Mass Effect Andromeda Should Feature Default Female Protagonist

It would make sense to see a default female protagonist in Mass Effect Andromeda given the strong female presence in past BioWare platformers.

[ninsigma]

Or just let people choose as per the franchise standard??

[lipton101]

Whoa whoa whoa. Not PC bro! I'm now going to grab a paper bag to hyperventilate for a bit...

But seriously, no. I'm a male, not a female. At risk of sounding "non-pc", I can't get immersed into a female character as I can a male one. These are role playing games. And I'm not trans so the role I'll be playing is that of a male. Or I just won't play the game.

[jreed1694]

I think the title might be misleading a few people. It might help to read through the whole piece if you haven't yet. Default female protagonist is whose on the cover. But of course, you still get to choose when you go in--that's classic Mass Effect. But male Shep is default protagonist for the original trilogy even though you can choose to play as FemShep, just to clear things up a bit

[ninsigma]

Yeah that makes more sense. I was thinking that later after I'd commented. I think the word default just went over my head when I read the title this morning. I Don't have a problem if they make the figure head of the game a female but still letting people choose their gender in-game. I didn't read the article because I thought it was clickbait SJW after I had mis-interpreted the title.

[andrewsquall]

So that means in motion capped cutscenes, the male character will move around like a female? That will be hilarious especially if its a buff roided out looking character.

[Paul_Cesar]

That's what she said in the article.

[Femto]

just another clickbait dogshit article

[Valenka]

Lmao seriously.

[-Foxtrot]

Why? To suck up to feminists

[annoyedgamer]

I'm surprised EA didn't do it in BF1 to be honest. They got some whiners, namely VG247 who couldn't handle it. I might actually go out and buy the game to support their defiance now.

[Lamboomington]

"I'm surprised EA didn't do it in BF1 to be honest. They got some whiners, namely VG247 who couldn't handle it"

Oh, were they annoyed at the lack of female fighters in BF1 ?

[aLucidMind]

I don't view it like that. While I don't believe it should be a requirement, I think they should have a female protagonist as the canon protagonist because it simply would be refreshing to see a story that isn't about "brown haired guy #34861". But like I said, it would be refreshing to see but I'd be more mad if they didn't make the story that they wanted to make than simply getting what's generally little more than a character model swap getting marked as the canon protagonist lol.

[UnHoly_One]

Yes, the new default "Shepard" will probably be a black, gay, muslim, transgender woman, just to try and check as many boxes as possible.

Just for the record I have no problem with any of those things, it just seems like EA loves advertising how inclusive they are of every type of minority group.

It's like they are trying too hard.

[InTheZoneAC]

lol joking or not, if a game checked off all those things you can bet I'm not buying it.

[Gameonysus]

On a Scale of 1 to What about men's rights? How would you rate your man pain?

[NecoTehSergal]

Her points are fucking horrendous, her main point as to why she thinks so is because: "because they can. There is a lot of prejudice and sexism surrounding female protagonists in games. I have often heard people (usually men) say that they don’t want to play a game as a female character. This type of attitude polarizes the gaming community in a completely unnecessary way."

She is essentially an Anita Sarkeesian clone, where she uses Zero evidence to back her claims, cherry picks anecdotal evidence and cries that the only reason females aren't picked is no doubt 'White male patriarchy' and female oppression. fml.

Her conclusion to the article is also just SJW Flamebait: "Surely the franchise’s male fans are not so insecure as to be threatened by having a woman on the cover of their favorite game. Because that would be utterly ridiculous."

[annoyedgamer]

lol sjw alert, even got into boasting about the star wars girl, (yes I clicked, I regret it now).

[NecoTehSergal]

She's basically Anita Sarkeesian who's spouting how there should be more female protagonists 'because sexism'. That literally is all this article is about. Talks about anecdotes of how 'men don't wanna play females' yet there are so many games that all gamers love that star females. That doesn't matter to feminists though. Lara Croft doesn't exist and people loving Heavenly Sword or looking forward to Horizon Zero Dawn? Pffft. Not enough, force all games to have more females!

[thekhurg]

Tired of these stupid articles. Nothing needs to change.

[Bobafret]

To be the devil's advocate for a moment, female gamers do in fact make up roughly half of gamers. And I am not talking about mobile. That being said, maybe alternate between male/female default characters for RPG's and other types of game.

[Casepbx]

But that number WAS pulled from mobile. Do you honestly believe half of console and PC gamers are female? Because it's realistically around maybe 20%.

[ninsigma]

You may not have been talking about mobile but those numbers certainly were.

[Lamboomington]

Well, that could be true, but if that number is done on mobile/includes mobile and facebook games etc, then they are horribly, horribly skewed.

There's a big difference between gaming on a phone or social media site and buying dedicated gaming hardware to sit down and play a game for hours.

Whatever it is, the percentage of female gamers is on the rise, that's for sure.

[Ogygian]

No they do not. Let me just say, as someone with a degree which was half statistics (economics), that the data you have seen is highly misleading, and completely meaningless from a business perspective.

You cannot compare someone who once played Candy Crush to someone who has a gaming PC/console and buys new games at full price.

It would be like saying that 50% of car drivers are women, therefore luxury sports cars should be aimed at women (where in reality they are mostly bought by men).

[Deadpooled]

To be fair you don't need a degree to see how badly skewed and misleading those numbers are with just a bit of research (for the record I have a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering). Ridiculous how SJWs are able to infect the weak minded and misinformed with their poison in all sorts of different media, and are trying to make developers pander to their minority views at the expense of freedom of artistic creation.

[Ogygian]

@Deadpooled

Indeed, you don't need a degree. Really, it just requires basic rationality, but this is a rationality which seems to be declining these days among people who follow certain ideologies.

[Deadpooled]

and among people who are unable to think for themselves and following whatever the thing on the other side of the square box in the living room tells them to believe. Then whenever someone tells them a different angle or viewpoint to the story they straight up refuse it, the worst blind is of one who refuses to see.

[exkalibur97]

gr8 b8 m8

[BlakHavoc]

Why do some of you take issue with female and/or racially diverse protagonists? You gotta understand different ppl like to feel represented from time to time by their specific gender or race.

[BlackTar187]

i don't think anyone takes issue with what you're saying. We take issue with changing the direction of the original idea to fit into some PC agenda.

[BlakHavoc]

I highly doubt theres not a single person on here that dislikes playing as a female protagonist. I've heard it around here plenty, for some odd reason some dudes don't like female leads in video games.

[jreed1694]

But it's not changing the original direction of the game. It's a new Mass Effect series separate from Shepard. Why can't the canon protagonist be female this time around? It's a brand new story

[EDKICK]

Edit. The headline of the article is a bit misleading. I have no problem with Femshep being the face of Mass Effect Andromeda, they seemed to lean that way with ME3 and the previous Andromeda trailer at E3 seemed to indicate that was the direction they are going.

[BlakHavoc]

Question. Did you read the article??

[EDKICK]

@BlakHavoc I feel pretty stupid, no I didn't I do pretty much everytime before I comment on here but this time I just read your comment and judged what I thought the article was about, my bad. Just pretend I didn't comment above lol.

[BlakHavoc]

@ED

Lol happens to me sometimes as well.

[Lamboomington]

There isn't much of a problem. The problem is when they make it an issue, when it doesn't have to be. The problem is if it gets higher priority than the actual IP.

To be honest, for Mass Effect, it's fine. The series would have no problems whatsoever with switching to the female as the postergirl for the game. I mean, what problem is there ? Mass Effect has always allowed you to play either male or female.

[FrostedFire]

I've been gaming for almost 14 years now,I'm slightly brownish,where are the characters that represent me?I don't care,you wanna why I don't care?Because unlike all the feminists and SJWS I care more about character and merit of the character.If you want your race to be represented go become a writer and force "diversity" into games and see how that turns out for your game.

[opinionated]

Stupid.

[cfc83]

No it wouldn't make sense to remove options.

[BlakHavoc]

The article isn't suggesting removing the option of character creation. Its stating the default settings when creating a character should be that of a female.

[cfc83]

OK well i see no point in the article. If we get to pick, then it shouldn't matter to anyone who anyone else picks, or who is default. I imagine i'll go male protagonist if he appears to be anywhere near as great as Shepard.

[BlakHavoc]

@Cfc83

I agree that the arguments kind of silly, but then again I'm not a female gamer. But I have friends who are and they definitely notice stuff like that. However I think we're getting more diversity cause the gaming community is becoming more diverse

[DrShoe]

Feminism... is a cancer!

[Shinobiprince]

Why has no one called out that despite many games catering to the opinion women need to be better portrayed in games, like tomb raider etc... who is it that they end up killing?!!! MEN loool. An endless platoon of only male enemies. Practically every game has only male enemies because even devs know how wrong it would feel for nathan drake or cod protagonist to be putting down female; so they don't do it. But if its a woman doing it to a man then its Ok
And its not just female protagonist games, basically every game has built the standard that its men that are threats which need eliminating. Not even throwing a couple female soldiers or terrorists and such here and there: Because thats WRONG
So yeah you redesign lara croft and make her "strong female" character for the sake of sexism and equality, but you make absolutely every enemy she kills male.
Isn't it delusional and insane in the gaming world amidst all this gender neutrality crap this has flown under the radar?

[Gameonysus]

Um have you ever played Grand Theft Auto? Or metal gear solid? Or Guacamelee? Or Overwatch? Or any fighting game? Just to name a few.

[Lamboomington]

That's kind of silly.
The vast majority of enemies in games are men because the vast majority of soldiers, militants etc are men. It's the same reason that the vast majority of protagonists in military and/or action games are men.

The only thing that changes in a game like Tomb Raider is the protagonist's gender. If you have no problem with Nathan Drake killing mostly men, why do you have a problem with Lara doing the same ? In this case, it feels like you're accusing the devs of something that they probably don't even care about. The issue is non-existant, and you're the one making an issue out of nothing imo.

[Shinobiprince]

There's enough women in the military and implicit in terror related activities to begin including them commonly as potential threats. Not only are there an abundance of female soldiers/ militants today, but are you suggesting then that these devs are basing their games on reality? LOL My point is there is practically no harm in adding gender diversity among enemies, BUT IT'S NEVER DONE, because its sure to offend "certain" people.
Who said there's no problem with Nathan killing mostly men?! If concerns can be raised about the gender of who's doing the killing then of course concerns should be raised about the gender of who's being killed.

[Articuno76]

"In this case, it feels like you're accusing the devs of something that they probably don't even care about. The issue is non-existant, and you're the one making an issue out of nothing imo."

TBH, you could say the same of pretty much every 'controversy' out there. People thinking their priorities are far more shared and have greater weight than they really do, then get mad when the world doesn't reflect that.

[InTheZoneAC]

whatever happened to the dev just picking the right gender for the right reasons based on their story. Never until a few years ago was this an issue, now everyone makes mention of it to make sure we think more about this than we should.

You don't force a gender just because, that is a stupid reason. When I play Tomb Raider I never questioned why she is female or said I wish that it was a guy instead. When I play TMNT I don't complain that there isn't a gay female turtle to play as. When I play GTA or GoW or Ghost Recon I don't question why I don't play as a female or complain that there isn't. I'm hispanic, but I don't complain that games don't have lead hispanic characters...it doesn't even cross my mind!

Making this an issue, like this article is doing, is just more evidence of society going downhill.

[laurawrdeadly]

Wouldn't opening these issue up be a sign of society evolving? Instead of letting one skin color/gender be dominate everyone is represented and has a fair voice in our society? Your reaction is more a sign of "society going downhill" since it's so willfully ignorant.

[UltimateOne88]

Just make the character fit with the theme of the game Male/Female whatever. Just don't try to tick all the SJW boxes for the sake of doing so. Be creative and true to the vision of Mass Effect - that is let us choose.

I don't care if the Marketing uses a Male or Female - I just want a great game.

[TheColbertinator]

Mass Effect is(or was at least) about choice.

You choose the race,gender,personality and even the sexual orientation. Its up to you on that end.

[kevnb]

to be fair the voice actress in mass effect 2/3 was better than the actor.

[KillZallthebeast]

why? making it a point to have it a certain gender just causes more problems...how about just do whatever and stop making issues where they don't belong.

[KillZallthebeast]

Dirty feminist take your disagree elsewhere

[Pancit_Canton]

I guess it makes sense, if they called the subtitle "Andromeda" (meaning; "The Legendary Princess" in Greek Mythology)

[FantasticBoss]

Or, now hear me out, they market the game in such a way that emphasis the choice or existence of either gender.

I'm perfectly ok with, and encourage, more female protagonists in games, but if you have a game like Mass Effect maybe you should find a way to present both.

[BlakHavoc]

Read the article guys, the titles a bit misleading.

[KillZallthebeast]

I refuse, this is N4G not N4read take your logic elsewhere

[KillZallthebeast]

whoever disliked this comment I challenge you to a bout of fisticuffs. If you decline you will be labeled a coward and fraud.

[laurawrdeadly]

Honestly you're just making an ass of yourself by spouting your opinion without even reading the article. Video games are not separate from media, and a discussion on gender issues damn well belongs there.

[KillZallthebeast]

I am an ass I thought this was blatantly clear

[KillZallthebeast]

Also seriously are you slow this was blatant sarcasm

[47]

It doesn't matter, the majority of players will choose a male lead just as they did last time. So even with a default female lead, you'll still see 70-80% of users create a male lead. That was the range for all three ME games and it won't be any different here. So what the default is really doesn't matter

[Lamboomington]

If they show off femshep for all their promo and marketing material, it might have a small effect.

[SaveFerris]

But not a Mass Effect?

[laurawrdeadly]

Quick question for you men with your panties in a twist: How does having the default option be female hurt you in any way? You can choose male Ryder and play the game. It's not like the developers would hide the option and make you go and hunt for it. Check your damn privilege. The world is made up of more than just white men, but they're always the default. This whole thread is just full of entitled crybabies.

[Lamboomington]

They're responding to the overall situation with gender politics. People don't want things to be done simply because of gender politics. People want the IP and the creative direction to be put first without compromise.

That said, it makes sense to cater to your audience, and for Mass Effect, it's 100% fine if they have FemShep as default. There's no problem with that at all. However, if you read the article, it's kind of like "They should do that because they have the ability to do it in a gaming landscape where a small indie developer would lose revenue by switching to a female default"... that kind of thing.

"There is a lot of prejudice and sexism surrounding female protagonists in games. I have often heard people (usually men) say that they don’t want to play a game as a female character."
Stuff like this. This brings up more of the stuff that people don't want to have anything to do with. No one cares for it in general.

Also, the general idea that devs should always put the IP first, the creatives first. Gender politics and the like should NEVER interfere with the actual IP or the creative. That said, in this case, it wouldn't interfere with much, since it has more to do with marketing.

[Surt]

See kids this is why taking sociology in college is not a good idea.

[Surt]

Cause that's all we need more games caving in to checking things off from a check lists rather then just make the game as intended. If you have to ask your writer "so he's the hero? But what if he was a she?" Your doing it wrong. It should have been a she from the get go, otherwise leave it as.

Pandering shit is what it is.

[jreed1694]

It's not about checking things off a list. It's about having more diverse narratives in the games we play.

[Surt]

I always tend to scoff at those that love using the word "diverse" a lot. As well as "problematic" lol It's pandering dude. You want diverse? Remember Beyond good and evil? That's diverse. Another Quick example-

DIVERSE: Extreme Ghostbusters

Pandering: All female reboot of Ghostbusters.

DIVERSE: Harley Quinn comics.

Pandering: Thordis 2016. (female thor)

[Gameonysus]

The guy who made uncharted disagrees with you and said getting that question makes him think outside of the box because he often default thinks of characters as male. So...

[Surt]

Yeah.. and he got a lot of flak for that choice. Along with other cringe moments in that game. Still a great game, but lets call a spade a spade, as one could see the force fed nonsense there.

EDIT: The guy is a known bleeding heart, but even he knows to be subtle with that shit. Fight scene still made me roll my eyes. lol

[Ogygian]

They should do this so when they see that 80% of players STILL choose male characters (like in the other Mass Effect games), they will have no more excuses left.

Maybe then they'll get it into their thick heads what the people who buy their games, and put food on their tables actually want.

[TorpeAlex]

This is confirmed. The female character is the default with the male as the alternative option.

[TorpeAlex]

Why do I even bother reading comment sections any more? Accept that media and less selfish people are trying to be more inclusive, and grow up.

[Paul_Cesar]

To all the men who saw the title of this article and were immediately triggered, you're all the Caveman SpongeBob meme right now.

[SuperbVillain]

why not just let the people that create the games decide if they want to or not

[jts1891]

...Or just throw a figure with an N7 helmet on the cover, and be done with it. I'm all for having diversity in games, but this suggestion smacks of checking a box on the social justice sheet.

[Germany7]

SJW PC is getting totally REJECTED.

[CptFalcon]

Well I'm getting a bit sick of all this SJW crap.
There is no problem with playing a female or a minority. But it has to be so for the sake of the story and setting not because of sickening political agendas.
Carl Johnson of GTA San Andreas was black and no one complained, that was because it FITS the setting.

Compare that with Mafia 3 for example. The Mafia consisted and still consists mainly of Itallians. Putting a black guy in Mafia 3 is totaly no logical choice and it surely doesn't fit the setting. They even add a female crime boss, totaly SJW'ed that game is.

As for the female protagonists; my favorites are Joanna Dark and Lara Croft. They were just female because well, they just were. They did not make them female because of a totaly wrong sense of equality.

[Paul_Cesar]

@CptFalcon

A lot of people complained about CJ in San Andreas. I was there reading the internet hate. People complaining weren't used to seeing a non white protagonist in a GTA game, so yea.

[smashman98]

I'm fairly certain the trailer implied this was the case anyway?

[PaleMoonDeath]

No thanks, sincerely male population of choice.

[Articuno76]

TBH I don't really care what the default Ryder is because I'll not be using them anyway... I'm more concerned about the character creation suite and what I can do with it.

edit: I like the idea of having reversible covers so the default Ryder could be male on some boxes and female on others, and you can change it at will.

[Psychotica]

Then you need to decide the default race, short or tall, skinny or fat, gay or straight etc etc. So if we really want to address all of the oppressed the default character would be a fat black midget who is gay..

[KurtRussell]

TRUMP 2016