An online game 'allowing' players to create transgender characters - discuss?

[CrystalSingerFan]

OK. First post on FWR.

Here's something from an Observer Sensemaker email. "It’s in the game:

A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has agreed to acquire video game maker Electronic Arts for $55 billion. It is the biggest ever leveraged buyout...

Concerns. Some gamers worry that Saudi Arabia’s new part-ownership of EA will lead to the censorship of games featuring LGBTQ content. These include ...

Dragon Age, which allows players to create transgender characters..."

I know absolutely nothing about gaming but I'm interested in the idea of folks wanting to be transgender characters. Unless I'm missing something, if you're transgender you're just, magically, the opposite biological sex? Which you would choose to play as? Assuming Dragon Age permits two sexes to play?

<Runs and hides>

Are you wanting to know which sex a trans player would choose?

OP, I assume you've read around FWR a bit and your sentence "Unless I'm missing something, if you're transgender you're just, magically, the opposite biological sex?" is just badly phrased?

I sometimes use a male avatar or unisex nickname when gaming because a female avatar can attract trolls and negative attention.

I am not trans.

Ime many people use avatars that don’t look like them irl and it’s not a sign of gender identity.

It's been a while since I played Veilguard but in the DA character creator, you can design a woman with a penis or a man with breasts. You can give a woman the male voice actor's dialogue and vice-versa. And iirc you could add mastectomy scars and pronouns.

That's to say nothing of the content of the game, which is as righteously dull as you'd expect.

The Sims is included in the EA buyout and that’s a lot more overt and a worry if this matters to you (you can include mastectomy scars along with the usual body/ voice changes - pronouns too, I believe, but I haven’t played in a while so not sure).

I think though video games are escapes - sometimes people want characters that are different to them, other times people want to feel represented. Whilst I roll my eyes at it I can understand why it matters to others.

You now zilch about gaming and the sexist attitudes and abuse women who play on line and who work in the industry get but are worried about the pick-n-mix options for pixels?

Is this a sneeky viral ad for a new release?🤣

Pretty sure that’s a very old game. Not sure why this is even news tbh. Is anyone even playing that anymore? Unless I’ve got it mixed up it’s at least a 15 year old game, is it not?!

The OP was talking about Dragon Age, which most of the games are single player RPG, so that’s a different issue entirely. I think OP is asking why someone would play a specifically trans character rather than just one of the desired sex.

In terms of online gaming though, yes the misogyny is horrendous. I’ve used to play World of Warcraft and would hide that I was a woman in pick up groups (by not talking unless necessarily). Playing a female character makes no difference though - about 90% of female characters are played by men anyway (stat entirely made up, but the jist was somewhat correct).

Yes, it included a rather delightful long lecture about non-binary pronoun usage in one of the cut scenes. 🤔

Just what you'd expect from a quasi-medieval fantasy series 😂

It was panned but that was only eventually, When it was released the capured gaming journalism industry raved about it giving it glowing reviews and high marks. This critical reception was in response to its ideological purity rather than the experience it gave the gamer.

It was a rather effective astroturfing campaign until the game got into the hands of the gamers and then there were two opposing critical responses. Now everyone who's followed this saga recognises that the gaming journalism industry is discredited because they've shown they'll mislead those who they pretend are their customers, ie the gamers.

Baldur's Gate 3 was a critical and commercial success and had a similar system. I think the development costs for this sort of thing could be better spent elsewhere, but ultimately it's not something I'm overly bothered by. I don't think the Saudi investment will interfere with game content, at least not anymore than national laws already do/did, such as not having red blood or showing Nazi symbols. The Saudis are in it for money as a way to diversify their economy, I don't think they overly care about the game content as long as things make money.

In the world of gaming there's far more pressing issues than whether your character can be "trans" or if you can choose your pronouns.

In the Sims you can create a male or female character but then choose voice, whether they can get pregnant/impregnate someone, pee standing up (I think?!) separately.

You can also throw a party and kill all the guests by locking them in a room and setting fire it so I wouldn’t be too fussed about it.

Eh I think developers should be able to make whatever kind of games they like and players can decide if they like them or not.

In games where you can choose to be male or female I sometimes choose to be male. It's role playing, not real life. If people want to role play being trans identified in a game I don't think that's any more of a big deal really than being a Khajiit.

I don't like being lectured but could probably ignore it if it was minor enough, if the game was otherwise good.

There are much bigger fish to fry.

Oh, I see my comment got deleted. How curious and unexpected.

The original came out about 15 years ago. The 4th one in the series came out this year.

Edit: And dragon Age is a single player game, so not online. You don't interact with other players.

Personally, I don't really see the issue with this, you've been able to do this sort of thing in games for a good 30 years or so. If some people want to their male character to have a female voice, or have breasts or whatever, it's not harming anyone else.

I also generally pick the female version of the protagonist in these games if there's an option, despite being male. There's so few good female characters in gaming, that I like to mix it up when possible. I also find the female voice actors tend to be better, and so the female version of the character has a bit more nuance as a result.

Games now let you place "top surgery" scars on avatars, this was at the behest of the trans community. A lot of games have even removed reference to selecting "male" of "female" characters and instead "sex" has been replaced by "body type". Games companies are too scared to say that there are males and females.

But as with nearly all news stories someone always has to say "what about the trans"? Not everything in the world revolves around them and people are tired of it.

I met my husband getting on for 20 years ago in an MMORPG - he played a female character just because if he was going to be staring at his character's arse all day, it may as well be an aesthetically pleasing one. (He claims it was the increased agility stat which is just a lie and he knows it)

People have always played different characters, sexes and races in games... you know - that shit they play for escapism!

Thanks for replying to my first FWR post. As my OP said "I know absolutely nothing about gaming"

Also, as @AnSolas asked "Is this a sneeky viral ad for a new release?🤣", the answer is no.

Yes please.

My apologies if it is. How would you phrase it?

PS. Thanks for replying to my first FWR post. I only realised peeps had from a recent Mumsnet email... I'd assumed I'd sunk without trace.

You probably need to ask a trans person then

As to how old the game is, I'll repeat my OP: "I know absolutely nothing about gaming".

As to it being/not being news, perhaps the Observer Sensemaker email peeps or the Saudi Arabian government can comment?

Thanks!