BáiYù

@baiyu

Gender Chaotic

he/they
baiyu.tofu.rocks/

combo Epic Divorce Man + Visual Novel Developer

BáiYù @baiyu8/11/2023, 9:43 PM

joe @reverb

jenna @jannouna8/11/2023, 6:29 PM

i feel like my issue with "player-sexual" characters is that they never feel like their gender or sexuality are lived-in identities. or they don't even HAVE specific identities so that any headcanon is fair game. they're like madlibs romantic partners waiting for the player to ascribe /their/ (the player's) preferences to them in lieu of an actual specific identity that is tied to their story.

#.txt #narrative design #this is sort of about about bg3 but also general thoughts idk

joe @reverb8/11/2023, 9:11 PM

there's a really interesting side thing here - ace rep in games. A lot of games view sexual intimacy as the win condition for a relationship with NPCs, the be all-end all. In Fallout, for instance, at max companion affinity it triggers a conversation. Even if you say "let's be best friends", if the NPC is a romance-able companion, it will continue to re-trigger the dialogue till you agree to romance. In the attempt to prevent players from missing out on "maximum success" and a literal xp bonus for sleeping with your partner, the choice to be ace is repeatedly ignored.

The one game that comes to mind that has some nice ace stuff is Hades, with Dusa. Over the course of her and Zagreus's relationship, she says that, while she thinks of Zagreus as a great friend, she is "just not attracted to [Zagreus] in that way". They move forward as friends, and continue to have meaningful moments.

#aceingames #txt

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in reply to @jannouna's post:

Lucas D Valensa @vforvalensa8/14/2023, 2:32 PM

I feel like this might be symptomatic and somewhat intrinsic to the design philosophy these kinds of games. Like in your big expansive rpgs like baldurs gates, or mass effects, or skyrim, or what have you, the player character 𝘪𝘴 the most important single person in those universes narratively, mechanically, and like metatextually. Like if you're building a game where the pc is a cosmic locus of agency and is the only individual that can solve all the problems or make all the decisions and everything is content to see if you have sufficient mastery over the system then you haven't really developed the tools to produce meaningful depictions of identity or interiority. Especially when the romances are supplementary to the central and more developed systems of solve dragon problems with big number. I actually think there are styles of old school dating sim that are better suited for this kinda thing, cause I was looking into this one critically acclaimed eroge called dokyusei where the pc is kind of a blank slate for presumably straight japanese men to project onto while getting with anime babes but he still has a core characterization irrespective of player choice and there is a sense of history and context that plays into the romances.

jenna @jannouna8/14/2023, 5:06 PM

1000% yeah it's symptomatic of the Player Fantasy design philosophy of bigger games. In general I've found that dating sims have pretty fleshed out and distinct main characters, even when they're blank slates-- they still have unique internal monologues and backstories that ground them in the setting. But the romance is the focus so I guess it makes sense

in reply to @reverb's post:

Blackberry Mochi @Blackberry-Mochi8/11/2023, 10:20 PM

Dusa really is my fricking hero in Hades..... I mean Zagreus is Zagreus and I'm sure we're all happy for him as a bisexual mess, but Dusa is beautiful.

I wish more games had a queerplatonic option rather than romance, as well, though!!! Becoming ultimate besties but not lovers. The ideal!!!! ...Is there even a game where you can choose to be queerplatonic with a character instead of romantic, even?? I feel like that only happens in the lame as hell context of "oooh but you're both the same gender so you're just friends" which is obviously nothing short of utterly disappointing.

(Incidentally also with Fallout (New Vegas anyway), you do gotta appreciate Ganon and Veronica explicitly being gay, not bi. Although I guess you don't get to romance them in any case, so... y'know. New Vegas wins yet again!!! Maybe??? I mean it kinda sucks that the option isn't there with Ganon at least, but what can ya do.)

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