There's been a lot of talk across various threads about the incredibly lackluster same-sex romance options for players who choose the male avatar character (M!Byleth) in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Players and fans are interested in showing Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, and Koei Tecmo Games that a desire for more male same-sex romance options exists, but there are no concrete plans on how to organize to best get their attention. Speaking with some posters in the other threads, I thought we could kick-start some solid discussion around getting this off the ground and choosing next steps.
Full disclosure: I am a straight woman and thus just an ally, and don't want to overstep my boundaries in posting these ideas and this thread. This OP should be a living document: these are all just brainstorming suggestions, but I can make changes as folks come to a consensus.
Brief History
For those of you who are unaware, recent Fire Emblem games have allowed players to create or choose a female or male avatar that can marry one of the other characters. Fire Emblem: Awakening had no same-sex options, while Fire Emblem: Fates had one same-sex option for female avatars and one for male avatars.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses has improved on the female same-sex romance front by offering five options. Unfortunately, male avatars are still limited to only one same-sex romance, with two fake-out same-sex platonic options that do not result in marriage or an explicit romantic relationship.
*** Statement of Goals ***
The first step would be to come to a consensus and draft a statement outlining goals. Personally, I think the ship has sailed for a boycott, but there are still many ways to raise awareness with Nintendo. We probably want to do this fairly quickly since the game has been out for more than a week at this time and many people will be finishing or have finished their first playthrough by now.
Possible Goals that have been brought up:
The next step would be to create a Twitter account and hashtag that fans can use to easily tweet their support: hopefully something as catchy as Tyeforce's #miiquality.
The strategy should be tailored to the goal, but pretty much we would be highlighting the responses from queer men whether they have decided to boycott the game because of this, their preferred solution, their love for the Fire Emblem franchise, if they have bought the game and enjoyed the one same-sex male romantic S-Link and want more, top picks for other MLM options, etc.
Allies can mention that they would be interested in playing such options and that they want gay players to have a chance to better enjoy this part of a beloved franchise. We could encourage allies to boost the tweets from queer men.
The ideal would be to spread the campaign in both English and Japanese. Which means having someone who speaks Japanese and is part of the Japanese fandom on board. Having people who can reach out to other language fandoms would be great too.
We should collect a list of queer gaming communities to reach out to, many of which are helpfully listed here: http://queersplaygames.com/. We should also create a list of high profile Twitter fans, journalists, Let's Players, and content creators that would be interested in highlighting and promoting the campaign. Also look into people who are already doing something similar, even if it's not coordinated at scale.
My Nintendo Surveys
While they are not as accessible as they were with Club Nintendo, surveys are still sent by Nintendo for specific games to individual users. This is one of the most direct lines of contact we have with Nintendo. We should try to capitalize on this - maybe have a campaign to get everyone to register their copy for the chance to receive the survey.
Data Analysis / Infographic
This is the part I'd like to particularly contribute to. Collecting and analyzing data about the Fire Emblem: Three Houses fan reaction to the one offered same-sex male S-Link and the desire for more same-sex male relationships in the game.
This includes:
The data analysis would be synthesized and presented in a nice infographic that can then be sent to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems through various channels. I'm a data analyst by trade and am okay with taking on the bulk of this portion, but if someone else would like to take the lead or help out, that'd be great.
Mail-In Ideas
Valentine's Day Cards
This is a particularly awesome and cute idea from the_wart , although February is quite a bit away. It would be great in keeping up persistence.
Current Focus
Let me know what you all think. As said above, the first step is to really solidify a goal. Discussion of the other points is great, but if you are interested in such a campaign, please try to answer this question in your reply: "What should be the primary goal of this campaign?"
Full disclosure: I am a straight woman and thus just an ally, and don't want to overstep my boundaries in posting these ideas and this thread. This OP should be a living document: these are all just brainstorming suggestions, but I can make changes as folks come to a consensus.
Brief History
For those of you who are unaware, recent Fire Emblem games have allowed players to create or choose a female or male avatar that can marry one of the other characters. Fire Emblem: Awakening had no same-sex options, while Fire Emblem: Fates had one same-sex option for female avatars and one for male avatars.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses has improved on the female same-sex romance front by offering five options. Unfortunately, male avatars are still limited to only one same-sex romance, with two fake-out same-sex platonic options that do not result in marriage or an explicit romantic relationship.
*** Statement of Goals ***
The first step would be to come to a consensus and draft a statement outlining goals. Personally, I think the ship has sailed for a boycott, but there are still many ways to raise awareness with Nintendo. We probably want to do this fairly quickly since the game has been out for more than a week at this time and many people will be finishing or have finished their first playthrough by now.
Possible Goals that have been brought up:
- Campaign for a free patch with more same-sex romantic S-Links for M!Byleth
- Campaign for more same-sex romantic S-Links for M!Byleth in the fourth wave paid DLC (Fourth Wave due April 30, 2020)
- Campaign for more same-sex romantic S-Links for the playable character in future Fire Emblem games
The next step would be to create a Twitter account and hashtag that fans can use to easily tweet their support: hopefully something as catchy as Tyeforce's #miiquality.
The strategy should be tailored to the goal, but pretty much we would be highlighting the responses from queer men whether they have decided to boycott the game because of this, their preferred solution, their love for the Fire Emblem franchise, if they have bought the game and enjoyed the one same-sex male romantic S-Link and want more, top picks for other MLM options, etc.
Allies can mention that they would be interested in playing such options and that they want gay players to have a chance to better enjoy this part of a beloved franchise. We could encourage allies to boost the tweets from queer men.
The ideal would be to spread the campaign in both English and Japanese. Which means having someone who speaks Japanese and is part of the Japanese fandom on board. Having people who can reach out to other language fandoms would be great too.
We should collect a list of queer gaming communities to reach out to, many of which are helpfully listed here: http://queersplaygames.com/. We should also create a list of high profile Twitter fans, journalists, Let's Players, and content creators that would be interested in highlighting and promoting the campaign. Also look into people who are already doing something similar, even if it's not coordinated at scale.
My Nintendo Surveys
While they are not as accessible as they were with Club Nintendo, surveys are still sent by Nintendo for specific games to individual users. This is one of the most direct lines of contact we have with Nintendo. We should try to capitalize on this - maybe have a campaign to get everyone to register their copy for the chance to receive the survey.
Data Analysis / Infographic
This is the part I'd like to particularly contribute to. Collecting and analyzing data about the Fire Emblem: Three Houses fan reaction to the one offered same-sex male S-Link and the desire for more same-sex male relationships in the game.
This includes:
- Twitter analytics mentioning Lindhardt, wanting more same-sex S-Link options, fan pairings of male characters with M!Byleth, other MLM fan pairings
- Twitter analytics of the campaign specifically
- Collection of fanart of same-sex male pairings across various platforms and data on the engagement with those art pieces (likes, retweets, etc.)
- Data on game reviews and articles mentioning the desire for more MLM options
- Data on Youtube videos about male same-sex relationships in Fire Emblem
- Potentially other important data points
The data analysis would be synthesized and presented in a nice infographic that can then be sent to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems through various channels. I'm a data analyst by trade and am okay with taking on the bulk of this portion, but if someone else would like to take the lead or help out, that'd be great.
Mail-In Ideas
Valentine's Day Cards
This is a particularly awesome and cute idea from the_wart , although February is quite a bit away. It would be great in keeping up persistence.
Current Focus
Let me know what you all think. As said above, the first step is to really solidify a goal. Discussion of the other points is great, but if you are interested in such a campaign, please try to answer this question in your reply: "What should be the primary goal of this campaign?"