If you were to introduce someone to Dragon Age...

*blinks* how...?

Ugh, nevermind...I'm lost on how people can derail simple threads like this

It's actually basic biology and neurology.

You see, many (not all, but many) heterosexuals are born with a particular brain mutation that triggers their fight-or-flight response whenever they see anything that is even remotely, tangentially related to being "gay" (I use quotes because "gay" is not always the appropriate term in these cases, but individuals with this mutation are generally incapable of understanding the various distinctions).

If I, for example, harmlessly state, in a thread about convincing acquaintances to play a video game, that the way I convinced my friends (who are homosexual men), was to tell them about the homosexual characters and romances, a good portion of the heterosexuals that see it will receive a sudden burst of hormones from their adrenal glands, compelling them to rush over and point out that that strategy will most likely fail with straight people. It is not in any way necessary for them to do this, the LGBT community at large is already extremely aware that many straight people are less than fond of LGBT things, but it's impossible for these afflicted individuals to ignore their physiology. They deserve our pity and understanding, rather than our scorn.

I hope by murder you mean that you like murder..ing the dancefloor.

i mean on the one hand its like yey this thread is getting posts and conversation going...but I am rather annoyed a the direction it has taken.

Panda is being... Panda there, but it's a more or less accurate representation, which you can see on the first page of this thread. Panda made a simple statement, but instead of leaving it alone as a fellow player's anecdote, another poster had to make it a Thing.



The last DA game, which had the most representation of any game in the franchise (for gender, POC, and sexuality), was also the highest grossing game in the franchise. While we can't say whether it helped sales, neither did it hurt them.

Bioware's woes with MEA and Anthem have nothing to do with their (Bioware's) inclusivity. If anything, some of the bad publicity for MEA was because of their shoddy handling of the same-sex romances. Sure, maybe MEA's lackluster gay romances didn't hurt sales in any appreciable way, but when you have negative press about the issue, on top of negative press about all of MEA's other issues, then it's a problem -- they don't want any negative press.


Why is this even a question? This whole discussion started because Panda stated what appeals to HIS friends; it had nothing to do with anyone else.

You know your friends' interest in various RPG features. I'll assume you will follow DA4 as it gets closer to release and information starts to trickle out about whatever features the game does or doesn't have. Bioware has never used gender/POC/LGBT inclusivity as the sole selling point for any game and that won't be the case for DA4. If you learn that the next game has a tac-cam and return to DAO-tyle tactics, and one of your friends values that feature, then use that to sell the game to your friend.

I have to say I am curious how they would be able to surpass DAI when it comes to representation. Sexuality-wise we have 1 gay man, 1 lesbian, 1 pansexual man, 1 bisexual woman, and another bisexual woman who can be seen as asexual or demisexual according to her writer. And that’s just among the companions and advisers, not counting the notable NPCs who are LGBTQ+.

A trans person as a main character (follower, advisor, etc.). But this is kind of a given already, right? I think many of us here would be surprised if Mae isn't in the game, given her role and DA4's likely setting. o_O

Can I just ask: you mentioned your wife before, is that who you would like to convince to try the games?

If yes, does she play other video games?

It had the biggest launch, as it did launch in 5 different platforms; PC, PS4, XBONE, PS3, XBOX360. I've yet to see anyone cite the sales or the gross of the game. I am not convinced it was the best selling game in the franchise. EA has given NO numbers, as far as I was able to find, regarding Inquisition's success. I don't think LGBTQ+ representation had anything to do with its success, or lack thereof.

All I see is that Bioware's IPs are in a downward spiral, since the events of ME3 and on, while they were on their way to peak with ME3 and, perhaps, surpass it, had certain events not happened. Inquisition was very, VERY favourably positioned, but I doubt it did much better than DA2, in terms of sales. Maybe it had longer legs, in the end, but it didn't outsell DA:O and it never made the NPD sales for either November, or December of 2014. We also know that it performed averagely, in terms of digital sales, as even Andromeda, which released 3 years later and would have sold more digitally, sold around the 30% digital mark of total sales. Anthem, with a 49% digital sales percentage was EA's highest digitally selling game ever, as quoted by Andrew Wilson in the 2019 Q1 EA financial call.


But for Bioware's inclusivity to continue, they need to be around and they need to sell games. We now have 2 games in a row that are confirmed to have fallen way short of EA's sales projections, got panned by players and critics, killed a beloved franchise, with little chance of reviving it and even if EA keeps Bioware around, after DA4, be it a failure, how much longer? I think we can all agree that EA isn't a charity. At some point, EA is going to ask for a RoI.


Bioware does have a history of removing features from their games, when they come across the slightest bit of criticism.


I thought this was a general purpose thread. Anyone could pitch in an idea. Panda's idea was ... one with limited application, let's say. Most people won't care. They'll think "that's nice" and then forget the game ever existed. I may have underestimated the amount of LGBTQ+ people in Panda's close familial and friendly cycle, but I gotta tell you, I'd be amazed if I'm that off the mark. Like, I'd literally be mind blown.


I didn't get that from Inquisition. On the other hand, I gave up on the game 30 hours in and I haven't touched it since. I liked Blackwall. Mildly so. I was not at all interested in the rest of the characters, the gameplay, the story, anything basically. And the "epic" music was a real drag that I turned off, tried to turn back on, around the 15 hour mark and closed it down again, after another 10 minutes. It looked pretty, though.


Not to mention that Gaider described Cole as aromantic. If I am not mistaken.

First off selling sex appeal is 100% pandering. Being sexy isn't pandering but showing it off flagrantly is. Think of how you get to see the beach scene in so many animes. It's almost never there to further a plot its just there to be filler and show off the characters in bikinis. Its the same thing with showing off Miranda's ass when it's already established she was little miss perfect with her enhanced genetics so what exactly did showing her ass off do?

In addition Bioware isn't going down the toilet because of LGBTQ+ pandering its because they're making bad games (which you and I agree on). The whole anti-SJW crowd has mostly died (or most people don't take them seriously anymore) so its not like the market is any less against diversity than it was pre 2016. Besides lets be real no one said we had to get people hooked on the whole series at first just get them hooked on DA:O and if they like the story they'll play the other ones, probably . I do get the issue with trying to sell DA2 and Inquisition. I have to basically say "yeah these are pretty big flaws but the games are good." It's why I lead off with dragon age origins and say if you like the story try out the other games. I wont recommend the fourth installment till I see actual hands on gameplay.

To the other point about steamy content. I find anything further than kissing and flirting to be *EXTREMELY* uncomfortable to watch. To the point I had to turn away from certain scenes in tw3. I'm not taken aback by that content because I can choose to ignore it/not pursue it (since I cannot think of a single instance anything beyond flirting is forced you). If people have an issue with those scenes its likely they have some bigotry/trauma they need to deal with and ultimately that's up to bioware/EA if they care to cater to them. 

Lastly in my admittedly anecdotal evidence everyone I've met that's played mass effect or dragon age either indifferent about LGBTQ+ content or that was a main draw for them. It's not what I would lead with for enticing people into either series because I believe gameplay>story but you would be foolish to deny that its not a good selling point in the worlds current cultural climate in developed countries.