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EA Defends Itself Against Thousands of Anti-Gay Letters
donniebaseball23 writes "Video game publisher Electronic Arts has not only had to defend itself against 'worst company in America' labels, but GamesIndustry International has revealed that EA's been receiving thousands of letters protesting the inclusion of same-sex relationship content in games like Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The campaign against EA appears to be led by Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council. The letters threaten to boycott purchase of EA games if the company won't remove the LGBT content, and many allege that EA was pressured by LGBT activists to include the content, which they say is forcing LGBT themes on children playing the games. 'This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment,' said Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications."
Soddom
oh
I believe homosexual acts are a sin. I believe homosexuality should not be promoted. I oppose gay marriage. Does this make me anti-gay? No way. Hate the sin and love the sinner. We are all children of God.
Are these bastards really going to make me side with EA on something? I need a shower.
These people only have a media outlet because we even listen to them. They might as well just burn these letters.
Who is more evil here? I'm going to say the FFA and FRC, but I don't think they're evil enough to get me to buy an EA product just to spite them.
If this were any other company than EA (well also Ubisoft and Sony), I'd write them a kind letter and buy the product. I hope the normalization of homosexuality isn't impeded because no one is willing to defend EA.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Am, in the interests of balance, going to boycott EA games unless they have more lesbian content.
It's only fair after all.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
EA was criticized, not for including same sex relationships, which many games do, but for delivering it in such a stupid way that it was just jarring. It was also criticized because of its online pass scheme, the fact that it shuts down good devs, and because it routinely takes advantage of consumer trust to sell a sub-par product at premium prices. If anything, the gay community should be offended by how they were portrayed in the mass effect universe.
Put in controls for 'Good Job' ass-smacks in Madden '13.
Anyone who voted for EA over Walmart as the worst company has no idea what they are talking about.
All villagers are male, and they reproduce by kissing, and create baby male villagers... (for real)
(Of course I think the whole thing is silly... don't we have better things to worry about than what virtual characters do in the virtual world?)
If parents don't want their children exposed, they can chose to not let them play the game. However, I fail to see how the game is going to portray anything different than their peers in school. No, instead, these idiots want regulation and law to enforce their standards and ideals on others. Have some personal accountability.
In other news, its not like they force the LGBT encounters on you in the game. You pretty much have to consciously chose them.
If sharing a song makes you a pirate, what do I have to share to be a ninja?
I don't think that Evangelicals are big market for these kind of games anyway. Another political stunt by the bigots on the extreme fringes.
This is an easy enough fix for EA. Allow parents to 'turn off the gay' in Mass Effect if they want to.
Actually, strike that... I think EA should just ignore these morons.
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
Obviously a PR move, "hey stockholders, people don't hate us cause we're shitty, they just hate us cause we support gay rights!"
Worse company because they have games that give you the option to engage in same sex marriage??? All this time guys were playing as female avatars to get together with guys was getting old. Now you can legitimately engage in a loving relationship between two males or two females.
EA was under fire years ago for horrible working conditions, where workers were putting in 60+ hours a week and in one case 80 hours! But I think EA loosened up a bit but I'm not surprised if this is still going on. Working for the game industry below upper management is very volatile because everbody is eager to work for a game company until they realise how much grueling hours they have to put in.
In those games, you actually have to ACTIVELY PURSUE gay relationships. So are these groups arguing that game makers have an obligation to stop good Christians from their *own* desire to pursue gay relationships? Because I'm pretty sure that eliminating the POSSIBILITY of gayness in a game is not going to make them all into good Christian heterosexuals, especially if they're *that* determined to pursue the gay endings.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Any place, game or person that condones homosexuality is going straight to hell.
It's not like the FRC are going to buy their software anyway.
Caving to the likes of the FRC is not going to get them anywhere and they should simply circular-file the letters, which are easy to spot because they are all identical. It's too bad that a lot of companies cave to tactics like this. Do they come out ahead after? Nope.
--
BMO
It does not currently have them. There are some suggestive conversations between different characters but is as close as it gets. Top it off with how bad the in game romance story lines are and I serious doubt any self respecting gay person would want to see the Bioware developers take a stab at it.
I mean, the scripts used make the prequel love story between Anakin and Padme look downright Academy Award material.
Then toss in the fact it all is a computerized version of "Choose your own Adventure" and its painfully obvious you could choose to totally ignore that direction in any conversation.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
It doesn't make sense when they have to appeal to all gamers. And, the content is completely avoidable for those that don't want to see it. EA has the right to include something that is so accustomed in our society today anyway. You can boycott EA all you want, they will still sell just as many games.
I was only offended by the way in which that content was incorporated. It seemed like it was just slapped into the game to please a specific group of gamers, without any thought as to how it would affect the story.
Example -- I was talking with James, and my lady-killer Shep (the one who romanced every woman in the previous games and was a complete douce to Kaidan at every possible moment.. up until I had him nuked) made a pass at him ...a guy... and he did it without user input. WTF? I don't have a problem with the pass being made, but I have a problem with it not being within my specific shepard's well-defined personality.
When I got to the end of the game, however, the sloppy story integration made total sense.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Mass Effect 3 is a game with, according to the esrb, "Sexual content" and "Partial nudity" (butts, breasts off screen sex) and is of course rated M. The hell sort of "children" are playing that? According to folks like the FRC, children should be able to buy such a game, so what do they care? Of all the things in such a game to get angry about. One would think they would be requiring EA to take out the whole relationship thing as a whole due to the sex. Crap. I gave them an idea.
Far too many religious people define themselves by what they hate, and measure their own worth by how much hatred they can stir up.
Personally, I'd like to see all these hateful "Family" outfits treated the same way as other hate mongers that are currently dealt with harshly by law, like neo-Nazis and Islamists.
Um, in Star Wars Galaxies ten years ago you could have same-sex marriage and inter-species marriage. Where was the outcry then?
You know with all the families that deal with neglect, abuse and other problems you'd think Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council would have other topics to tackle that are just a tiny bit more important than whether or not a parent is too shitty to talk to their child about homosexuality in media. For crying out loud, people, really?
You know, you have a right to be homophobic, I can't tell you how to raise your children. But don't fuck up my kid while you're at it. "Mommy, why was I able to marry my best friend in the SWTOR?" "Because some people are homosexuals and we believe that's wrong so don't ever do it in real life." There, was that so hard? Please let the rest of us move forward while your ignorance dies with you, okay?
My work here is dung.
If they are angry on "think of the children" grounds, then shouldn't they be mad about the fact that the characters are having SEX, not just that the characters are the same sex?
But no way, that would be . . . hypocritical!
I'll be happy to lend a hand in responding to some of them. I have an innate ability to respond in a way that is completely rational, yet drives the religious nuts up the walls at the same time.
I consider it my super power.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Which they feel is equivalent to sticking something up your ass.
Not that theres anything wrong with that.
Whats the rating on ME3?
If its 16 or 18+ can you really say its still corrupting children?
And those "family" people that would say that children are still going to play it, its their task to stop that, no?
Games are a luxury item, not a necessity.
If you don't like it, don't buy it.
If you want to pressure a company, organize a boycott. But do so based on facts and your well-documented position, not on innuendo and supposition.
In the free market, money talks. If enough would-be customers agree with you, the company's stockholders will get the message. If the company's customers pretty much ignore you, then oh well.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Chose? Choose
Make it off by default, and anyone that wants it...can flip the switch, so to speak. That way you have a choice to be gay or not...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Isn't the figure that 1 in 10 people is LGBorT? Including LGBT content won't "turn kids gay"... you either are or aren't. What it does do is accept the reality of our world, and provide acceptance for people that might otherwise still live horridly stressful closeted lives.
It's simple... if you don't agree with homosexuality, then simply DON'T shtoop people of the same sex as you! Denying that LGBT people exist and are part of our culture/norm isn't going to change facts.
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
Would eliminating privileges of marriage be better?
Well, it would be fairer.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
If "children" playing this game are mature enough to cope with the issues of conventional warfare, genetic warfare, genocide, robot races turning on their creators, intentional extinguishing of all other life by a super race, gang warfare, racism (specism), people being abducted and digested alive into raw materials, and terrorism throughout the Mass Effect games, they're probably mature enough to cope with a dude having an intimate relationship with another dude. (Or chick/chick. But I suspect that's the far smaller part of the complaint.)
Get your politics and public issues out of my video games. I just want to blow shit up not be grossed out by dudes going at it.
"We refer you to the response given in Arkell v Pressdram."
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
gay characters, situations and stories have been in games and stories for a long time and it's here to stay for a long time too. so in other words, even if you don't like, deal with it cause it's here to stay
Sometime this month, the Legacy patch is landing and in there you'll be able to construct a family tree. Well, all my characters are dudes because I hate pretending to be a chick in a game and I hate when people flirt with me. So anyway a feature of this new patch is going to be that you can construct family trees with your characters and their children will inherit traits from the parents that they have learned. I'm guessing you can have two parents of the same sex. And, honestly, if you have two level 50 male characters and only those you're probably going to marry them to give the kid better learned traits (unless you can only inherit one trait). There's not a lot more details than that but I haven't seen information one way or the other if same sex marriage will be possible.
My work here is dung.
The LGBT controversy is EA trying to misdirect the rage.
This is not proof, just a visual representation of my point: http://i.imgur.com/UmLsc.jpg
They are not the worst company because of LGBT content in a game, they are the worst company because of their draconian DRM, their theft of money from paying customers, and their ineffective customer service. If the stock market understands that this is a company trend, their stock will plummet. However, if they can convince the stock market that the ranking is due to a short-term LGBT controversy, their stock price will only take a minor hit.
The various plugs, cables, and ports on my game console have male and female ends.
It's no coincidence that the male part and female part mate up much better than male-male or female-female connections.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
George Takei has offered up his name as an alternative to gay, so you can support Takei Marrage instead.
Chill out and accept everyone, including those who don't tolerate you.
I don't like what's in my video game. Waaaaah!
What a bunch of fags.
I have it on good authority (No, I can't reveal my source) that this is EA responding to being voted the worst company of 2012 by Consumerist.com. The higher-ups are worried about the bad press right before the stock holders meeting, so they are deliberately trying to spin the negative press as being tied to their support of LGBT. However it's pretty obvious that the voters at the Consumerist were much more focused on EA's price gouging and charging extra for downloadable content just to get the basic content, anti-competitive measures and a host of other issues.
So when you hear EA saying "They hate us because we're taking a stand for human rights", you know the truth is "They hate you because you mercilessly squeeze every dollar out of your customers, you provide horrid customer service and because you deliberately hold back game content as DLC, making the customers feel like they're being blackmailed instead of being consumers."
Just like the MPAA rating board.
Violence is fine.
Sex is evil.
Fits well with the small faction of christian nutjobs who work tirelessly to spread their evangelism to all parts of the country and the world.
How so few people manage to have such a profound impact is truly amazing.
They definitely aren't a lazy bunch.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
The gay sex scenes (which really aren't even scenes!) are wife's favorite parts of Mass Effect II. Sure it might gain Renegade points for my fem shep, but I have to listen to my wife - my avatar is modeled after her. I'm pleased to see EA morph is to a less evil company over time, but I wouldn't say I love them, especially since Mass Effect III isn't (and won't be) on Steam. I do hope they resist pressure and put more (optional) lesbianism instead of less into future games.
Of all the things to hate EA for, they choose progressive gay rights? I'd say I have to side with EA on this, but I'm choosing to believe BioWare had the cubes convince EA to let them put it in.
One of the very best things about the additional "same-sex" content was how completely UN-weird it was, and I applaud the developers for treating a historically delicate subject as standard fare. Hell, Cortez almost made me cry when I found out he lost his husband; that was definitely NOT the usual "zomg gheys!" giggle-treatment. Even the treatment of inter-racial relationships still doesn't have that level of dignity in entertainment media.
I figure if a vampire can eat a fetus out of the uterus of the woman he impregnated with his zombie spawn on screen, and the only protest is the quality of the acting, two dudes can make out in a video-game just peachy.
I'm surprised that people can get things done in this day and age. Everyone has an opinion which has to be forced onto other people. Personally I don't want to see gay stuff in my games, but if I don't make the wrong choices in game I won't see it, so no problem. I'm sure people don't want a lot of things to happen to them in game, but make the wrong choices and you get "shafted".
Seriously though, instead of banning it, put warnings on it or think of some other way to overcome your differences. Stop playing this "I'm right and your wrong" game.
It's incredible how this all started with Jeremy asking EA to "suck his balls," way back in 2004. Who knew they listened to customer feedback?
Well, EA can still suck my balls, and there's no religious group that will intimidate me from making such a request.
http://www.purepwnage.com/ has the full video, but there's egregious ad-portals in front of them. So you only have to sit through one, it's Season 1, Episode 3. The whole thing's worth watching, but the quote is at 4:14.
As for fundamentalist family groups, they can suck my balls too. I can only hate on EA so much.
First of all, where are the same-sex relationships in SWOTR?
Secondly - besides having lived in the bible-belt for quite some time, I'm still shocked. I expect that the next time Germany's foreign minister (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Westerwelle) comes around, he'll be bared from speaking publicly or something..
So these groups don't have a problem with slicing people in half with a light saber, but they draw the line at two guys getting married? Sorry, I just can't take these people seriously. Not that I ever really could.
I find that if I can substitute the word "bigot" in place of the word "family" and the title still fits, then I don't listen to that organization.
Organizations like the Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council are terrorists, plain and simple. They firebomb abortion clinics, they terrorize soldier funerals and they do this terror tactic.
Why is it OK for these religious extremist groups to practice terrorist like acts inside the united states and get away with them? If any other religous faction were to do it they would see a government smackdown of epic proportions.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I think EA needs to check their facts. Sending in letters to let a corporation know you do not approve of their behavior isn't 'harassment', it's freedom of speech, which is precisely why it is enshrined within the founding documents of the United States of America, and simply because letter senders speak from a position many deem 'unacceptable' doesn't violate that groups right to speak on behalf of their beliefs, unless you think everyone is required to accept homosexuality. Seems to me EA also missed the part whereby some thousand or more game-players exercised their right to free speech with respect to Mass Effect 3's ending, which seems odd to me, as it would appear it's quite acceptable to decry a video games ending like children throwing a tempter tantrum, but if you write a company to criticize their choice to popularize life-styles that conflict with your personal and cherished beliefs, your letters are labeled 'political harassment'. But I guess manipulating the masses is one good quality of every successful video game company. For the record, I'm a independent atheist, but everyone has the right in my opinion to say what they want, and if the US continues trending in it's current direction, the following link portends our future: http://catholicexchange.com/canada-orders-pastor-to-renounce-his-faith/ Not really where I want to see civilization trend.
Worth mentioning that EA is only the worst company in the world if you disproportionately count the opinion of disgruntled 4chan /v/ users. Because that is what actually happened.
I think you'll find that you piss-ant pinheads don't add up a rounding error on EA's balance sheet..
BTW, the girl on girl shower scene in ME3: hawt. The straight one? Lame. But why the hell does Traynor still have her knickers on and Shepard still has her uniform on? Despite that, and despite the aging UE3 engine it's rendered in ... still hawt.
Anyway back from that little daydream ... the FRC is an outfit that's basically run by a guy by the name of Brian Fischer. Go look up some of the things this toad says: he's seriously mental. He makes Jack Thompson look sane. He's a regular paycheck and lack of a colorful sign away from Fred Phelps.
(Not Mine but worth reading through. I honestly think some people believe 15:33 is going to happen).
8:00 a.m. Wake up. Wonder where you are.
8:01 a.m. Realize you are lying on 100 percent cotton sheets of at least a 300 count, so don't panic; you're not slumming.
8:02 a.m. Realize you are actually in your own bed for a change. Wake stranger next to you and tell them you are late for work so won't be able to cook breakfast for them. Mutter "sorry" as you help him look for his far-flung underwear. You find out that you tore his boxers while ripping them off him last night, so you "loan" him a pair of boxer-briefs, but not the new ones because you never intend to see him again.
8:05 a.m. Tell the stranger, whose name eludes you, "It was fun. I'll give you a call," as you usher him out the door, avoiding his egregious morning-breath.
8:06 a.m. Crumple and dispose of the piece of paper with his telephone number on it when you get to the kitchen.
8:07 a.m. Make a high protein breakfast while watching the Today show. Wonder if the stories you've heard about Matt Lauer are true. Decide they must be.
8:30 a.m. Italian or domestic? Decide to go with three-button Italian and the only shirt that is clean.
8:45 a.m. Climb into red Z4 and try not to look too much like Barbie driving one of her accessories as you pull out of your underground parking. Revos or Armanis? Go with Revos.
9:35 a.m. Stroll into office.
9:36 a.m. Close door to office and call best friend and laugh about the guy who spent the night at your condo. Point out something annoying about best friend's boyfriend but quickly add "It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, just as long as you love him."
10:15 a.m. Leave office, telling your secretary you are "meeting with a client." Pretend not to notice her insubordinate roll of her eyes (or the cloying "poem" she has tacked to her cubicle wall).
10:30 a.m. Hair appointment for lowlights and cut. Purchase of Aveda anti-humectant pomade.
11:30 a.m. Run into personal trainer at gym. Pester him about getting you Human Growth Hormone. Spend 30 minutes talking to friends on your cell phone while using Hammer Strength machines, preparing a mental-matrix of which circuit parties everyone is going to and which are now passe.
12:00pm Tan. Schedule back-waxing in time for Saturday party where you know you will end up shirtless.
12:30 p.m. Pay trainer for anabolic steroids and schedule a workout. Shower, taking ten minutes to knot your tie while you check-out your best friend's boyfriend undress with the calculation of someone used to wearing a t-back and having dollars stuffed in their crotch.
1:00 p.m. Meet someone for whom you only know his waist, chest and penis size from AOL M4M chat for lunch at a hot, new restaurant. Because the maître d' recognizes you from a gay bar, you are whisked past the Christian heterosexual couples who have been waiting patiently for a table since 12:30.
2:30 p.m. "Dessert at your place." Find out, once again, people lie on AOL.
3:33 p.m. Assume complete control of the U.S., state, and local governments (in addition to other nations' governments); destroy all healthy Christian marriages; recruit all children grades Kindergarten through 12 into your amoral, filthy lifestyle; secure complete control of the media, starting with sitcoms; molest innocent children; give AIDS to as many people as you can; host a pornographic "art" exhibit at your local art museum; and turn people away from Jesus, causing them to burn forever in Hell.
4:10 p.m. Time permitting, bring about the general decline of Western Civilization and look like you are having way too much fun doing it.
4:30 p.m. Take a disco-nap to prevent facial wrinkles from the stress of world conquest and being so terribly witty.
6:00 p.m. Open a fabulous new bottle of Malbec.
6:47 P.M. Bake Ketamine for weekend. Test recipe.
7:00 P.M. Go to Abercrombie & Fitch and announce in a loud voice, "Over!"
the USPS must be getting for this! Aside, printing and signing canned letters is about as effectual in real life as having a gay relationship in an video game.
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
It's full of gods!
During the SW:TOR beta tests, the issue was brought up several times, and it always erupted into a firestorm of controversy on the forums. Originally, there weren't any homosexual romantic relationships with NPCs. The devs stated that they planned to add it in the future. The direction that the game is headed, based on those dev comments, is one of the major reasons I refuse to play that game. That, and all the general chat that made Barrens Chat look like civil discourse. It's too bad, because I generally had fun during the beta tests.
When is the SPLC going to sue Electronic Arts for the hate crime of practicing the politics of exclusion against pederasty??? Has the SPLC been taken over by neo-Nazis???
Seastead this.
marriage with goats?
Homosexuality does seem to be something of an evolutionary aberration, since it does not actually create a natural tendency to contribute to the propagation of the species.
And people who might suggest that this trait exists as some sort of built-in population control mechanism in evolution need to do some reading about the matter, and on how evolution works. There isn't a scrap of actual reputable scientific evidence that suggests that this is true, or that evolution ever did or ever could work that way.
Are these bastards really going to make me side with EA on something? I need a shower.
Just think of it as an EA PR story. Its not like ignoring thousands of letters is something new to them. Its just business as usual.
The game is rated mature, which means that giving it to a minor is morally analogous to giving them an R-rated movie. As a conservative Christian, I find it more problematic that parents give their kids and teens mature games than the fact that a mature game has a mature option you have to actively seek out. Unlike the MPAA which only grudgingly explains to parents how they arrived at their decision, the ESRB bends over backwards to empower traditional families to really find out which games are appropriate for their kids and teens.
What I still can't get is why EA even bothered with gay male options. 90% of their demographic (heterosexuals) tend to find watching actual gay sex between men to be repulsive (lesbians are a different story). It's a toss up between normal heterosexual men and women who finds watching two dudes going at it more repulsive to actually watch.
I think speak for many ME fans at this point by saying that the space for the gay sex options would have been better spent adding more to the ending...
Would gay people and supporters of gay people's rights object if there simply HADN'T been any gay material in the work? I mean, it's understandable if there would be an objection if they had heard it had been specifically excluded from consideration, but what if it had simply never been an issue? How many people would have objected to the notion that homosexuals weren't explicitly included? Why?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
If you believe the in EVOLUTION you must, scientifically and logically, understand that homosexuality is nothing more than a mental defect.
1. Other than simple celled life there must be two sexes, that mate and fertilize some sort of egg.
2. While there are documented species that will have a certain % that will switch gender to reproduce, that just proves #1 and disproves homosexuality.
3. If you were to profile the human race, based on sexual activity homosexuality would be described as an ABNORMAL behavior. That vast majority are wired correctly and engage in heterosexual bonding.
So unless you just want to be contrary, homosexuality is a provable mental defect. There may be many in society that think its cute, and harmless, but mentally and physically its not. The male anus is not a reproductive organ. And if humanity is to copulate, reproduce and evolve homosexuality has absolutely no place in that process.
Science for the WIN!
Firstly let me state that I'm not gay.
That said, I accept that homosexuality has been found to be a natural part of the animal kingdom (not just humans) since the beginning of all life, as far as smarter people than me can tell.
Blowing peoples brains out with assault weapons is absolutely not natural.
Yet look at which issue the American parents are worried that their kids might learn about.
Personally I don't believe there's much of a cause/effect thing with kids becoming more violent just from playing violent video games, but there's always gonna be a very low percantage of freakish kids that will prove any theory wrong.
I prefer believe that glorifying hard violence is far more dangerous to younger kids minds than showing people of the same sex kissing.
But then the real fault is actually with the parents that let those kids play these games in the first place, even though they're often clearly marked 18+.
Lets move the blame back to where it belongs, on the parents for not properly shielding and educating their kids instead of doing that very American thing of finding everyone/anyone else to blame instead of acknowledging their own failures.
There are hundreds of things in these games which are not compatible with the book of lord. Killing people every minute, mystery forces and so on. Just get over it and play Hello kitty adventure instead, 100% free of gay marriage.
These same people rant and rave about Sharia Law coming to America, because they're worried it would move in on their turf.
But their values are more like those of Nazi Germany. I'm with EA on this one.
Am I the only one thinking the if those moron bigots want to protect their children they should not let them play games that have a "Mature" rating?
Isn't the figure that 1 in 10 people is LGBorT?
No, only about 1 in 40 in the US. See "Sex in America, a Definitive Survey" 2.8% of men, 1.4% of women. 1 in 10 in the largest 5 cities, much lower in more sparsely populated areas. Data based on detailed interviews with 3400 people randomly selected, not self-selected.
It's not enough that you turn our children into terrorists. Now you make them *GAY* terrorists? Jeeze.
Maybe the magic boy in the Citadel can wave his magic wand again and make a magic light that combines the gay and the anti-gay into a single, synthesized form.
They put it in there for people who might like it?
I just didn't pursue a gay relationship in the game. Problem solved.
WHEN do I get to make out with Mako!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There's a lot of reasons why EA is an incredibly shitty company, however, this is not one of them.
Also, correct me if i'm wrong, but EA is simply publisher for the games listed, and did not have a hand in the actual content.
These letters should be shot off a Bioware instead.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
He probably doesn't believe in Amazon, either.
All this talk about a male/male option in ME3 and I never even found out who it supposed to be! Vega? The latino pilot? Garrus? xD
What I want to say, if you don't look for it, you won't probably find it. It's not like you have to sleep with guys to get a perfect ending (a lot of masturbation a.k.a. Galaxy at War, but it's another matter).
There are options for murder, genocide and (probably) jaywalking and having a possibility to romance a dude is their biggest problem?
Yet another neo-Nazi no doubt!
Seastead this.
I think Gay/Lesbian is like religion. It doesn’t make any sense, but who am I to say otherwise.
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
No one is going to become gay or have a sex change because they saw it in a video game. That thought is just so stupid I can't believe they are saying it. I had my first gay thought at 5 years old, long before I heard anything about sexual orientation. I was left thinking there was something wrong with me and that I was the only one. That is hugely damaging to a child. Sexual orientation isn't absolute, it is a range. From 100% straight to having an appreciation for the same sex nude form. Then there are those that reach out and touch someone of the same sex.Those that are equally happy with either sex, bisexuals. People who prefer the same sex but don't want to give up the opposite and those that are fully gay. Showing children only one form of relationship confuses them because what they are feeling inside isn't being explained outside. You can change your religion but not your sexual orientation.
"many allege that EA was pressured by LGBT activists to include the content, which they say is forcing LGBT themes on children playing the games"
Clearly these people have never played Bioware's games, and know nothing about their politics. Nobody had to force them to include LGBT themes: Bioware has been pushing liberal political themes (gender, racial, and orientation equality; international engagement and anti-isolationism; community activism over corporate greed) on their own for a decade now -- and they started long before they joined up with EA.
That's not a criticism. The authors are entitled to present political opinions in their work. If you don't like it, make your own game. If it's good enough to sell 3 million copies, I'm sure EA will be happy to distribute it for you.
I saw a meme doing the rounds this morning that showed EA getting into the semi finals of a worst company competition. I had a look at TFA but it didn't say what people have against EA besides a cursory reference to "nickel and diming" their customers. As a non gamer I'm curious about why people (religious fundamentalist nutjobs aside) are upset by this company.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
EA does a lot of shitty things, but this isn't one of them. EA may lose .02% of their revenue, because I doubt these fundies really buy their games.
As a rule of thumb, any organization with the word "Family" in their name is probably a clavern of fag-bashing, misogynist, usually-racist sociopaths and lunatics, who would fit right in with the Taliban if not for their disagreement about what God's name is, whether Mohammed was His prophet, and maybe five or six other minor points of theology:
American Family Association (and state claverns)
Family Research Council
Focus on the Family
Colorado for Family Values
Family Institute of Connecticut
etc.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Would eliminating privileges of marriage be better?
Well, it would be fairer.
It always drove me nuts that some people are trying to define the notion of marriage in a government context in a religious context. I wonder how long before we either a) ban marriage between anyone who's not religious or b) just make up a new damn word for government marriages.
Once the word marriage became a term in law religion no longer had any say in the definition.
They're *too* tame. Where's the Hanar love interest for my femshep? Tentacles, baby! Or a hot sexy Elcor for maleshep?
Elcor: Expression of ecstasy. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh yes. Now the next one.
Shepard: How many holes do you have back here?
Elcor: Alluring quip. They are legion. The time of my climax is coming.
I guess I'm replying to a troll but this "How can there be gays if we evolved?" is so common (and so wrong) way for people to think that it's worth an answer.
Evolution works on the level of a community, not on that of an individual. Let's say that there are two communities of 100 people. In community A, there is a gene that increases your likelihood to be homosexual and in community B there is no such gene. In A, one of every 10 children is gay and in B, everyone is straight. So the claim is that "A produces 10% less children in each generation and as time goes on, the community (and with that, the gene) will disappear".
That holds true only assuming that the homosexuals have no positive effect on the community. If the presence of (statistically) more effeminate/less threatening men in the community A increases the survival rate of the reproducing people in any way by enough to offset the 10% slowed down reproduction, the community that has this gene stays competitive. I can think of some ways through which that could happen but I'm not an anthropologist and the exact mechanic isn't that important for this argument so I won't give it a shot at this time.
Of course that's oversimplification: It assumes that homosexuals never breed (which certainly isn't the case), that sexual orientation is constant (whether you can choose it or not, it's pretty common for especially bisexuals to have mostly-straight and mostly-gay phases in their life), doesn't take into account the fact that it could be a defect and still survive (if communities that kill everyone who is different have less chances to survive than those who tolerate differences - even defects - to some degree), etc. etc... But the point is this: Evolution and homosexuality don't conflict in any way
Lets be honest, many times the relationships are not homosexual, they are xenosexual.
Fantasy remains a human right; we make in our measure and in our derivative mode... -- JRR Tolkien
There is no need to make it blatantly public and apparent what someone's sexual orientation is in a video game. Real world issues like this should be left blank and if the game's community members feel they need to have it known they are homosexual, heterosexual or even trysexual, then they can just act that out on their own. There is absolutely no need to make it visible to everyone, especially for a small minority of the population.
I have nothing against gays, lesbians and transgender people... but this constant need to advertise their sexuality is wearing thin with me and even my gay friends and family members.
Just live your life. There is no need to constantly keep it out in the open this way.
The real reason that this has come up now is that they added a male-male relationship. For years now you could romance Liara, while she is an alien she is undeniably some sort of female looking alien and that was ok. Because as a society we have decided female on female stuff is ok or at least ignorable but this male on male stuff is icky and thus the fundamentalist morons have to get all up in arms.
I don't know much about Mass Effect, but for accuracy there should only be one kind of romantic relationship in a Star Wars game, and that's the pure romantic love between a young man and his sister.
Yes, I am applying the Matrix sequel rule to the prequels. They deserve it.
Anybody care to explain why it isn't?
Homosexuals are less than 1 percent of the male population. Try to imagine what that's like. 50% of the population are of no interest to you (females), and 99% of the remaining 50%, males, are not interested in you either. You are a freak on the outside of society. Obviously your greatest dream is that there would be MORE gays around, wouldn't it.
Rather like - if a normal (i.e. heterosexual) man lived in a world in which 99.5% of the population were male, he would wish that there were more women around. A LOT more women around. If he could somehow magically turn men into women by CONVINCING them that they were really women, don't you think he'd be putting a huge amount of energy into that endeavour?
That's exactly what gays have been doing for the past fifty years.
None of this 'pro-gay' nonsense is democratic, it's terrorism, pure and simple. If you don't agree with 'the party line', you can be sacked from your job, or even put in prison, in the U.K. and other Zionist controlled countries.
Boycott these sickos and let them go bust. MOST people think homosexuality is vile, but are terrified of saying so. Why don't all the gays go and live in their own country, and stop FORCING their presence onto people who don't want them around? Do you believe in freedom of association or not?
I wholeheartedly support same-sex liasons in any games, because why not? Read the history of ancient and medieval militaries(Romans, Ottomans, etc) for details on that topic. EA et al have to appeal to all their customers, and they know the ultra-right nuts ain't gonna play their games anyway...
But, I don't want to see any screenshots of Shephard and Thane Kreos doing the interstellar tango.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
You know if people don't like spinach they don't go out and try to ban or stop it, so why are so many people so freaked out by this? If you are that freaked out about gay\lesbian people THEN YOU ARE A HOMOPHOBE. And yet these people all claim to do this in the name of religion, seems like terrorists do the same thing, so now your a homophobic terrorist. And yet all these so called christians seem to forget that "He who is without sin cast the first stone" and the other thing is we should never sit in judgement of other people (that's gods job) oh and what happened to "everyone out there is our brother\sister and we are their keeper" no matter what there religious/moral/sexual beliefs are. We should ALL PRACTICE a little more tolerance. Im Just Sayin
They were probably born that way too. Where's the love, EA?
Plenty of people, even before the internet, where homosexual. Mass media in the world today may contribute to people be curious about it, but it doesn't force anything on kids. On another note... Mass effect is an NC17 game isnt it? Arnt most games where same sex relations coming into play already NC17 to begin with? I think I have to side with EA on this.
Who cares about homosexuality. It's not a big news item in any form. The big news item is that EA rightfully earned the Golden Poo. I'd honestly put any number of local cable monopolies above EA but EA is definitely top 10 epic fucking fail companies in this country. I can't wait for that stock to tank and rid us of one more worthless company that has yet to add any significant value to anything it has shoved its greedy little hands into.
Read this and weep (you may skip the 2/3rds of the book that contains the footnotes):
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
The world would be a happier place if there was no religion.
As someone who has bought SimCity, The Sims (about 12 versions), MySims, some EA FIFA games, and just paid for the Katy Perry Showtime add on to The Sims 3, I hope they ignore those letters.
Think of the failed boycott of Starbucks - ten (10) times as many people bought MORE Starbucks (we in Seattle tend to avoid Starbucks, but we drank it when we heard of the anti-gay boycott) as boycotted it.
Anti-gay policies don't get you more customers - they get you fewer customers.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
They should boycott Zynga. When I was playing Frontierville, you have a chance to get married, and it made no attempt to stop me from giving my male character a male spouse. Think of the children!
Maybe we should Boycott Florida until they get rid of their same-sex relationship content.
Seriously people.
You know why most people don't get involved in these arguments and fight all the intolerance? Because most people are tolerant of the intolerant people too and just want you to get along with people and stop being so dumb.
Looks like The Consumerist's poll was successfully DDoS by the anti-gay trolls.
none
This was, most likely, EA's idea in the first place: gather attention by showing gay relationships in Mass Effect 3, and have people think "how tolerant".
- Almost every main female character has bigger boobs in ME3 than they did on previous games. Some have more curved bodies. It quite hard to avoid noticing it.
- Sexier females are more present in the posters/ads.
- The main female human (Ashley) isn't ugly any more.
- The game has a no-brainer "kill 'em all" multiplayer mode, to attract the masses that just like to shoot stuff.
- You have to "save the earth", OMG!
Adding gay content was just to attract even more attention for another, previously unexploited, demographic.
Hmmm KOTOR and Mass Effect? Loved those games...even as a heterosexual male.
Also, I might add, the comments from gay friends have pointed out that the "gay possibilities" in these games (in particular these) are kinda lame anyway (actually, the hetero possibilities are kinda lame too actually...)
Though still... Its good to see games that take the time to put in content that appeals to other audiences. I know male heterosexual gamers, like myself, are the lions share of the industry, but these games show that you can include content to appeal to different groups without detracting from the game.
The biggest sins of these games was the debacle that is only evident if you try to play KOTOR II and Mass Effect back to back (hint: its basically the same story... the central space stations even have the same name and same origin... seriously....)
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
Fuck what those people think
They are not going to buy the game anyways.
Hmm, my attempt at deadpan humor must've been TOO deadpan.
My apologies to anyone who found my post offensive in any way.
And yes, I have plenty of gender-changers and over the years I've frequently use them to mate m-m and f-f parts. I am also aware of the hermaphrodite Token-Ring cable. I've also "gotten really kinky" and used "species-changers" (typically USB to SATA or IDE adapters), even if that may not be legal in all states.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
And it's the gay sex bothering them? Not, say, the 6 year old kid that gets killed in the opening scenes of the game or the sniper rifle headshots that make heads explode like watermelons? Or the humans being turned into zombie-like creatures? Yeah, exposing your kid to off-screen same-sex hookups in those games isn't what's making you a terrible parent, there.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
You are not just anti-gay you are anti-christian.
To the casual reader Song of Solomon 5:2-4 talks about fisting. Biblical scholars will point out that it says no such thing and that "hands" and "feet" are often used to represent genitals in the bible.
Now you have to reread your Bible for the number if times Jesus either washes his male follower's "feet" or gets his own "feet" "anointed". Or goes around touching men's hands or feet.
Seriously, you are a dude who travels around with 12 men and a fag hag and you are anti-gay? Get real.
If you want to cite "a man who lays with a man as a man would lay with a woman shall be put to death!" keep in mind 2 things:
1. Lesbians are just fine according to that law.
2. That was the angry hateful part of the Bible which became obsolete after Jesus shows up on the scene and starts preaching about "loving your neighbor", "turning the other cheek." and generally not being an asshat.
Star Trek TNG had a very poignant episode on same sex clashes with another alien race. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outcast_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)
I like assholes.
And EA supports you in at least two ways.
Self righteous religious bigots demanding everyone do everything their way...Same old same old.
Bio weapons, chemical weapons, genocide, and slavery in those games are obviously a nuisance in comparison to two dudes getting it on.
I tried to engage the forum for SWTOR and get ALL 'sexual content' to be filter-able. I was met with harassment from the pro-gay advocates because they said 'why are you protesting now' in which I responded with 'because I just bought the freakin game?'
Then on top of that, every post I made, specifically and clearly stating, 'all sexual content', was removed by moderators and I was given infractions for each.
Then one representative sent me an email saying 'that's discrimination' basically, and I responded with 'How is it discrimination when I specifically said ALL opposite gender, and same gender content'.
He did not respond to the email.
I am straight but have nothing against homosexuality. I just thought that the overt inclusion of homosexual relationships in Mass Effect 3 -- from nearly the beginning of the game -- was completely out of place. It's a fantasy world. Keep your political statements out of it. If you want to pursue a homosexual relationship with a crew member you are more than welcome to. Don't shove it down my throat -- so to speak.
I thought we were already boycotting EA because of their obnoxious DRM.
Sharia Law would be much worse. Homosexuals would be killable with no repercussions on any killer who claims to be Muslim.
The Family Research Council, led by Tony Perkins, is also involved. "In a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists!" said Perkins.
The Empire is the BAD GUYS, which makes "homosexual activists" the GOOD GUYS, Perkins a SITH LORD, and his statement hilariously apt.
lets get real. God is made up, and homosexuallity appears all over in nature.... making it as natural as heteros... its just a less common trait. Lets boycott religion instead
Personally, I'm not a prude. When my kids ask me about sex, I'm going to just tell them. And the main things I'm going to warn them about are pregnancy and disease, the latter of which applies regardless of the type of sexual relationship. If my any of my kids turn out gay, I'm just going to explain to them the social challenges, in an effort to help them navigate the minefields they might otherwise encounter. And the fact is, that is only one out of countless other things that people get persecuted for. How about being geeky? Or fat? Or short? Or even just female (in certain cultures)? In that regard being gay isn't any different.
However, there are many people who get all bothered by talk of sex for kids who are "too young" or whatever. Culturally, for the sake of kids, we have separated romance from sex. Heterosexual relationships are ubiquitous, and everyone sees that there are families with kids. Exactly how those kids came to be may be left as a mystery for some kids until they're "old enough", but you can't exactly ignore the existance of the families. And even in elementary school, you sometimes find kids pairing off and having little mini romances, that are effectively platonic. But the tricky part is when you get into homosexual relationships, because, culturally, we're programmed to think of them in terms of sex, not in terms of romance. That's obviously bullshit; homosexuals are like anyone else, wanting romance (or not) on an individual basis. But that's not how certain vocal people see it.
So there are actually two issues here. One is sex, and the other is homosexual relationships. Certain overlapping groups want both of those stricken from "material suitable for kids."
This is a challenge for a company like EA who wants to make money, and they do so by appealing to people's interests. The instant they add relationships of ANY KIND to their games, they get caught between the group that find a lack of gay relationships to be unfair and the group that finds homosexuality to be objectionable. Personally, I think the latter group can go screw themselves. It's the 21st century, and we know damn well that homosexuality is a normal part of not just human existance but much of the rest of the animal kingdom. But for EA, that's a connundrum, because they're actually entirely amoral about it. They don't care whether something is in the game or not. They just want to sell software, and they maximize their revenue by adding features that people find appealing. The last thing they need is two warring groups causing them equal amounts of trouble.
What EA should do is tell these groups to get together and hash it out, and whatever they collectively decide, EA will do. Meanwhile, until they manage that, these activists can shut up and leave EA alone to do their business.
two known hate groups that would love to outlaw homosexuality
...and there's me complaining bitterly that my SWtOR characters aren't allowed to flirt with NPCs of the same sex. I guess I missed something.
... is like telling a grown man he can't have a steak because an infant might choke on it.
People keep saying that you can avoid the gay content, but that's not true. In Mass Effect 3, the shuttle pilot (I forget his name) mentions in your first conversation with him that he is gay. If you ask if he has any family, he elaborates how he used to have a husband who was lost when the Reapers attacked or whatnot.
I remember thinking how cool this was when I first started the game. Bioware/EA had made a homosexual character have an important role in the game, as he's the dude who flies Shepard into just about every mission. As part of his storyline, you can help him hold a memorial for his husband and see some touching emotional scenes.
It's definitely different that this is a non-romantic NPC, as you can avoid romantic interludes with dudes if you want, and stick to various females or female-looking aliens. But you can't avoid that the guy talking to Shepard all the time, that Shepard relies on and is friends with, and is in all the numerous shuttle landing scenes loves weiner. It's awesome.
A lot of anti-gay stance is based round the concept that being gay is a choice and not a fundamental attribute.
And that is a stupid debate, on both sides.
I like to eat blue cheese. A lot of other people think that's gross. Say some of them wanted to prohibit it. Would we then argue about why I like to eat blue cheese, whether I was born that way or learned that behavior or make a conscious choice every time I feel like eating blue cheese, whether other animals like to eat it too.... or would we ask simply whether there's anything wrong with it?
Likewise, if I were some kind of crazy who compulsively maimed people. There are some animals who are like that too, like dogs that have been mistreated and bite everybody. Maybe life broke my mind, or maybe I was just born that way. Does that excuse such behavior? It it's harmful, it's harmful, and should be prohibited no matter why people do it. And it it's harmless, it's harmless, and should be permitted, no matter why people do it.
It doesn't matter, at all, whether being gay is something you're "born with" or "a choice". The only reason that would be relevant was if you had already determined that there was something wrong with it and were looking for the cause in order to prevent it. By conceding that the cause of homosexuality is relevant, even defenders of it are tacitly agreeing that there is something wrong with it, and simply "excusing" said behavior with "but they can't help it!" That is hardly a helpful defense.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
Do I think that homosexuals should have the right to marry? Yes. But this issue is complex.
One issue is that heterosexual marriages are backed by thousands upon thousands of year of tradition, while homosexual marriages are not. Those traditions touch on a wife variety of things. Subjugation of women. Production of children. Contracts between families. Et cetera.
Now, many heterosexual marriages are "modern", being not bound by many of those traditions. But homosexual marrages are an entirely modern construction and are, by definition, not bound by those traditions. So by insisting on calling their relationships "marriage," they are awkwardly insinuating themselves into that traditional framework.
Personally, I think that the legal and traditional frameworks should be completely separated. The legal framework ("civil union") should be open to anyone, making heterosexual marriages the same kind of civil union under the law. Now, if you want to turn around and call it a "marriage," then that's up to you, based on whatever tradition you choose. Someone can object to you calling it a marriage if they want, but in this way, their objection cannot interfere with your civil rights.
BTW, if you want to expore other complications of gay marriage, consider child custody law. In most jurisdictions, you cannot have more than one legal guardian of the same gender. This is a technical issue. My main point is that to adapt to modern reality, it is not a simple matter of semantics. LOTS of laws have to be changed, and that takes time and effort and patience.
OK, let's take a break from this political and statistical bullshit.
Am I the only one who remembers when Mass Effect 1 came out? It had a "sex scene" in it, which consisted of a minute long scene of two partially naked bodies rubbing together. It was "sensual", not "sexual". The camera angles were very carefully planned out not to show anything- not that it would have mattered, the models themselves weren't "complete" in that fashion (I know the guy who animated that scene).
The media jumped on this and suddenly Mass Effect is all over the news. If you hadn't heard about it at that point, you certainly would have in the next 48 hours with the amount of publicity that little scene generated.
This is an EXACT repeat of that tactic.
We're not talking about pornography here. Nothing is shown in-game. It's just a stupid little decision they left in, if you -really- want to be gay and warm up to one of the men you can. The "sexual" scene is almost identical to Mass Effect 1 in that it shows nothing, the camera angles are very carefully planned, and it's all totally harmless in the end- if it wasn't, do you think the game would have the ESRB rating it currently has?
So now EA has won, because they've done precisely what they knew would happen when either Bioware came up with the idea or EA nudged them to do it. The media will once again blow this out of proportion to astronomical levels, and if you haven't heard of Mass Effect 3 you will have in the next few days.
And you know what? Nobody is going to avoid the game because of it. For every person who says "That's it I'm boycotting EA", there's at least TEN other people who are purposefully going to get on the game somehow (if you're a youngster, you'll just play it at a friends house if your parents forbid it) just to check out this "gay sex" stuff, and either laugh at it or make fun of it. In essence, while this may have outraged a few people- it will have piqued the curiosity of millions more, and all EA cares about is getting them in-game somehow- because if you can do that, then they might realize they actually enjoy the rest of it and buy a copy.
Sorry for the interruption. You may all now resume your meaningless banter about politics, gays, religion, and all the other stuff that spirals around a topic as sensitive as this. Don't worry though, the more noise you generate, the more some EA exec smiles and says "Excellent!".
-AC
I'm sure they also receive a lot of messages like "Mass Effect 3 was gay", or "EA is gay", but that has nothing to do with sexual orientation :)
Gay: (slang, pejorative) Used to express dislike: lame, uncool, stupid.
When I see an article like this I remember Slashdot lost their soul long ago. This is a well-known mainstream article send by EA as a press release to divert readers from the other one: "EA has been voted worst company in America".
And Sharia Law has a 0.000000000% chance of ever becoming the law here, and yet people still worry about it, as they practice a Taliban-Lite form of religion.
Is the portrayal of gay people as people who have feelings (I'm referring specifically to the character Cortez from ME3), and who are well, people.
That was a story very well told, of love, loss, and hope.
That really hurts the 'gay people are the devil' propaganda that the fundies thrive on. It's the empathy drawn that they can't stand.
I say kudos to EA for standing up for their media.
That said, EA is no saint overall, but credit where credit is due.
They're really trying to spin their "Worst Company in America" award as homophobia. It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that homophobia isn't the reason. Nice try with the ad hominems, EA.
Wake Up
Fuck my wife
Take a shit
Kill my wife
Eat six chickens
Get married
Kill my new wife
Eat a cow
Take a shit
Start dating
Belch for an hour
Eat a sheep
Kill my date
Defy the pope
Eat a goat
Take a shit
Kill a bishop
Get engaged
Kill my fiancee
Eat a pig
Marry a pig
Kill the pig
Eat the pope
Vomit
Go to sleep
With my apologies to George Carlin...
Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
Sex as in sexual reproduction only applies to one man and one woman. Hobbyists need to quit whining about their asexual existence.
...bash the bad guys with his fabulous purse?
i play swtor and have never been able to [flirt] with a same sex companion or npc. wtf are they talking about?
...
After Rush Limbaugh called some feminist activist a "slut" he got boycotts. Well, fine and good, but anyone expecting boycotts to work only on the Democratic/Liberal side of the aisle is living in a fantasy world.
"Color of Change" boycotts Coke and Wal-Mart for giving to anti-vote fraud organizations? EA gets boycotted over "gay" stuff. Bonus, that hurts EA in the bottom line because it makes the company "gay" which is a turn off like a "fabulous" Broadway musical for their young, male, gamers. Many of whom are not, to put it mildly, politically correct.
What, you want to call the boycotts back?
Impossible. The other side will see you the Rush and Coke and Wal-Mart boycotts and raise you on EA. And other businesses.
It is rated "M" for Mature game. Parents who are buying it for their kids under 17 should be arrested as Sex Offenders, exposing children to Mature content.
Calls self "Family Research Council." Doesn't actually pay attention to any research on homosexuals and related families.
Everyday i really do despise America more and more. You are as a country ....a joke.
yeah, forget about that, it's the gay
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Defiance in the face of bigotry is no vice. Stand your ground, EA. Most people who buy these games don't care about the addition of same-sex couples that we see all around us in reality.
Steve Magruder, Metro Foodist
No, there is no fault with not shielding kids from the facts of life. Kids are more mature than they're given credit for. They should be exposed to real life. The parent's job is to explain that, even though something happens in real life, there are things and their consequences that are preferable over others. Parents who shield their kids are doing a similar disservice to them as parents who let kids do anything they want without learning of the consequences. The problem with American parenting is that they want to see their kids smile at any cost, even if the smile is fake and they hide deep personal issues.
Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
Now, you can eat your words flavored with your foot in your mouth and the bitter taste of defeat -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2741535&cid=39525081 because you only defeated yourself.
Flavored w/ ur foot in ur mouth + the bitter taste of defeat -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2741535&cid=39525081 where ur big mouth defeated u.
I'm not gay but who cares if there is homosexual content in their games. I own both Mass Effect 3 and Old Republic. They feature adult themes anyway. If your old enough to explode an enemies head in Mass Effect or stab someone thru the neck in Old Republic you can deal with 2 chicks kissing. Get over it people its 2012!! I am ashamed to live in Florida if I have to share it with stupid activist groups like that. Just start accepting gay people because I'm tired of hearing about this stupid controversy and they are not going anywhere.
Blowing peoples brains out with assault weapons is absolutely not natural.
Well, they don't use assault weapons because they can't build it, but you'll be surprised to know a few interesting things:
(a) Dolphins kill for pleasure.
(b) Cats kill for fun and to show off, even playing with their prey (this torture-like behaviour is also present in killer whales and other hominids).
(c) Chimpanzees are so territorial they will form gangs and go killing the invaders in cold blood. A biologist told me they would pursue a competing pack for days in order to kill them, even when they have abandoned their territory. Moreover, Wikipedia just taught me that "Chimpanzees also engage in targeted hunting of lower order primates such as the red colobus [...] and use the meat from these kills as a "social tool" within their community", mainly bonding. Finally, chimpanzees, both male and female, kill the infants of their packs.
(d) Female hamsters cannibalise their newborn progeny if they feel threatened.
I rarely respond to comments. Also, don't ask for clarifications: a brain and Google are faster, believe me!
Kaiden tried to seduce me.
It was ugly.
You're really cute ;)
alas, I'm on the sunshine coast
I seem to remember these same types boycotting Disneyland, which shrugged it off and declared itself a Baptist-free zone. They didn't suffer and neither will EA. These wretched people have no more power than the rest of us give them.
Grar II
If you don't like it, youre free to leave anytime.
Generally, I agree with your statement. However I do believe kids younger than, say, 2nd grade, do need some shielding from some of the more edgy stuff life and the internet can throw up.
I joined the Navy in 1982,. As the Village People sang, in the Navy... Well I retired from the Army. Ah yes 150 days at sea nothing but men, men, men you know that old SNL thing. That is except for a rare and occasional viewing of a BMO. When one my shipmates said "You do realize I am gay, don't you." I then said "Does that mean you don't drink beer?" I suppose now that it is OK to be gay in the military and females are on warships. Crossing the line has to be different now because that would be too gay for any kind of female. BTW you still have to 17.5 years old with your PARENTS PERMISSION to sign up for full active duty.
you make a good point - logically speaking, that would be just as equal. doesn't necessarily make it a good idea though.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
This sounds like the LGBT version of greenwashing on environmental issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.