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[brushyourteeth]

David Gaider wrote...

brushyourteeth wrote...
Was it a bar mitzvah present to his first cat, like in Dharma and Greg?

He whined a lot, because I was working so much. So I got him a kitten. My suspicion is that this is the sort of blatant bribery I would resort to if I ever had children. In this case it worked out well, with the younger cat showering adoration on the older like Chester to Spike, and they pretty much leave me to my work.

And being cats, I bet they still have no idea that their owner is anyone of importance! Typical, typical.

Seriously though, your office space looks a little empty. Couldn't we all chip in and get you a nice bonsai or something?

[WhiteKnyght]

Well, now we know why Anders has such a cat craze.

And it looks like D-Gai's cats are developing their own fanbase.

[SeanMurphy2]

I would rather three gay characters and one heterosexual. Than some rule that all romance characters must be bisexual.

It is some form of equality. But it is silly to have a rule that all romance characters "must" be bisexual.

I don't want a situation where a writer creates a great romance character who is non-bisexual and is told to cut the character or change his sexuality to "bisexual" just to fit in with some rigid rules. I worry that Bioware are moving in that direction.


(Nice interview btw, not meaning to be rude or provocative, it was just my reaction to one of the discussions)

Modifié par SeanMurphy2, 01 mai 2012 - 10:52 .

[Andraste_Reborn]

I don't want a situation where a writer creates a great romance character who is non-bisexual. And is told to cut the character or change his sexuality just to fit in with some rigid rules. I worry that Bioware are moving in that direction.

Why would one of the Dragon Age writers create an exclusively gay or straight character, knowing the way romances were structured in the previous game? Unless they decided explicitly to change the All Bi policy, in which case they would tell the writers.

Surely they know going in if the love interests are going to be bisexual or not, before they create specific romance storylines. (I don't get the impression that this was changed after the fact for DA2, anyway.) Given that all the Dragon Age writers currently on staff have worked with this structure before, I don't see why it would be a problem. Well, Tonya Laird has yet to write any romances, but she did work on DA2 and presumably played it.

Modifié par Andrastee, 01 mai 2012 - 10:47 .

[Dwarva]

SeanMurphy2 wrote...

I don't want a situation where a writer creates a great romance character who is non-bisexual.

*coughcough*Alistair*coughcough*

Edit: Wait.....I might be wrong because I've just reread what you've written and can't decide if you want all LIs to be bi or if you meant 'do want a situation....'

Modifié par Staarbux, 01 mai 2012 - 10:49 .

[SeanMurphy2]

Sorry about my poor written expression. I meant

*Bioware writer creates a romance character who is written as heterosexual or gay.
* Writer is told that all romance characters "must" be bisexual.
* Therefore writer is told to cut romance character or change the character's sexuality to "bisexual"


I find it absurd for Bioware to make all romance characters bisexual for "equality" reasons. Yet if writers are forced to rigidly follow that rule. Then a straight or gay romance character is unable to exist in that world.

Modifié par SeanMurphy2, 01 mai 2012 - 11:15 .

[Yrkoon]

The Grey Nayr wrote...

Well, now we know why Anders has such a cat craze.

You're probably not too far off.

It's common in Literature.  Writers  sometimes project  aspects of themselves into their creations, either intentionally or unintentionally.

And David Gaider did  write Anders for DA:A...

Modifié par Yrkoon, 01 mai 2012 - 11:09 .

[Dutchess]

David Gaider wrote...

Also interesting to note that both cats insisted on making an appearance. Such attention ****s, honestly.

I only saw one? How did I miss the second kitty?

[Dakota Strider]

SeanMurphy2 wrote...

Sorry about my poor written expression. I meant

*Bioware writer creates a romance character who is written as heterosexual or gay.
* Writer is told that all romance characters "must" be bisexual.
* Therefore writer is told to cut romance character or change the character's sexuality to "bisexual"


I find it absurd for Bioware to make all romance characters bisexual for "equality" reasons. Yet if writers are forced to rigidly follow that rule. Then a straight or gay romance character is unable to exist in that world.

Agreed.

The Morrigan romance, for me, was the best of the two games.  I have heard that many preferred Alistair.  But a character that is created that is meant to appeal to all sexual preferences equally, will never please anyone quite as well, than if they were made for one preference specifically. 

Just curious, is the person that is responsible for writing most of Morrigan's dialogue, especially the LI lines, still work for the Bioware DA team?

[SeanMurphy2]

Yes

David Gaider wrote Morrigan and all of her romance.

[Dakota Strider]

That's good to hear. Then there is hope he can do it again.

[Andraste_Reborn]

But a character that is created that is meant to appeal to all sexual preferences equally, will never please anyone quite as well, than if they were made for one preference specifically.

This may be true for you, but given that my favourite DA romances so far have been Fenris and Merrill, I don't think it's true for everyone.

In an ideal world where BioWare had infinite zots, I might like to see a game with two straight LIs, two gay LIs and to bi LIs. Then everyone would have a range of choices. Given that this would require a ridiculous amount of resources for content the majority of players don't even pursue, though, I think having all the love interests be available to both genders is the best option available.

[5trangeCase]

I feel I don't pay enough attention to the romances. They didn't seem very long and complex to me. I spoke to Morrigan a few times asking her questions about some stuff, then completed a couple of the main quests came back to camp and spoke to her again and she was like "let's have sex". I think I might have given her too many gifts, but I kept picking up demonic related and shiny things, and I remembered her telling me that she was a magpie. Then again, the romance could have come after the sex, because I rejected her.

But getting back to the subject...Yes, the interview, I thought it was good, some interesting questions and astutely avoided things that wouldn't be answered; and David Gaider wins for having a cat. Despite that, for some reason Felicia Day rubs me up the wrong way. I like all the roles she's played (except my disagreeing with the delivery of a few of her lines in MotA, but I do that with most actors) but for some reason her in person...I'm not sure what it is.

I had a friend who half the things she said just annoyed me for a reason I can't explain, I didn't disagree or agree with them, they just annoyed me, and I couldn't put my finger on why...I think the feeling is something like that.

Anyway, I thought the first season of the Guild I saw was very good, I just don't keep up with watching much at all.

[LordBegrezen]

Dakota Strider wrote...

SeanMurphy2 wrote...

Sorry about my poor written expression. I meant

*Bioware writer creates a romance character who is written as heterosexual or gay.
* Writer is told that all romance characters "must" be bisexual.
* Therefore writer is told to cut romance character or change the character's sexuality to "bisexual"


I find it absurd for Bioware to make all romance characters bisexual for "equality" reasons. Yet if writers are forced to rigidly follow that rule. Then a straight or gay romance character is unable to exist in that world.

Agreed.

The Morrigan romance, for me, was the best of the two games.  I have heard that many preferred Alistair.  But a character that is created that is meant to appeal to all sexual preferences equally, will never please anyone quite as well, than if they were made for one preference specifically. 

Just curious, is the person that is responsible for writing most of Morrigan's dialogue, especially the LI lines, still work for the Bioware DA team?

This line of thought is not necessarily realistic. A character does not have to be designed with a certain sexual preference in mind. There is no reason to assume that sexual preference is an essential part of one's personality. 

Being a writer myself, I usually do not decide on a character's sexual orientation unless it is needed for the plot. 
Saying that a romance must be specifically designed for heterosexual content in order to provide a realitstic experience to heterosexual players seems uncalled for. I admired Morrigan. I absolutely don't see how anything about Morrigan would be different if she were open to relationhsip with female Wardens. There is no inherent difference between a heterosexual and a homosexual relationship, other than the fact that one of then might face discrimination (which does not have to be the case in a fantasy setting).

Just my take on it. 

[Dakota Strider]

Andrastee wrote...


In an ideal world where BioWare had infinite zots, I might like to see a game with two straight LIs, two gay LIs and to bi LIs. Then everyone would have a range of choices. Given that this would require a ridiculous amount of resources for content the majority of players don't even pursue, though, I think having all the love interests be available to both genders is the best option available.

Taking a quote that one of the Bioware moderators made, granted on another topic, but I think it has relevance.  (If you want to see the whole remark, go to the God Among Mortals thread).

John Epler wrote...


(SNIP)  That being said, minority content isn't something we're against as a rule - it just has to be handled appropriately and with the relevant expectations - one of which being that there has to be equivalent content for other 'paths'.

.

And I will add, the Bioware DA team has created content for the minority before.  So.... if the minority in this case happens to be those that are willing to voice a request for some heterosexual companions, despite the assurance they are likely to get shouted down by all that feel this is unreasonable, I think it is only fair to consider this, instead of saying it is undoable.

[AkiKishi]

SeanMurphy2 wrote...

I would rather three gay characters and one heterosexual. Than some rule that all romance characters must be bisexual.

It is some form of equality. But it is silly to have a rule that all romance characters "must" be bisexual.

I don't want a situation where a writer creates a great romance character who is non-bisexual and is told to cut the character or change his sexuality to "bisexual" just to fit in with some rigid rules. I worry that Bioware are moving in that direction.


(Nice interview btw, not meaning to be rude or provocative, it was just my reaction to one of the discussions)

The problem with the everyone is bi model is it's not reflected anywhere else in the game. It's like your party exists in it's own bubble of unreality. Could be one of those things that made DA better than DA2 when it came it companions. DA2 felt too much like they had been created to pander to the player, rather than being inhanbitants of a real world.

[Andraste_Reborn]

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Obviously BioWare create content only a minority of players see all the time - most people didn't finish DAO, but that doesn't mean that they should stop putting endings on their games!

What I meant was that only a minority of players pursue any romance option at all. Thus, expecting the company to expend extra zots on romances so that there can be straight, gay and bisexual options isn't very realistic.

Personally, I wouldn't like to see a return to heterosexual romance options unless there were gay romance options to go with them, and I think that gay romance options are wildly unlikely to happen.

[Dakota Strider]

They did it with ME

[Andraste_Reborn]

I wouldn't know anything about that, haven't played any Mass Effect.

[AkiKishi]

Andrastee wrote...

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Obviously BioWare create content only a minority of players see all the time - most people didn't finish DAO, but that doesn't mean that they should stop putting endings on their games!

What I meant was that only a minority of players pursue any romance option at all. Thus, expecting the company to expend extra zots on romances so that there can be straight, gay and bisexual options isn't very realistic.

Personally, I wouldn't like to see a return to heterosexual romance options unless there were gay romance options to go with them, and I think that gay romance options are wildly unlikely to happen.

When it gets to the point that it starts to effect the integrity of the world it's a bad idea. If you had a gay society (don't ask me how that would work) then having more gay characters would make sense. Just like if you had a game in Amazonian society you would expect most of the the characters to be women.

Political correctness is not a good enough reason to ignore those aspects of world building. Maybe with the game set in Orlais it will feel less forced..

[John Epler]

Dakota Strider wrote...

Andrastee wrote...


In an ideal world where BioWare had infinite zots, I might like to see a game with two straight LIs, two gay LIs and to bi LIs. Then everyone would have a range of choices. Given that this would require a ridiculous amount of resources for content the majority of players don't even pursue, though, I think having all the love interests be available to both genders is the best option available.

Taking a quote that one of the Bioware moderators made, granted on another topic, but I think it has relevance.  (If you want to see the whole remark, go to the God Among Mortals thread).

John Epler wrote...


(SNIP)  That being said, minority content isn't something we're against as a rule - it just has to be handled appropriately and with the relevant expectations - one of which being that there has to be equivalent content for other 'paths'.

.

And I will add, the Bioware DA team has created content for the minority before.  So.... if the minority in this case happens to be those that are willing to voice a request for some heterosexual companions, despite the assurance they are likely to get shouted down by all that feel this is unreasonable, I think it is only fair to consider this, instead of saying it is undoable.

Let's be clear - minority content specifically refers to 'content that only some players would see', not content for a specific minority. As for the sexual orientation of your companions, that's an entirely different kettle of fish, and that's really up to the writers. I will say, however, that any decision we made would be made with inclusivity in mind, as that's something that we consider to be incredibly important. There are, after all, plenty of games for the majority of people - we believe in making something that those who aren't part of that 'majority' can enjoy. That's not to say that we don't also have content for the majority, of course. Simply that we try to include as many people as possible.

[whykikyouwhy]

BobSmith101 wrote...

When it gets to the point that it starts to effect the integrity of the world it's a bad idea. If you had a gay society (don't ask me how that would work) then having more gay characters would make sense. Just like if you had a game in Amazonian society you would expect most of the the characters to be women.

Political correctness is not a good enough reason to ignore those aspects of world building. Maybe with the game set in Orlais it will feel less forced..

What exactly is a "gay society?" 

The world we live in is made up of all sorts of people - across various spectrums of ethnicity, religion/creed, and sexual orientation/identity. It's simply a society of human beings.

Thedas seems to be akin to that, however, it is (most wonderfully) lacking much of the social stigma that we see present in our real world. The game is set up to allow for a player to role-play as (s)he sees fit - to follow a romance arc as (s)he so desires, if (s)he so desires.

It's about inclusion - allowing those options to be available for the player.

[Andraste_Reborn]

I think the solution to this is more bisexual characters outside the party, not fewer within it.

Mind you, I didn't find the number of bi characters in DA2 particularly unrealistic, probably because I know more than four bisexuals.