(...) He also said he felt like Dorian’s romance was one of the most powerful."
"He talked about how all of the romances were very well-written but that he felt like Dorian’s was really something special."
...I'm just going to take this at face value and assume he means the writing is very powerful and he was moved enough by it to consider it special among the rest. Not going to sad places with this. No sir.
I just gotta say how glad I am that we have Dorian. I guess now instead of trying different romances, I'll just change up my inquisitors and romance him again.
I knew getting my hopes up that we'd get 3 m/m options this time around was foolish, but still I'm surprised by how much the Solas news stung. I feel like it just drives home that the gay fans are still second class and will always get fewer options than the straight fans. I know there's still the chance than Blackwall will be bi, but I canNOT get my hopes up and so it's hard to not feel depressed.
I'm really hoping Dorian's got plot importance and that he isn't an easily missable/killable companion like Zeran and Fenris were. :/ Same for Sera. It would be really disheartening if the straight characters are all the most important/heavily marketed/plot centric characters and the gay ones were the 'optional' companions that you don't miss much by not recruiting. 
Siiiigh.
I feel like I just need to expect the worst from here out so that I don't get disappointed anymore. Sorry for being a downer, but I figure if anyone else understands these feels it's you guys in the Dorian thread. 
Going by the enemies of thedas trailer Dorian seems to have some clue about the elder one. fingers crossed for a Dorian mustache spell or buff of some kind. But the Dorian romance should be something special. I only help Dorian won't complain as much as Fenris did, though I still like Fenris. I think Cole is the only companion mentioned as being optional.
...I'm just going to take this at face value and assume he means the writing is very powerful and he was moved enough by it to consider it special among the rest. Not going to sad places with this. No sir.
I only help Dorian won't complain as much as Fenris did, though I still like Fenris. I think Cole is the only companion mentioned as being optional.
Pff, he's just a complete opposite of Fenris. There should be much more levity and easiness, that's for sure and god knows, we all need it after DA2.
*Iron Bull is also optional.
I just gotta say how glad I am that we have Dorian. I guess now instead of trying different romances, I'll just change up my inquisitors and romance him again.
I knew getting my hopes up that we'd get 3 m/m options this time around was foolish, but still I'm surprised by how much the Solas news stung. I feel like it just drives home that the gay fans are still second class and will always get fewer options than the straight fans. I know there's still the chance than Blackwall will be bi, but I canNOT get my hopes up and so it's hard to not feel depressed.
I'm really hoping Dorian's got plot importance and that he isn't an easily missable/killable companion like Zeran and Fenris were. :/ Same for Sera. It would be really disheartening if the straight characters are all the most important/heavily marketed/plot centric characters and the gay ones were the 'optional' companions that you don't miss much by not recruiting.
Siiiigh.
I feel like I just need to expect the worst from here out so that I don't get disappointed anymore. Sorry for being a downer, but I figure if anyone else understands these feels it's you guys in the Dorian thread.
Not gonna lie, but I didn't realize how much I had expected and bet on Solas being a bisexual LI. Damn...racegated AND straight...
Going by the enemies of thedas trailer Dorian seems to have some clue about the elder one. fingers crossed for a Dorian mustache spell or buff of some kind. But the Dorian romance should be something special. I only help Dorian won't complain as much as Fenris did, though I still like Fenris. I think Cole is the only companion mentioned as being optional.
It's almost as if Dorian has been trying to track down the Venatori and figure out what the hell they're up to.
I just gotta say how glad I am that we have Dorian. I guess now instead of trying different romances, I'll just change up my inquisitors and romance him again.
I knew getting my hopes up that we'd get 3 m/m options this time around was foolish, but still I'm surprised by how much the Solas news stung. I feel like it just drives home that the gay fans are still second class and will always get fewer options than the straight fans. I know there's still the chance than Blackwall will be bi, but I canNOT get my hopes up and so it's hard to not feel depressed.
I'm really hoping Dorian's got plot importance and that he isn't an easily missable/killable companion like Zeran and Fenris were. :/ Same for Sera. It would be really disheartening if the straight characters are all the most important/heavily marketed/plot centric characters and the gay ones were the 'optional' companions that you don't miss much by not recruiting.
Siiiigh.
I feel like I just need to expect the worst from here out so that I don't get disappointed anymore. Sorry for being a downer, but I figure if anyone else understands these feels it's you guys in the Dorian thread.
I think it's what we discussed before in the romance thread some time back. About how our expectations of the gaming industry in general already being so low anyway when it comes to homosexual characters. But considering that Inquisition had a good track record so far, well, I can't blame you if you thought gay men and lesbian women players were going to be on par with the heterosexual majority.
That doesn't mean to say that I'm ungrateful, since I'm glad for characters like Dorian and Iron Bull on our end here, as well as for the female characters in the case of Sera and Josephine.
Whatever happens at this point, I'm hoping for two things:
As a character archetype who's so rarely depicted in games, or mainstream narratives in general, that's what matters most to me, personally. And I'm almost certain Inquisition won't disappoint in that area. If it's a numbers thing they want, fine. But Gaider's writing Dorian and I've taken a particular fondness towards the characters and their relationships he wrote so far.
Spoiler
NOPE COME BACK HERE AND WALLOW LIKE THE REST OF US GODDAMMIT
Think happy thoughts.
Not gonna lie, but I didn't realize how much I had expected and bet on Solas being a bisexual LI. Damn...racegated AND straight...
Yeah, I thought I was doing okay at tempering my expectations, but I really let myself get excited/wound up by being at GaymerX in that queer-positive atmosphere. Now I'm realizing/worrying the reason they revealed only Iron Bull there is that the rest of the LIs were straight. Man... and I really felt like they were pushing for their gay/lesbian fans this time around.
And I know they'd be disappointed if they read what I'm saying here, and probably think I was ungrateful. But I'm not ungrateful. I'm sure we'll all love Dorian, and those who romance IB will love him too. It's just hard to feel like we're still coming in last in both numbers and in terms of who the plot important companions are (or at least seem to be). I mean, think how much more powerful all these promo shot and magazine covers with Cassandra on them would be if she was a bisexual or lesbian character. I know they got criticism for even saying Dorian was gay, but I WISH they would hype it. I WISH that having gay/bi characters was something they could/would openly promote and even brag about. Maybe then Dorian or Sera would be on the cover of a magazine.
Super, uber mega excited for Dorian. Dark skin tone, light colored eyes, witty AND a mage, Dorian has all the right things for me. I am so happy for him, I really am, and I'm so happy to have a badass warrior like Iron Bull as my second choice. That said, it would have been really cool to get that third option. Having Solas would really have made DAI that much better for me, cause for once m/m options would win out in a game. So getting slighted, again, is very disappointing and frustrating.
Whatever happens at this point, I'm hoping for two things:
- Dorian isn't race-gated.
- Dorian's story isn't tragic.
As a character archetype who's so rarely depicted in games, or mainstream narratives in general, that's what matters most to me, personally. And I'm almost certain Inquisition won't disappoint in that area. If it's a numbers thing they want, fine. But Gaider's writing Dorian and I've taken a particular fondness towards the characters and their relationships he wrote so far.
I'm hoping those things too. I don't think my heart can handle getting my hopes up, but I DO agree with you that Gaider's written some of the best characters and relationships, so I do trust him to write something I'll enjoy at least.
See, positive thoughts. I'm trying!
Yeah, I thought I was doing okay at tempering my expectations, but I really let myself get excited/wound up by being at GaymerX in that queer-positive atmosphere. Now I'm realizing/worrying the reason they revealed only Iron Bull there is that the rest of the LIs were straight. Man... and I really felt like they were pushing for their gay/lesbian fans this time around.
And I know they'd be disappointed if they read what I'm saying here, and probably think I was ungrateful. But I'm not ungrateful. I'm sure we'll all love Dorian, and those who romance IB will love him too. It's just hard to feel like we're still coming in last in both numbers and in terms of who the plot important companions are (or at least seem to be). I mean, think how much more powerful all these promo shot and magazine covers with Cassandra on them would be if she was a bisexual or lesbian character. I know they got criticism for even saying Dorian was gay, but I WISH they would hype it. I WISH that having gay/bi characters was something they could/would openly promote and even brag about. Maybe then Dorian or Sera would be on the cover of a magazine.
If anything, this has really taught me how slow progress and change can be. I'm young, only 20, and watching DAI market their game has really made me start to notice trends when it comes to LGBT representation.
At the most fundamental, I think having both Dorian and Sera is a big step forward in the right direction. Maybe not as far as we had hoped and wanted, but I sure as hell don't think you're ungrateful for wanting Bioware to go that one extra step that they didn't try to do this time. God, I'd would break down in tears if I saw Dorian on a magazine cover, but he's not. Not this time. Nothing we can really do but soldier on and watch Bioware grow from this experience.
fingers crossed for a Dorian mustache spell or buff of some kind.
lol yes please, kiss the mustache for +35 Constitution.
If anything, this has really taught me how slow progress and change can be. I'm young, only 20, and watching DAI market their game has really made me start to notice trends when it comes to LGBT representation.
At the most fundamental, I think having both Dorian and Sera is a big step forward in the right direction. Maybe not as far as we had hoped and wanted, but I sure as hell don't think you're ungrateful for wanting Bioware to go that one extra step that they didn't try to do this time. God, I'd would break down in tears if I saw Dorian on a magazine cover, but he's not. Not this time. Nothing we can really do but soldier on and watch Bioware grow from this experience.
I think Allan starting that thread about "unfortunate romance tropes" a while ago was a good first step. I hope he passes that info along to the rest of the team, cuz there were some really good observations there (and a lot of them were LGBT related).
The only reason we get upset is because we love these games and this company is one of the only game studios that acknowledges our existence. This means we're 'putting all our eggs in one basket' so to speak, because if Bioware gets it wrong, there's nowhere else to turn for us. So yeah, baby steps. They're wonderful and exciting, and once those baby steps happen, we can't help wanting to see Dragon Age run the marathon right away. It's naturally disappointing when after the baby steps, they fall on their face. ... yeah I'm stretching this metaphor too far, but you know what I'm saying, I think. Haha.
The only reason we get upset is because we love these games and this company is one of the only game studios that acknowledges our existence. This means we're 'putting all our eggs in one basket' so to speak, because if Bioware gets it wrong, there's nowhere else to turn for us.
These are a very important couple of sentences.
Hey guys don't know if I posted about this here or not but Allan confirmed in another thread that Gaider's tweet about the race gated options not being the last 2 was just him confirming he never confirmed or denied that so the 2nd race gate could still be the last LI.
Hey guys don't know if I posted about this here or not but Allan confirmed in another thread that Gaider's tweet about the race gated options not being the last 2 was just him confirming he never confirmed or denied that so the 2nd race gate could still be the last LI.
To me that makes it even more likely that the last LI is straight, race-gated Vivienne. We get our even 2/2/2, un-gated, and then they throw in a couple extra (race-gated) for the straight players.
Hey guys don't know if I posted about this here or not but Allan confirmed in another thread that Gaider's tweet about the race gated options not being the last 2 was just him confirming he never confirmed or denied that so the 2nd race gate could still be the last LI.
Thanks, but I'm going to reserve some doubt.
I think after Solas, all of us are a bit antsy to some extent.
No matter how you swing it, someone's gonna get hurt when it comes to being invested in character relationships.
As soon as the last LI's revealed, ****'s gonna go down for the thought of what "could've been".
And I want to stay in my corner content with Dorian, Iron Bull, and Cole as my main party members when that happens.
Nope. Nope. I'll stay with those guys now!
To me that makes it even more likely that the last LI is straight, race-gated Vivienne.
Although, I don't see any particular reasons for her being straight.
Although, I don't see any particular reasons for her being straight.
Neither do I, but it's easier on my heart to assume the worst at this point, than to hope that gay/lesbian players are gonna get any more than just 2 choices.
Someone from the Scuttlebutt threads suggested that Blackwall being gay (non-LI) and Vivienne being bi would be a relatively attractive alternative. Thinking about it more, I'd have to agree. I know it puts us gay men at a disadvantage LI wise, but it would still qualify as representation. At this point, who knows why Bioware decided to race-gate/gender-gate some of these characters? Perhaps they announced Solas because Cullen/Cassandra are race-gated too. That would give straight players more options, but that would also mean they get all the restrictions.
If they made Blackwall a non-LI but gay, and they also made Viv a lesbian LI, then I'd be able to salvage my emotions. My lesbian friends would have 3 options, straight dudes would, for the first time ever, not have the most options, and there'd be 2 gay men in the Inquisition, even if I could only romance one of them. This is probably the best case scenario I can imagine at this point.
And I know they'd be disappointed if they read what I'm saying here, and probably think I was ungrateful. But I'm not ungrateful. I'm sure we'll all love Dorian, and those who romance IB will love him too. It's just hard to feel like we're still coming in last in both numbers and in terms of who the plot important companions are (or at least seem to be). I mean, think how much more powerful all these promo shot and magazine covers with Cassandra on them would be if she was a bisexual or lesbian character. I know they got criticism for even saying Dorian was gay, but I WISH they would hype it. I WISH that having gay/bi characters was something they could/would openly promote and even brag about. Maybe then Dorian or Sera would be on the cover of a magazine.
They don't hype any of the romances, though.
Even apart from the marketing team being wary of the reaction to a big news push about Dorian or Sera or whatever, romances just aren't the focus of the game. They're not the reason most people buy it, they're not especially important to the vast majority of potential customers, and marketing about exploration or a giant castle or whatever is going to trump a romance every time. Sorry if this feels like I'm defending BW too much, but I really do feel like fans expect much more attention to be given to romances than they actually deserve. The studio knows they're important to some people, but we definitely aren't all fans.
Dorian was also one of the first companions to get a big demo runthrough at E3 - this was after they'd confirmed his sexuality - so I hardly feel like they're ignoring LGBT characters in marketing. Heck, Sera, Leliana and the Iron Bull were the other characters in that scene. The entire party was queer.
As for the romance allocation, I think you're being a bit unfair. At this point everybody is getting two options, except for bisexual Inquisitors who have four. There are currently exactly the same number of options for gay Inquisitors as there are for straight ones, except straight female elves. That might change if Vivienne is an LI, but the ratio is not nearly as uneven as it could've been.
Damn now I'm afraid of Dorian being gated against elves
Well if he is , we can be unhappy together!
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