On Male Characters in SSO
I have yet to see a good argument against adding male characters into this game. I strongly believe that by excluding males, the SSO team is actually doing more harm than good in terms of equality.
"There are lots of games with only male characters"
This is the worst argument in my opinion because it neglects to acknowledge some key things. The first is that SSO is an MMO. There are zero MMO games out there that gender lock you. The development team need to pay more attention to what kind of game they're actually making and who they're competing with. It is also not accurate to say there are no, or even few, games out there that gender lock you into a female role. Most, if not all, horse centered games lock you into being female. There have also been a lot of successful franchises (tomb raider, bayonetta, senua) that center around a female character. Lots of games that used to gender lock you (pokemon for example) are now allowing the opposite sex to be chosen. The only thing SSO is doing is perpetuating a stereotype that horses, friendship and love are only for young girls.
"It would be too difficult for SSO to implement male characters."
Let's stop arguing this as if we have any idea how difficult game design is. Difficult also does not mean impossible. Regardless, it would be at least commendable if SSO could put together a team that were dedicated to changing pronouns in quest dialogues to at least they/them. Then we could at least have the option to go by she/her or they/them. As well as, if they added androgenous character models to the game and paired it with they/them or he/him pronouns it would help a lot of players feel more comfortable.
The game is about sisterhood, yes. Having a male character shouldn't have to change the message of the game. Just him learning about the importance of sisterhood alongside them and gaining a new appreciation of the female struggle or something. A MESSAGE DOES NOT HAVE TO EXCLUDE MALES TO BE FEMINIST.
There's also the fact that, as a trans man, playing a game that constantly refers to my character as she can be uncomfortable. Not only that but in order to minimise my discomfort, I have to purposefully dissociate from my character. It does impact my game a lot.
Please SSO. Please consider adding male characters or at least androgenous character models and they/them pronouns to the game. Please finally embrace true equality.
#malesinsso2020
