POE 2: Class Gender Lock is a Step Backwards

oh you poor thing.

NEXT

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BlaqWolf#1151 wrote:

Honestly, for POE it doesn't really matter except the voice lines.
As soon as MTX are applied gender goes **poof**

It *would* be nice if they had alternate character art (in the ascendancies, or during the opening animation) based on a rote selection of M or F (with utterly NO CONCEIT toward 'other').

yeah this is actually why i find it funny whenever people say we that creating different options takes away from all the characterization that devs put their heart into.

i literally cant see my characters face after equipping most of the default helmets. once paid mtx comes into the picture, any semblance of character identity gets thrown out of the window

Let's please keep this sociopolitical agitating away from the game and community we love. Play the game that is there, and love it as we do.

Not a step backwards.

But a bold (and right) decision by devs.


Also, willing to pay for MTX gender change (M to F, F to M) quite a lot because it makes game more rich

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Phrazz#3529 wrote:

Sure it's a valid argument. You just disagree with it, which is fine - you're allowed to. But just because you disagree, doesn't make the argument invalid. Most post I see in here, are using the same, "invalid" arguments: "It's time", "it's 2024" and "...a step backwards" like it's some sort of equality thing. Those are non-arguments that tells us nothing.

They're non-arguments that feel like they say nothing to some people. To others, it's disconcerting and weird that a AA+ game like PoE which goes all in on customization and personal expression - to a degree that both mystifies and horrifies other game developers - is so adamantly and brutally against this one specific form of customization and expression. It's jarring and throws us out of the experience to some extent, it feels incongruous and against the spirit of the game. It's why I lean so hard on the Discount Technocolor Ghost Rider argument - if you can make a "Witch" into a STR-stacking flaming-skull walking crab with Jojo Arms strapped to their back that randomly flex on you while you mow enemies down with a combination greataxes and grenades...why the hell is this one specific thing so massively anathema to all forms of gaming forever?

Because to hear most of the nay-sayers in this thread tell it, introducing gender select to PoE2 would Ruin The Game Forever, cause them to drop half the bosses, force them to abandon the thought of ever finishing Acts 4 through 6, and just delay the game for another twenty years.

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Phrazz#3529 wrote:

Sure, "freedom" and "choices" are valid arguments, even though if I were given a choice in a game all about build specialization, I would ALWAYS choose another class instead of male option to the female classes or female models to the male classes. But I digress...

Remember - they took away one of the few options for female classes. We're now at eight males and four females, once the remainder of the EA No-Shows decide to grace us with their presence. No Scion, and the devs have made it a hundred percent plain there will never be a Scion again, either.

Could they add a third class to each starting point? Sure. But they could also just add a new Ascendancy, since the Ascendancies are the actual class options and new Ascendancies are even less work than new base classes. Frees up the animation and VO people to do gender select, since the people doing animations and VO are not the people doing systems and gameplay coding.

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Phrazz#3529 wrote:

Out of pure curiosity; besides "gender freedom" and "gender choice", which has nothing to do with gameplay, what are the valid reasons for (almost) ridiculing the developers choice of not having gender options for their characters? WHY is it so important?

It's important for the same reason it's important in thousands of other games - it can increase a player's sense of attachment to and investment in their character, which in turn increases playtime and eventual yield for GGG. In this case it can also prevent a sense of detachment and broaden options for players that cannot tolerate Grinding Gear's choice of forced aesthetic for a given role.

I'll give you an example - I find it difficult almost to the point of impossible to play the Marauder in PoE1. I hate being a massive, testosterone-crazed meathead. It makes me physically uncomfortable, it dramatically lowers my investment in the character. It's content that is effectively denied to me. I've played a Berserker once, to somewhere in the high seventies. That's it.

Now, a lot of people say "That sounds completely insane" or "that sounds like a 'You' problem", and sure - for those specific people, they're right. They couldn't care less, so they don't have the same issues. But for me and many players like me, it can make us distinctly less excited to play the game. I really like the idea of doing something awesome with Greatwolf's Howl on the Warbringer Ascendancy, but in order to do so I have to tolerate being a roided-out smashmonkey who thinks with his biceps and that just turns me off so totally that I don't think I'll ever be able to play that character.

You can say "that doesn't affect the majority's gameplay so it's a nonthing". But how many people are you willing to turn away? How many people are going to see the game has locked genders and say "oh, well, no point I guess" and not even give it the time of day because that's considered a standard feature of games of this type in this era?

And frankly, I get real fucking tired of being called ugly political names and getting accused of ugly political tomfoolery because I hate the thought of being a Gears of War character and dislike the fact that this quirk of mine means half the game is cut away from me. It is not "sociopolitical agitating" to want to avoid stabbing myself in my dysphoria every god damned time I play the game.

Personally I think the set genders is a good thing. It really lets the devs dial in the story that these Exiles have taken and will take during our adventure. They had a specific character path in mind from the ground up rather than a dilute generic "this works for both/all genders" for every character archetype. You may relate to your character less personally, but the game and stories as a whole are better off for it.

would be nice to at least be able to turn off voice for self.

i dont want to mute all voices i need them for boss cues and stuff.

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NightCicer#2430 wrote:

Personally I think the set genders is a good thing. It really lets the devs dial in the story that these Exiles have taken and will take during our adventure. They had a specific character path in mind from the ground up rather than a dilute generic "this works for both/all genders" for every character archetype. You may relate to your character less personally, but the game and stories as a whole are better off for it.

But that's the thing tho, it doesn't change anything, it's kinda neat that there is some dialog that mentions your class but in the end it does nothing, it has zero, zip, nada, no impact on the story whatsoever, if you muted the dialog you would have no idea anything was different, that is the amount of impact it has.

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teksuoPOE#2987 wrote:

would be nice to at least be able to turn off voice for self.

i dont want to mute all voices i need them for boss cues and stuff.

Have you toggled on the "Disable Gameplay Event Voices" option under the sound tab?

While it won't disable the voice lines for leveling or while progressing through the campaign, it'll turn off the voice lines for being out of mana or not having enough space to pick up an item, for example.

"am I overreacting?"

Yes.