They had their transgendered game director talk about how diversity and inclusion was at the center of everything they do. I feel that alienated their core audience especially after certain scenes leaked.
"Their core audience" - have you even visited the Bioware forum in the last 20 years?
Bioware pioneered romance writing in RPGs, and have been pushing the boundaries with LGBTQ+ content for decades (even BG 1 and 2 had bits of it - remember how everyone had custom dialogue with Edwin after his sex change?). If Veilguard is as inclusive as you're suggesting, then it sounds like they were appealing to their core long-term fans first and foremost.
Veilguard fell flat for perfectly normal reasons. You don't have to pretend that some kind of boycott had any effect here, when their past few games had similarly underwhelming responses.
Their core audience likes infantile writing and modern day leftist bullshit in their games?
It doesn't appear so or it wouldn't have flopped miserably.
In Dragon Age Inquisition, you could romance another guy or even a monster guy. This seems to be on the same wavelength.
Yet certain characters were at least " straight ". Now they're all PANSEXUAL. Sorry not the same.
When did I say genre , gameplay and story didn't matter? Having appealing characters is the bare minimum. You can do all those things well and if you have unappealing characters it's unlikely the game will do well.
Think of it as a new vehicle. If you're shopping for a new SUV and you find one that drives well , is safe, reliable and gets good gas mileage but it's ugly as shit are you going to buy it? Or are you going to wait for one that has all those things and also looks great? You are essentially saying character design is irrelevant and that is absolute nonsense.
Then explain Minecraft, Roblox, Don't Starve, Tetris, Kirby, etc.
Yes. Their writing was fairly mediocre at its peak. They were always better at building engines than writing games.
And...yes, absolutely. You're underestimating the metric shitton of romantic fanfiction their die-hard fans used to write. Or the innumerable LGBT mods that people created for Neverwinter Nights.
Plus you're ignoring the fact that Bioware was one of the first major companies to show, for example, same-sex couples having sex or sex changes in an AAA game (both over 15 years ago).
I really don't think Bioware has suddenly leaned more left or anything. They always have been. Their quality of writing might suck more now, but that's because all of the talent left while EA consumed the company.
Mediocre compared to what? The writing in Veilguard was a noticeable step back from any of the previous Dragon Age games.
I think you vastly overestimate that audience. That same group may have bought the game but It wasn't nearly enough to meet their expectations. 3 months in and no official sales update....? That's ain't good.
Nobody gives a shit about same sex romances in an RPG. We are not puritan Christians bitching about how you want to play your game. However when you put characters in your games that have the attitude of an an insufferable zoomer with modern day gender issues it kills immersion. Also when you classify every character as pan sexual it makes every character feel like they were created to pander to a small minority..
You can say what you want but Bioware did this to themselves embracing DEI in their hiring practices back around ME: Andromeda development... and this is what you got. A trans game director who wanted to make a game that appealed to like minded people... no surprise it failed miserably.
Okay, let's take a step back and talk RPGs in general.
Go to any pen and paper RPG convention and you'll find they are all queer safe spaces. You'll find trans people and women with dyed hair and pronouns and intentional uses of inclusive language and...all that other stuff you guys rally against. All of the major RPG publishers support and foster their relationships with these communities.
Fantasy RPGs have been strong allies of the LGBTQ community for as long as I can remember. I imagine there's something really attractive about the idea of a bunch of creative types getting together, playing dress ups, kicking arse, and living their lives as whoever they want to be in an empowering way without any judgement or prejudice.
The genre is interlinked with these communities, and there's an audience for it. Classic Bioware knew this and catered to them. Larian appealed to the same community by focusing so much on romance, sexual orientation, pronouns and even getting a drag queen onto the cast. Their biggest media push was a sex scene between Astarion and Halsin. Their big trailer at the end of Early Access was almost entirely focused on romance.
BG3 sold a bajillion copies while being 'woke' and appealing to exactly the kinds of people who play D&D and other fantasy RPGs. Veilguard failed to capture the same audience while doing the same thing.
The difference isn't "DEI hiring" or the director being trans or whatever childish argument you're making. The difference is that Bioware has been a fading star for a long time, and the game sounded mediocre in every other department.
@elderlord99 said:
We are not puritan Christians bitching about how you want to play your game.
If it quacks like a duck...
Well it seems backing a 200 million dollar plus project pandering to that community didn't work out to well for them.
That's fine but don't force it on me when I don't want to see it. I don't mind the option to be there for those that do but i should be able to play how I want to without constantly having an agenda shoved in my face
Funny you mention BG3 yet the number one romance option was Shadowheart.... that's right. A heterosexual relationship with the attractive female character.... WHAT A SURPRISE! Veilguard doesn't give you that for the simple fact all characters are hideous and if you don't hit on someone you get to watch them have relationships with other characters because they couldn't help themselves. BG3 gives you a choice to play how you choose regardless of your worldview. If you are comparing these two you are clueless.
They had their transgendered game director talk about how diversity and inclusion was at the center of everything they do. I feel that alienated their core audience especially after certain scenes leaked.
"Their core audience" - have you even visited the Bioware forum in the last 20 years?
Bioware pioneered romance writing in RPGs, and have been pushing the boundaries with LGBTQ+ content for decades (even BG 1 and 2 had bits of it - remember how everyone had custom dialogue with Edwin after his sex change?). If Veilguard is as inclusive as you're suggesting, then it sounds like they were appealing to their core long-term fans first and foremost.
Veilguard fell flat for perfectly normal reasons. You don't have to pretend that some kind of boycott had any effect here, when their past few games had similarly underwhelming responses.
Their core audience likes infantile writing and modern day leftist bullshit in their games?
Yes. Their writing was fairly mediocre at its peak. They were always better at building engines than writing games.
And...yes, absolutely. You're underestimating the metric shitton of romantic fanfiction their die-hard fans used to write. Or the innumerable LGBT mods that people created for Neverwinter Nights.
Plus you're ignoring the fact that Bioware was one of the first major companies to show, for example, same-sex couples having sex or sex changes in an AAA game (both over 15 years ago).
I really don't think Bioware has suddenly leaned more left or anything. They always have been. Their quality of writing might suck more now, but that's because all of the talent left while EA consumed the company.
Mediocre compared to what? The writing in Veilguard was a noticeable step back from any of the previous Dragon Age games.
I think you vastly overestimate that audience. That same group may have bought the game but It wasn't nearly enough to meet their expectations. 3 months in and no official sales update....? That's ain't good.
Nobody gives a shit about same sex romances in an RPG. We are not puritan Christians bitching about how you want to play your game. However when you put characters in your games that have the attitude of an an insufferable zoomer with modern day gender issues it kills immersion. Also when you classify every character as pan sexual it makes every character feel like they were created to pander to a small minority..
You can say what you want but Bioware did this to themselves embracing DEI in their hiring practices back around ME: Andromeda development... and this is what you got. A trans game director who wanted to make a game that appealed to like minded people... no surprise it failed miserably.
No I'm just stating the obvious. We know you struggle with that though. 😄
Protect me? No just fire these bums that made this trash and send them back to making mocha lattes at Starbucks. Make gaming great again!
You can repeat your alternate realty as many times. Shout how much pronouns and top scars hurt you an additional million times. None of that would change the fact that the game didn't flop or tanked.😂
It flopped buddy... at least commercially. That's the simple truth.
They had their transgendered game director talk about how diversity and inclusion was at the center of everything they do. I feel that alienated their core audience especially after certain scenes leaked.
"Their core audience" - have you even visited the Bioware forum in the last 20 years?
Bioware pioneered romance writing in RPGs, and have been pushing the boundaries with LGBTQ+ content for decades (even BG 1 and 2 had bits of it - remember how everyone had custom dialogue with Edwin after his sex change?). If Veilguard is as inclusive as you're suggesting, then it sounds like they were appealing to their core long-term fans first and foremost.
Veilguard fell flat for perfectly normal reasons. You don't have to pretend that some kind of boycott had any effect here, when their past few games had similarly underwhelming responses.
Their core audience likes infantile writing and modern day leftist bullshit in their games?
It doesn't appear so or it wouldn't have flopped miserably.
Estimated to have a budget of over 200 million and it's not even in the top 20.
No DLC planned, Creative director leaves three months after the game launched... you are going to be in for a hard dose of reality during EA's earnings report.
😂 You are trying so hard and hoping so much that the game tanked. ðŸ¤
"They used pronouns, and they showed me top scars. Somebody protect me."
No I'm just stating the obvious. We know you struggle with that though. 😄
Protect me? No just fire these bums that made this trash and send them back to making mocha lattes at Starbucks. Make gaming great again!
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