Seems to me like LadyRhian got a response back from the creator of the forgotten realms, and decided to post it here. I'm missing how this is contentious.
'Oh noes, I see the words gay and sexuality somewhere, therefore this thread is pure evil and wrong and needs to be burned and stabbed with pitchforks'.
Well, a lot of monk orders in Forgotten Realms aren't even religious. Many monks just follow a philosophy backed up by disciplined training.
Let's say there's the "Monastery of Thousand Feet." The temple is located at the top of a mountain, and there's a staircase leading up to it which is exactly 1000 steps long. The monks base their combat style around delivering powerful kicks and they do a lot of travelling by foot. While on the road they protect travellers, townsfolk, and merchants from bandits and other menaces you may find on the road. The monks believe a person travelling to foreign places will require a set of rules and manners as to not come across as unappreciating of other cultures. In return, the monks are generally well liked because they're all traditionally polite, helpful, and protective. So every day, at the bottom of the stairs of their temple, they can find tributes from thankful peasants. Perhaps running up and down the stairs everyday is a part of the monks' training ritual, and even while they're away from the temple, they might run on a staircase and count up to a thousand so they do not miss out on their daily practice and tradition.
So in this case, sex and religion isn't very important to this monestary. You can worship any god or no god, and boink whomever as long as you stick to the traditions/duties/training and while being well mannered.
However, if the monastery/discipline is tied into a religious belief, like the Godess of Fertility and Birth, you can probably imagine sex might be viewed with a bigger deal. Only boink after saying three verses of blabla. Don't boink in the afternoon, and only have a child that you know will be taken care of. I don't know. I'm not familiar with the Fertility Goddess :P
@Quartz Yes, but the only way to make people understand what a farce these posts are is by saying it. Am I the only one who isn't scared of vocalizing this opinion? Is everybody else just too afraid of being 'incorrect' politically?
I get what you're saying.
I'm not afraid, but I've realized it's completely hopeless.
These politically-correct obsessed folks are too busy thinking they are saving the world to realize their hypocrisy, even if you wave it in their face.
That said, I would argue with a friend or family member about said matters. But not internet acquaintances. It's hard enough to convince someone close, and essentially impossible to convince someone distant.
@Mungri Quit blowing my words up with dumb logic. Don't overly simplify things just so you're able to make an ill-considered post. Think about it furthur.
To move things back on-topic, I think it would be interesting to analyze how sexuality affects gender roles in the Realms. We all see the disclaimer at character creation that your sex doesn't have any effect on your advancement, but does that actually hold true in the "reality" of the setting? How do female characters in Realms literature compare to males, in terms of not only prominence in the setting, but also development and conformity to common stereotypes? We have already established that there is very little presence of homosexual gender roles in Realms cultures, but is that due to the fictional cultures themselves, or the simple bias of the authors?
@Quartz I heard from Stephen Colbert that they rewrote Twas the night before Christmas and removed Santa's pipe. Then on the back of the book they say that his fur is fake.
My ma met a woman whose daughter can't have feathers in her class because one of the kids is a vegan.
And you can't say don't make sexuality threads because you're a phob. Political correctness ruined the world.
@Ward no Buffy is not horrible, you are horrible to think that. Its the best thing ever made since sliced bread, and obviously you learned not a single thing from it due to your blind hatred.
@The_cheeseman Sexuality doesn't matter in BG due to politically correctness, but it's the kind of political correctness which isn't stupid manipulation. It should make any difference in a video game and if it does, the game is clearly designed by people who are trying to cater to a minority.
For the record, once sexuality matters in games, we are in trouble.
@Mungri Buffy is horrible, but that's entirely opinion based. Buffy is where stupid kids run around fighting dark evil cheesy monsters and while they do that obsess about their social lives.
To move things back on-topic, I think it would be interesting to analyze how sexuality affects gender roles in the Realms. We all see the disclaimer at character creation that your sex doesn't have any effect on your advancement, but does that actually hold true in the "reality" of the setting? How do female characters in Realms literature compare to males, in terms of not only prominence in the setting, but also development and conformity to common stereotypes? We have already established that there is very little presence of homosexual gender roles in Realms cultures, but is that due to the fictional cultures themselves, or the simple bias of the authors?
I'm sure a lot of it depends on the society. I couldn't imagine say, Evereska, handling gender roles the same way as, say, Rashemen, for instance. As for homosexual gender roles, I want to say it's probably more of the latter, but we have no way of really proving this since as you said there isn't much to go on.
Though I wonder with all this hatred about sexuality threads, why did no one complain when I was talking about fleshlights and posting pictures of my groin rings wrapped around my fingers ....
@Mungri There is not hatred you ignorant pig. If I can't tell you to not make sexuality threads without being a phob then you're using political correctness which is a flawed system of manipulation against me. Now you just be trolling. If you do post pictures of fleshlights and pube studs then you're a fucking loser bogan man.
@TJ_Hooker Heh, no. Actually I am an actor, I just really like psychology and sociology, and I am a fantasy world-builder from way back. I enjoy discussing the way people think and how it relates to the development of culture.
@Mungri Buffy is horrible, but that's entirely opinion based. Buffy is where stupid kids run around fighting dark evil cheesy monsters and while they do that obsess about their social lives.
Oh right, and Baldurs Gate and other RPGs are so different to that in what way? You may as well start calling Lord of the Rings horrible next as well, OMG it showed Aragorn and Arwen kissing!
@Mungri Baldur's Gate has nothing to do with stupid kids or social lives. Unless you choose to romance somebody. Basic communications and banter with parties doesn't equal a social life.
Ward, your tone's been bordering on flaming for a while now in this thread and all the others on similar topics. If you can't contribute civilly, maybe you should read any one of the myriad other threads on the site. The vast majority of them aren't about sexuality.
Incidentally, everybody else has been adopting a similar tone in response. So maybe think on that as well.
If this escalates any further, I'm closing the thread. Despite the fact that @LadyRhian was posting a response from the Forgotten Realms creator for the benefit of those who had asked for it specifically.
We've been lax about trolling and flaming up until now, but I'm losing my patience with it. Get it together or get out.
@Mungri Buffy is horrible, but that's entirely opinion based. Buffy is where stupid kids run around fighting dark evil cheesy monsters and while they do that obsess about their social lives.
Oh right, and Baldurs Gate and other RPGs are so different to that in what way? You may as well start calling Lord of the Rings horrible next as well, OMG it showed Aragorn and Arwen kissing!
Not gonna lie you're kind of exaggerating here man. LotR had a few romantic moments to embellish the main plot, shows like The Walking Dead are literally just soap operas with monsters.
@Mungri Baldur's Gate has nothing to do with stupid kids or social lives. Unless you choose to romance somebody. Basic communications and banter with parties doesn't equal a social life.
I didn't like LoTR
Oh and what about the parts with dark evil cheesy monsters including vampires, and making babies with Aerie? And as for the stupid kids ... 'Were a bunch of tarrasques, krie, krie!'.
@Aosaw I disagree. If I am the one who has to leave then I will. Your purpose is to end the conflict, not to see reason, so I don't blame you for that really. But if you don't notice the manipulation and hypocrisy of it all then I cannot help you.
I also enjoy how they are exempt from being rude but I am not, that's a double standard.
@TJ_Hooker Heh, no. Actually I am an actor, I just really like psychology and sociology, and I am a fantasy world-builder from way back. I enjoy discussing the way people think and how it relates to the development of culture.
Ah, that makes sense. The reason I thought you maybe studied anthropology was talking about things like gender roles and human sexuality reminded me of an anthro course I took (I think the prof found these topics especially interesting too as he seemed to spend a disproportionate amount of time on them).
@Ward Sexuality is always a factor in any form of expressive art, even if not explicitly so. Trying to deny its influence on the creative process of fantasy world-building is at least naive, if not willfully ignorant. A person's art always reflects their own personality and beliefs, even if not intentionally. You can learn a lot about an author's opinions on sexuality and gender roles by paying attention to what and who they choose to write about, and that's only scratching the surface. In other words, sexuality has always mattered in video games--it'll be when it's not allowed to matter that we're really in trouble.
While I am disappointed that this thread appears to have died so quickly, I suppose this isn't really an appropriate medium for such a contentious discussion. It's a shame, though. I suppose I will have to go back to actually playing the game!
Kudos on getting a response from Ed! His world building is top notch.
Please don't shut the thread down, most of us are genuinely interested in reading and discussing an extra bit of FR lore. We're not all here to bicker (despite how tempting some people make it).
Comments
Let's say there's the "Monastery of Thousand Feet." The temple is located at the top of a mountain, and there's a staircase leading up to it which is exactly 1000 steps long. The monks base their combat style around delivering powerful kicks and they do a lot of travelling by foot. While on the road they protect travellers, townsfolk, and merchants from bandits and other menaces you may find on the road. The monks believe a person travelling to foreign places will require a set of rules and manners as to not come across as unappreciating of other cultures. In return, the monks are generally well liked because they're all traditionally polite, helpful, and protective. So every day, at the bottom of the stairs of their temple, they can find tributes from thankful peasants. Perhaps running up and down the stairs everyday is a part of the monks' training ritual, and even while they're away from the temple, they might run on a staircase and count up to a thousand so they do not miss out on their daily practice and tradition.
So in this case, sex and religion isn't very important to this monestary. You can worship any god or no god, and boink whomever as long as you stick to the traditions/duties/training and while being well mannered.
However, if the monastery/discipline is tied into a religious belief, like the Godess of Fertility and Birth, you can probably imagine sex might be viewed with a bigger deal. Only boink after saying three verses of blabla. Don't boink in the afternoon, and only have a child that you know will be taken care of. I don't know. I'm not familiar with the Fertility Goddess :P
I'm not afraid, but I've realized it's completely hopeless.
These politically-correct obsessed folks are too busy thinking they are saving the world to realize their hypocrisy, even if you wave it in their face.
That said, I would argue with a friend or family member about said matters. But not internet acquaintances. It's hard enough to convince someone close, and essentially impossible to convince someone distant.
My ma met a woman whose daughter can't have feathers in her class because one of the kids is a vegan.
And you can't say don't make sexuality threads because you're a phob. Political correctness ruined the world.
Ok this may seem kinda random, but are you by chance an anthropology major?
For the record, once sexuality matters in games, we are in trouble.
@Mungri Buffy is horrible, but that's entirely opinion based. Buffy is where stupid kids run around fighting dark evil cheesy monsters and while they do that obsess about their social lives.
I didn't like LoTR
Incidentally, everybody else has been adopting a similar tone in response. So maybe think on that as well.
If this escalates any further, I'm closing the thread. Despite the fact that @LadyRhian was posting a response from the Forgotten Realms creator for the benefit of those who had asked for it specifically.
We've been lax about trolling and flaming up until now, but I'm losing my patience with it. Get it together or get out.
I also enjoy how they are exempt from being rude but I am not, that's a double standard.
Anyway--carry on, but with a bit more candor than has thus far been demonstrated.
Please don't shut the thread down, most of us are genuinely interested in reading and discussing an extra bit of FR lore. We're not all here to bicker (despite how tempting some people make it).