
Baldur’s Gate expansion: Negative reviews because of transgender Character - doener
http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/972903-gamers-flood-baldurs-gate-expansion-negative-reviews-introduces-transsexual-character
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c0l0
That's actually not how I read and perceive _most_ of the negative reviews -
sure, people are complaining about the SJW and gender politics content on the
sidelines; yet the most substantial criticism complains about the poor
writing, a series of critical bugs that render the multiplayer modes
unplayable, and a very awkward graphics style, thanks to some kind of
upscaling/post-effects filter they use to make avatars look more, er,
"smooth", or something.

I've been a total Infinity Engine games addict for most of my adolescent and
adult life (I'm born in 1985, and played several hundreds, if not a few
thousands, of hours of Baldur's Gate (et al.) in my life, mostly in
multiplayer sessions with my cousin and friends from school, often spanning
the afternoons and evenings of several weeks at a time). I was VERY much
looking forward to new content for what is perhaps the most influential
computer game I know and cherish, and I was pretty stoked after watching the
official trailer last week.

However, because of the flak it received over the last few days, I decided to
watch a "Let's Play" video on Youtube instead of just blindly buying it. I
witnessed about half an hour of gameplay and story development, and, sadly,
that was enough to make it completely clear to me that this add-on doesn't
live up to its ancestors' brilliance, and that I won't be buying it. The
dialouge feels somewhere between forced and cringe-worthy, and the world
Beamdog puts your party in seems like a rather badly thought-out scenario from
the get-go (one of your companions from the real BG saga explains to you why
you are there and what you'll have to do in the very first dungeon/map in such
a poor manner that hearing Imoen's original voice actress speak those lines
actually made my heart sink a fair bit...).

It seems to me that it's just a rather bad game, at least compared to its
predecessors, and that the developers try to use the Gamergate/SJW-trolls'
whining and bashing as grounds to cover that up.

~~~
mcphage
> That's actually not how I read and perceive most of the negative reviews

If you wanted to complain about the gender politics, and didn't want to be
immediately dismissed, you'd find something else to complain about, and just
magnify your complaints.

~~~
dogma1138
Not really the expac is utter grabbage in it's current state regardless of the
SJW stuff, I've pre-ordered it and I didn't even get to that part (and didn't
even knew it existed till today) because I didn't wanted to ruin the good
memories I had of BG1 and BG2.

That said I understand why people dislike the "transgender story" It just
seems utterly out of touch with the rest of the game It doesn't impact the
story, there isn't some interesting content behind it it's just there as a
"BTW I'm a transgender" if they cared so much why not actually make a side
quest about this that would actually flesh it out?

This is almost as absurd as Dragon Age 3 being hailed as "SJW" (not in a
negative sense) dream while The Witcher 3 was criticized for "sexualizing
women" while utterly ignoring the fact that The Witcher 3 not only has 3 fully
fleshed out and very strong main female characters and as well as many more
strong female supporting roles it also tackled various issues from
homosexuality to general racism and prosecution in quite deep, meaningful and
impactful ways while DA3 was shallow and in your face about it.

~~~
nrinaudo
Relevant:
[https://www.facebook.com/ed.greenwood.142/posts/101567465225...](https://www.facebook.com/ed.greenwood.142/posts/10156746522575453?pnref=story)

Essentially, you may feel it's out of touch with the rest of the game, but
it's definitely in line with the _universe_ in which the game takes place.
Magic items that change your gender _as part of the official rulebook_ , mages
that must swap gender as part of their training, inter-species sex and cross-
breeding... how does a transgender character not fit in that universe?

------
tomjen3
This is one of the headlines I really hate: it is almost factually correct in
a way that completely divorces from reality.

Lots of people complained that a transgendered cleric had been added, but that
wasn't because it was transgendered, but because it was forced and fake.

Also quite a lot complained that the entire multiplayer part didn't work, that
in-game saves were corrupted, etc so don't take meta-critic scores as
indicating anything about this issue.

I found a reasonable neutral article about the game
([http://gameranx.com/features/id/47159/article/trying-to-
unde...](http://gameranx.com/features/id/47159/article/trying-to-understand-
baldurs-gategate/)) with the money quote here (quoting a review):

> “While the mechanics of the game are in line with the originals, the story
> falls short. It sacrifices the narrative and world building of the original
> Baldur’s Gate in order to break the 4th wall and beat players over the head
> with messages about social issues with the grace and subtlety of a Saturday
> morning cartoon from the 90’s.There is no problem with having messages about
> social issues in a game. The problem comes when one hijacks another
> franchise, gut out its soul and fill it with vapid maxims and fables in its
> place. That is one of the surest ways to kill off a franchise, and it is
> especially odious when it happens to a well-loved franchise. Want social
> justice? Sure, but stop hijacking the industry and make your own games.
> You’re not going to improve the industry, you’re just going to kill it from
> the inside out.”

I think we have had the experience of having some well-meaning person at a
familiy dinner who just couldn't stop talking about their pet issue. Did you
look forward to talking with that person? Do you want that person talking over
your favourite game, which you have played for a long time and have an
emotional connection with?

Incidentally I haven't meet any gamers who had much of a trouble with gays or
transgenders. Mostly they are people who want to, you know, PLAY video games.

------
pigpaws
As a non-gamer, can someone please explain why the character is even mentioned
as being trans? What does it add to the game, other than free advertising and
drama?

Are other players mentioned as being straight? Bi? Political affiliations?
religions, etc... ??? again, I'm not a gamer, I don't know this game so I
can't say what benefit it brings to the game/story line.

~~~
sgift
It isn't "mentioned" that the character is transgender, you have to ask. And
if you ask the character answers (probably because the writer thought it was
something the character wants to answer).

------
stared
When it comes about to games about transgender experience (I would say at some
fundamental level), there is SOMA. I mean, it is not the main thread in this
survival (and existential) horror (with all things geeks like: x-risk, grey
goo, mind uploading), but an interesting take on that subject.

SOMA: A Trans-Simon Experience (warning: some spoilers)
[http://genderterror.com/2015/11/09/soma-a-trans-simon-
experi...](http://genderterror.com/2015/11/09/soma-a-trans-simon-experience/)

------
nrinaudo
"actually, it's about ethics in heroic adventuring"? Really?

Couldn't care less about the transgender character - there's a character,
he/she changed gender, who cares when there's presumably a fire breathing
dragon over the next hill? - but _that_ line just convinced me to buy a game I
didn't think I would.

------
searine
>Negative reviews because of transgender Character

If you think that's why there are negative reviews, then I have a bridge to
sell you.

~~~
Pfhreak
The author was able to cite several reviews that were fairly explicit that
they felt the game was a 0/10 due to the inclusion of a transgender character.
Glancing through the metacritic page, it appears to be the target of some
community's ire and there are several reviews claiming the game espouses
"extremist views" or "SJW views". It certainly appears to me that there's some
relationship between the reviews and the inclusion of a more diverse cast.

~~~
searine
>The author was able to cite several reviews

If that's not the very definition of cherry picking...

~~~
csydas
Not really in this instance - the claim is that the inclusion of a
transvestite character brought about negative reviews specifically about the
transgender character. Multiple reviews did just that and were either
exclusively about the inclusion or predominantly with a mere mention of
excessive bugs next to a fair amount of text regarding the aforementioned
character.

I will grant - it is certainly possible to infer from the headline that the
majority of negative reviews are about the transgender character, which is
certainly not the case, but I wouldn't find it incredulous if someone
understood the headline to suggest that.

But the point being made is back by reviews which do exactly what the author
wrote about.

~~~
searine
>which is certainly not the case

So then why are you defending the author cherry picking such reviews?

The "point being made" is backed by a small minority. That being the case, it
is clear that this article is a deflection to shift attention from the poor
quality of the product.

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alistproducer2
When did we get to a point where every instance of someone being an asshole is
news?

~~~
csydas
Though I'd agree this doesn't really fit with the style of most HN articles,
there's a little more to the story than just "someone being an asshole", and
it's enough to at least facilitate some discussion, regardless of whether or
not said discussion devolves into a Internet fight.

~~~
alistproducer2
Discussion of what? That there are assholes who will give a game a negative
review because there's something "gay" in it?

At what point do we just accept that there will always be assholes in private
life. If we're talking about public figures with the ability and will to do
harm to folk because of their asshole views, then we can/should discuss. If we
had a discussion every time trolls trolled we'd have little time for anything
else.

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thescribe
Art is subjective, some people don't like this art. Why is this news?

