Massive Chalice and gay marriages

[airboy]

What we need are more certifiably insane characters like Minsc in Balders Gate or the Malkovians in Vampire: Bloodlines.  Nothing can liven up an RPG like bug nuts insanity.

[son_of_montfort]

[It's too bad that the straight white male is so under-represented in gaming. And on the world political, social, and economic stage.  :P

So this isn't a broad and baseless assumption?   :o

No. Very few games don't have a white, straight, male character in them. In fact, pointedly leaving out a white, straight, male character (almost always the lead) would certainly draw ire. That is despite the fact that the majority of the world's population is not Caucasian and only half of it is male.

i think its slighty naive to suggest its not controversial for him to slap down the gay marriage request

I disagree. Developers do it all the time. As I said, a majority of games out there don't have a gay option. And those that did universally drew fire from various media outlets.

I'm a little shocked at these two statements. Is it really a question that white, straight, males are certainly the best represented in media? The suggestion that white, straight, males are somehow getting prejudiced treatment by game developers does not seem to add up.

But, to answer your question, the interview makes it sound like Muir was focused on mechanics over the game world, someone (it is not specific as to if it was internal or from KS fans) broached the topic of gay relationships. In response, Double Fine took it to a larger audience (i.e. focus tested the idea) and decided to include it. The developers were under no obligation to field test the idea to the forum or KS group. Brad is fairly clear about his opinion on the matter too.

This seems to be a dead end conversation. My thought is, if the addition of gay characters offends one's sensibilities, then vote with your wallet. But the KS development cycle means that the people who requested the addition were already owners (or investors), so the money is already there.

[Nefaro]

[It's too bad that the straight white male is so under-represented in gaming. And on the world political, social, and economic stage.  :P

So this isn't a broad and baseless assumption?   :o

LOL!

[Windigo]

There exists no pressure from political correctness at all.   ::) 

Nor do I suffer from white guilt just for the record.

is that when you eat too much processed bread?

[LongBlade]

What we need are more certifiably insane characters like Minsc in Balders Gate or the Malkovians in Vampire: Bloodlines.  Nothing can liven up an RPG like bug nuts insanity.

Heh. You make a good point.

[Sir Slash]

Who calls Minsc's name? He still has shoes for butt-kicking.

[solops]

I would like to have Minsc's trademark audio-tag line about Boo. I recall looking for the file in the game once but not finding it. Anybody have it? What was it...."Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes" or something like that. Probable my all-time favorite character.

[LongBlade]

I would like to have Minsc's trademark audio-tag line about Boo. I recall looking for the file in the game once but not finding it. Anybody have it? What was it...."Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes" or something like that. Probable my all-time favorite character.

Baldur's Gate has been released in an enhanced edition and works on modern OSs. You should be able to buy the game and get the audio clip that way.

[Sir Slash]

In BG 2 he could, Hide In The Dark and had an even funnier tag line for that event but I can't remember it now. It made me laugh every time I heard it.

[son_of_montfort]

In BG 2 he could, Hide In The Dark and had an even funnier tag line for that event but I can't remember it now. It made me laugh every time I heard it.

Youtube is the font of all knowledge:

[FarAway Sooner]

A few random responses here:

• Had the designer of this game said, "This isn't really an angle we feel like we have the design or development resources to tackle in a game like this", he'd have had my full fledged support.  Deciding to do or not to do something like this based strictly on game-design criteria is entirely legit.
  
• Discrimination in any format sucks.  But, when that discrimination really starts to affect your life chances (negatively affecting things like employment, relationships with friends and family, whom you can marry, etc.), it adds a whole new layer of hurt.  That layer of hurt can lead one to imagine discrimination where none is intended or even where none exists.
  
• Do any of the folks decrying political correctness in this thread actually know that happened here?  Or are they just building a straw man scenario of what happened, feeding that with slippery slope fears, and jumping to conclusions about how this must have played out?  After 5 pages, the only specifics I've read are a fairly mellow and non-controversial statement by the lead designer.  I'm not saying that the forces of political correctness don't overreact a lot.  I'm just suggesting that it's not clear we know that's what happened here, do we?
  

[son_of_montfort]

Do any of the folks decrying political correctness in this thread actually know that happened here?  Or are they just building a straw man scenario of what happened, feeding that with slippery slope fears, and jumping to conclusions about how this must have played out?  After 5 pages, the only specifics I've read are a fairly mellow and non-controversial statement by the lead designer.  I'm not saying that the forces of political correctness don't overreact a lot.  I'm just suggesting that it's not clear we know that's what happened here, do we?

Something I think we need to consider is this - if people say to Brad Muir that "You don't have to do it! Don't let the forces of Political Correctness guilt you into doing this!" - his answer may be that he doesn't need protecting and that he does, indeed, want to do this. Which means it is the anti-PC lobby that is actually trying to force his opinion and not the other way around.

Sort of like "We want you to be as free as possible as long as you are doing something we like."  ;)

[airboy]

I had a pretty rotten day.  Then I end it with a youtube of Minsc quotes.

I feel better now.

[son_of_montfort]

I had a pretty rotten day.  Then I end it with a youtube of Minsc quotes.

I feel better now.

Glad to be of service!

[Sir Slash]

Squeaky wheel gets the kick! ;D