Response: Mass Effect is not the Game To Focus on Transgender Issues

Is the Mass Effect universe really ready for a transgender character or would it even matter?

[DougLord]

Any game that FOCUSES on transgender issues should be a small, indie project. If its a AAA title - even a mega star title like GTA or Halo - its going to be such a failure, it could end the series (maybe DLC for Saints Row would work) The appeal will be limited. I'm not saying only LBGT people would play it or that only bigots would refuse to play it. I'm just saying if transgender is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th .... most important focus of the game, its very likely the game wont resonate. If a NPC happens to be transgender - fine, as long as they don't shove it in your face (like a Miami drag queen), or as long as dealing with that NPC is limited and/or optional. And I think making the enemy a flamboyant transsexual could be seen as incredibly bigoted - unless the entire dev team is LBGT and they are doing it in a satirical manner. Unfortunately, a successful LBGT themed game is would likely be one that is incredibly bigoted - much like highschool massacre or hentai rape games.

[Christopher]

Glad you're here to tell us the dos and don'ts of game development.

[madjedi]

It's not that it should only be a indie game, it's that most publisher aren't taking a chance to lose 50+ million dollars on a product.

That is more interested in pushing a political or social agenda than is making a sizeable return on their investment.

[Activemessiah]

Can we... focus on games issues? like... good games or at least the lack of them?... or ones that WORK without 14 patches!?

[Godz Kastro]

Please, id rather keep these issues out of gaming. This is my escape from the real world.

[GetSomeLoGiK]

It isn't. Being forced to be transgender is an incredibly dumb idea in the Mass Effect series since you create your character to how you like it not how the developer likes it. Sure, you had to be a man in ME1 and 2 but it didn't really change much, you still sympathized with Shepard and you still felt like you were Shepard. As any game that features a female protagonist, you can still feel like you are her despite being the opposite gender. In ME3 you could be a woman but it did nothing to the story, just made it more immersive to women.

Honestly I don't care if they made it a option to be transgender, I would really care if they forced it because you are forcing your views onto the player. Being transgender especially in Mass Effect where there are aliens would be a common thing that no one would care by that time. There is no point.

[cogniveritas]

When I played Saints Row 3, I went to the surgeon and changed my gender mid game. I was transgender and no one noticed.... But seriously it would have been funny if someone commented, or a boss taunted me because of it to send my character into aggro, but the game is super gender neutral anyway.

[wwarren19]

"Sure, you had to be a man in ME1 and 2 but it didn't really change much". What the hell are you talking about? You could be male or female through the whole trilogy. The only thing that changed in ME3 was the inclusion of same sex relationships and gay characters.

[Articuno76]

It doesn't really make sense to tackle transgenderism in Mass Effect as it's set in the future where transgenderism would be considered pretty commonplace. It's a universe where humans have moved on to struggling with inter-species relations. The real question you could ask is, if Mass Effect is supposed to be set in a convincing future why aren't we seeing more transgenderism in it's universe already? And wouldn't including more of it make the game's world more convincing?

[Nwah]

I don't follow your logic. Why would the fact that it's in the future mean that we would be seeing more transgenderism?

[Articuno76]

Well think about it like this: Generally acceptance of various norms progresses over time. So things that were once shocking would become societal norms.

Think about the visibility of gay people for instance. Always been there, but more visible (open) in a society that's progressed towards just accepting them as just another norm.

Now jump forward a few hundred years into Mass Effects' future after there's been a lot of social progress. In that kind of world it make sense that many norms such as transgenderism would become more visible within society in line with the spread of acceptance.

Humans struggling with inter-species relations are unlikely to still have hang-ups with transgender people, and as such there's going to be less "closeted" transgender people.

[rainslacker]

@Articuno

Think you misunderstand the meaning of what a societal norm is. A norm is something that is commonplace enough that it is generally prevalent, practiced, or believed throughout the society/culture.

I think what you're trying to say is that the idea of it would become more tolerated or accepted. Much like how homosexuality has become more tolerated/accepted in the past few years, so will transgenderism be more accepted or tolerated within the next few, as you indicate in your 2nd paragraph.

A few hundred years from now it's hard to say how society will think about these things. In Roman times, homosexuality or bisexuality was perfectly acceptable, and there were even special terms for different things officially sanctioned by the government, and there were laws on what was acceptable and what wasn't(typically involving age, rank, and societal position) yet over time, it became taboo...likely due to strong religious influence.

In ME3, it made it apparent that homosexuality was acceptable though, but the idea of it seemed to be something more akin to today's handling of it, where many of us know at least one gay person, and find them to be a normal person(because they are), so can think of them as a person, and not a homosexual.

Otherwise, I imagine a few hundred years from now, the debate will still be going on, as these kinds of traditionalism/liberal/conserv ative issues tend to ebb and flow as the years progress.

All that being said, I don't think ME is the place to really explore the topic of transgenderism. The series writing isn't sophisticated enough to really handle it with any sort of meaningful discourse, and overall, the series has never been about gender politics or sexual preference. Those things were merely choices for the player to make, and rarely made a difference to the actual main storyline, and in most cases had very little bearing on character development.

Now with that being said, I don't care if ME gives the choice or not. I don't think giving the choice is focusing on an issue, nor is giving a choice forcing something on someone...choice by definition is the act of not forcing(barring those crappy consequence choice scenarios which this isn't).

[Tornadobounce]

Hey baby wanna have some fun?

[DiscoKid]

I am pretty sure LBGT awareness is a common thing by now for people to have to force it in video games. Focus on making good characters first.

[Mithan]

No place in the game for that.

[MilkMan]

To me, gamers always focus on the wrong things. ME has quickly become the "romance simulator" instead of focusing on deep game systems, fantastic story and so on. Its whatever now bro. They even made fun of this on Saints Row IV.

[Eonjay]

I really don't get it. Can't the game have a transgender character without being about transgender issues? Can't a game have a female lead without being about Female issues? A character being gay, female or any other thing should be seen as a issue to begin with. What do we mean "Is Mass Effect ready for a transgender character?"
Why do you need to get ready?

[rainslacker]

You're absolutely right. Having a character that is something in a game, is not focusing on that somethings issues.

Those issues may be discussed in auxiliary discussion of the game, like we may do some times with TLOU and homosexuality, but unless the game's story is actually about the characters struggles due to their something, it isn't focusing on that issue. At best, there may be some sub-plot that relates to a something, that probably won't do the issue justice anyhow.

[Tex117]

If Bioware wants to tell a story that involves a transgendered protagonist then they have the creative freedom to do so.

So long as it is inline with their creative vision and not "just to do it" then they can knock themselves out.

[RedDeadLB]

WHAT FUCKING ISSUES

[KryptoniteTail]

Knowing Bioware we'll be slapped in the face by LGBT agenda and called bigots for not smiling as qe are reamed.

[madjedi]

I love the stupidity of why we need more "insert race or gender" articles.

So beyond the romance angle which I don't really care about in any games, exactly why would a transgender character be any different than a straight character.

Most games involve killing all your enemies and advancing to the next area or level. Why the hell does it matter if the protagonist is straight, gay, white, black, male or female or a orange blob.

It really has no bearing on the gameplay(well maybe the blob would), and when developers do include a women or person of color or other minority.

People will still bitch and complain because they didn't get the prefect representation of themselves or their group in the character that they identify with.

Just make good character regardless of race, gender or orientation, stop trying to please everyone because it is a fools errand.

Just looked up some statistics and .3% of the us population are/identify as transgender on wiki(it will suffice) and you have idiots wanting to have mandatory gender neutral bathrooms for trans-people.

I think liberals should be banned from office before they bankrupt the country even further.