AC Syndicate to feature first transgender character

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-09-18-assassins-creed-syndicate-takes-a-leap-towards-inclusivity-with-the-series-first-transgender-character&sa=U&ved=0CA0QqQIwAGoVChMI8sSG7taRyAIVxDs-Ch0dMwb4&sig2=An-FV4YNII8JqwFEQruLOA&usg=AFQjCNGloDi4d9QDBRDXqJNdr_FmHfCmaA

Personally, I have no problem if the character has a reason and fits with the times of the game. Every race and orientation that exists in real life, deserves representation.

Now I'm no history buff, but I'm pretty sure there were no transgender in Victorian times. As far as I know, anyway

They're saying they want to push for "inclusivity"..

but if its done just to make a "point" or pander to SJWs, it feels like a certain agenda is being shoved down my throat (coughInquistioncough). And I may end up boycotting Ubisoft because I dont pay them for their personal views, I pay for top class games.

So, how do you all feel about this ? Do you think a transgender assassin is fitting for a game set in Victorian England ? Or is this a poor excuse for writers to push their personal agenda and pander to the PC and SJW crowd ?

Discuss

Transexuals have existed pretty much as long as humans have existed. Is there any reason to oppose this other than ignorance and transphobia?

I could not care less.

But we all know that Ubisoft is only doing this because they are trying to make up for what some left wing femnistnut jobs complained about with Unity.

So no brown points in my book to Ubisoft for this , not only as they gone way over into the other camp, they have also managed to make this probably one of the sexists game towards men.

@Jacanuk: I feel like right wing and feminist contradict each other.

That being said, it's cool to see more transsexual representation in video games.

Ya, should have said left winged of course.

And in a game that wants to portray itself as historically accurate , it's a bit strange to see a character like that particular considering the historie and prosecution of particular gay people.

Exactly. Good to see games becoming more inclusive which is about time.

How it is considered news for there to be a first transgender character in an Assassin Creed Game. Can we have a news update for the first Jordie in Assassin creed, then we need another for the first spatula wielding madman in Assassin Creed, another for the first man on the moon on Assassin Creed.

It's not the first transgender character in a game I know that, seen those a zillion times im Japanese games. Like that Naoto from Persona 4 from the top of my head, and that claw guy from Dynasty Warriors. Not that these are big deal characters, but not that this is big deal news.

It's sad that we live in a world that makes a big deal out of something like that. A persons race, gender or whatever shouldn't be an issue, as long as the character is interesting, that's all that should really matter.

If the character makes sense....and not just put there to make a point or impression that Ubisoft is politically correct, then fine. But if it is to make a point, I'll be displeased and quite unhappy actually...

They are bringing in a weird taste where characters don't matter but correctness should be the priority. Or what ever you'd call it. Just like in some games, characters are rather used as plot devices rather than actual characters with weight to them.

This reeks of Ubisoft trying to pander to a group of people who don't even buy or play video games but spend a whole lot of time complaining about them.

@foxhound_fox:

My feelings exactly

The funny thing is, these people will attack you and paint YOU a bigot for not fully embracing their view

Many people have religious grounds to be offended as well, and while I'm not religious I find it laughable how some PC people will paint them a bigot for it when they're just as hypocritical and bigoted as them

Do you also get offended when you see a black person in the game? (Traditional) Mormons think that black people are inherently evil, so it's quite offensive to them to allow black people in games.

You not being called a bigot because you have a differing view, you're being called a bigot because it seems quite clear that you are a bigot. If you're not a bigot then what is your issue with having a trans character in a game? sure maybe the character will seem two-dimensional however why is that only an issue when a character is not a straight white male? Why does nobody complain about how heterosexual characters are shoehorned into games?

See, the thing isn't having an issue with a trans character in the game. The issue is having a trans character in the game solely to make it seem "more inclusive" to people, especially after they were heavily criticized for not being inclusive.

If the character fits within the context of the story and setting, I couldn't give a rat's behind about it. But is that why Ubisoft is making this character AND ADVERTISING THE FACT THEY ARE DOING IT?

If they included the character in the game, with no mention of it before anyone played it, and people discover that character on their own, THEN I can see this not being an issue of inclusion for it's own sake. But Ubisoft are trying to please an audience that doesn't even play their games. People who are perpetuating a false sense of hate and bigotry that in all actuality only exists in their minds. Most gamers, in the real world, who aren't teenage roustabouts looking for attention, are generally going to be more liberal-minded and open to the idea of including any and all people in their hobby.

Gaming is one of the things in my life that's made me definitely more open-minded and desiring to learn about other people's and cultures and WANT to interact with them on more than just a level of "tolerance". Hell, if it weren't for Age of Empires II, I would not have been interested in history and other cultures and most definitely not be the same person I am today. One of the main reasons I made the "adult life" decisions I did (with university degree and overall path) was because of my interest in history and other cultures.

Don't throw me under the bus and call me a bigot because I'm trying to showcase just what's wrong with this "movement" towards including groups of people that honestly, could probably not care less if a member of their "community" is somehow represented in a video game of all things. My most favourite games of all time barely feature humanity or even a realistic rendering of humanity in any way, shape or form. So having a trans-gendered character is not going to affect me either positively or negatively.

I didn't call you a bigot, I called OP a bigot. I agree with what you said.

Point out one thing I said that was "against" trans

Read, comprehend, respond

You're the one throwing racist and homophobic accusations at me

Lol no one called me a bigot. Funnily enough you're the one throwing racist and homophobic accusations at me.. You prove my point. We were discussing different viewpoints, no one was offending anyone it was all a mature debate until you started personal attacks

Clearly you're the bigot toast

So why don't you answer my question? If you aren't a bigot why do you oppose the concept of transsexual characters? Why do you not complain about writers pandering to straight people and often shoehorning heterosexual characters and romance options into their games?

It doesn't help that you make insane claims like transsexuals didn't exist in thr Victorian era.

Alrighty then.

Where did I oppose anything ??

Maybe if you finished reading my whole OP... But of course you saw the title and only came here to attack me for simply asking questions

Put the bong down

You didnt even reach the third line of my OP which states that all orientations and races deserve representation

Whose the bigot now ?

Why are you avoiding my question? Why do you hate it when devs add in trans or gay characters to "pander" to certian people, yet you have no problem with them adding straight cis characters to pander to other people? If you're problem is just with pandering, then why are you singling out transsexuals?

You also wrote in that other thread that the sight of gay characters in Dragon Age made you throw up. So don't pretend that you're acting civil.

You remind me of this video

@toast_burner:

Where is your proof that I hate transgender or anyone ?

About DA, I said I threw up at the romance choice and how ugly they were

At the same time yes I complained about pandering, because that's what is like others have stated here, so now you're putting words in my mouth

Ill be waiting for your proof.

You're still avoiding my question. If you only concern is about pandering then why are you singling out gays and transsexuals? The gay romance options in Inquisition were no worse than the heterosexual ones, so why do you specify that it's the gay ones that are bad and pandering? I'm not putting words into you mouth, i'll even quote it for you

Dragon Age inquistion, for their romance options as a straight male. Its a shame they had to pander to the SJWs.

You have to choose between a lesbian looking tomboy, and Josephine, neither of which are attractive

So I'll repeat myself again, if your issue isn't with gays and transsexuals but instead with bad writing and pandering, then why did you specify sexuality and gender identity?

Yes there is a high chance that this character is made to pander to a specific group and will be badly written, however thats ignoring the fact that it's an Assassins Creed game and all the characters will be shit. So why is it somehow worse when the poorly written character is transsexual? Why is it not pandering when they add it more straight romance options to appeal/pander to straight gamers?

Again, point out what I said explicitly or stop making yourself look so stupid

Many straight guys have said the same thing about the romance chocie I'm not by far the first one

You seem to be getting emotional about th fact that people may have other views than you

You're a hateful bigot who attacks those who dont share your same views

So I'm a hateful bigot because I don't think all devs should pander to you and your views?

.. Did I say that?

You're good at pulling s#%$ out of your ass

You're a bigot because you're the one who brought personal insults and high sodium levels here

I'm still waiting for proof

I quoted what you said. Here it is again

Dragon Age inquistion, for their romance options as a straight male. Its a shame they had to pander to the SJWs.

You have to choose between a lesbian looking tomboy, and Josephine, neither of which are attractive

So lets break this down. You as a straight man, aren't interested in gay romance options, you also want more women for your virtual straight character to have sexual relations with. Therefore the devs should have removed the gay characters and instead have added more straight women so that you as a straight man would have more virtual females to bang. How is that not pandering?

Why are you avoiding my questions?

where did I say the devs should remove ?

Are you high ?

I feel embarrassed for you

"Its a shame they had to pander to the SJWs."

so what exactly do you mean by that line? Because the way I interpret given the context of romance option in the game it is that you're complaining that the game has a diverse cast of characters as opposed to just women you find attractive (as mentioned in the second line).

And why do you keep avoiding my questions?

How many times do you need it spelled out to you, by different posters here ?

Its all about the time and setting. A group of wandering lesbians, homosexual men, and transgender people in a medieval theme is not realistic

Relax. Read. Comprehend. Respond

and how do you know the context of how the character fits into the story? If the character is flashing their knob at police officers and not being arrested, I'd agree. However as far as we know it could be an accurate depiction of transsexual life in Victorian London.

Again why do you have an issue with this, yet have no issue with game developers adding in attractive women to pander to heterosexuals?

Its always funny to read the comments like "If the character makes sense" or "If the character fits". I don't see these people blowing up for any and every game in which a character does not make sense in the overall story. It so happens that if the person is not the typical race or gender that these concerns suddenly become a problem.

@airforcedude11: this is stupid... If they cared about this, they would not have announced it but let people discover it for themselves. Like in Dragon Age Inquisition, nobody made a big deal about that...

They did when they found out. Does it really matter if its announced or discovered?

Exactly. A commander of a spaceship fighting a group of ancient aliens about to destroy the galaxy, having a break to screw the beautiful female members of his crew is perfectly fine and realistic. But throw in a gay guy and suddenly it's unrealistic, gone to far, and clearly an attempt to pander to those filthy SJWs.

If people truly cared about writers pandering to an audience without any regard of creative vision then why don't they complain when it's straight white men that are the ones being pandered to? It's why when I play games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age I make my character ignore sexual interactions with anyone. He can do that stuff when nobodies trying to kill us and the entire universe.

@toast_burner:

Oh my, your questions get more and more stupid

To answer, In the theme of dragon age, which is medeival fantasy ( try to argue with that ) and in that setting, its not "pandering" because its the norm for heterosexual orientations

You need to look up a definition of "pandering" and one that doesn't come from your ass

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandering_(politics)

Pandering is the act of expressing one's views in accordance with the likes of a group to which one is attempting to appeal. The term is most notably associated with politics. In pandering, the views one is expressing are merely for the purpose of drawing support up to and including votes and do not necessarily reflect one's personal values.

Being a minority group or not is irrelevant to whether or not it's pandering. By adding in attractive female NPCs they are trying to appeal to a specific group of people (horny straight teenagers) in order to gain sales. So yes that is pandering.

Your attempts at making rational statements are admirable, but at best laughable

Anyway you've derailed our mature discussion into your emotional trainwreck

That is why I respect naughty dog so much they had a gay character in the last of us and they never once mention it if you were not observant you would not even notice it, ubisoft could learn from this if you are going to put a transgender character in the game just do it and dont make a big deal about it.

I don't know if you were aware of this but, heterosexual orientation is still the norm now as it was in the past just like there were homosexuals in the past as they are in the present. Also Medievel FANTASY is exactly that Fantasy. It can be anything. There no "norm" or "right". The concept behind all of these fantasy games are fictional and that is the main appeal.

yes, because it's pandering. All the gaming sites making it a big deal is stupid

and people making a big deal about it allegedly being pandering isn't stupid?

How does the game having gay people in it take anything away from the experience? Same for journalists who do care about it, how does someone caring about something you don't care about have any negative impact on anything?

And pandering is bad because?

Ironically, there's a biographical film (The Danish Girl) on Lili Elbe, a Victorian era transgender woman and one of the first documented cases of sex reassignment surgery, coming out this year, so there were definitely transgender people during the Victorian era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lili_Elbe

But every game panders to a certain demographic. This is how all video game marketing works. The problem is they're not pandering to you.

Well done. :)

Exactly. When someone is a member of the group a game is targeted at they call it "making good games". When an element targets someone else they call it "pandering".

-Byshop

I don't understand how some people take this news and somehow spin it into a negative. OP created one of the most ignorant and bigoted posts I've seen in quite awhile.

"Now I'm no history buff, but I'm pretty sure there were no transgender in Victorian times. As far as I know, anyway"

"I may end up boycotting Ubisoft because I dont pay them for their personal views, I pay for top class games"

Seriously, these are jokes you would use to make fun of wacky people on TV.

Indifferent about this but I'm betting that there are many who are screaming "pandering" to SJWs.

I'm no history buff either, but I know how to use google.

https://viceandvirtueblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/transgender-victorians-clothes-make-the-man/

http://www.bilerico.com/2008/02/transgender_history_into_the_modern_age.php

That said, I didn't see a lot of gamers complaining about the rampant historical innacuracies throughout the series up until now. Sci-fi elements aside, the historical accuracy in these games has bee laugable from the start.

-Byshop