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Kotaku: Underwhelming Gay Romance Options In ME: Andromeda Disappoints Many Fans

G

GLAMr

Member
Burbeting said:
It's such a disappointment, especially after ME3 and DA:I.
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This. I really enjoyed the romance options in DAI, and they felt really fleshed out to me. Plus I squee'd with delight when the Iron Bull and Dorian got together because I didn't romance either of them.

I have no intention of pursuing a MM romance in a game, but I have a lot of gay friends who are really into this kind of game (particularly when it's Bioware). It saddens me that they are being marginalised in this way. Sure, other games are worse, and the other romances may be terrible too, but other things being bad doesn't automatically make something acceptable.
 
D

DemWalls

Member
GLAMr said:
This. I really enjoyed the romance options in DAI, and they felt really fleshed out to me. Plus I squee'd with delight when the Iron Bull and Dorian got together because I didn't romance either of them.
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That's interesting, I really had no idea.
 
L

Lucifon

Junior Member
Article would also be accurate titled - "Underwhelming Romance Options In ME: Andromeda Disappoints Many Fans"

I'm having fun still but... Damn :( what happened.
 
D

disappeared

Banned
I'm just going to guess that the team in charge of writing the characters and romance plots were simply uncomfortable writing and fleshing out gay male relationships. Which is truly unfortunate. In a series that relies so much on its diverse portrayal of races, species, and ethnic groups, you'd think equal representation of sexual orientations would receive just as much attention. DA:I did a much better job in that respect. Hopefully that team will carry the torch going forward.
 
G

Grisby

Member
Gil's alright, but yeah, but that's still some pretty poor representation there.

Shame after Inquisition seemed to get a lot right with Iron Bull and Dorian, who were both excellent characters.
Aikidoka said:
Such a massive disappointment, especially after Dragon Age Inquisition, where they really nailed all the romance options.
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Ayup.
DemWalls said:
That's interesting, I really had no idea.
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Me either. Kind of like the ME3 deal where Tali and Garrus end up together.
 
H

Harlequin

Member
Roufianos said:
Isn't it to be expected that Ryder would come across more heterosexual females than gay males?
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It's not just about the number of options (though the achievement BW themselves implemented does partially make it about that), it's mostly about the M/M options that are available being of overall lower quality and the gay male LIs being less integral to and less frequently present in the game's story. (Besides, Ryder comes across many, many characters who aren't romance options so even if it were about the number of options, I wouldn't think that that would be a great argument :p.) Not to mention that female Ryder has got more female romance/fling options than male ones LOL.
 
T

The Fatal Englishman

Member
disappeared said:
I'm just going to guess that the team in charge of writing the characters and romance plots were simply uncomfortable writing and fleshing out gay male relationships. Which is truly unfortunate. In a series that relies so much on its diverse portrayal of races, species, and ethnic groups, you'd think equal representation of sexual orientations would receive just as much attention. DA:I did a much better job in that respect. Hopefully that team will carry the torch going forward.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty big leap. By all accounts, the game is unfinished and rushed in most respects. The fact that they failed to flesh out the gay relationships seems par for the course, really.
 
D

Dandy Crocodile

Member
Roufianos said:
Isn't it to be expected that Ryder would come across more heterosexual females than gay males?
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This is a fictional game about space and shit. I honestly could care less about "realistic sexuality demographics" and just want to have as many shitty options as straight people.
 
Roufianos

Roufianos

Member
Harlequin said:
It's not just about the number of options (though the achievement BW themselves implemented does partially make it about that), it's mostly about the M/M options that are available being of overall lower quality and the gay male LIs being less integral to and less frequently present in the game's story. (Besides, Ryder comes across many, many characters who aren't romance options so even if it were about the number of options, I wouldn't think that that would be a great argument :p.)
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Oh I see. I was trying to rationalise it but I guess it truly was a case of not being bothered.
 
B

Bessy67

Member
To be fair the Asari really don't have a gender. They're clearly designed to look and sound female, but they really aren't. Just sayin...
 
O

OrionX

Member
Roufianos said:
Isn't it to be expected that Ryder would come across more heterosexual females than gay males?
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone's asking Bioware to make half the universe gay lol. But we're talking about a futuristic game set in space, full of alien races that would presumably be entirely different from humanity. The potential for creativity is infinite.
 
Y

Yabberwocky

Member
I still can't believe how much ME:A dropped the ball with m/m romances for BroRyder, especially after DA2/ME3/DA:I.

tumblr_nlk48izq2L1rwjo9zo1_500.gif
 
T

TetraGenesis

Member
Harlequin said:
I haven't actually come across this piece of dialogue yet myself but I've read about it. Apparently, if you romance Reyes, Vetra will have this to say about it (includes spoilers for Reyes' romance/missions):
She'll ask if, now that Reyes is king of Kadara, that makes you his queen. Scott can reply that he'd be more of a consort, to which Vetra will reply that he at least deserves to be a baroness.
And no, this is not some sort of joke between the two of them, this is the devs not bothering to change these gender-specific lines from Sara's romance with Reyes for the gay version. (Usually, I'd have given them the benefit of the doubt, assumed it was just an innocent little oversight and laughed it off but considering all the other things they've fucked up regarding the game's M/M romances I'm not feeling particularly inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.)
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That is fuuuuuuuuuuucked up!
 
H

HeelPower

Member
Male/male relationships are still the most difficult territory.

Lets be honest female/female target male players as well..If not primarily.
 
H

Harlequin

Member
HeelPower said:
Male/male relationships are still the most difficult territory.

Lets be honest female/female target male players as well..If not primarily.
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Based on what I've heard, they are primarily targeted at straight male players (maybe not all of them, I think Vetra's romance was written by a woman, for example, but certainly some of them). The fact that they may possibly also appeal to lesbian/bi women seems to be more of a happy accident.

EVA UNIT 01 said:
For the first time in the series i think im romancing no one.
All choices are just awful-character wise as well
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Reyes is a pretty interesting character IMO. He's got a hideous character creator face and his romance content can't hold a candle to that of some of the straight/lesbian romances (not to mention that his gay romance scenes aren't as well-animated as his straight romance scenes) so there's definitely plenty to complain about but character-wise, I actually quite like him.
 
N

nel e nel

Member
SatoAilDarko said:
I mean look at that graphic. There weren't male gay options till Mass Effect 3 but there have been lesbian options since Mass Effect 1.

I have to wonder how much of the lesbian relationships are done by the developers for representation vs. for the benefit of straight males?
Click to expand...

Folks should watch the making of documentaries from ME1. The design spec for Asari was literally "hot blue space babe"
 
R

Replicant

Member
The two m/m romance options are so disappointing. Especially after the big romance arc with a very hot Kaiden in ME3. I think I'd go for no romance in this one like I did in ME2. :(
 
V

Vamphuntr

Member
GLAMr said:
This. I really enjoyed the romance options in DAI, and they felt really fleshed out to me. Plus I squee'd with delight when the Iron Bull and Dorian got together because I didn't romance either of them.
Click to expand...

I had no idea this could happen with DAI it's not a game that impressed me much but I'm always pleasantly surprised at what you can do with the characters.
 
Xyrmellon

Xyrmellon

Member
I know I'll regret this, but how many is "many"? Are people buying this game just for the male-male experiences? Relationships in Mass Effect are so cringey "many" probably skip them altogether.

I feel like this is a case of a few shouting the loudest when honestly most players don't even care.
 
B

Bizzquik

Member
One of the most-liked comments on the CrowbCat video is that the problems of the game are due to its "SJW" vibe.

One of the complaints that has shown up in multiple GAF threads now is that the game does not handle LGBT sexuality well at all.

BioWare seems to have created a game whose failure transcends political and ideological backgrounds. ...Utterly amazing.
 
U

UnwrittenZero

Member
I'm still looking for that alien romance that leaves you in the med bay shaking uncontrollably. You know like the sand pit monster from Star Wars comes out of the pants and latches on. Something terrifying and transformative.

Edit: Or they eat you like a scorpion and it's game over, be creative.
 
S

Syder

Member
This is disappointing... as long as we accept that the major draw of this series is for people to ship their favourite characters together and not creating an interesting narrative. Which is why it will always find itself miles behind games like The Witcher. I mean, if you're just creating a wish fulfilment game and nothing more then just put gay options in because you're only alienating people otherwise.
 
D

Dandy Crocodile

Member
Xyrmellon said:
I know I'll regret this, but how many is "many"? Are people buying this game just for the male-male experiences? Relationships in Mass Effect are so cringey "many" probably skip them altogether.

I feel like this is a case of a few shouting the loudest when honestly most players don't even care.
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When you're drowning in options of course you won't care.
If you're like me, you are so starved for options you'll take whatever you can get and continue to push for more.

"most players" don't care just like "most people" won't get married to someone of the same gender. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be a viable option.
 
H

Harlequin

Member
UnwrittenZero said:
I'm still looking for that alien romance that leaves you in the med bay shaking uncontrollably. You know like the sand pit monster from Star Wars comes out of the pants and latches on. Something terrifying and transformative.

Edit: Or they eat you like a scorpion and it's game over, be creative.
Click to expand...

I'd say bottoming for a krogan could probably do that LMAO.

Xyrmellon said:
I know I'll regret this, but how many is "many"? Are people buying this game just for the male-male experiences? Relationships in Mass Effect are so cringey "many" probably skip them altogether.

I feel like this is a case of a few shouting the loudest when honestly most players don't even care.
Click to expand...

The number of people complaining about it online is probably relatively small but the number of people who buy BioWare games in part because of the gay romances? My guess is that that's bigger than you might think. Keep in mind that there are quite a few gay gamers out there and only very few AAA games with any kind of substantial gay content (much less AAA games that allow you to play as a gay protagonist). So when gay gamers buy a BioWare game in part because of the reputation BioWare has built up over the years for creating good LGBT content (granted, that's mostly been the Dragon Age team but many people don't make that distinction and ME3 made a pretty big step in the right direction) and then it turns out that, in this game, that content has been rather carelessly thrown together, I hope you can understand why that's a serious problem, even if it doesn't directly affect the majority of players. (Of course, that's not the only issue here but it's the one that I feel is most relevant to your post.)
 
F

Flipyap

Member
Honestly, I wish they'd cut down on the number of straight and lesbian options. Focus on better romance subplots with better characters instead of this open world approach to banging ("You see that person in the distance? You can bang them."). I don't really enjoy going into these games with the expectation that everyone on my crew is going to be DTF.
Then again, I also don't care about unlocking a softcore porn clip at the end, so maybe those gay male Ryder romances are made specifically for me (except for the part where they look like generic character creator presets).
 
H

Hasphat'sAnts

Member
UnwrittenZero said:
I'm still looking for that alien romance that leaves you in the med bay shaking uncontrollably. You know like the sand pit monster from Star Wars comes out of the pants and latches on. Something terrifying and transformative.

Edit: Or they eat you like a scorpion and it's game over, be creative.
Click to expand...

Soemthing something dextro amino proteins.
 
M

Mister_Bubbles

Member
It's a shame as it seems like there are quite a few NPCs who are in gay relationships and I thought that was handled well so far, it's never something anyone makes a big deal of, just sometimes every now and then people will refer to same sex partners. I was expecting to see LGBT folks commenting positively on the representation - sucks that isn't actually reflected by male Ryder's available romances.
 
B

Bizzquik

Member
Flipyap said:
Focus on better romance subplots with better characters instead of this open world approach to banging ("You see that person in the distance? You can bang them.").
Click to expand...

You just made my night. That was hilarious.
Thanks. Open World Gameplay Evolved
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
I don't expect an equal number of opportunities for male male loving.

But the ones that are there need to not be an utter afterthought if you're gonna include them. And so far every major Mass Effect male pairing has been treated as a side show to the "real" romances.
 
H

Hours Left

Member
Xyrmellon said:
I know I'll regret this, but how many is "many"? Are people buying this game just for the male-male experiences? Relationships in Mass Effect are so cringey "many" probably skip them altogether.

I feel like this is a case of a few shouting the loudest when honestly most players don't even care.
Click to expand...
As many have already mentioned, there are a lot of gay gamers who are upset by this. You can do some due diligence and check this for yourself if you don't believe what you're being told, instead of just writing it off.

The perceived quality of the romances isn't a reason to half ass the what's being offered to a gay players, and those that wished to pursue that type of relationship in the game. "I don't care about/like the romances, so no one should" is not a constructive stance.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
"Most players don't care" maybe, but that's not the point.

The point is that gay people​ once again just have to settle for table scraps and be thankful for it and thats bullshit.
 
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