stated that “If your goal is not to make as many fans as possible happy but to enact some form of social crusade then please, market and advertise the game as such. If you believe there are a substantial number of players who would appreciate those features, then advertise it and create trailers for it, don’t lead me to believe that this game was crafted for the straight male. If you truly believe that the straight male gamers are not important enough that you should focus on them, then I would like to see your marketing reflect that.” Why should the game have to be marketed differently? I am so offended by what this man (or basement dwelling keyboard warrior) has said. Mate before you go making broad statements such as “The straight male demographic is a huge demographic. I’d put the number that over 80% of RPG fans are males. They all like different things(are you saying that the homosexual group doesn’t like different things?), this is a group numbering millions. Now you also have another group, the homosexual group, I’d say generously, that this group represents 5%.” At least get some evidence to back yourself up. When you strip away the opinionated nonsense all that is left is a boy having a dummy spit because he was scared by an NPC’s advances.
Sorry for doing such a long post everyone I was just infuriated by this.

This is yet another reason why I love BioWare! Thank you David Gaider!!!

FOR THE RECORD:

I love DA, both 2 and origins.
I am male, and straight.
I don’t care. I really, really just couldn’t give a shit. In fact, if anything, I think more variety in that aspect of the game makes it more interesting.

The only other people I know that play DA are all FEMALE.

And on another note, if i may be able to indulge myself in stereotyping, you mention the Straight Male Gamer – but does sexual orientation matter if YOU DON’T GET ANY, REMAIN A VIRGIN AT 30+years old, and live with yo mama?

Sometimes I think the smallest minority are the loudest – the annoying complaining anti-gays, and the gays that rise up and meet their argument. the rest of the world, gay & straight, just get on with life as usual.

I am a old school DnD fan who is a devoted Dragon Age fan, and I miss the character relations that were in Origin’s, and Fenris is AWSOME I am hoping you combine everything Great from both games when you come out with Dragon Age 3, Bring back the Sex scene’s!!!!! Please :>) Oh and just to let you know, I Am A Female 47 years old.

Hmm, I happen to be male, I happen to be a gamer, I also happen to own and operate a couple business. Am I straight? No, but I do not get offended when I come across these types of dynamics in games.

If you dont like it Mr Straight Male Gamer. Then dont play the game.

GET OVER IT!

Straight (bordering on Asexual) Gamer would like to say she’ll have to look into this game. She likes playing females and males, and occasionally will (in-game) hit on everything just for the heck of it.

So, to all the Straight Male Gamers out there? If you agree with the twit who complained, make your own game before complaining about another’s. Because until then, your opinion is like your intelligence: small and of no importance.

Asexual transgender gamer here.

Let me start by saying that the straight male gamer there is an idiot. The point he makes does not represent what people really hated about DA2.

See, in Dragon Age: Origins, there were two bisexual companions and two straight ones. Meaning, you had three choices regardless of gender. Isn’t that enough? Besides, the point of the romance was never the romance itself, but the character development inherent to it. That is especially true about Zevran and Leliana.

But in Dragon Age 2, they just threw it out the window. Romances have no depth now, they’re just an excuse to slip PG-12 sex into the game. Companions now throw themselves at you after ten lines of dialogue, or less.

In fact, the whole script of DA2 is, how can I put this, lacking. Ok, no, it’s just plain bad. But that’s another story.

Again, I’m not saying this article is wrong, that straight male gamer is a self-entitled jerk. But it could have been slightly more careful in how it approached things.

Oh, and Gaider is an idiot. That post of him is one of the two or so times he said something rational (in fact, the way he puts things is rather brilliant, especially the truth part). But mostly he’s just an arrogant prick who can’t take negative criticism. He’s one of the reasons why the script in Dragon Age is so bad. The other being fanfic writer Jennifer Hepler.