To Bastal’s credit, he was very polite and presented his arguments in a fairly concise manner, unlike a lot of people who decide to take their personal opinions to the internet (see: “troll”). In fact, he knew there’d be a few or more who’d respond none too well to his opinion and sought to avoid the degeneration into personal attacks.
While he seems to be a perfectly literate and polite fellow, one must wonder about his opinions, especially considering the modern portrayal of homosexuality in the media. Homosexuality is becoming more widely accepted by the common man and because of this, more homosexual people are able to live their life openly loving who they want to. It’s probable that anyone reading this article has come into contact with a gay person at least once in their life. So why Bastal is so uncomfortable with the option to be gay in Dragon Age 2 is a bit surprising.
He wrote a decent-sized post and drew the attention of many, including the game’s lead writer, David Gaider. Gaider has previously discussed the inclusion of same-sex romances, and he responded to Bastal, first praising the disgruntled gamer’s manners but calling him ignorant, saying, “an ignorant opinion politely expressed doesn’t make it less ignorant.” This is a lesson Bastal probably needed to learn and whether he knew that lesson or not, Haider proceeded to teach.
When I say BioWare neglected The Straight Male Gamer, I don’t mean that they ignored male gamers. The romance options, Isabella and Merrill, were clearly designed for the straight male gamers in mind. Unfortunately, those choices are what one would call “exotic” choices. They appeal to a subset of male gamers and while its true you can’t make a romance option everyone will love, with Isabella and Merrill it seems like they weren’t even going for an option most males will like. And the fact is, they could have. They had the resources to add another romance option, but instead chose to implement a gay romance with Anders."
He sheds a little bit of light on why Dragon Age 2 had included bisexual characters such as Fenris (pictured above), who is a love interest regardless of the protagonist’s gender.
Haider stresses that the romances are optional content and that it’s perfectly possible that some gamers wouldn’t find any of the characters interesting to pursue a romance with. He closes with:
Both posts are worth a read if you have a few minutes. I’m happy to see that people can express their opinions in a civilized manner. With films such as Brokeback Mountain and television shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race hitting mainstream pop culture, one can see that people are accepting more than just heterosexuality. Video games haven’t made such strides, but it’s refreshing that BioWare is moving the medium forward. Life doesn’t have a “no homosexuality” option, and why should a game that is clearly attempting to bring a dose of reality to interpersonal relationships and dialogue ignore that?
And I’m sorry if someone didn’t get everything they wanted out of the romances– as I always am. I wish we could do the ideal where there’s something for every desire and opinion, but as usual we make do."
Source: BioWare Forums
