I've had this fear for a long time. That Bioware's going to eventually shut its doors and we won't see characters like Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, Garrus, Tali, Liara, James Vega and all the rest ever again. This fear has been clawing at me for a while now.
See, I always felt that the 'Bioware approach' i.e. have an extensive character creator to allow any player avatar be made available to the player was the ideal model. If you wanted to play a straight male, fine. If you wanted to play a gay woman, fine. And the game acknowledges it and customized the play experience to your own setting. I thought this would be the solution to solve the 'diversity problem' a lot of games had at the time.
Now, I'm not so certain. There's been so much controversy and anger surrounding the gaming culture that I'm concerned. Back in 2006 when Fox News tried to smear Mass Effect's name with the "Sexbox" controversy, we seemed to be a united front, stopping the forces from tearing us down and letting Bioware express what they wanted to express. But, when the Steve Cortez controversy came up, there seemed to be a massive divide cropping up and separating the fanbase. Those who used to be our allies now became our loudest opponents.
"But that's okay," I thought. "We're pro-diversity! Even if the gaming community doesn't make us chart-toppers, we'll still be loved by the progressive community and surely these supposed feminists and social justice warriors will have our backs!"
Not so.
http://gaygamer.net/...ility-in-games/
(Keep in mind this post was made before Inquisition's release and thus the character of Krem was not introduced yet).
First of all, we need only consider that the only transgender characters in the Dragon Age series thus far are a sex worker in a brothel whose name tag is “’Female’ Dwarf”, a sex worker named Serendipity (who was actually envisioned by the team as “more of a drag queen”), and a woman who appears in the Dragon Age novels who is described with the biologically-essentialist phrasing “fully female with the exception of her biology”. Although this doesn’t negate the interesting, encouraging and positive portrayals of other LGB+ characters elsewhere in the series – and may actually be improved with the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition – it does complicate the idea that the way LGBTQ+ people are represented in Bioware games is inherently or categorically progressive when it falls prey to the same cissexist and transphobic tropes that real-world activism often does – LGB, with a silent “T”.
Even now, a lot of the progressive community says that Bioware IS part of the problem and because of their position, they should be doing more. (Even though Bioware's one of the few, if only, developers who will give LGBT characters a voice when so much of the mainstream industry is playing it safe and not rocking the boat.) Meanwhile, "true gamers" are leaving Bioware behind because they think the progressive agenda is far too prominent and that gay male characters such as Steve Cortez or Dorian Pavus are being "forced down the player's throats" even though those character's romances are optional.
Meanwhile, Bioware and EA continue making policies such as micro-transactions, Day 1 and on-disc DLC and DRM, alienating a lot of the fanbase.
Worst of all? There's been this talk of another video game crash of the AAA industry and I can't help but feel that Bioware's going to be in the middle of it all if or when the industry comes tumbling down.
(Relevant part starts at 7:41)
When I watch that video, I can't help but 'group' Bioware with the AAA industry even though as far as diversity goes, Bioware's doing such a great job where no one else will.
I thought that being mainstream and pro-diversity would be the best of both worlds. But instead, Bioware games are too 'diverse friendly' for a lot of the vocal gaming community while the progressive community, who I always assumed would have Bioware's back, is also pointing fingers at Bioware, preferring titles such as Gone Home in its place.
https://twitter.com/...395999272927233
What really kills me is that Bioware is one of the few, if only, developers to go to bat for diversity. I've never been more prouder of a company that's willing to defend its creative decisions when it comes to queer characters and even go the extra mile for some of its fans. If the rest of the AAA industry would be willing to do this, would be willing to make a statement, I would feel a lot better about this situation. But, there's this possibility that if Bioware goes, we lose the diversity friendly games we have. That'd make me very sad.
http://www.lazygamer...riage-proposal/
Is this the end? Is Bioware too mainstream for indie lovers and too diverse for mainstream gamers? In trying to appeal to all audiences, they've succeeded in shying them away?
Are these Bioware's last moments?
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