Same sex romance boycott discussion

When there were no squad romances at all, I did not boycott bio's games. I've joined people who asked for it and we got them.
When the ratio of male to female PC romances was 3:1, I did not boycott bio's games. I've joined people who asked for it and we got it.
When there were no same-sex relationships, I did not boycott bio's games. I've joined people who asked for it and we got it.
When Bio moved back from the romances type I liked the best (all player-sexual) to gender and species locked romances, I did not boycott bio's games.

I will continue to join people who ask Bio to entertain different romantic possibilities when they develop their characters. Those who ask for it politely.

#LoveBioWare

The problem with this logic is that Mass Effect including ME:A actually has more romances for lesbians than straight women. I personally doubt ME:A has numerically more lesbian players than straight female players.

I have no doubt that you are correct. But strapped? Five years with millions of dollars of funding? Naw, the quality of the product is a reflection of the skill of those who made it. ME:A is poor game because Bioware Montreal is poor game developer.

The biggest issue people had with this whole debacle was the way that dev team hyped the game for EVERYONE. They kept going on and on about Jaal. They made a 'prettygoodbanging' hashtag or some nonsense like that. They never once let players know that even though there was gay content it was secondary and that the hype they were talking about applied specifically for heterosexual players only. 

But I mean how could they? Picture it if they had been honest. They would have had to admit to players that what you're describing is legit, and that alienates that entire base of players.

But you know what if they had been honest I'm sure people would have been much more receptive. They would have been ready on release day and they would have immersed themselves in other areas of the game. Instead when they got to the game all that they had on their minds was how much of a disappointment it was.

They built people up and then let them fall only when release date came and pre orders were locked. 

If you ask me they did only themselves and the company they represent a disservice. They alienated their gay fan base regardless because their misdirection became clear when gay players got to see the product they had bought.

But at the end of the day you're right. We are a small proportion of the player base so why should they care? Its obvious they don't, as seen from this game and the radio silence on all the discussion about it.

But then you gotta ask why care if a small proportion of the base boycotts the game? If we are insignificant then our buying power is insignificant as well. So why all the outrage about gay guys boycotting the game? (not you specifically, i'm talking about in general)

I see your point, Bioware does try to sell their products as games that are made without bias to myriad orientations, and they don't necessarily treat them equally in reality. I agree with you that a candid approach would have undoubtedly been met with a better reception, because then there wouldn't have been an expectation that wouldn't be met. It seems unfair to build up hope that isn't met with the reality.

Having played the game in full I do see some places for improvement but it's really not that bad. It's a huge game, with a lot of branches to tend to, and I didn't have expectations that this would have the same polish as Nintendo's Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It didn't, but I accept it for what it is. I still liked a lot of the character banter, personal dialogue, and the story.

In the future, however, I feel that it would be prudent of Bioware to at least provide reasoning for their decisions regarding the romances and more honesty about who is a potential mate for everyone, perhaps even a voting procedure would be interesting. 

At the same time, I understand that in the industry of video game creation, like everything else, the almighty dollar usually takes precedent (just above straight, white males). So perhaps they don't feel like they have to answer to a smaller segment of the population. It's an unfortunate reality.

I don't seek out a lot of the more tense arguments I know must be happening (I've only seen some News headers to give me an idea), but I do feel that if gay male population wants to ban the game, that's their choice, as long as they don't take their hate out on other players, then they have a right to react.

I'm not sure how Bioware will handle it in the end, as it's a delicate issue to bring to the forefront.

The F/F stuff is fairly marketable to heterosexual male players too, they get a lot more bang for their buck out of those.

Just as m/m stuff is to heterosexual female players?

Another problem is that it assumes that players prefer the romances that corresponds to their RL sexual orientation. While I am currently in a minority, I like to have an option to chose between gay male romances and straight female romances.

Let me be completely honest and not mince words.

With an MM gay romances you both get to play a hot guy and romance a hot guy. F***g A.

Having a lot of lesbian romances favors a male player who makes a parallel choice by the same reason.

I've learned quite a few things from men in my life, and that one is up there with evolving to just stepping over a pile of discarded clothes on the floor when you'd rather do something fun than what you ought to do. Worth considering imo.

I'm LGBT. I was disappointed with the way same-sex romances are treated in this game. I disagree with boycotting Mass Effect over this.

Bioware is one of the few developers who consistently provide LGBT romance content (the kind with actual substance, anyway) in their games at all. It would be one thing if we had a ton of options to turn to elsewhere, but the sad reality is that we don't.

The criticisms of Bioware's same-romance implementation in Andromeda are definitely valid. I believe we should continue to provide feedback. Continue to level criticism where it is due. But to boycott the game over it might only convince Bioware not to put development into same-sex romance in their games in the future. After all, why bother, if the LGBT community is going to boycott their game anyway?

We can only show and express our disappointment, no need to boycott. And yes, I used "we" just like you did.

Unfortunately, this logic doesn't work.  Straight guys like to play f/f romances.  I've seen the evidence here on these boards and with people I know in the real world.  To BioWare, putting f/f romances in is actually making straight guys happy.

I guess I should be more clear.  Largely speaking, BioWare is most concerned about what the straight males want.