"We are all proud to have brought Krem to life in the game"
December 6, 2014 4:18 AM   Subscribe

In the investigate hub where you can ask Krem about his past in Tevinter, the first draft had him deserting after fighting off someone who discovered his secret and tried to assault him. My friends noted that this played directly into the sad “attacked trans person” cliché, and while it was plausible, it was an ugly event that could well trigger trans people who have experienced harassment in real life. The goal was for Krem to be a positive character who was living his life happily now, and I revised his departure from Tevinter accordingly.
Despite lead Dragon Age writer David Gaider being worried about opportunities to include trans characters in any but minor roles in AAA games only a year ago, Bioware did do just that with the inclusion of Cremisius “Krem” Aclassi, a trans man voiced by Jennifer Hale. In a blog post his writer, Patrick Weekes, talks about the challenges in creating his character.
posted by MartinWisse (74 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
I really need to stop hearing great things about Inquisition because I need to get through finals before I can play another game.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 4:22 AM on December 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


This is pretty awesome! :D

(As ever though, I have some tiny niggles - in the second link, the writer seems to use 'genderqueer' in reference to a trans woman, which is probably a slight misunderstanding, though it is entirely possible he was meaning to reference a genderqueer trans woman but didn't make that clear, and the fact that the trans man is voiced by a woman is just a bit off.)
posted by Dysk at 4:34 AM on December 6, 2014


Elementary Penguin: "I really need to stop hearing great things"

I can help! There are a lot of annoying bugs that have yet to be addressed since launch. Also, the PC UI is abysmal. Take a look at the metacritic user reviews if you don't believe me.

I have already played it for well over 60 hours, but ignore that
posted by vanar sena at 4:40 AM on December 6, 2014 [5 favorites]


fact that the trans man is voiced by a woman is just a bit off.

They explain why in the article: the world does not have transitional technology, like testosterone treatments. A female body is part of the character - otherwise he would just sound cis.
posted by jb at 5:43 AM on December 6, 2014 [7 favorites]


I'm 110 hours in and I just want it to end.

Protip: Do not spend your first 20 hours in the Hinterlands.

Also, Krem is cool.
posted by echocollate at 6:10 AM on December 6, 2014


...voiced by Jennifer Hale

Wait, really? I had no idea! And I've gotten pretty good at identifying her voice by now. It's continually shocking to me how talented of a voice actor she is.
posted by gkhan at 6:27 AM on December 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


echocollate, your advice is very wise and far, far, too late.

This game was not designed with completionists in mind. I've played sixty hours and have just finished fully exploring four of the ten (I guess) wilderness areas. That's not all good - the game can be very grindy at times.

Ditto about the really irritating bugs, by the way.

That being said, Krem is a good character. I didn't guess about his origins until it came up in the conversation described. Yes, your questions do come across as being clueless, but eh. And I would never have guessed that he was voiced by Jennifer Hale.
posted by YAMWAK at 6:32 AM on December 6, 2014


I'm absolutely loving the game, but I'm a little irritated that after trans women were basically joke characters in DAO and DA2, and after many trans women complained to Bioware about our treatment at their hands, that the first trans character with voice and agency in a Bioware game is a trans man.

They're trying, though, and they're learning. I'm just hoping we get Maevaris in whatever DLC there may be. In the mean time I rolled a lady warrior with a prominent adam's apple; she can be my representation for now.

I avoided the clueless questions the player character could ask Krem, and in my head they meet for drinks occasionally and discuss the outrageous prices the alchemists charge for hormones...
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 7:02 AM on December 6, 2014 [10 favorites]


It's a lovely beautiful game with a fun story thus far but yeah if you are a completionist about quests it's grindy as hell even with a game guide. That and the hills are so steep in a lot of places that you try to go the direct route to certain features and find out no you need to go around the long way because the damn feature is on a ridgeline and this is not a platformer game.

That and you absolutely need to be a crafter if you want the best gear because found loot is invariably not enough to make you super duper awesome. I suspect that anyone who is playing this game on nightmare and not microing every fight is having to grind for crafting materials all day erry day.

And yes the companion mage AI is dumb as a bunch of rocks but fortunately Cass is an uber tank.
posted by vuron at 7:03 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


I just wanted to say that the song/chant at the end of the Haven defense story was really beautiful and moving and I haven't felt that way about a video game basically ever. (I did finish all the Hinterlands quests before I let the story progress, though.)

So yes, this is going to be a favorite and the gender and sexuality issues help.
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:29 AM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


Patrick Weekes also has a fantasy series of his own out there called The Rogues of the Republic. It's only two volumes at the moment, The Palace Job and The Prophecy Con, but it's pretty good and has a lot of Dragon Age-esq touches (golems, magical industry, prophecy, crystals, etc). The main character is a female person of color which is a nice change from ye olde fantastick faire.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:18 AM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


I just finished my mostly completionist 1st playthrough (just under 170 hours oh god I have a problem). There are definitely bugs which need patching (more party banter definitely, some dialogue freezes in the Warden questline, at least one companion quest never triggering, etc), but I'm mostly delighted. The end is a bit abrupt (and quite easy if you overlevel it by wanting to be able to kill all the high dragons before ending the game) and even with all the writing and character work they put into the game, I am spoiled and wanting many DLCs, at least one Citadel-style for it.

I haven't even touched multiplayer yet and am about to dive into the character creator again to make basically the same character as the first (female elf dps warrior with the same custom world state, going to romance the same companion) with minor tweaks because, as I mentioned, I have a problem.

Oh, and I haven't seen this mentioned yet: Yay! Game of the year and best RPG! (Buy Varric's book.)
posted by rewil at 9:41 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


"transitional procedures" is a really funny phrase
posted by vibratory manner of working at 9:42 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm so thrilled with the diversity in DA:I. It keeps delighting me at every turn. This is the first time I've seen a game so unapologetic about gender/orientation, and it's just so freaking cool.

That said, I'm still sad that Cassandra is straight. We would have been the cutest queer-girl power couple. SIGH.
posted by a hat out of hell at 9:57 AM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


This game makes up for all of my disappointment with DA:II. I'm gonna romance Iron Bull SO HARD. His skin is so freakishly shiny. It is amazing.
posted by keli at 10:20 AM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I've killed only two of the high dragons so far and even on hard I'm finding some areas rather easy. Next time I play I'll try the next difficulty level up and see if that helps; otherwise I may just have to accept that some zones are going to be for my second playthrough elf mage to rinse.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 10:26 AM on December 6, 2014


My 100% all main and side quests completed game was 137:16*, look on my works ye mighty and despair.

I avoided the clueless questions the player character could ask Krem

I did too because 1) ugh no and 2) i didn't want to lose approval but when the inquisitor asks the trans-ignorant questions they get shut down really fast with very matter of fact explanations from both iron bull and krem. there are further opportunities to discuss it with iron bull and you can still respond stupidly but idk if that would result in him leaving the party or not.

* of which at least 5h was crying over shards in the oasis
posted by poffin boffin at 10:52 AM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


Even on my second playthrough the Oasis was a confusing mess. I knew there was a way, but I couldn't find it again.

If you're not a completionist, you can ignore all requisition quests; all they give is power, and there's plenty of that to go around.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 11:17 AM on December 6, 2014


My 100% all main and side quests completed game

Did you side with the mages? I think I'm locked out of two of the hinterlands mosaic pieces because I sided with the Templars :[
posted by fleacircus at 12:01 PM on December 6, 2014


"that this played directly into the sad “attacked trans person” cliché, and while it was plausible, it was an ugly event that could well trigger trans people who have experienced harassment in real life. The goal was for Krem to be a positive character who was living his life happily now"

So it's impossible to make a positive depiction of a trans character while also acknowledging the reality that far too many ARE harassed and attacked?

I'm a transguy who's been attacked (for being trans). And while I may find some depictions triggering, I would gladly accept that if it meant a REALISTIC depiction of trans people. To pretend harassment and attacking doesn't exist - because it's 'cliche' or because it may be triggering - so that everyone can feel 'happy' and 'positive' about a trans character, completely trivializes that this is a thing almost all trans people deal, or have dealt, with their entire lives. Just because attacks against trans people are 'cliche' doesn't mean they suddenly stop and we're able to live happy lives completely devoid of it. It feels like a very unrealistic portrayal of a trans person to exclude this aspect.

Krem seems like a cool character but they could've done better if they weren't so worried about playing it safe. Otherwise they would've included trans women (which were in previous games) in larger, more developed roles. But we know why that didn't happen. They knew a trans woman wouldn't have been as well received by their target audience - straight white cismale gamers - and so it seems they went with something less likely to cause outrage among that demographic. Because straight white cismale gamers tolerate trans men (and by tolerate, I mean view them as women and thus treat them with misogyny and sexual harassment -- or so has been my experience in the past 15 years or so), while being largely hostile to trans women (whom they view as men; men largely trying to 'trick' them or make them gay, etc. -- or so is the reasoning I've been told by these gamers), they could include a trans man with the least possible impact on their bottom line.

Given all that...Krem kind of seems like they wanted to ride the popularity/acceptance of a character like Brienne of Tarth (who is surprisingly popular/fetishized among straight white cismale gamers that I know -- and to whom trans men are frequently compared) and then wrap it all up in a trans label so they could profess how inclusive and open-minded they are without having to face the backlash of an accurate portrayal.
posted by stubbehtail at 12:08 PM on December 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


I don't know, stubbehtail. That's painting their actions in a particularly unfavourable light.

The author claims ignorance that seems unfeigned. They state that they almost got even the relatively simple portrayal very wrong in a couple of places. Playing it safe isn't a bad thing when you're exploring new territory, and while you might not mind triggers, you can hardly speak for all trans people. Getting it wrong could stop any further advance by Bioware, and cause others to shy away from the issue.

They have openly an openly gay male character (who admittedly fell out with his family because of that), and several politically powerful black women. The story doesn't make any issue at all that they're a) women, or b) black. Progress is painfully slow in many areas, but I really don't think criticising them for not taking enough risks for your taste is fair.
posted by YAMWAK at 12:42 PM on December 6, 2014 [6 favorites]


Interesting article. I came away from a talk with Krem thinking he probably had been sexually assaulted in the fight where Iron Bull saves his life, and was wondering if that was ever said for sure in the game. Seems like it was left ambiguous for a reason.
posted by saffry at 12:43 PM on December 6, 2014


stubbehtail is right to criticize... He's not saying that Krem is horrible, he's pointing out that Krem could have been better in his view, while acknowledging that the character is cool. I thought he made his points well.

I, for one, hope for so many queer characters in rpgs, of every type, identity and personality, that we don't have to see characters first as representations, but as individuals which have disparate experiences and stories.
posted by gryftir at 12:54 PM on December 6, 2014


Krem's character feels like a very typical Bioware move to me. Unlike most AAA game studios, Bioware are consistent in valuing diversity in their games, but as Gaider points out that's very hard to do given the amount of money invested in a game like Inquisition. The result is they're incredibly conservative in how they go about making their games more inclusive, and Krem's character is a great example of trying to play it as safe as possible. I kind of like him - the dynamic with Iron Bull especially - and I think it's great that Bioware are creating space for trans characters in AAA titles. But I'll admit I'm also looking forward to the day when they don't feel obligated to play it safe and we can see a wider variety of personalities and stories among trans characters in their games.
posted by langtonsant at 1:14 PM on December 6, 2014


Did you side with the mages?

yep
posted by poffin boffin at 1:16 PM on December 6, 2014


OK, show of hands. Who else had their worldview shift because Samus Aran (of Metroid) is a woman?
posted by SPrintF at 1:17 PM on December 6, 2014


Wait, they have magic but they don't have "transitional procedures"?
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:20 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


Mmm, probably could swing it but it might take blood magic, which is deeply frowned upon. Unless you're Merrill or Solas.
posted by rewil at 1:27 PM on December 6, 2014


If you side with the Templars, you don't get the quest with Dorian and the timeline, right? Talk about stacking the deck.
posted by rewil at 1:30 PM on December 6, 2014


The transphobia in the first Dragon Age was the final straw (on top of some bugs and gameplay stuff) in terms of why I quit playing that game and haven't tried one of the more recent ones.

But reading this, I feel okay about ditching the harassment - there's a ton of media where This One Incident Of Harassment is the trans person's sole backstory and that always reads as very one-dimensional to me. I do experience harassment, but minor characters don't get much fleshing out, and I wouldn't want that to be The Thing used to introduce me. If the writers were looking at or being provided examples of doing it wrong, a lot of those probably would have included that setup and they probably would have noticed and tried to avoid the more obvious missteps or clichés.

In the first game, the only trans characters were sex workers that the game joked were "female" (in quotes). There are many trans sex workers, and trans people hear that insult all the time. But while that was realistic-ish to include, when you only have one (or one kind of) trans character, and they are an exact stereotype, that's really frustrating. It's frustrating for me because it's boring and often gross, and it's frustrating in general because it just further propagates the stereotype.

So I understand where stubbehtail is coming from absolutely, and also understand why Bioware swerved to avoid that kind of character development. Hopefully, eventually we will have wide enough representation that a large swath of non-cis characters with nuanced stories and motivations will be possible without having to worry as much about how the one trans character in a AAA game this year is handled.
posted by Corinth at 1:39 PM on December 6, 2014 [4 favorites]


The greatest part about Krem and this game is hearing the crying of the crybabies who can't abide having sexuality "shoved in their faces". They are terrible people.
posted by Justinian at 1:48 PM on December 6, 2014 [7 favorites]


And just to add, while it's great they asked two genderqueer people* to look over their work, it would probably have been even more important to specifically run the character by trans men. My experiences, while similar, differ enough from those of my trans guy and genderfluid friends that I would not feel comfortable being the last line of defense against bad writing or characterization for them. Again, though, both of these pieces seem pretty earnest and I am still very happy to see this.

*(Although that part was a bit unclear - the writer may have been lumping all non-cis people into "the GQ community" and one or both of the two might have been a trans man?)
posted by Corinth at 1:49 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


One of the questions you can ask Krem is if he'd consider magical transitional procedures (he's from a country with very prominent powerful mages). His response was something along the lines of "what? No! I like my body and no mage is getting near it; when I was younger it might have been different but now no"
posted by Xany at 2:14 PM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


I finally got to this conversation the other night and, yeah, felt super weird asking the "I Have Never Seen A Trans Person" questions, what with being a transwoman iRL. I thought it was handled pretty nicely, though this is the first Dragon Age I've played, so I don't have the context of the bad handlings of transwomen in the previous ones.

I'm just marveling at the fact that some of you people have 100%ed it already. I feel like I've already put too much time into it and I'm only like 60h in.
posted by egypturnash at 2:27 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm probably going to have to seriously upgrade my graphics card before I start playing this (not to mention No Man's Sky), but everything I've heard about it sounds amazing. Not having played any of the previous Dragon Age games, how steep is the learning curve with regard to game mechanics (and how much back lore will I need)?

What I'd really like is for Bioware to apply this level of detail and nuance to the next Mass Effect game. I mean- the ability to create different appearances for your character, and the variety of pairings were great, but come on, non-mammalian species with boobs whose only evolutionary function appears to be "sexy"? And you can't romance a Krogan? It's like they don't understand my Shepard at all.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:23 PM on December 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


Game mechanics shouldn't be much of a problem. It's all pretty simple (you can pause and micromanage your team if you want to play on the harder difficulties), and the starting tutorial sections are relatively inoffensive.

Lore? Ouch. They go heavy into the lore of things. Again, most of it is introduced painlessly, but you're going to have to do a bit of in-game reading if you want everything to make sense. Of course, I do the in-game reading anyway, but yeah, lots of lore.
posted by YAMWAK at 3:38 PM on December 6, 2014


Not having played any of the previous Dragon Age games, how steep is the learning curve with regard to game mechanics

I can't speak for the mouse and keyboard controls, but on a controller it's very intuitive. You have a stamina/magic/focus bar that recharges in combat and is depleted when you use abilities; you put in ability points as you level to unlock new active and passive abilities; and you map the active abilities to a controller button and wang them near something you want to die.

You also have three other characters following you around at all times, with their own levelling up to do and abilities to map, but because you only ever get one thing at a time per character you never have to learn too much too quickly.

I'd recommend not bothering with the lock-on, though; it kinda sucks.

(and how much back lore will I need)?

A Beginner's Guide to All Things Dragon Age ought to sort you out.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 3:41 PM on December 6, 2014


They explain why in the article: the world does not have transitional technology, like testosterone treatments. A female body is part of the character - otherwise he would just sound cis.

I get that this is probably just clumsy language use, but if the dude is a trans man, then he is male, and his body is a male body, testosterone or no.

You can handwave it away with references to not having tech (though seriously, all that magic and you can't do a simple thing?) but ultimately, this is just storyline justification for a casting choice that plays straight into how this is always handled, with a decided undercurrent of 'really a woman/man'. The dude is a (trans) man. Why cast a woman to play him? Hell, if it's really about the voice and lack of access to testosterone (rather than about wanting to have him played by a woman because TRANS!), why not just cast a trans man to play him?
posted by Dysk at 4:42 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


I got both the Krem conversation tree and the Dorian family plot after I read this thread , and I thought both were handled sensitively and thoughtfully. I liked that it was quite easy for me to avoid the redundant "ORLY U LIKE GUYS/ARE A GUY" options and still continue a realistic conversation about their experiences. As someone who plays games almost entirely for their stories and characters, I've really appreciated Dragon Age: Inquisition.
posted by nev at 5:08 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


For the AI:
- Set the tactics so that the characters are defending themselves. That way, Varric shouldn't come running up next to Iron Bull, the better to shoot a dragon's kneecap point-blank and get crushed in the process.
- Invest in passive skills for all characters, and set any skills that create barrier or guard to "preferred."

For Krem:
- I remember seeing something from David Gaider, I think, about how the women in their writers' group pointed out that some action could look like a rape threat. He made the observation that none of the men in the group would have seen that plot development without their perspective. I wonder if they were talking about Krem's original backstory? I've played through the game once and have not seen any obvious storylines that would fit this description.

I remember thinking how fucking cool it was that the first 20 minutes or so of the game or so focused on my female character and two other women who kick ass. And even once we let the men join the Inquisition, Cassandra, Vivienne, and Sera are arguably some of the strongest companions in the game. Bioware is a palate cleanser after the garbage souffle of gamergate.
posted by bibliowench at 5:09 PM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


One more note: I didn't mean to hijack a thread about trans characters to talk about cis women. I just wanted to acknowledge how much I appreciate Bioware for even trying to address issues of inclusiveness when the main thinking of AAA studios still seems to be that we will only buy games starring white men in need of a shave.
posted by bibliowench at 5:15 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


YAMWAK,

My concern is that they're receiving all of this praise about their inclusion of a trans character and are rattling off (with pride) all of the exhaustive work they did into doing it 'right'. This includes boasting that they let "two friends in the GQ community" go over the character. Except, they don't mention whether those "two friends" were trans men or women or whether they had direct experience within the trans community specifically. Simply being in the LBGTQ (or GQ) community doesn't mean someone is somehow magically accepting of trans people or can speak on their behalf. I know plenty of trans men and women who have experienced harassment even within the LBGTQ (and GQ) communities (I still encounter this pretty regularly from self-identified gay white cismen and gay white GQ (bio?)men-- particularly in the kink communities).

I suppose I can summarize it best by saying that, while a cool character (although, mostly being around for the soldiers to 'complain to' as I saw in a YT clip? really?), Krem seems to be what Bioware (and whoever they consulted) feels a trans man should be (upfront about being trans, comfortable being physically female with no desire to change that, comfortable being reminded he is physically female, able to let insults about his being trans be dismissed as 'jokey', live without fear that strangers will harass/attack him for being trans) rather than the reality (which I guess is too cliche and negative): that being upfront about being trans is dangerous, that being physically female while knowing you're male usually causes immense emotional distress that is often remedied by permanent changes to present as physically male (and a desire to do so if you haven't the means), that being reminded of being physically female is kind of insulting (in my experience, it's generally a way to remind a trans man that he's not a 'real' man), that insults about being trans are shitty and brushing them off means those people never learn (and will probably keep doing it), and that trans people do fear that others will attack or harass them because statistically they are at risk of such or have often already encountered it.

Like it or not, Krem's depiction is going to influence some peoples' perception of what a trans person is -- or more specifically, what a trans guy is (or should be, apparently) and to a degree how people may approach/interact with trans people subsequently. Bioware is surely aware of this--we're not talking some tiny indie game company after all.

Being a transguy and having been a gamer (and having interacted within the community through transitioning), I see trans guys in that community (and probably outside of that) now being faced with:

Krem was upfront about being trans, why weren't you? Krem let insults about his being female roll off his shoulders, why don't you? Krem likes his female body--wouldn't change it, why do you want to cut yours up?* Krem never got a hard time or attacked over being trans, I don't think that really happens. (Just like black people aren't targeted by police?)

This would be less of a problem if Krem weren't the only mainstream transguy game character. But, well, he is...and so that, sadly, will be some peoples' only frame of reference. And the more I think about that, the more I get this gross feeling that Krem is an attempt to fetishize transguys to cismales: completely female body with no facial/body hair and no desire to change that**, female voice, and comfortable being called/referenced as a woman/female -- but presents as male to the public and has stereotypically male interests -- such as battling. This could've been avoided if they had made some reference to him having a girlfriend--not to imply all transguys are straight (I am not)--but so that the character seemed less like, oh, I dunno, the fantasy of what a transguy is-- to a hetero cismale that wants to have sex with him.***

It would be nice if we lived in a world where transmen could be like Krem. But we don't and their game is trying to gloss over that fact. And that's why I think Bioware could've done better with this character and for the trans community as a result.

* Gamer dudes already try to shame/guilt trans guys over their wanting surgery - especially if the trans guy had/has a stereotypically 'desireable' female body. It's really gross, actually.

** In my experience, hetero cismales were typically only put off (including sexually) by my being trans when I told them I was on hormones (and therefore had a lower voice, did not shave, and did have facial/body hair) and/or upon learning I was post-op (and therefore had no breasts).

*** I draw pornography for a living. A lot more of my hetero/bi customers (predominantly gamers of the white hetero/bi/gay cismale variety) are wanting transguy pornography -- and Krem is essentially what they want -- a female-bodied man that they can still treat like a woman.
posted by stubbehtail at 6:17 PM on December 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


I can't speak for the mouse and keyboard controls, but on a controller it's very intuitive.

The controller for DA:I is different from the first two in that in order to do your default fighting moves, you have to hold down the right trigger (on ps, no idea about xbox) which is the opposite of accessible for me and anyone else with grip issues. I assumed it would be a minor inconvenience to remap the controls but there is no option in game to do so, and I haven't been able to find any third party solutions. It's really fucking frustrating.

also i am super mad that they took away the if-->then default skill use setup thing for NPC party members
posted by poffin boffin at 7:12 PM on December 6, 2014


Stubbehtail:

I feel like a lot of your concerns, particularly in the "could have been more" domain probably would make a lot more sense if Krem was meant to be a major focus of the game, which he kind of isn't. When it comes down to it, in spite of his focus in this article, he really is a background character for The Iron Bull, and not a main character in and of himself.

Projecting Krem's attributes as though they're necessarily the only possible role of a trans character in DA seems... kind of like jumping the gun to me, personally. He's just one character. (Of course, I also think talking about his body type is a bit dubious, given that you never, ever see him outside the very form-concealing plate mail. Personally, I don't see that armor as especially masculine or feminine in appearance).

Admittedly, none of these issues are ones I've had to deal with in my personal and daily life, but I really feel like it's asking for a lot for a background character in a fantasy world (which, one imagines, probably has very different issues with regards to things like hormones and reassignment) to carry the weight of the real world issues associated.
posted by Archelaus at 7:13 PM on December 6, 2014


also i am super mad that they took away the if-->then default skill use setup thing for NPC party members

They made a lot of dubious design choices. The 8-ability limit on the hotbar is another one. It's a testament to the game's strengths that it's still a very good game because the flaws are fairly significant.

Krem was upfront about being trans, why weren't you? Krem let insults about his being female roll off his shoulders, why don't you? Krem likes his female body--wouldn't change it, why do you want to cut yours up?

I feel like if they had gone the other way you could make exactly the same criticism. Krem was hiding what he was, why aren't you? And so on. As you say, that's more of a reflection of Krem being the only significant trans character in a major AAA game that I can think of than a reflection on Bioware's choice. At least in my opinion.
posted by Justinian at 7:28 PM on December 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


My concern is that they're receiving all of this praise about their inclusion of a trans character and are rattling off (with pride) all of the exhaustive work they did into doing it 'right'. This includes boasting that they let "two friends in the GQ community" go over the character. Except, they don't mention whether those "two friends" were trans men or women or whether they had direct experience within the trans community specifically. Simply being in the LBGTQ (or GQ) community doesn't mean someone is somehow magically accepting of trans people or can speak on their behalf.

I don't think genderqueer means what you (or the devs) think it means... Genderqueer people very much are trans. Their experiences may not be the same in every way as those of binary trans people, but they most definitely are trans.
posted by Dysk at 11:39 PM on December 6, 2014


This is awesome (though I haven't played Dragon Age). I think one thing that's kept me from getting into bigger, better developed games is the stereotype heavy storytelling, which never made sense to me, given the attention to detail elsewhere. Maybe something about the size of the project.


I was curious about this comment (a lady warrior with a prominent adam's apple). Did you know cis women can have visible adam's apples? Not to say that she isn't (more likely) trans, but it's another drop in the bucket that gender really isn't the sum of one's physiological parts, it's a bit blurrier than what they teach you in health class.

And from here: Everyone has an Adam’s apple, but men’s are usually easier to see. It’s a bump on the neck that moves when you swallow, named after the biblical Adam. Supposedly, it’s a chunk of the Garden of Eden’s forbidden fruit stuck in his descendants’ throats, but it’s actually a bump on the biggest piece of cartilage – thyroid cartilage – surrounding the voice box (larynx). The thyroid cartilage is shield-shaped and the Adam’s apple is the bit at the front. Why do men’s stick out more? Partly because they have bonier necks, but also their larynxes grow differently from women’s during puberty to accommodate their longer, thicker vocal cords, which give them deeper voices.
posted by ana scoot at 11:41 PM on December 6, 2014


stubbehtail, thank you for clarifying your position. I believe I understand what you are saying, but feel that you are underestimating some of the constraints that the game devs were working with.

On the points where you describe Krem, I agree that he exhibits no emotional distress about his body, and I do understand that that is uncommon in the real world. As for the rest, Krem is never insulted because of his physical gender (he insults his boss about Iron Bull's 'man-boobs', not the other way around), and is only reminded of his physical gender by the hero and his/her awkward questions (he reacts well, but frankly he isn't going to lose his handle at the chosen messiah, the person who nearly gave up his/her life saving his and everyone else's lives, and also happens to be his boss' boss).

As for risk of physical attack, he's the second in command of an elite mercenary company. Only suicidally stupid people would attack him for his gender. This is also a country where characters can have open love affairs with people of whichever gender and race they choose without any real sign of social disapproval that I've seen.

Krem has no girlfriend, or boyfriend, but then no-one else in the game does either. Okay, some people do, but every character with as much interactivity as Krem is single.

The game world isn't singling Krem out for special treatment as far as acceptance is concerned. There are just as many women in full battle armour as men, the instigators of the Inquisition are women, the most politically powerful mage in the country is a black woman, and her political rival is another woman. The head of the church is a woman. There are openly gay characters who also aren't attacked for their sexuality.

Krem's treatment may be unrealistic, but it is consistent with the rest of the game world. Making his experiences closer to those of trans men and women in the real world would actually be inconsistent.

I believe that you think Bioware are using Krem to give lip service to progressiveness while doing actual harm to the community. I feel that they are making an honest effort to be inclusive and treat the members of every community with the respect they deserve, and even portraying a trans character as unrealistically happy is better than just pretending that they don't exist.

Yes, they're playing it safe, but they're still taking a bigger risk with their hundred-million dollar game / billion dollar franchise than the other big companies do.
posted by YAMWAK at 3:21 AM on December 7, 2014 [3 favorites]


It might have been thematic to have a trans companion in DAI. A lot of the companions are having identity issues. I mean, this is a game where your main PC pretends to be fantasy Jesus while dealing with someone who is having trouble adjusting to having any corporeal body at all. Gender exploration would be a more natural fit that it may seem to I guess cis people.
posted by fleacircus at 2:20 PM on December 7, 2014


I was more of a fantasy Brian than a fantasy Jesus. "I'M NOT THE HERALD OF ANDRASTE". "Did he say he's the hot Herald of Andraste? Worship the hot herald of Andraste!".
posted by Justinian at 2:32 PM on December 7, 2014 [8 favorites]


Also I appear to have turned Leliana into a stone-cold killer bitch on wheels. I didn't mean to. Sort of. Ok maybe I did, but I feel bad about it.
posted by Justinian at 4:53 PM on December 7, 2014


She was already on her way to becoming Princess Stabbity by the end of Origins.
posted by bibliowench at 7:17 PM on December 7, 2014 [4 favorites]


oops i just finished the second play thru, time for #3

somehow the new patch added more bugs than it removed
posted by poffin boffin at 8:30 PM on December 10, 2014


I think I'm locked out of two of the hinterlands mosaic pieces because I sided with the Templars

Those pieces are in future!redcliffe, not present hinterlands.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:31 PM on December 10, 2014


Meanwhile, in other media: Why the Batgirl #37 Controversy is the Conversation We Need Right Now
posted by homunculus at 6:37 PM on December 15, 2014


also i am super mad that they took away the if-->then default skill use setup thing for NPC party members

They made a lot of dubious design choices. The 8-ability limit on the hotbar is another one.


Ugh. I need to get a whole new machine before I can play it, but I already know these two flaws are going to drive me crazy.
posted by homunculus at 6:54 PM on December 15, 2014


I haven't found these to be game-breakers. I've played as an archer and a mage, and I've tended to just use a few skills. Having so few ability slots makes me invest more in passives, and with mechanics like guard and barrier (damage absorbers for warriors and mages, respectively), a passive that can increase either of these is worth as much as another kind of attack. And the missing if/then controls can sort of be compensated by the tactics menu by setting a few key skills to be preferred by the AI. It's not anything close to Origins-level control, but I like it better than the frantic, blind clicking I was doing in DAII.

But honestly, I'm just playing this game for the sex anyway, so maybe I'm not the best one to talk gameplay mechanics.

Not really - I enjoy killing things on the way to the sex.
posted by bibliowench at 11:29 AM on December 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


MetaFilter: I enjoy killing things on the way to the sex.
posted by homunculus at 3:20 PM on December 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


The smaller battle menu can suck if you are playing as a mage because so many of the best skills are activated and not passive. And especially for stuff like killing dragons you want to be able to set a "when party tank dies immediately cast revive" thing instead of being like "welp that just happened" and then everyone dies. But on the other hand the overhead fight cam is really awesome, esp when it shows you a breakdown of all the immunities and vulnerabilities of whatever you're smashing. But once you get to the class specialization skills it is easier because you can just fill up your battle menu with those better ones instead.

I also really like the almost excessive crafting capabilities, although it took me a while to warm up to them. But once you realize you can hit for 4k+ on each hand as a dual wield rogue it's hard to go back to anything lesser. And the bonuses from fade-touched masterworks is so far the best possible thing.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:05 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


you can hit for 4k+ on each hand as a dual wield rogue

Umm... How? What do I need for this?
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:52 AM on December 17, 2014


I'm having trouble with the battle menu even for my rogue. 4 specializations skills and Mark of the Rift means I've only got three slots left of double daggers, and none at all for stealth or poison, etc.
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:55 AM on December 17, 2014


Obvsly this comment will contain SPOILERZZZ




when you're doing the dwarven tomb thing in the hissing wastes, in one of the penultimate tombs before the dragon one you will get a schematic for a masterwork dual blade dagger, which is like the Finesse dagger you get from Zevran in DA2. take this down to the smithy dude and Dagna and use anything that gives you a 40% chance of masterwork; dragon tooth or great bear claw, maybe ironbark? oh, but do a save beforehand so you can go back and do it over again if you don't get the masterwork.

i made mine from dragon tooth and dragonbone and idk what else, and i got a mw on my first try on my first game. it maxed out at 500 aoe damage with the addition of a superb cleansing rune, i think? but hits on anything under a boss opponent was between 3800-4200 each time; i've seen it go up to 4400. the one i made for the off-hand came out slightly lower powered. there is also a mw dual blade dagger grip schematic, which i think you get as a reward from a war table quest? not sure, but i know it didn't come from a merchant.

i have on my front menu twin fangs, deathblow, flank attack, and hidden blades. on the second menu is mark of the rift, cloak of shadows, poisoned weapons, and either stealth, evade, or mark of death, depending on what i'm fighting and what level i'm at. the +30% rings for enhanced deathblow and enhanced twin fangs make a pretty good difference in power. the offhand weapon is made from the fade-touched obsidian, i think? whatever it is it gives a 10% chance to hit with hidden blades + 4 extra blades, which means it happens at least 2x during a fight.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Thanks! That's cray-zay.

Maybe I shouldn't have gone tempest.
posted by anotherpanacea at 5:45 PM on December 17, 2014


Say, does DA:I have spell combinations like DA:O and/or cross-class combos like DA2 did? The spell combos in the first game were one of my favorite things about it, and I was bummed when they dropped them in DA2.
posted by homunculus at 9:11 PM on December 17, 2014


Maybe I shouldn't have gone tempest.

No, Tempest is awesome. I'm stuck in the Knight-Enchanter hell of spamming Spirit Blade and killing everything or using another spell and dying. I really wish the game would let you respec after you pick your specialization because I'm bored with all this blunt power.
posted by bibliowench at 9:50 PM on December 17, 2014


If tanking in an MMO felt like playing sword/shield warrior in this, all my money would be spent on MMO subscriptions. Tanking dragons is just glorious.

Starting my second playthrough, with a mage this time.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 4:06 AM on December 18, 2014


I just read a guide that claims you can use the tempest focus ability without expending focus. Gotta try that.

And another guide that says you can make Blackwall an invincible AI tank with enough +guard items and the right specs. So clearly I'm doing it wrong: I've been enjoying the story and ignoring my minmaxing.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:26 AM on December 18, 2014


Say, does DA:I have spell combinations like DA:O and/or cross-class combos like DA2 did?

Yeah, it's a little confusing at first but it's there. I don't have the patience to fightcam an entire sequence so I just enjoy it when it happens on its own.

basic guide

slightly more detailed guide

there is surely a detailed subreddit devoted to this but i don't really like seeking stuff out there unless there's no other option.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:43 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cool, thanks poffin. That's another thing I'm looking forward to now.

Here's another detailed guide: Dragon Age: Inquisition Skill Combo Guide
posted by homunculus at 2:09 PM on December 18, 2014


My new Blackwall build makes dragons easy, and flask of fire makes lets you spam your Mark of the Rift or Thousand Cuts. So at this point I might crank it up to Nightmare just to keep it challenging.
posted by anotherpanacea at 8:17 PM on December 18, 2014


More generally, it looks like anything that gives you guard or barrier on hit breaks the game. It's a strange sort of mechanic, because it looks like it's that way by design. But then I've only played it on normal, so I'm probably wrong.
posted by vanar sena at 11:13 PM on December 18, 2014


And "by design" I mean that some of the gameplay is kinda-sorta balanced around it, specifically dragons. But in other places it just makes the game too easy.
posted by vanar sena at 11:15 PM on December 18, 2014


I'm playing a Knight-Enchanter, whose Spirit Blade skill generates Barrier every time I hit something. So unless something kills me right off the bat, I'm pretty untouchable. Given that I spent the first 10 levels squishy as hell, I appreciated it at first, but now I feel like I'm just bludgeoning my way through Thedas.
posted by bibliowench at 8:02 AM on December 19, 2014


I feel bad crashing this thread about transgender characters in video games with gameplay talk.

Maybe there should be a FanFare for DAI?

Regardless, I'm thinking that it's maybe okay that at level 20, my characters can smash their way through Thedas. Apparently Blackwall can solo tank the highest level dragon on nightmare if you let him. I just kind of wish there was dynamic scaling on the enemy level. Instead of making it "You get no XP for low level creatures" make it "Low level creatures get a level bonus to keep things interesting."
posted by anotherpanacea at 8:09 AM on December 19, 2014


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