Frustrating relative lack of LGBT NPCs in this game

[Mhaeric]

So do you see what I'm trying to get at? Representation is good, no question about that. But it has to be realistic, it can't just be there because people "want it". People shouldn't see themselves in fictional characters because their sexualities align, but because of their personalities.

What you're trying to express here is what is known as tokenism. The thing is, however, characters can be LGBT without needing to be fleshed out or have good stories. An LGBT character's existence does not need to be contingent upon additional criteria to be considered worthy of explicit inclusion. That's different than tokenism which has more to do with the intent behind the inclusion. In fact, inclusion of people throughout a game world regardless of how fleshed out they are would work to avoid tokenism rather than being a form of it.

I'm no longer purchasing anything released or produced by Bethesda for unrelated reasons, but I will say that they did this thing correctly in Elder Scrolls Online. That game has lots NPCs whose LGBT status is made explicit and most of them aren't fleshed out in any real away at all although there are several that are

One other thimg, people absolutely should be able to see themselves in fictional characters just because their sexualities align. The parallel to this is that people shouldn't be expected to just be fine with only ever having characters that have differing sexualities than theirs. Sexuality isn't just some clinical trait that people have, it's just as much a part of their identity as their personality is and perfectly worthy of identifying with just on that basis alone.