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Some of you may have heard of an almost decade old video game called "Kingdom Come: Deliverence". It is a realistic RPG with no fantasy elements, developed by a Czech studio, and set in middle ages Czechia.
At its release its fidelity to history was widely praised by gamers. But gaming journalists attacked it for this very reason: fidelity to history meant that there was a paucity of Africans in the game. Despite gaming journalists forming united frons to smear the developers as racist, for not altering the racial demographics to please foreigners, the developers stood FIRMLY by their game.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago, and a sequel to KC:D is announced. Warhorse Studios says nothing eyebrow raising. Then a shock: screenshots appearing to show an African boasting about his land plenty, equality and knowledge, purporting to be from KC:D2 surfaces. There is widespread disbelief, the developers deny its authenticity, deboonkers find queerities in rendering. Matter is considered to be dubious at best.
Then a shock: a full admission from the man who so unfairly smeared, and who didn't buckle, that the game is in fact alters history to suit the tastes of 2025 American audiences.
Still the wages are low in Czechia, and loyalty of the marginalized and silenced peoples is worthless compared to fame the media can bestow upon you, and fortune gained from hiding the massive backtracks in marketing, so the game is already profitable.
IMO the appalling part is that they made Henry AND Hans bisexual. Both the main characters who so far hadn't shown any gay inclinations suddenly become open to anything? Yeah no.
> Hit points
> Magic potions
> There are no children
> Cutting through plate armor
> Crouching makes you quieter
> Near-fatal wounds heal within minutes
> Horses are motorcycles that don't need fuel
> Everyone sits around on their asses waiting for you to come by and solve their problems
> You are an absolute nobody who can become absurdly skilled and rich and respected in the span of a few days
It's a perfectly conventional fantasy RPG with a few "realism" elements.
I think most people don't care a great deal about homosexuality but what frequently happens is that male friendship is sacrificed for (the possibility of) gay romance. People do care about the friendship and dont want to be on guard to not signal sexual interest to the player-sexual characters when they're just trying to be friendly. A prime example of this was in the release verison of BG3 when you could just be friendly to Gale and suddenly you had sex.
If some character was clearly gay from the outset and not conditionally gay/bi depending on what the player does, complaints about this would be a non-issue. It would also be a far smaller issue if video game writers were more competent but that's never going to happen.
IMO, Playersexuality is an awful idea that should be binned.
I fell victim to this. And I wasn't even that opposed to the idea, but for all its rampant progressivism, the game is oddly monogamous, and it was interfering with my desired target. Afterward, the second time I played BG3, I made a female character and deliberately went for Gale, and inadvertently roleplayed a stereotypical ☕ moment. At the post-goblin party he said such weird things and was so timid that I went and fucked Astarion, who did neither, out of spite. Being able to get laid at will, even in play pretend, does things to your mind. Anyway, the next day we all died because it was the no-save-scumming difficulty.
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