#fuck bioware

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Honestly sick of the way that capitalism, profit, shareholders, execs and every other little thing in that branch comes in-between good (often queer) art again and again and again.

I've seen this recently in more than a few of my favourite things; and every time it happens creators fight to give us am ending, any they can, and then that ending ends up being rushed because it can't be anything else which makes the story feel weaker and it's just a mess. This happened to Sense8 years ago. It happened to Our Flag Means Death. And now Veilguard too.

I have problems with Veilguard; and I'll continue to talk about them I'm sure but laying off the entire creative team behind Dragon Age the franchise?? On the same day Bioware is sending me emails about their 'fun products in the Bioware store'???? Making a game stripped of anything objectable to appeal to a mass marketplace despite game writer wishes??? Consistently pushing writers to write quicker and simpler and what not and then when the art isn't as good as the last one because how COULD IT be when they're forcing all the lose strands of lore into a single game while also having to deal with all the development hell...

It's really fucking sad.

Dragon age writers ALL deserved better, they've deserved better since DA2 crunch, DAI crunch and they certainly deserved better throughout the entire process of DA4. their mental health was not prioritised, their skills were not prioritised, EA couldn't even be bothered to give them proper severance packages. I know they fought for a conclusion to this franchise and im grateful even if it wasn't what I wanted.

Dragon age will always, always, always be a part of me. I'm still planning my huge big post DAI fic and will continue to play the games over and over again and continue to be in this fandom for years to come. So even tho I don't always like their choices, a huge heart goes out to the team behind DATV and all the other DA games. I hope a better studio who cares about their input more takes them in and we can see their names credited on more fun art in the future.

[meglosthegreat]

If one more company puts out a statement saying they're becoming more "agile" and "focused" when what they really mean is "we're laying off dozens of experienced developers because we don't feel like paying them anymore and would rather bring in new hires that will work for less" I stg

[jazzajazzjazz]

[talizorahnarrayya]

the ego that you have to have as a writer, to scorched earth destroy what has been left to you… in the context of dragon age too, where the player builds the world. to render every decision made as completely pointless and unimportant. it’s appalling. it’s pure ego

it’s an insult to the fans, the franchise, the writers that came before

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Mass Effect LGBTQ+ representation issues and some headcanons

I've seen a few Mass Effect posts about the sexuality of the trilogy's characters, and I'd like to add my 5 cents, since none of those posts take into account the whole xenophilia aspect of canon relationships. And some of us are here for it. For the aliens. I am here for them. I'm not sorry.

Also, I have to acknowledge the fact that Bioware has made some very questionable choices, and the in-game representation is bad. Like BAD-bad.

I.E.(this list is going to be looong):

All Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko dialog for ME1 and ME2 was written and fully voiced, but NOT INCLUDED in the final version of the game. And I know that the same thing happened to FemShep/Ashley, but that a bit different because...

The only "gay" romances in ME1 and ME2 are for femShep, and either with a female-representing human-like aliens (who like to dress in tight clothes that emphasize the size of their breasts), or with the equally feminine Kelly Chambers in ME2. Because, you know, guys who buy this game will be more tolerant of two "hot chicks making out" (insert a bunch of mods that make your femShep wear only lingerie and look like a TikTok e-girl) than a more realistic same-sex romance.

Especially when this romance is between two guys. Because ew. Right, Bioware? But you also wanted to sell your games to LGBTQ+ folks, so you installed a…

… so-called "gay button" into your games.

Before ME3, no one except for "hot chicks asari" states their sexuality. You can go through two entire games as a straight character completely surrounded by other completely straight characters. Oh, maybe Kelly likes aliens a little too much, but "who doesn't like asari", right? Even asexual salarians are into them. Sure, a straight woman like femShep…

"Hot chicks making out" really sells those game copies, I guess.

If you think ME3 is better, think again. The only two gay characters in the game are Cortez and Traynor, and they are both supporting characters, who are not even in your squad!

Cortez and his whole "I lost my husband" drama is conveniently placed on the lowest deck of the ship, so if this story offends your bigoted sensibilities, you can just ignore him along with the "dumb jock" Vega who is really unpopular with the players. Is it because he's really friendly with an openly gay character? Oh, who knows?

Meanwhile, Traynor is either mocked (oh, she found EDI voice hot and commented on that! what a shame! awkward lesbians, amirite?) or fetishized (don't get me wrong, Donnelly is funny, but his remarks about Traynor are even more yucky than the way he talks about EDI and lube).

But don't get mad about all this, because all the women in the trilogy are fetishized and heavily sexualized. The best example of this is Samara, whose character design is a war crime.

Bioware made Benezia look horrible (she tried to make Saren change his ways not with her power or wits but with those giant bazooms and the cleavage, I guess), and then they doubled down in ME2 and gave a warrior samurai nun a boob window. A FUCKING BOOB WINDOW. Because boys buy games, and they love boobs, y'know.

Oh, and any inappropriate remarks made by NPCs in the game are directed only at the femShep. Just like the MShenko romance, the male version of the dialog is fully voiced, but conveniently excluded from the game. Because guys can't tell other guys that they look hot in "that soldier getup". That can make bigots uncomfortable.

And let's talk about bi representation, because Bioware apparently hates bisexuals as much as straights and some queers do (trust me, as a bisexual I've experienced both types of hatred, and it's ugly). The only bisexual characters in the game are Kaidan and Diana Allers.

If you're a bigot playing as the maleShep, you can "safely" kill Kaidan on Virmire in the middle of the first game and not have to deal with his uncomfortable love confession at all!

So, yeah, Bigots: 1, Representation: 0. The bisexual is successfully killed, congratulations!

If you play as femShep, you won't even know that Kaidan is/was bi. Because who wants a bisexual guy who is comfortable with his sexuality? You can't sell that kind of romance to the good ladies who buy this game.

Diana Allers romance, meanwhile, is laugh-worthy. If you play as maleShep, you won't even know that she's bi. And if you're femShep, this romance is as insignificant as the one with Kelly, you won't even get an achievement for it! You can also kick her out of your ship without any consequences, so she will be KIA offscreen. You will find about it via fucking email. Bigots: 2, Representation: 0. Both of dirty bisexuals are successfully killed, congratulations!

The bi-xenophile Kelly suffers the same fate: no achievement for her romance, you cannot continue the romance after ME2, and she will either take a poison pill and die or be killed in the Collector's Base/Citadel offscreen in ME3. If she survives both the base and the Cerberus attack, you won't even get to say goodbye to her before the final battle of the game. Bigots: 3, Representation: 0

9. And I almost forgot about Omega DLC that kills the only female turian in the game. Who's also into asari. God, they did her dirty.

"Those were different times," you might say, but all of this could have been fixed in 2019, when the Limited Edition was released. Instead, we just have fellow modders changing the design of Benezia and Samara, restoring MShenko (one of the most healthy, respectful, and mature romances in the entire trilogy) and other gay romances in the game, making all NPCs flirt with your character, adding female turians and krogans to the environment, etc., etc.

Still, I think these games are great. The characters, the cinematics, some aspects of the writing, great! I love that canon. But the LGBTQ+ representation in those games sucks. Big time. But that doesn't stop me from having a bunch of headcanons. For the sake of convenience, I'm going to separate out all the characters for the games in which they debut.

Mass Effect:

MaleShep/FemShep: Both are canonically bi. Both don't mind the alien physiology thing and polyamory. Both are "married to your job" type, so they were okay with casual sex and one-night stands, and only mellowed out while in charge of the Normandy crew. Because of convenience, both had more hetero than same-sex hookups.

Ashley: Straight as a plank and xenophobic, but not homophobic. She's definitely into maleShep, but more into the idea of him as a sole survivor/war hero/butcher of Torfan than an actual person.

Garrus: He likes turian and quarian women. And both fem and maleShep. But with maleShep, he's more busy with the whole "flirt him to death" aspect of their bromance, so there's really no time to get on the floor and get dirty.

I also feel that turian society in the game is very patriarchal, so Garrus has a bias towards femShep and feels less restricted by her rank. With mShep, I think he would have only acted if mShep had specifically pursued that relationship. But mShep is also more interested in just flirting with Garrus.

Kaidan: Canonically bisexual (more into women) and demi. Not into aliens, but not xenophobic. Not a stranger to casual sex, but would really prefer to go steady because #introverted and has enough problems already. "How can you flirt with all these people, Shepard, it's exhausting…"

Liara: She's into both versions of Shepard. And maybe a bit into one drell. Classic demi/asexual. Also, imo, all asari are agender and Liara is not an exception.

Tali: Is a mess and can definitely go cross-species (her romance with Garrus is canon, after all). She's also a massive nerd and a bit kinky. I think she's into human/turian/quarian males, but maybe this femShep really is THAT SPECIAL.

Wrex: Krogan women - that's his sexual orientation. Real bros with mShep, more cautious with femShep because bias. Another "married to his job" character.

Joker: Straight and nerdy. #Irony. Too cool for homophobia.

Chakwas: More married to her job than anyone on this list. Cool lesbian aunt.

And this post is already so long that I'll make a separate one for ME2 and 3.

[dinosaurfucker]

https://mein-mmo.de/dragon-age-preview-event-angespielt-und-begeistert/2/#google_vignette

What the fuuuuccccckkkkkk I hate EA I hate Bioware whyyyyy literally rhe fucking draw of this game series is your choices matter this is so fucking LAZY!!!

[covertleathers]

Oh my god, the devs broke all the rules so they could leave us with a sandbox to play in forever.

[hellbentrapture]

Friendly reminder that BioWare head worked their staff nearly to the point of death on Inquisition - they have not improved. """BioWare Magic""" - remember that? Yeah....

[shadowheartwife]

Things I’ve been looking forward to for roughly a decade:

- Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

- The Winds of Winter

Things I’ll probably never get:

- Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

- The Winds of Winter

[picturefirelizards]

y’know I think I preferred it when we didn’t know anything about da4

[echoes-sounds]

BioWare has been the apostate mage all along

[vulpemarshmallow]

Whenever I really want to be mad I think about the fact that Bioware fired Mary fucking Kirby. Like what on earth justifies that?

[thisusernamewasntavailable]

So... in light of recent news I declare Biowars dragon age as fan property. May the fanfiction gods bestow all of us with great ideas because either the game won't come, like ever, or it will most likely be shit due to all the happenings lately. Canon is going to be what ever we make of it...

I can't with them anymore

Fuck EA

Fuck Bioware

Let people unionize

What in the fucking late stage capitalism hellscape...

[blue-devine]

Exactly why I refuse to pay full price for this game, I dont care if I have to wait another 5 years or longer to eventually play, but only when it's like 70% of the price it sells for. Fuck, we have been waiting this long, what's another 10 years. Plus at this point with how they are managing everything, I guarantee that the game on release is going to be buggy AF.

Bioware has completely lost all my respect.

I really hate how bioware at the beginning of this year was like "this year we'll have more updates on dragon age 4!" and the updates are "we laid off 50 ppl, most are veterans, including mary kirby who is responsible for the one character we are using to milk this franchise dry :) and we did not give them proper severance pay" and "here's a 49 second trailer telling u nothing but tune in 6 months (again) to find out whether this game is real or not! :)"

[smiley-asylum]

Is it @bioware 's plan to write their next Mass Effect and Dragon Age games using AI?

[ellstersmash]

things i learned today:

solas could've avoided this whole mess and probably had enough free time to take lavellan on a nice little date if he just took up archdemon hunting instead of all the rituals and the other dastardly deeds

lucanis won't romance rook if they go to minrathous but will romance neve because despite saying he's cool, he's not cool

everyone's nice and no one has slaves or anything because *checks forearm* the blight

all your companions get along with you and each other because also the blight

even though he's like, really manipulative and uses people all the time, solas accumulated but then gave up an entire army's worth of spies and agents because he decided he wasn't ready for a management position

red lyrium isn't really around because—and you are not gonna believe this—the blight

solas just lies. all the time, outright, to everyone. so I guess he was actually only super careful to not ever actively lie in Inquisition as like a fun little challenge to himself

tying the veil to his life force (you know, the guy who couldn't even take down an archdemon on his own and actually just got his ass beat so is not in great shape in the best ending) fully repaired the veil! \o/ don't ask how you wouldn't understand it it's not a big—

everyone near minrathous is cured of the blight! but @ everyone else you may be entitled to compensation 🥀

the only ritual solas has ever gotten or will ever get right is cleansing the idol into the ritual dagger. good thing too bc it was way more dangerous than this one. other than that, wrong about everything ever

elven magic is like not that big a deal, dude

the griffons are, unfortunately, long-term fucked

the elves don't see the crossroads differently anymore because uh.. because....... war

spite does not get involved in rookanis sexytimes. so perhaps him spreading his wings was actually just in preparation to leave bc ew they're kissing gross

NO ONE cares about the goddamn spirits