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It's PRIDE MONTH - How has this gen done for LGBTQ+ representation?

BAD

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Oct 25, 2017
9,569
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Ellie is back so that's a slay:
yU6na4g.gif

Dorian was great and will hopefully come back in DA4:
dorian1.jpg


Tracer and Soldier 76 are very recognizable and confirmed gay in Overwatch lore - EDIT sadly this isn't remotely touched on by the actual game though so I'm sure some choose not to pay attention:
overwatch-tracer-soldier-76.jpg


Any other characters actually written as LGBT+? Trans characters and LGBT+ people of color I don't recall? I know Kassandra and Alexios from AC Odyssey are optionally LGBT, but that only half helps as an ignorant player can just skip right through that representation. None the less, I enjoyed them.

Let's appreciate them all and their creators.

Happy pride month to all!
 
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Deleted member 16876

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
39,148
It did better than last gen but they should really start adding more trans and gay men in games.
Mostly we have bisexual women or lesbian women instead of gay males or bisexual males or trans people.

Hopefully next gen is better.

As for cool LGBT couples, I liked Rikki and Addy from Days Gone.
 
Musubi

Musubi

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Oct 25, 2017
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Better but probably not where it needs to be at all.
 
Nano-Nandy

Nano-Nandy

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Kung Jin in Mortal Kombat X.
A bit disappointed he didn't made it to MK11, though at least he has sone cameos and mentions.
 
milkyway

milkyway

One Winged Slayer
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May 17, 2018
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I just thought of Persona 5 and started snickering. Bah, oh well.

Props to Leon in Fire Emblem (Niles sort of, sort of not...). I've played more Nintendo than anything and I can't think of many examples so shrug.
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,625
Sylvando seemed like a positive take on the gay dude stereotype, so even if it isnt explicitly said I think he counts.
 
Lego Killer Moth

Lego Killer Moth

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,292
In terms of representation: alright. We've made huge leaps this gen in terms of female and PoC representation though, so hard to complain on the representation front. We're getting there.

In terms of company treatment of LGBT players: not where it should be, but improving

In terms of gaming community:
do i even need to explain
 
Pokemon Master Tim

Pokemon Master Tim

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Jun 14, 2018
313
Because it's such a hot topic, I feel that so many game companies make it unnecessarily known that a character or two in their game is gay. Take Ellie from The Last of Us for example, I need to know she's gay because it's actually important to the story (Left Behind). But do I need to know that some random character from Apex Legends is gay? No. Do I need to know they're straight? Also no. I don't need - or even want - to know, either way, unless it's for a reason. So on one hand, yeah, this gen has been more inclusive, but on the other hand some companies have taken it to a condescending, token-like level. As someone that makes up the B in LGBT, I'm not impressed.

Richter1887 said:
It did better than last gen but they should really start adding more trans and gay men in games.
Mostly we have bisexual women or lesbian women instead of gay males or bisexual males or trans people.

Hopefully next gen is better.

As for cool LGBT couples, I liked Rikki and Addy from Days Gone.
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Now that you've pointed it out, yeah, you're right, it is mostly lesbians.
 
Tribal24

Tribal24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,384
Richter1887 said:
It did better than last gen but they should really start adding more trans and gay men in games.
Mostly we have bisexual women or lesbian women instead of gay males or bisexual males or trans people.

Hopefully next gen is better.

As for cool LGBT couples, I liked Rikki and Addy from Days Gone.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

yeah its been more lesbian and bi woman, im hoping that we get more gay males but at least make it meaningful to the character and not just added like a character from Apex legends or something.
 
BDS

BDS

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Oct 25, 2017
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It'd be nice if some of these queer characters could get happy/peaceful endings instead of constant emotional trauma followed by death.
 
ry-dog

ry-dog

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Life is Strange was probably the best example (haven't played season 2 yet though)

Dishonored 2 was supposed to have good representation, but turned out Bethesda were just queer baiting. Last of Us 2 is going to be ground breaking
 
Hours Left

Hours Left

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Oct 26, 2017
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Not nearly enough. It's embarrassing how lacking it is.

Note to developers: Queer "subtext" is a lazy cop out, and confirming characters as LGBT+ in supplemental material, but not in the main game is extremely lame. Don't do it.

Confirm LGBT+ characters IN GAME. Let gay characters have fully fledged romantic content alongside everyone else. Hire queer people to make queer content. Create stories that feature all aspects of the LGBT+ experience, from the fun and frivolous, to the stark and serious. And everything in between.

DO BETTER.
 
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Hey Please

Hey Please

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Oct 31, 2017
22,824
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TLoU II's kiss scene ruffled a lot of feathers on the right and among "gAmErS". I drank their tears of misery with slow and saturated satisfaction. I would definitely call it one of the strongest show of LGBTQ support.

Edit: Just to add- In the greater scheme of things, this gen has started but not progressed as much as I would have liked and definitely well behind the curve compared to other mediums.
 
OP
OP

BAD

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Oct 25, 2017
9,569
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Hours Left said:
Not nearly enough. It's embarrassing how lacking it is.

Note to developers: Queer "subtext" is a lazy cop out, and confirming characters as LGBT in supplemental material, but not in the main game is extremely lame. Don't do it.

Confirm LGBT characters IN GAME. Let gay characters have fully fledged romantic content alongside everyone else. Hire queer people to make queer content. Create stories that feature all aspects of the LGBT experience, from the fun and frivolous, to the stark and serious. And everything in between.

DO BETTER.
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Now that you've mentioned this, it's a good point. It does suck when the game itself isn't written to straight up share the representation and instead it comes up elsewhere. Or when it's very skippable, like bi characters in Mass Effect that just turn into straight characters if the player never tries a same-sex relationship themselves.
 
Abstrusity

Abstrusity

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Oct 27, 2017
2,656
Could be better, and it's clear that the industry is at least TRYING.

I wish it weren't overtly heavyhanded about it, and that they'd write this stuff in as more than subtext without just "conveniently" admitting that characters are LGBT.

Atlus stays losing as per fucking always, but we got The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories . As explained to me, it is...graphic to say the least (which is why I did not play it), but actual representation as it actually is for a lot of transpeople.
 
Smoolio

Smoolio

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,913
When the strongest rep most are mentioning is from a game that isn't even freaking out yet, i'd say this gen has be terrible just as all previous gens have been.

And going into the next gen, do not argue for less lesbian/bi women please. There can and should be more gay/bi male (and straight female protagonist with romantic plots) without there needing too be LESS lesbian/bi women, more of those too!
 
TheMrPliskin

TheMrPliskin

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Oct 26, 2017
3,564
Not particularly great, certainly in the AAA space. There has obviously been an improvement but the previous standards for representation were so bad that it wasn't difficult to improve.
 
J_ToSaveTheDay

J_ToSaveTheDay

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Oct 25, 2017
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Feels to me like it's made some necessary strides forward, but still got plenty of ground to go, but then it's just a good mirror for society -- reality is just the same. Glad to have made some progress versus none at all, or worse yet, regression... But still gonna demand better.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

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Oct 25, 2017
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ry-dog said:
Life is Strange was probably the best example (haven't played season 2 yet though)

Dishonored 2 was supposed to have good representation, but turned out Bethesda were just queer baiting. Last of Us 2 is going to be ground breaking
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It's a good example....except that if they want to be together, they have to sacrifice thousands of people.
 
Kapryov

Kapryov

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Oct 27, 2017
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Indies are carrying this, it's severely lacking when it comes to big publishers (not that there haven't been attempts).
Ubisoft made some interesting strides with the newest Assassin's Creed, only to completely fumble it when the DLC was released, which only reveals how little regard they actually had toward their LGBTQ+ audience.

I'm playing through VA-11 HALL-A on Switch at the moment, which takes place in a "cyberpunk" style future, and there have been multiple openly gay/bi characters.
I haven't finished it yet, but there's also been at least 1 reference to a trans character in passing as well (only a brief mention when a character had to correct herself that she didn't have a sister anymore, but a brother now, which she was still getting used to).
 
Apollo

Apollo

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Massively, massively far behind where it needs to be. In many respects. And maybe I'm being pessimistic, but it feels like things are just gonna keep moving at a glacial pace. That goes for a lot more than gaming, obviously, but it's still super frustrating. Indie games tend to be where it's at for queer representation, so thank you, indie devs.
 

Deleted member 1656

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The Missing, VA-11 Hall-A, We Know the Devil, and Heaven Will Be Mine are cool. Life Is Strange S2 is cool. Also shout out to Clementine from The Walking Dead.
 
Zero-ELEC

Zero-ELEC

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I was playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey (one of the few "big name" games I've played this gen) and they made my character hook up with someone of the opposite gender despite assurances pre-release that that wouldn't happen unless you wanted to.

So, umm, you know, not great.

Happy pride month everyone!
 
Dmax3901

Dmax3901

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Oct 25, 2017
7,988
Right off the top of my head: plenty of gay/bi women, not a whole lot of gay men. The word trans/transgender exists in some games this gen as opposed to not existing last gen, so that's something.
 
Eggiem

Eggiem

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Oct 27, 2017
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How many of the people on earth are queer? How many people in games are queer? Should be equally as many.
 
Yukari

Yukari

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Mar 28, 2018
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Not Much? IDK?
It clearly represents LGBTQ+ peoples it's not in the most AAA Developers minds in the first place.

I mean There're Many Characters that developer said he or she is gay on twitter/interview but not in the game story.
 
SirKai

SirKai

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ry-dog said:
Life is Strange was probably the best example (haven't played season 2 yet though)

Dishonored 2 was supposed to have good representation, but turned out Bethesda were just queer baiting. Last of Us 2 is going to be ground breaking
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Um, Dishonored 2 IS a pretty damn good example (see Mindy Blanchard).

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with representation this gen, and lots of RPGs/life sim games are great with this stuff too. I'm playing Divinity Original Sin 2 and was hugely relieved to be able to romance Ifan as a male character. There should be more transgender characters though.

Overall, it's encouraging that I can think of about a half dozen games with confirmed gay characters on the cover. A half dozen is still definitely not very much, but it's definitely going to increase exponentially in the coming years.
 
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Aine

Aine

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May 27, 2019
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A few steps forward, many more steps back. When are we gonna move onto LGBTQ+ characters in AAA games not having their identities shunted onto lorebooks that only super-nerds will care about reading?
 
P-Tux7

P-Tux7

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Mar 11, 2019
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Also, speaking of "it's not realistic to make too many gay characters"

Game developers oftentimes put gods in their games. Just ask any atheist how big of a demographic that deities are in the real world. You can put as much gay people as you want into a game, it doesn't have to be realistic.
 
Skiptastic

Skiptastic

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Oct 25, 2017
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I just played Gone Home so my views are probably skewed.

Getting better every generation is how I'd categorize it. Not great but getting better.
 

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Eggiem said:
How many of the people on earth are queer? How many people in games are queer? Should be equally as many.
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Imagine writing this out after thinking it and going "yes, this makes sense, this accurately depicts how fiction works, where there is a quota and a hard limit on what should be created to represent the real world population"
 
JustInsane

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Oct 27, 2017
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Borderlands has had pretty good representation in their games, and number 3 comes out in a few months.
 
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