Say what you will, but implementing all manners of tags so users can express themselves, just to specifically leave out one is exclusion. “Move aside, heteros, this is our game!”.
You can argue that they deserve it, that the developer has no obligations, that they are represented everywhere else and that they should play those game instead, but it remains exclusion.
You got a few downvotes, but you’re not wrong. Another issue is if you have tags for everything except being straight, then it sort of implies that being straight is the default “normal” option, and everyone else has to go out of their way to designate themselves as not normal. It’s something that should be left up to the users to choose, instead of having a default.
Sort of like if you had race tags for everything except “white”, it would imply that being white was the expected norm, and everyone else has to mark themselves as outside the norm. Or for a more forced-binary example, what if a game had a “woman” tag, but no other gender tags? It would heavily imply that the expected default is “man”, and every woman (or really anyone who doesn’t explicitly identify as a man) has to self-select.
That being said, it’s a queer game made by queer devs for queer people. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. Not every space is meant for straight people; Queer people have often been required to go out of their way to form their own communities and spaces to avoid judgement from straight people. Demanding a “straight” tag feels a little like a straight dudebro walking into a gay bar and getting pissed when dudes flirt with him. No dudebro, you’re the one who is wrong here, because you have literally every other bar in town to go to instead. You don’t need to encroach on the gay bar, because it’s likely the only place gay people have that is truly “their” place.
Shame on those damn straights for choosing to be attracted to their opposing sex.
Let’s disrespect them because of their inferiority.
(Can you see how toxic and weird that sounds?)
Alternatively: people have gone out of their way to foster a space where LGBTQIA+ people feel comfortable. In a world full of heteronormativity, this is a bubble where they can truly be themselves. It’s one of the few places where a gay dude can flirt with another dude, without the fear of being punched in the mouth just for being gay.
And then a straight guy walks into the gay bar, and starts a fight when another dude tries to flirt with him. He starts ranting about how it’s not okay to assume he’s gay, and that he feels oppressed for being straight. He wants the heteronormativity to extend even into LGBTQIA+ spaces, despite the fact that he could go to literally any other bar in town and not have this issue. Instead, he has chosen to make a scene at the gay bar, because he’s upset it’s a gay bar.
In a world that is controlled almost entirely by heteronormativity, policing straight representation in a queer-friendly game made by a queer developer does not seem like an equivalent situation at all.
How is providing an additional inclusive option disrespectful?
Is it that you don’t like the price? That’s just capitalism. More demand equals higher prices.
Disrespecting fragile cretins who need to pandered to at all times
Be honest, that sounds weird.
No, I stand by it. People who cry about straight representation are goblins at best. That’s who’s being mocked, not straight people.
Straight representation? Lol, what? Like every major branching choice RPG with romance options offers plenty of hetero choices (Witcher, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldurs Gate, Cyberpunk 2077, etc). Even in Veilguard, the first AAA game I’ve played that offers nonbinary choices, still has plenty of hetero representation. Culture wars are so god damn exhausting and unwinnable.
These are the same people mad at “woke” games for not having white charcters. Their enormous amount of privliage has made them utterly blind to history or context.
I hate it here. 🙃
Lol, the parenthesis around it. That was a good hit.
Quotation marks?
Oops lol
Huh, suddenly the crying straight gamers care about representation… 🤔
Apart from them straights not being a Monolith, I feel there is a difference between not being represented and being actively excluded. You know, one is bad and one is worse.
You can and should leave a “Need a ____ tag” at the forum then. Don’t know why the article is so snarky about that, the poster of that seemed reasonable enough on the first 2 pages.
