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LGBTQ+ Inclusive Video Game?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by Regaen, Dec 18, 2019.

  1. Regaen

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    Well, I'm officially enrolled in college and I'm going to take a game design degree. My goal is create games that are plot driven RPGs, like final fantasy, elder scrolls, etc. What I want to know is if an LGBTQ+ game would be well received? There's not a lot of diversity in gaming from what I've seen. Most characters are white, and male. I've never even seen a black female playable character in a game. Fran from ff12 doesn't count, she's a viera.

    My current storyboard has a character who is gender fluid, being more masculine in the everyday and more feminine on missions. They're depicted as native American, though no tribal affiliation. There are also three romance subplots, two of which are homosexual. Is this sort of thing something that the Community would like to see?
     
  2. Dreamsexul

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    iirc, Jade Empire had a gay love interest storyline for the main character. It was well received.

    I think forcing players to be X, Y or Z is a bad idea ... But the option to be X, Y or Z is great!

    Doesn't the new cyberpunk game have transgender character creation options? Dunno, just something I heard.
     
  3. Aspen

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    Can I introduce you to Dragon Age? Or The Last of Us? It's true that inclusive games are a rarity but they're out there.
     
  4. Devil Dave

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    Never played Resident Evil 5 or Left 4 Dead 2 then?
     
  5. Regaen

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    Actually I've never played any of those games. I know there are some, but usually it's like an aside, not part of the main. I'd love to hear more about these games though?
     
  6. Lin1

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    Life is strange and before the storm are both lesbian-oriented video-games, I mean in both games you can chose to keep things as a friendship but the whole game plot is set up so that it's clear the 3 main characters which all happen to be female are queer.

    I agree with you in the lack of diversity and yes, it would be so nice to have more female-lead video games as well as more queer content. As a gamer, I do hate always have to play male characters and women almost always being used as the sidekick romantic interest.
     
  7. Regaen

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    Well, one thing I was considering is to allow for gender, skin tone, and other features to be customizable. The main story would be the same, but any mc romance would have multiple variations based on gender/typology preferred. It's more work, but I think more immersive as well. You could have a mc that actually matches you.
     
  8. Shorthaul

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    Pretty sure all of the Fallout games allow for some same sex romance. I know 4 for sure you can play either gender and romance any NPC companion.
    Borderlands usually has one or two openly queer characters.
    Saint's Row 3 and 4... had character customization and you could hook up with all of the main NPCs.
    I haven't gotten far enough in Code Vein to know if you can be friendly with NPCs, but it has a pretty in depth character creation.

    Cole from Gears of War is black and playable in some of the games. Some of the Grand Theft Auto games have a black male protagonist. I know there are more, but I'm not thinking of them or never played them.
     
  9. Kyrielles

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    Yeah, I agree there is never much diversity when it comes to main characters in games. And there's definitely not many games with lgbtq storylines. Like for example The Last of Us kind of has a lesbian storyline, which they're obviously gonna get more into with part 2, but really the game doesn't soley have an lgbt storyline, Joel has his story in there, and imo it was more based on survival and the story of what happened. Then there's games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Fallout in which you can create and have an lgbt character and have relationships, but really there's no storyline there. I suppose you could say The Sims has an lgbtq storyline, if you choose to make it that way. There are many pro lgbtq features on specifically The Sims 4. And the few indie games that have lgbtq characters and storylines. I would love love love to see more diversity or character selection in video games.
     
  10. Kyrielles

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    On the subject of pro lgbtq games, has anyone played Days Gone? It was the most annoying hetero white male storyline in a video game I have seen in a long time. By the time I was a few hours in I was skipping the cut scenes, and eventually stopped playing it.
     
  11. Aspen

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    In Dragon Age, the playable character is only straight if you want them to be. In each game, you play as one character with certain side characters are romance options. In Dragon Age 2, everyone is bisexual. You can romance any option while playing a male or female Hawke. In DA: Origins and DA: Inquisition some romance options are straight, some are bi, and some are gay.

    The romance subplots between side characters can also be queer.
     
  12. Regaen

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    That might be the route I take, allowing for multiple romance options based on settings. Don't get me wrong, some hetero romance plots in games are good, but... Some of it is so cliched.
     
  13. Fishtail

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    :grin:That sounds alot like "Dragon age 2" and that´s why alot like that one more that Dragon age 1(origins),
    because in DA1 there are only 2 queer companion you can choose a romantic path with.

    It´s one of the few game series that have queer love choices included. :thumbsup:
     
    #13 Fishtail, Jan 11, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2020
  14. EleanorHunter

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    As someone who also studies game design, there's definitely unique LGBT+ inclusive games out there! The stories may not be entirely focused on coming out and/or realizing sexuality, but it can come into subplots every now and then. A lot of games with character creation now include more options for gender non-conforming folk, and many include optional queer romances.

    In my experience, more independent games and projects are queer friendly and focusing on queer stories compared to triple A titles. However, the more attention those independent games get, the more triple A companies start to get the message as well! Independent games as a whole are also very LGBT heavy when it comes to the developers (there is not a single straight woman in my game dev classes lol). So long story short, there is definitely an audience for LGBT games. :slight_smile:

    https://w.itch.io/end-of-the-world <- Queers In Love At The End Of The World is a really sweet text based game about just that. Tugs at the heartstrings. Beyond video games, I played a board game called Queering Spacetime at IndieCade. Fallout gives queer romance options, Night In The Woods has a queer main character, The Last of Us 2 seems like it'll have plenty of great gay content... I'm sure there's more but I can't think of them all off the top of my head.

    Also if you ever want to talk game dev, feel free to message me!! I have some experience working as a game designer and have been studying it for a while. I'd love to test anything you make!
     
  15. Ozma

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    While not LGBT+ focused games, Borderlands 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Horizon Zero Dawn (though far less than the others) have lots of queer characters who are just treated like normal people and not made a big deal out of, which is always great. New Vegas is the only one of the three where you can have any kind of queer romantic/sexual interactions though.