Though one may not really believe it, video games deal with sexual right and wrongs as well as people who decides where the line is, even though others may disagree with the results. Dragon Age Inquisition has been one of such games. Dragon Age Inquisition is a fantasy rpg (Role Playing Game). In Dragon Age Inquisition you may be surprised by the amount of raunchy scenes that are in the game and how quick they are to point fun at sex or sexual preference. If you have played this game then you may be aware of a female dwarf scout named: Lace Harding (Scout Harding).
Why is it worth mentioning her? Well, in Dragon Age games, a part of the game is about being able to romance characters and unlock different endings with them by picking what dialog to go with. So, in Dragon Age Inquisition, you may flirt with Scout Harding a few times, but you cannot actually romance her. Now, you may think that they may not have had time to program an ending with her or something in that light. However, what if I told you that it was on purpose? Before I get to that, let me just say that if they had not wanted to give her an ending then they really should have not put in the flirting options in the first place. Because of putting the flirting options, popularity for the character actually soared and demand for a romance ending with her was highly desirable by a great many. Why? Well, i’ll just use this to explain, “She's a pretty female dwarf who has a pleasant personality but also proves herself to be a capable archer. I think the fact that she's only the second female dwarf of significance (third, if you count Branka, I guess) makes her notable. Add to it the fact that you can flirt with her and there are a ton of people clamoring for dwarf romances, and that's the reason why people are obsessed with her.” People have even asked for them to make a DLC (Downloadable content) to fix this, and give them the ending that they want. To this the Designers said no. I say Designers, even thought it was mostly one of the main three designers: David Gaider. David Gaider posted this:
By actively demonstrating a racial prejudice—even if the prejudice is based in a videogame—the designers, especially David Gaider, are indicating that to them, dwarves don’t matter. By picking one race that you cannot have pursue romantically when all other races have this option available, Dragon Age Inquisition not only shows how it fails to meet standards of equality on a basic design level, but it insinuates that treating those of a different race is okay. It acts as a gateway towards further normalizing exclusion and racism, and that’s a major issue.
End of Thing: https://forum.bioware.com/topic/532342-scout-harding-digs-the-inquisitor-the-dwarf-romance-that-never-was/
I find it interesting how you made a connection of dwarves to racism. I am struggling to connect it to the racism we see today, but I am seeing something.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is that normalization that you see in Dragon Age is a byproduct of the systematic racism that our American society has bred. I'm surprised that a game designer would make such remarks about dwarves in that way, considering it's a fantasy RPG, does interspecies relationships really cross a boundary in that realm?
I suppose your article points out the flaws in this game designers response by calling out the exclusion and racism he displays. It reminds me also of how video games are beginning to branch out and become more inclusive of more groups of people. I often forget that this is an issue in the digital realm.
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