The popular PC game Baldur's Gate has received a slew of negative reviews for it's new expansion 'Siege of Dragonspear', with gamers giving the expansion the lowest possible reviews they can, with the inclusion of a transgender character their main protest.
A cleric in the game, Mizhena, reveals through one of the possible dialogue trees that she is transgender. The option opens up when you ask her about her name, at which she says 'I created the name myself several years ago. My birth name proved unsuitable' When asking her what was wrong with her old name she goes on to add, 'When I was born, my parents thought me a boy and raised me as such. In time, we all came to understand I was truly a woman. I created my new name from syllables of different languages. All have special meaning to me, it is the truest reflection of who I am.'
The interaction lasts only thirty seconds and does not expand from there to talk about transgender issues in any way, but fans of the game are criticising the inclusion of a transgender character as somehow sullying the reputation of the game and causing irreparable damage to both the series and the game studio itself.
One gamer uploaded a video to Youtube that shows them killing Mizhena after she reveals that she is transgender entitled 'Tranny Abuse'. The uploader wrote 'It's refreshing to see that nearly everyone, even a lot of neutral folks, consider this a bastardisation of a classic game world. Beamdog dug themselves a hole that their company will never recover from now. Any potential Baldur's Gate 3 they develop now will fail due to people knowing how little they care for the license.'
Despite a number of negative reviews siting game bugs and unsatisfactory additions as being issues, the majority of negative reviews seem to revolve around the issue of Mizhena being trans, the game's writing and pushing a 'social justice agenda' on the players.
The game's writer, Amber Scott, responded to the criticisms saying 'As I've said before,and won't say much more on this subject other than to get my perspective out there: I'm the writer and creator. I get to make decisions about who I write about and why. I don't like writing about straight/white/cis people all the time. It's not reflective of the real world, it sets us s/w/c/ as the 'normal' baseline from which 'other' characters must be added, and it's boring'.
'I consciously add as much diversity as I can to my writing and I don't care if people think that's 'forced' or fake. I find choosing to write from a straight default just as artificial. I'm happy to be a SWJ and I hope to write many Social Justice Games in the future that reach as many different types of people as possible. Everyone should get a chance to see themselves reflected in pop culture.'
The negative reviews have resulted in the founder of Beamdog, Trent Oster, to take to social media to try and encourage the fans of the series to leave positive reviews in response to the overwhelming hate, even going so far as to point out that the negative reviews are stemming from the inclusion of a trans character.
'I usually spend most of my time lurking here, but I'd like to ask a favour. It appears that having a transgendered cleric and a joke line by Minsc has greatly offended the sensibilities of some people.' He wrote on the Baldur's Gate forum. 'This has spurred these people into action, causing them to decide that this is the worst game of all time and give it zero reviews on Steam, GoG and Metacritic. Now, I'd like to ask for that favour. If you are playing the game and having a good time, please consider posting a positive review to balance out the loud minority which is currently painting a dark picture for new players.'
The joke line he referred to is a small dig one of the characters makes at the expense of GamerGate. A character called Minsc makes the comment about 'ethics in heroic adventuring', mocking the GamerGate criticisms about ethics in journalism.
The amount of negative reviews and the kind of content is shocking, but not surprising as this is not the first time that the gaming community has been negative towards representation and equality.
Amy.
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There is a magic item in the base game that swaps the gender of the wearer, so it's far from unheard of in the franchise that someone's appearance is different than their identity.
ReplyDeletelooking at the reviews you include, none of them criticize the game for including a trans character. Typical regressive left, criticize a game that has a transgendered character and it makes you transphobic. You can't dislike the writing that includes a transgendered character without hating it for having a transgendered character.
ReplyDeleteA regressive left? More like a repressive right that cannot stand anyone being different that their own, narrow, anglo narrative. Why would a transgender npc (or character) be a bad thing? Or the main character being a woman, or a color other than white? This hate-spew from teh right has to stop.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even sure it's the right, more like people who want to create a fight for the sake of the fight. I don't even think all these people played the game, they were just told on a message board that it has a trans character.
Deletenone of the reviews listed even have the word "transgender" or any form of that word or abbreviation of it. Yet somehow they all are criticizing the trans character?
DeleteThey might not say the word transgender but they're clearly talking about it. Why else talk about anti-straight or pushing a SJW topic?
DeleteWe both know that they're talking about the trans character.
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Deleteatavax: So, you are pro including trans people in games?
DeleteI am pro artistic expression. I don't think devs should feel compelled to include or not include specific groups. I see the cost of development sky rocket as pressure mounts for developers to needlessly provide as much variety as possible. I think people that feel excluded for lack of their race or gender or sexual orientation or transgender are largely at fault for defining characters and themselves by those qualities. I don't need to be the same sex or race or sexual orientation of Laura Croft to feel represented by her and to identify with her.
DeleteTrans people have so little representation, and now you're saying they shouldn't have 30 seconds of optional dialogue because they should just identify with characters that aren't trans?
DeleteThat's the most stupid fucking argument I've ever heard.
i didn't say they shouldn't have 30 seconds of dialogue, i said developers shouldn't feel compelled to make a trans person with 30 seconds of dialogue in their game.
Deletei don't feel represented or catered to in the last 10 years at least in the videogame industry. The only way trans are less represented than me is if you define me as a person by my race or gender or sexual orientation, which as a progressive, you should clearly oppose.
No one is defined by their race or gender or sexuality, but if there are little to no trans people in media, and those representations that their are are poor then of course it's poor representation.
Delete'The only way trans are less represented than me', okay, so what are you, if you want to get into race, gender, sexuality, what are you? Because I'm willing to bet you'll have more representation than trans people.
Also how can you say that trans have so little representation in games? How many characters are specified as Cis? not many characters tell you they were born with their penis.
DeleteIt's fairly standard that unless a character is stated to be trans every one is assumed to be cis, because that's the 'normal' standard. You know that, you know that that's what's expected.
DeleteYou can't turn around and say 'because no one says they're cis they could be trans so there's your representation' because that's not how it works at all.
Isn't the whole point of "cis" that there isn't a default? That you shouldn't assume someone isn't trans by default? Isn't that the most effective way to make it more inclusive, not to accept that standard that if they don't specify, the character is cis? Is it the developer's fault that people assume a character is cis if the character doesn't tell them otherwise? Maybe thats part of the problem. IRL its not like every trans person i see comes up to me and tells me they're trans. Developers being forced to do that can create a forced feeling because its not naturally what happens.
DeleteBut that isn't how the world works. Until that's how every single person in the world thinks everyone (or at least the vast majority) will assume that everyone else is cis unless stated otherwise. And until those people change that view trans people need representation.
DeleteEvery single person in the world doesn't need to think that. The only person that needs to think that is the trans person playing the videogame in order for them to feel trans people are being included. So whose fault is it when a trans person assumes a person isn't trans despite the game not specifying? Its the trans person's fault. No one else's.
DeleteSo you don't want trans characters for trans people to identify with, and you're saying it's trans people's fault for not just assuming characters are trans?
DeleteThat's so disgusting that's unbelievable.
Would you tell people of colour to just imagine characters aren't Caucasian rather than letting them have characters that represent them?
that is such a disgusting lie.
DeleteYour standard that you have to assume every character by default is cis contradicts progressive values. You accepting the standard that everyone is cis unless otherwise mentioned is oppressive. By accepting the standard of assuming every character is cis that isn't specified as trans, you are manufacturing the oppression.
I didn't say that there shouldn't be characters that are specified as trans either. Simply that devs shouldn't feel compelled to specify characters as trans.
Now you're just twisting around arguments to fit your view. You're a fucking idiot.
Deletewhat am i twisting? i questioned assuming trans are underrepresented because most characters don't specify. And you pushed that we have to assume everyone is cis that doesn't specify. You trivialized the concept of not assuming cis as default and you not only yourself make that assumption, you pressured me to make the same assumption. You are spreading hate and are a bigot.
DeleteYeah, sure, I'm a bigot for wanting more trans representation.
Deleteyou're a bigot for pushing the standard that we assume everyone is cis by default and trivializing the inclusive concept of that there isn't a default.
DeleteI did not say that assuming people are cis is what should happen or what I want, I said it is what society does. Read what I actually wrote rather than just trying to make my words fit your point.
DeleteI do not want white/cis/straight to be the standard, but that is what society does.
lol, says the guy claiming i don't want trans people in gaming. Oh, the hypocrisy!
DeleteSociety is split. Many people don't think by default everyone is cis, hense, the widespread use of the cis term. Do you deny the use of Cis in the west? Seems like the culture of not making that assumption is pretty common. You said that most videogame characters are cis. I pointed out you shouldn't be making that assumption. I pointed out the value that you shouldn't be assuming people as cis. And you shot that down.
I don't see a problem with assuming people are Cis, given that most data that I've seen indicate that cisgendered individuals are the extreme majority. That isn't bigotry; that's statistics. That said, I don't consider that to mean anything in how I treat people, and I do have a problem with people harming others intentionally, and I don't tolerate it, regardless of various parameters.
DeleteBut that aside, the whole initial backlash over this game was regarding the poor writing, non-baldur's-gate-esque linear gameplay, shoddy UI, and the fact that it was awkward and odd when it came to the Trans character, and came off as politically-motivated token appeasement and virtue signalling.
Those people had their concerns addressed as "GamerGate" and immediately the devs went into a frenzy; Well before anyone from GG got into the fray, collectively. A good portion of the negative reviews were already there, and had nothing to do with hating trans-characters or wanting them out of games. It was just an awful expansion, and these devs are using this issue as a way of getting the hyperdefensive regressives to bail them out over their overall sub-par expansion.
the problem, is that you aren't demanding that trans people feel included. If you were, there is no need to specify characters as trans, they can just assume a non specified character is trans. Specifying that a character is trans is more about forcing everyone to consider it trans.
Deletespecifying a character as trans is not about being inclusive to trans people, its about excluding everyone not comfortable with it.
Deleteconsolidated a couple posts.
ReplyDeleteSee, they don't mention the trans person, but you just want to assume thats what the criticism is about because its easy to attack that.
I haven't played the game, how do i know how many things could be interpreted as anti straight or pushing SJW?
If it was specifically the trans character and they thought the trans character was clearly anti straight, why wouldn't they mention it by name?
so when someone says the writing is anti white, you think they think trans is anti white? Whites can't be trans? Or its anti white to imply whites can be trans?
It seems likely that when they mention not only sexual orientation, but race, that they probably aren't just talking about the trans person. That there is probably other things as well. I don't see how you can assume its all about the trans person.
Why do you interpret "anti-white and anti-straight" as anti-white?
Deletei interpret anti white as anti white. Clearly the trans isn't the only thing he is offended by and considered pushing the SJW agenda. So knowing that, how can we assume that trans is the only thing that could be considered anti straight?
Deletetrans isn't a sexual orientation so how can we even assume that he means trans when he says its anti straight?
DeleteThe expansion took a dive because the writing was sub-par, the pacing felt rushed, it was buggy as all get-out, and because there was a chunk of cringe-worthy virtue signaling in the form of propping up a token 'trans' character whose only noteworthy example of such is a single piece of dialogue that is awkward and cumbersome in its presentation, along with some lore-unfriendly edits to several characters in the name of being 'progressive'. The GamerGate joke, even, was a bit of a roll-eyes moment because it comes across as pushing personal politics and culture wars into the sphere of a beloved game for relatively little reason, but it'd be forgivable if that were all it was.
ReplyDeleteThe initial reviews reflected this, and developers responded by attacking those people and labelling them as "GamerGate" while going and shouting to everyone who would listen that they're under attack.
No-one minds trans-characters being in games. People don't like pandering, virtue signalling, and ultimately making token appeasements, but that aside, Trans-characters are fine. The real problem was, and continues to be despite every regressive post perpetuating lies like this, is that the expansion was rather awful for such a beloved and renowned series.
Strawmen and Ad Hominems don't obscure that. I'm surprised it has come to the point where people are going out of their way to defend an awful product in the spirit of tokenism, and essentially making a statement that said tokenism is a valid excuse for a shitty product, and that anyone who disagrees is transphobic.
Very well said. If you look through the reviews of all the Beamdog 'Enhanced Edition' versions of original BioWare products you will see a common theme. Criticism for poor coding and weak 'enhancements' that rarely justify the cost of buying the new version, including writing that does not blend well with the original. In the case of Baldur's Gate 2 this is particularly true because some high quality fan-made free mods have improved the original product in many ways and the 'Enhanced' version is poorer for lacking many of them.
DeleteHad Beamdog been capable of delivering a high quality, polished product the amount of positive reviews would have easily drowned out a few bigots. Sadly they have not managed to learn, grow and improve despite having spent many years now reworking these old products and receiving similar criticisms for each effort.
Please stop feeding Atavax. It won't listen, it cannot process your argument because it does not wish to do so, and it is only perpetuating this conversation because these are the tragically brief, fleeting moments in when it feels relevant and alive.
ReplyDeleteWe need to stop reinforcing this poor behaviour so Atavax will move on and find a healthier method of expression.
how appropriate, regressive left referring to me as an it, incapable of giving someone who disagrees with them the decency of being treated as a human being.
Delete