Discussions on the sexuality of NPCs...

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moody_mage

There should be less polls altogether.

Forse

They should be taken both seriously and funny at the same time. They shouldn't be supervised by mods more than any other topic. They are a sign of people eagerly awaiting Baldur's Gate. They are by all means acceptable.

badbromance

Yo dawg we heard you liked polls. So we got you a poll about polls about polls

Shin

Imo they're a waste of space and a cheap way to get a "controversial" debate going as has been seen in pretty much every single forum post about sexual orientations in computer games. On the other hand, it's not like game forum discussions are leading up to a cure for cancer; space-wasting threads seem like a natural part of the selection.

Pantalion

Apathy is the only appropriate response.

BaldursCat

Okay, I'll elaborate on my response...

From a personal POV I have no objections whatsoever in discussing the perceived sexuality of any of the NPCs in the game. I may not agree with an interpretation but that's not to say it makes your POV any less valid; that is afterall part of the joy of the game, it gives you a starting point and if you so wish, allows you mould the world to your individual preferences.

For example, the discussion about Minsc's sexuality, though initially meant to be a 'joke', were very interesting and though I'm still not (personally) 100% comfortable in viewing him as a completely sexual being I'm less uncomfortable than I was, I had perception altered a little. Equally, someone like Anomen's sexuality can be interpreted in a couple of ways and I've read at least one excellent [fanfic] work which portrayed him as gay, it was very well handled and fitted perfectly with what we know of him from the game. The same writer has also written him as straight. As a someone who likes to dabble in a bit of [fic] and original writing myself I like different / differing POVs as it gives me an opportunity to view something with fresh eyes. I also think being exposed to differing points of view and being able to take them on board even if you don't necessarily agree makes you a more rounded person.

I did have more to say on this but I've snipped it at risk of starting a row and sounding a little contradictory with my opening sentence.

Mungri

Its both funny and serious, and if you don't like it you must be a homophobe imo.

Syntia13

@BaldursCat

BaldursCat said:

[...] I've read at least one excellent [fanfic] work which portrayed him as gay, it was very well handled and fitted perfectly with what we know of him from the game. The same writer has also written him as straight.

Links please!

O_Bruce

There is no way I could ever seriously debate on, example, Minsc's sexuality. I think that boredom has it's effect on people.

jankiel

Mungri said:

Its both funny and serious, and if you don't like it you must be a homophobe imo.

Or you're just sick and tired of this constant rambling about sexuality in gaming. One does need not to be a homophobe to dislike this since discussions about sexuality can also be about hetero people right?

Me, I'm on the 'meh' side of things. I don't care.

Mungri

Well I've never seen people complain so much about boobs in games, or the romance options already in BG.

Delvarian

I find it difficult to debate the sexuality of a character in a movie/videogame/book if that character does not have sex in that work of fiction they are neither gay nor straight in reality, they are asexual. Only the creator of the fiction knows the sexual orientation of the character, and even they may not have thought about it as it had no bearing on the story. Sometimes the writers do have an intent to portray sexuality, and this is when debate becomes interesting. I doubt however that the original BG writers were trying to open any sort of debate on Minsc's sexuality.
This debate gets even more silly when we talk of puppets like Burt and Ernie or droids like c-3po and r2-d2.
When JK Rowlins announced Dumbledore as gay it seemed a publicity stunt to me, because his being gay had no impact on the stories she had written, nor does his being straight. In the end it really doesn't matter wether the NPCs in BG are gay/straight/bi at least to me. I'd like to live in a world where it doesn't matter to anyone.

Pantalion

BaldursCat said:

Equally, someone like Anomen's sexuality can be interpreted in a couple of ways and I've read at least one excellent [fanfic] work which portrayed him as gay...

That explains so much.

Female PC: "Anomen, I shall make you love me!"
Anomen: "No woman could perform such deeds."

On a more serious note however, at best these threads pull out amusing quotes from the characters and are light-hearted fun for a time (until the butthurt begins) at worst they're rather tedious from the get go.

Forse

Delvarian said:

When JK Rowlins announced Dumbledore as gay it seemed a publicity stunt to me, because his being gay had no impact on the stories she had written, nor does his being straight. In the end it really doesn't matter wether the NPCs in BG are gay/straight/bi at least to me. I'd like to live in a world where it doesn't matter to anyone.

I'm not very read up on the Dumbledore incident, but to be fair it could also be an attempt to create a good gay rolemodel. The elderly, wise, powerful rolemodel is typically a heterosexual man, so outing Dumbledore as gay may have been her attempt to to punch a hole through a bunch of stereotypes and give gay kids a rolemodel. Just a bit of speculation on my part.

moody_mage

I'm so utterly uninterested in peoples perception of a video game characters sexuality the fact that we seem to be cycling through all the characters is tiresome. It's as sad as the teenage boys who used to drool over Chun-Li in Street Fighter 2 because she had boobs.

bigdogchris

I understand sexuality of characters is important for some people, but there has been an awful lot more of it on this board then I think is necessary.

BelgarathMTH

I voted "other" on this one, because I think it all depends on the attitudes and motivations of the people who post.

A bit of raunchy, blue humor - heck, let's just come right out and say "dirty jokes", can be very entertaining and fun among friends, as long as nobody is getting their feelings hurt or being made to feel uncomfortable. I really think that the OP of the Minsc thread was just trying to be silly.

Having a serious discussion arise out of what starts as a joke can also be helpful, if it changes attitudes in a positive way, or at least gets people to think about social issues that need to be considered. I have had my own opinions and attitudes swayed more than a couple of times by reading some of the more thoughtful posts that get made in this forum.

The only thing that hurts is when people say hateful things with hostile intent, regardless of whether the thread started out with humor or with a serious comment or question. And, unfortunately, any thread that references hot-button social issues is going to attract that kind of comment. That's just the nature of the internet.

Should we stop making these kinds of threads, or have the moderators start shutting them down? I don't really think so, not yet. So far, the thoughtful and humorously playful posts here far outnumber the hateful ones, more so than on any other game forum I've every participated in. And who knows, we might actually manage to get a few people to reconsider their hostility. We might be doing some good.

moody_mage

Just to clarify. It would not bother me if the entire cast of BG turned out to be gay, bi or all straight. It makes not an ounce of difference to me because to me they are video game characters and that is all. They possess no sexuality and I'm am not of a mind to project my own wishes upon them.

Having other peoples sexual perceptions of these blank canvases repeatedly brought up is as I said previously. Tiresome. I can also foresee that we are eventually going to go through each and every character over time.

It just strikes me as a little bit sad. Are people so oversexed or bored that they need to resort to projecting fantasies onto Baldur's Gate characters?

Mungri

There's nothing sexual about discussing whether a character is gay or srtraight, no more so than knowing whether someone is male or female.

Baldurs gate characters already have fantasies, you can make babies with Aerie if you want.

Mechalibur

For the most part, I don't care at all.

If there are any threads on it, sometimes I'll read them. I usually only comment if someone posted something incredibly misleading, plain wrong, or utterly ridiculous (on either side of the argument).

moody_mage

Mungri said:

There's nothing sexual about discussing whether a character is gay or srtraight, no more so than knowing whether someone is male or female.

Baldurs gate characters already have fantasies, you can make babies with Aerie if you want.

Of course there is. Discussing someones sexuality is a conversation of a sexual nature, the clue is in the word 'sex' - especially if they display zero tendencies one way or the other in game.

If you mean there is should be no more stigma with regards to if someone is gay or straight or male or female then I agree. All should be treated equally. Someones sexuality is really very meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The Dumbledore example is a good one here as it was only revealed at the very end and showed exactly why someones sexual preference meant nothing in determining their character.

And yes the Aerie thing is there, you can also hook up with Viconia. Boring. I've got asses to kick.

Mortianna

Discussions on sexuality of the NPCs...

...make me wonder about quality of sex lives of those who most frequently engage in those discussions.

Mungri

@decado in the term sexuality, sex is referring to gender, not intercourse.

moody_mage

@Mungri
The topics are about the sexual preferences of characters. This isn't a gender specific topic as obviously gender preferences can span across both genders.

Mungri

Ok so in other words people who don't like talking about these topics are just prudes.

moody_mage

That must be it, well done you for nailing that down once and for all...

salieri

Mortianna said:

Discussions on sexuality of the NPCs...

...make me wonder about quality of sex lives of those who most frequently engage in those discussions.

It took you until these threads started popping up to wonder that?

salieri

Mungri said:

@decado in the term sexuality, sex is referring to gender, not intercourse.

This reminds me of two different latin teachers and two different pet peeves of theirs. The first one never used to let the word gender be used interchangeably with sex. Sex meant male or female; gender meant masculine of feminine. The second never used to permit the term sexuality to mean the same as sexual orientation. She always insisted that the term sexuality ought to be used only when referring to how sexual - or sexualised - a thing/person was (eg "Aphrodite's destructive sexuality...").

Personally I don't really believe in linguistic pedantry, but I can see that it has it merits where trying to make yourself unambiguous on a sensitive subject is concerned.

Anduin

Why does everything have to be about sex... We are lowering ourselves to that of simple minded beasts... We should show a maturity and move beyond these things. Giving a respect for others on their sexuality but at the same time respecting that this small facet does not make the person...

Glad that's sorted!

Now crack out the swords and lets bang some heads!

Mungri

Is Edwin gay?

.....

Oh noooeeeesssss! Not another buttsecks thread!!!111

I worry more about people who see the words gay / straight / homosexual / heterosexual and immediately think of intercourse. Something wrong with them, not the people discussing it.