Game News Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Released

[wasili]

Minsc – Minsc has a line which generated controversy. Looking back on the line, we agree with the feedback from our community, it has nothing to do with his character and we will be removing the line.

This line was actually funny.

I can't believe Beamdog caved in to those self-righteous gay retards. Won't buy any of their games in the future.

 

[sstacks]

I wrote a completely unnecessary editorial on SiegeGate if anyone is interested.

It's pretty honkin' long or else I would have just posted it here.

The Siege of Siege of Dragonspear: A Baldur's Gate Story
http://shaneplays.com/the-siege-of-siege-of-dragonspear-a-baldurs-gate-story/

Metellus raising the siege by Armand-Charles Caraffe

Over/under on getting targeted on Twitter?

70/30

 

[Mustawd]

To our community,

Dungeons & Dragons stands by the stories our partners tell and we fully support the choices Beamdog has made in developing Siege of Dragonspear. Inclusivity is a core value of Wizards of the Coast and we believe that all people, regardless of ethnicity, background, gender identity or sexuality, should be free to play our games without fear of harassment or attacks. In July of 2014 we released the D&D Player’s Handbook for the fifth edition and included the following section as an example of our core values.

Sincerely,
Nathan Stewart
Director of Dungeons & Dragons

Wasn't BG/SoD AD&D and not 5th edition?

EDIT: J/K I don't care what they do with diversity.

 

[Mustawd]

I wrote a completely unnecessary editorial on SiegeGate if anyone is interested.

It's pretty honkin' long or else I would have just posted it here.

The Siege of Siege of Dragonspear: A Baldur's Gate Story
http://shaneplays.com/the-siege-of-siege-of-dragonspear-a-baldurs-gate-story/

Metellus raising the siege by Armand-Charles Caraffe

Over/under on getting targeted on Twitter?

70/30

So your article, as well as some other sources, have mentioned threats and such. Do you have any sources on this? Because, while the discussion here has been pretty insulting towards Amber (it IS the internet after all and we can feel free to express our rage anonymously), I don't recall seeing anyone actually making overt threats. Nor have I actually seen any evidence of such anywhere else.


Do you have any screen shots or examples you can share?

 

[Excidium II]

So your article, as well as some other sources, have mentioned threats and such. Do you have any sources on this? Because, while the discussion here has been pretty insulting towards Amber (it IS the internet after all and we can feel free to express our rage anonymously), I don't recall seeing anyone actually making overt threats. Nor have I actually seen any evidence of such anywhere else.


Do you have any screen shots or examples you can share?

Death threats -> Sephiroth_Chaos_666 on twitter saying he's gonna kill someone

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Wasn't BG/SoD AD&D and not 5th edition?

EDIT: J/K I don't care what they do with diversity.

AD&D second edition was released in 1989 and used for the Infinity Engine games (and a number of earlier licensed games, though the Gold Box series started in 1988 with 1st edition AD&D). Third edition AD&D wasn't released until 2000, by which time TSR had been acquired by Wizards of the Coast, which in turn had subsequently been acquired by Hasbro. "D&D 4th edition" came in 2008, followed by "D&D 5th edition" in 2014.

As we've seen, WotC/Hasbro is perfectly content to allow what's left of D&D to be defaced in the name of SocJus.

 

[Ninjerk]

I wrote a completely unnecessary editorial on SiegeGate if anyone is interested.

It's pretty honkin' long or else I would have just posted it here.

The Siege of Siege of Dragonspear: A Baldur's Gate Story
http://shaneplays.com/the-siege-of-siege-of-dragonspear-a-baldurs-gate-story/

Metellus raising the siege by Armand-Charles Caraffe

Over/under on getting targeted on Twitter?

70/30

So your article, as well as some other sources, have mentioned threats and such. Do you have any sources on this? Because, while the discussion here has been pretty insulting towards Amber (it IS the internet after all and we can feel free to express our rage anonymously), I don't recall seeing anyone actually making overt threats. Nor have I actually seen any evidence of such anywhere else.


Do you have any screen shots or examples you can share?

Do you really need evidence that someone got a death threat? They probably sent themselves a death threat.

 

[Mustawd]

No. Was wondering if any was available. I don't NEED it.

Oh wait...was that you?

 

[MrE]

I remember when X-Files got blasted for the third episode in this new 10th season - LGBT crowd attacked them for representing a trans character in an 'incorrect' way. Were the guys at Beamdog trying to suck up to that social group and attract new customers with their 'progressve' writing? Or are they really fighting for what they believe to be 'social justice'? Because it looks like they don't have the skills to effectively do either.

On topic, I love this post:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/740818/#Comment_740818

And just to add, with reference to critiquing the quality of writing in Siege of Dragonspear, I shall repost an observation I made on another thread about my current no-reload run of BGEE. (I am now in the city itself, if anyone is interested, and going strong!)

In my current no-reload run of BGEE I broke into a womans house in the middle of the night by forcing the door open (I know, I'm not proud of my actions). The woman's immeadiate reaction was to tell me to keep the noise down. I then proceeded to ask the woman whether she had any information on the mines. Her response wasn't to call the guards, or scream at me to get out, or to beg for her life, but instead to tell this well armed bunch of adventurers and killers that men have been dissapearing from the mines, and that her husband works their but hasn't been home for weeks.

Now, I know its a game. I know its not real. But when confronted by a bunch of well armed burglars who have broken into my house in the middle of the night, I know what my first thought/reaction would be. And it wouldn't be to ask them to keep the nosie down, and then have a conversation about my husband/wife's workplace.

Is this an example of bad writing? Has the forum been inundated by posts over the last few days that this example of bad writing needs removing. That it needs to be rewritten. That it breaks people's immersion in the game? That it ruins their overall enjoyment of BGEE and warrants a score of 0 out of 10 for the whole game on so many game review sites?

Anyway, as I said when I posted this observation earlier, I didn't dwell on the incident, took the ring back and she was happy. Job done!

Actually, and what I didn't admit earlier, was that I had already cleared out the mines and had the ring in my possession, and I smashed down that poor woman's door to trigger the quest and then immeadiately give her the ring. It was still job done though!

It would make sense if she was a nympho and threatened to scream/alert guards unless you fuck her. Why are they not inclusive enough to include more nymphomaniac characters?

Not so sure there are many gaming forums left that have Codex-style lax moderation, let alone the ones that appreciate old-school games on top of that.

Yes, I miss the old days at DaC. Still, there's only so many forums I have time to visit these days.

 

[Tigranes]

You guys are reaaaaaaaaaaaaally obsessed about this, huh

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

You guys are reaaaaaaaaaaaaally obsessed about this, huh

Talking to the SJWs who are so obsessed by identity politics that they contaminate literally every form of media with it and shoehorn it into every project they are a part of? Yes, they seem to be.

 

[Mrowak]

You are overreacting guys. =_=

 

[thesheeep]

Overreaction on the Codex?
Come on!

 

[Shadenuat]

To our community,

Dungeons & Dragons stands by the stories our partners tell and we fully support the choices Beamdog has made in developing Siege of Dragonspear. Inclusivity is a core value of Wizards of the Coast and we believe that all people, regardless of ethnicity, background, gender identity or sexuality, should be free to play our games without fear of harassment or attacks. In July of 2014 we released the D&D Player’s Handbook for the fifth edition and included the following section as an example of our core values.

Sincerely,
Nathan Stewart
Director of Dungeons & Dragons

Um, Corellon was androgynous since 2d edition? Just like some other elf gods AFAIK.
Unlike forced agendas, that's part of the setting, like drow and yuan ti hedonism, not random modern insertions to please some crowds.

 

[Ninjerk]

You guys are reaaaaaaaaaaaaally obsessed about this, huh

You know what they're really obsessed about? RPG developers catering to wider audiences. It's sad, really.

 

[LeStryfe79]

There are 2 gay revenants in the newly released Curse of Strahd adventure for 5e D&D. It does a pretty good job of not drawing attention to itself.

 

[Lhynn]

There are 2 gay revenants in the newly released Curse of Strahd adventure for 5e D&D. It does a pretty good job of not drawing attention to itself.

Would only be a problem if your DM forced you to view them on a positive light i guess.

 

[Sacibengala]

More phd goodness
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/270060/Opinion_So_you_want_to_write_a_trans_character.php

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

More phd goodness
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/270060/Opinion_So_you_want_to_write_a_trans_character.php

This is a beauty, even the game's most ardent white knights haven't yet gone as far as claiming Scott to be one of the top writers in RPGs

Beamdog’s statement about this week’s furious hate mob also made clear that they will neither throw one of the most talented RPG writers in games under the bus, nor will they cave to pressure to remove Mizhena, the trans woman cleric who occasioned so much angst, from Beamdog's recent release Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. With the mob blocked at every turn, and the creator of the setting himself shutting down the popular “but it’s Medieval times!” concern-troll argument, we can now look to a more constructive future for the game and Mizhena herself.

Trent Oster, Beamdog’s CEO, said in his statement that Mizhena should have been introduced “with more development,” and he goes on to say, “we will be improving this character in a future update.” While a few gasping remnants of the torch and pitchfork brigade continue to flash their flaccidities on social media by calling for writer Amber Scott’s firing, I’d argue that given her history she’s the perfect person to better develop Mizhena going forward.

For developers, Scott's writing provides a masterclass in writing trans characters well, with depth and humanity athwart mere “tokenism” and “virtue signalling” as she was wrongly accused of this week.

 

[Ninjerk]

MASTER CLASS

 

[Fargus]

For developers, Scott's writing provides a masterclass in writing trans characters well, with depth and humanity athwart mere “tokenism” and “virtue signalling” as she was wrongly accused of this week.

Yeah apparently "Hi! I'm a transgender character! Just cause this game absolutely needs to include one!" is a masterclass character writing... with depth and humanity. Get outta here.

 

[vortex]

Transgender characters or any character sexuality you can imagine, are ok in fantasy game like this. They can use a trans-gender potion. Even Dark souls 2/3,BB,DA:I has this mechanics for main player. Why not then for some NPC? But, for this character in SoD, I wish she/he hides her intimate story. So, player with high charisma can find about it but only with some charisma threshold.

 

[Angthoron]

Heya! It's me, Imoen a strong transgender woman with a long history of abuse and misunderstandings, my parents thought I was a boy because I have been born with male genitalia but I realized I'm a girl when I was six and saw a squirrel eating nuts.

 

[Bubbles]

Transgender characters or any character sexuality you can imagine, are ok in fantasy game like this. They can use a trans-gender potion. Even Dark souls 2/3,BB,DA:I has this mechanics for main player. Why not then for some NPC? But, for this character in SoD, I wish she/he hides her intimate story. So, player with high charisma can find about it but only with some charisma threshold.

Counter argument:

Real trans people don’t talk about their histories at the drop of a hat: Yes, why, though? Because, frankly, we fear mockery at best and violence and discrimination at worst. As people have been at pains to point out, Forgotten Realms’ Faerun is not Earth, and there’s little evidence of there being a similar culture of trans-hate that would cause Mizhena to be fearful. Mutatis mutandis, people who transition in Faerun would have a different relationship to how it’s publicly discussed.

 

[Fargus]

Heya! It's me, Imoen a strong transgender woman with a long history of abuse and misunderstandings, my parents thought I was a boy because I have been born with male genitalia but I realized I'm a girl when I was six and saw a squirrel eating nuts.

You're already better at writing than Amber Scott