Gender-locking isn't sexist

[Souljacker]

Where to start...the WoL/D is YOUR character. The dude in the trailers is a placeholder for your character. They only had 2 choices for said placeholder, so if you're offended they went with "male," I don't know what to tell you.

That said, are we going to forget the fact that all 3 heads of state of the big 3 city-states are female, the leader of the scions is female for a majority of the story, and Hydaelyn, the embodiment of the Light, is identified as female? I guess we should also forget there is a storyline where you help overthrow a jerk arrogant dude and place a humble, wise woman in his place. His main rival and leader of the other clan was also female. To boot, said jerk hits on a main female protagonist and is rejected in a most humiliating and hilarious fashion.

Respectfully, I think some people are combing through the game in search of offense. Confirmation bias is real.

Or maybe they see it because it's been their experience? You're male, and so you don't see it. Instead you see three city-states with female leadership. I see the Admiral who is in her position because the male (did you not even pay attention to her story?) doesn't want the job. I see the sultaness who can't function without Raubahn, to the point of running into his arms like a gushing child, and gosh I hope they don't stuff the rest of her story up. More likely, we won't really hear from Ul'dah anymore. That's two out of three pretty obvious "female but not really" stories.

The warrior of light is technically 'our' character, but there was nothing stopping SE from showing the WoL as something different than a human, white, stereotypical male every xpac. The Warrior of Light could have actually been one of the different races for each cover which would have signaled to the world that the warrior of light actually CAN be anyone, but it isn't, and that's a real disappointment. It means their 'idea' of the warrior of light is exactly what everyone thinks it is - a straight, cis, white, male.

So about the storyline you are referencing over in SB - yes that character is currently female, but if you listened to her story, her personality is explained away not as her just being a strong woman, it's because she was previously male. She’s actually quite firm about who she was and how her personality stems from that. It’s another example of strong female characters not really being on their own as strong female characters.

And finally, the jerk arrogant dude was overthrown temporarily as the leader of the clans, and we only helped because we were backing someone that would take our side in the end, right? That’s what we wanted, someone to take our side and that NPC happened to be it. You could actually argue that we went after the ‘weakest’ member to put on the throne because we needed their support and neither of the other two ‘stronger’ leaders were going to come support our war.

And Hydaelyn... is a crystal. That shouldn't even have to be addressed but if your argument against sexist undertones in the game is the presence of a crystal with a female voice actress... maybe take another look?

I agree that confirmation bias can be real, but I challenge you to really look deeper at the story than it sounds like you have.

So far, the only character I have come across in this entire game that I can 100% say is a strong female character without having any obvious underlying male storyline is Shantotto. And for that, I’ll be forever a Black Mage.

[Josco]

Or maybe they see it because it's been their experience? You're male, and so you don't see it. Instead you see three city-states with female leadership. I see the Admiral who is in her position because the male (did you not even pay attention to her story?) doesn't want the job. I see the sultaness who can't function without Raubahn, to the point of running into his arms like a gushing child, and gosh I hope they don't stuff the rest of her story up. <clipped> That's two out of three pretty obvious "female but not really" stories.

The warrior of light is technically 'our' character, but there was nothing stopping SE from showing the WoL as something different than a human, white, stereotypical male every xpac. The Warrior of Light could have actually been one of the different races for each cover which would have signaled to the world that the warrior of light actually CAN be anyone, but it isn't, and that's a real disappointment. It means their 'idea' of the warrior of light is exactly what everyone thinks it is - a straight, cis, white, male.

So about the storyline you are referencing over in SB - yes that character is currently female, but if you listened to her story, her personality is explained away not as her just being a strong woman, it's because she was previously male. <clipped> It’s another example of strong female characters not really being on their own as strong female characters.
<clipped>
So far, the only character I have come across in this entire game that I can 100% say is a strong female character without having any obvious underlying male storyline is Shantotto. And for that, I’ll be forever a Black Mage.

That is a lot of mental gymnastics to try not to see female heroes breaking out of "traditional gender roles," which was the accusation you leveled. Merlwyb's story also includes her winning a great naval victory and killing her father in a duel for treason, and then taking command of his ship--I'm really struggling to see how she is "female but not really."

The irony here is I had never assumed the WoL was any of those things you mentioned...he is cis and straight? If that is what you think the WoL is, that's what he is for you. My main is a blue cat boy, and I watch these trailers and wish there were some technology by which my character could be subbed into the trailer. Part of having it be the same model from trailer to trailer is, IMHO, to show it is the same character growing and transforming over time. The cleanshaven boyish bard from 1.0 looks much aged and transformed compared to the haggard SAM/DRK of the new trailer. A lot of that would be lost and would kind of cheapen the effect if he were a different race/sex each time.

Game the way you like. I'm not here to criticize that. I just think it is possible to voice disappointment with the recent news without resorting to baseless insinuations of bigotry on the part of the devs.

[Souljacker]

That is a lot of mental gymnastics to try not to see female heroes breaking out of "traditional gender roles," which was the accusation you leveled. Merlwyb's story also includes her winning a great naval victory and killing her father in a duel for treason, and then taking command of his ship--I'm really struggling to see how she is "female but not really."

The irony here is I had never assumed the WoL was any of those things you mentioned...he is cis and straight? If that is what you think the WoL is, that's what he is for you. My main is a blue cat boy, and I watch these trailers and wish there were some technology by which my character could be subbed into the trailer. Part of having it be the same model from trailer to trailer is, IMHO, to show it is the same character growing and transforming over time. The cleanshaven boyish bard from 1.0 looks much aged and transformed compared to the haggard SAM/DRK of the new trailer. A lot of that would be lost and would kind of cheapen the effect if he were a different race/sex each time.

Game the way you like. I'm not here to criticize that. I just think it is possible to voice disappointment with the recent news without resorting to baseless insinuations of bigotry on the part of the devs.

I never said Merlwyb was “female but not really”. What I said was for almost every single ‘strong’ female character in charge, there is a stronger male behind her that isn’t in the position because he doesn’t want it. You may not have noticed her looking over her shoulder at Mistbeard in cutscenes to acknowledge that he is really supposed to be the leader (but decided not to be the pirate king anymore and try it her way), but I did. Is it a huge, massive issue I’m willing to leave the game over? Nah. But it’s just one of those things that gets exhausting over a period of time seeing over and over again.

Now onto our discussion about the Warrior of Light. You’re right that when I look at him I see a cis, straight, white guy. That’s my interpretation because, well, that’s what has been the default main character in games for time out of mind. This is nothing new and to argue that somehow he represents something different is disingenuous. To suggest that he could be intended as trans or homosexual is really reaching.

You don’t notice it because you see aspects of yourself reflected in his progression over time and it’s completely invisible to you, but many others see exactly what it is SE is trying to say. The main character is a white male because that’s what ‘everyone’ thinks of when they think of a ‘hero’. There’s nothing wrong with pushing back on this stereotype in a game where ANYONE is supposed to be able to be the Warrior of Light.

As far as his progression over time, I agree that showing a character aging adds something. I don’t agree that this ‘something’ is worth erasing all the other possible Warriors of Light they could show on the cover.