BioWare apologizes for Mass Effect: Andromeda's Hainly Abrams character
63 replies, posted
There are more poorly written examples of BioWare's LGBTQ characters. I'm surprised this one is getting the attention and not, say, Gill; whose only other character dilemma (besides arguing with Kallo over the ship maintenance) is that he's friends with a population expert whom suggests he needs to "do his part" to repopulate... but he's gay so that contradicts him.
[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;52064221]
Krem from Dragon Age Inquisition is a much better take on a trans character. For one the character will only talk about it after you get to know them through a group of friends, and when they do they're clearly sharing the information with you cautiously, not just blurting out their entire history and telling you their old name.
It should also be noted that unlike in Mass Effect there's no form of hormone therapy or surgery a person can get in the world of Dragon Age, so a transgendered person will always be stuck with the body of the sex they were born to. So not being outed as trans is infinitely harder in that world.[/QUOTE]
The problem with Krem though is that it's odd that they make a point to reassure how good of a man he is when, unlike our world, men and women can be warriors without so much as a raised brow. It seems needless to suggest that he is inadequate as a warrior due to his gender. Also, Dorian notes that Blood Magic can be used to "change" someone (in his case, his sexuality); so, it may be possible to go through a sex change (it is taboo in some parts, however, but I digress).
Gil has a bit more going on about his character and his relationship to that one population experts than just "oh no I'm gay but the repopulation effort though".
He's not one of the most fleshed out characters in the game since he's just your ship engineer but he's not just the resident homosex for the gay quota. In fact he never flat out states his homosexuality and his problem with becoming a father has less to do with his sexual preferences and more to do with his usual lack of commitment. [sp]He does say after mentioning the repopulation effort that it isn't a matter of sexuality; he can just "donate DNA" and have someone inseminated. It's mostly a matter of him not liking long-term deals, of which being a father is.[/sp]
[editline]6th April 2017[/editline]
The entire issue with Abrams talking about her past is that it doesn't have to be such a big fucking deal in the Mass Effect universe. If the writers decide that transgenders are accepted enough to not have to make it a big secret they only reveal to the most select individuals then it's up to them.
Their own PR response is purely apologetic because people complained this character does not dramatically reveal something which might as well be the most menial piece of information would could share within that specific universe. When I first heard of that option I thought it just meant people in Mass Effect are just more accepting of LGBT people, which makes sense in a universe where your neighbors are blue, genderless creatures with no inherent sexual preferences or a need to identify themselves by one. Your entire perception of gender must fly out the fucking window when you live in a society populated of floating tentacle creatures, giant quadrupeds with fan-mouths and frogs who have no perceivable physical differences based on sex, save for the pitch of their voice which may as well just be a translator thing.
I think it's very counter-productive to want a science fiction, highly idealized universe to treat a social problem the exact same way it's treated in real life if it decides to do it some other way. If they don't want it to be a big deal in the lore, then it isn't a big deal in the lore.
Furthermore, this one character could just be very comfortable with it and not really give it much thought. Not every character has to be so horribly insecure they must hide their "secrets" only to reveal them to the most specific people just because we right now live in a society that kind of compels people to do that for all matters of seemingly menial, unimportant shit.
Same deal if [url=http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Mislav]a game decides to have gay people be ostracized and treated like monsters[/url].
[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;52063390]If you're going to represent transgender people, do it right. Having a character who just randomly tells you this rehearsed dramatic backstory about her past is just stupid, forced, and not how trans people are.
Token forced minorities who's main aspect to their personality is "I am X" will just end up pissing off everyone, including the minority you were trying to represent[/QUOTE]
Since when do all trans people act the exact same.
This is also an invalid argument considering how shite and 2d the backstories are of all the other characters. It's not like they specifically made the trans character have a crappy flat backstory, the whole crews backstories are just wank and they do the exact same thing by spouting their rehearsed dramatic backstory.
the problem with all of mass effect andromeda's writing, and most of 3 at that, is that if we were to take everything a character does at face value instead of chalking it up to "bad writing", that would mean characters are canonically stupid, extremely illogical, lack many forms of common sense, and lack any form of self awareness or human decency.
like this
[quote]Since when do all trans people act the exact same.[/quote]
deadnaming yourself is often seen in the LGBT community ranging from "very bad" to "only excusable with people you know very well". there is no written rule here but there's also no written rule about going up to someone and expose your biggest secret. it's just seen as socially unacceptable. if we were to agree that, yes, some people DO act socially unacceptable in such a way, and YES this npc in this game was made specifically with this character detail in mind, that's one thing. but this character wasn't written in such a way. we are just to accept everything this character does as normal, neutral, and human. since she is part of TEAM PROTAGONIST aka THE GOOD GUYS and gives you an optional side quest, she is also designed specifically so that you like her. or is supposed to be designed that way. but instead, if we were to accept her character writing at total face value, she is seen as petty, attention starving, and probably a fucking idiot, which goes against basic rpg quest giver personality design.
[quote]Honestly all I can say after reading through this thread is who gives a flying fuck if you're not represented in a way that you don't feel is right, if you're just casually represented in a game as opposed to be focused on in a way that fucking details your backstory, shit happens, deal with it, alot of people in this game only had small backstories and weren't represented aswell as they could have been, but [/quote]
"some games are written poorly, who cares?"
people who want good games, specifically rpgs that have good stories and characters i give a shit about. yknow, something that's worth my $60 and not fucking GARBAGE
overall if you defend this then i'm sorry you have bad taste and wouldn't understand a good character if they hit you right in your face.
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