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[Wee Joe Green]

So let me just start out by saying I love Dragon Age, so this is not a rant. Also my first post on here in years!

I am however a little disappointed by the heterosexual female romance options...in that'll there's only two. There seems to be more options for the same sex or 'swings both ways' camps.

#Spoiler# (Which I only know from reading, not from experience in game yet)

The only options for a male heterosexual character which, let's face it (don't try to start and take the moral high ground here) is going to be the MAJORITY of DA gamers (it just is statistically) are, Cassandra or Josephine.

Now this thread might start to sound harsh,but I think it's fair.

Cassandra is a tough tom-boy esque, scarred faced zealot. Not most guys first choice in women. And Josephine; who's simply not involved in the game enough to be interesting (I.e. Not a proper party member to form a close relationship with).

When we compare them with the obvious 'sex appeal' of say Morrigan and Isabella, or the cutesy Leliana and Merrill, the options are slim pickings to say the least. Again, harsh but fair for the majority.

Such a ridiculous thing to fret about in a game, but in truth the companion and romance options in Mass Effect and Dragon Age games have been one of the most interesting 'side quests' to explore.

Add a third (straight or bi, non elf-loving) lady Bioware!

[Allan Schumacher]

I am however a little disappointed by the heterosexual female romance options...in that'll there's only two. There seems to be more options for the same sex or 'swings both ways' camps.

 

There will always be more options for bisexual protagonists, but the perspective of "more options for same sex" is possibly influenced by the reality that such options are seen so infrequently that people overstate them.  There was an experiment done which had teachers rigidly adhere to a policy of giving students 50/50 attention between the boys and the girls.  The boys reported back that they felt that the girls were getting 90% of the attention.

 

Most characters have 2 options if they are not bisexual.  Heterosexual women, however, have 4.  Part of this was influenced in part because of the stories we wanted to tell.

 

As a heterosexual man myself, the breakdown is one I have no issues with and I'm utilizing the wealth of choices to explore playing characters that I don't typically play.  I also think that both Cassandra and Josephine are excellent options for men, but I understand that your mileage may vary for a lot of that and it's impossible to make a game that uniformly appeals to all people with respect to romantic interests.

[Allan Schumacher]

It seems like it is both inflammatory and irrelevant to the subject. And, barring a source, it seems very dubious. I can't help but feel that there are any number of on-point reasons why BioWare does not have to provide romance story-lines that satisfy the individual romantic desires of their customers, but a perceived bias in an unrelated field of education doesn't strike me as one of them.

 

When someone states that they feel there's more options for gay characters, when there aren't, I post that to provide perspective.  It's not a motivator for why we do things, but rather the idea that "it may seem overstated because we're familiar with it being understated."  The fact is, there are not more gay romances than straight ones, so any perception that that is the case is simply incorrect.

 

You can find a quick overview of it here towards the end (as part of a larger article): http://www.pbs.org/s...rejudice/women/(Search for "Perceptions and Implications")

It's examined in Dale Spender's writings.  Learning to Lose: Sexism and Education

 

That said, the point of my statement was to have people self-reflect on why they feel something is inequitable when in fact it isn't.  Detailing a critical review of Dr. Spender's works is beyond the scope of this thread (and forum). If you wish to discuss it further then send me a PM.