Trent Oster made an interview. Here are some of my thoughts if you are interested.
http://www.develop-online.net/inter...-transgender-character-was-a-big-deal/0219033
"You don’t have you have to spend too long on the internet.." - great start...
"It is, of course, impossible for creators to produce anything without their own worldviews having an influence." - Agreed. The problem is when you try to shove your worldview down people's throat with a shovel and a boot on their neck.
“If there’s an aggressive agenda that’s being pushed into someone’s face, I disagree with that,” Beamdog CEO Trent Oster tells Develop." - Glad we agree on this Trent. Why are you then being such a dick about it by calling people who criticize your direction "small minded"?
"You need to tackle any social milieu appropriately, and aggressive agenda pushing is incorrect. It’s not the right way to do it. All you do is strengthen the resistance.” - Banning people very selectively will have the same effect, Trent!
"There’s two sides of the argument [against Mizhena’s inclusion]. One is ‘I don’t want a transgender character in my game’, and while I don’t agree with it, I guess I can understand that perspective." - It was Beamdog pushing this narrative to your friends at femfreq and Jezbell, but I am happy to see you are capable of understaning a position of genuine bigots.
"Obviously we wanted to explore her story in a broader, deeper way, but the three-line limitation cut it off. If anyone was going to get to the fact that this character is transgender, they had to do it pretty fast." - Why include such a character then at all? If you can't make the character believable in 3 lines, wouldn't the sensible decision then be to just create a generic vendor? This just tells me that it was important to someone to have at least 1 trans character in the game, so you shoe-horned her into the game in the name of your world-view, just as we have been saying since day 1.
"Oster promises that the writers will be revisiting this character and finding a way for players to “develop a relationship” with her before she discloses this highly personal information." - Good! One problem solved I hope!
"To us, having a transgender character wasn’t that big a deal,” he says. “In a world where there’s half-orcs – so a human and an orc had an offspring together – and dragons can transform into humans and gods can walk the earth as male or female, whatever choice they make – it just didn’t seem like a big detail to us." - If that was really the case, you would have put a generic vendor in her place, due to 3 line limit. sigh... Can you please stop with the bullshit, Trent?! Being dishonest is what got you into this mess in the first place.
"Personally, I think it shows a progressive world view that we didn’t think a transgender character was a big deal. It was just a character to us, part of the world, helping to drive the story along.” - Yeah... you need to virtue signal a bit more how "progressive" you are!
"It’s a point that was underlined by Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms universe in which the Baldur’s Gate games are set." - Poor Ed has no idea what he is talking about. He is too busy to follow this shit-storm. Yes, he is right about there being all kinds of characters in FR, but if it was not a problem EVER before, why are people raging all of a sudden? What is more likely? That the BG fans who love FR lore have all of a sudden collectively lost their mind, or that perhaps you are trying to spin the narrative?
"But in the face of that inconsistency, how can any developer know which aspects of their game are going to set ‘them’ [the fans] off?" - Its simple... if you have a 3 line limit, don't fucking try to shove in complex stories into it, because there is word we use for it. Its called shoe-horning, Trent!
"I firmly believe that there is no ‘they’, there’s no group with a specific agenda,” says Oster. “There’s just a bunch of individuals – each with their own sensitivities, likes and dislikes – and the internet seems to package people together. You see a tempest in a teapot." - Why are you then banning comments like mine, while the SJW crowd is getting more numerous on your forums, Trent? It almost looks like... - I don't know... - like you are trying to create a safe space for a group of people with a very specific set of values.
"When a topic blows up on the internet, it’s hard to tell how ‘big’ it is. I think social media has created this echo chamber world,..." - For the love of god, man? Have you no introspection? How ironic it is that you blame the social media, when it is your employees who are doing everything in their power to create an echo-chamber for your little SJW group. It is thanks to social media that you have still not found a way to silence us! So, exactly opposite of what you say is true!
"...Because I’ve been in my little universe and it’s different to theirs.” - Yeah.. you need to stop banning people with different opinions. Then you will not have this problem!
"If the internet freaks out about something – well, it’s the internet and pretty much hates everything. If our fans bring it up, though, we’ll take it very seriously." - If they have the SJW credentials. If not, you will ban them and then next day report to Anita Sarkeesian or Jezbell how you were forced to ban "small minded" people due to threats and harassment to your co-workers. Just brilliant, Trent! Just fucking brilliant! You should have been a politician! You are either completely uninformed and lost in your safe space, or intentionally dishonest. In either case, politics sound like your line of work.
"Unfortunately, select people outside the community have gone that extra length to make their voices heard, reportedly resorting to issuing threats and harassment to Beamdog staff – and it’s something Oster has taken personally." - Oh.. here it goes again. The victim narrative. Ok.. I am getting really pissed now. A select people outside the community - translation: people inside the community (SJWs), people outside the community: notSJWs -> therfore scum, harassers, bullies... Fuck you, Trent!
"I maintain that for a three-line dialogue limits, this was well executed. If we remove that limit, we can execute it even better." - No, Trent! If you have a 3 line limit - don't introduce complex topics! For the love of God..
"If other developers ever face this level of harassment, I suggest they calm down, take a step back, wait and then prepare a statement." - Quite frankly, I think you are the last person who should be giving advices to other developers, Trent! Just look at what a mess you created.
"If someone hijacked your game and inserted their own agenda, something not approved by the company, you’ve got to figure out what to do from an internal management perspective. But if it’s representative of the company’s views, and you agree with it, you need to stand up and support that person. Personally, I think throwing someone under a bus is a bad thing to do.” - Amber basically admitted to doing just that, Trent! You have it in written form, man. But I guess you agree with it, so its ok then?
"After the reaction, I sat and clicked on him until the line appeared, and I agreed that, y’know what, this doesn’t actually make sense.” - Good. You are not completely insane, yet.
"However, Oster told Develop that their role in the story dates back to the beginning of development two years ago – before the real-world refugee crisis had heightened – and that they are a necessity for the RPG." - *sigh*... Are you not listening what the fans have been saying. The problem is not that you are doing refugees, Trent! The problem is that you have two guys coming and asking you for directions. Your options are:
1. Give directions and 10 gold.
2. Give directions.
If you choose 1 -> They thank you and go away.
If you choose 2 -> They say: I told you they won't help us.
Do you not see the problem, Trent? Just giving directions was not good enough, so the writer immediately scolds the player for not choosing option 1. *sigh*
And that is just one example of bad writing surrounding the refugees.
"While Oster is sensitive to fans’ concerns, he emphasises that much of the team has a firm grasp on what is and isn’t appropriate to the series – and hopes players will trust them to handle the franchise responsibly." - Trust needs to be earned, and so far this does not sound encouraging. It feels like you have no idea what the real issues are.
"We know Baldur’s Gate through and through,” he says. “There’s a number of us here who have been through the development of the original Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights and other BioWare content – we live this stuff." - Yeah, just pat yourself on the back, Trent. Remember, we will vote with out wallets.
"Ultimately, there’s a story we’re trying to tell,” he says. “Along the way of telling that story, there’s a core cast and there’s supporting characters. And it’s all about telling the best story we possibly can, and making characters that are interesting, believable and engaging. If following those priorities leads you to a transgendered character, or a female or male lead, or a gay or straight character, it’s what’s right for the story." - I really hope YOU SERIOUSLY believe that, Trent.
Also NOTHING about Safana? But remember folks... this is all about small-minded people not being able to deal with a trans-gender character. Go fuck yourself, Trent! Seriously!
