Improve Same-Sex Romances in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition

  • par: James WW
  • destinataire: BioWare, EA, and Project Director Mac Walters

To: BioWare, EA, and Mac Walters - Project Director for the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

From: James W. (MShenko2187 on Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter); Craig N. (Quarian Otter); Cory P. (Estalfaed); and, Charles S. on behalf of ourselves and other LGBTQIA+ fans

We the initial signers are an LGBTcrew of avid sci-fi fans who have connected across social media platforms over our mutual love for the Mass Effect universe. The last three months have been a rollercoaster for us. Growing excitement over the rumors of the Legendary Edition turned to joy at its announcement and then dismay when it became clear there would be no update or improvement to the lacking same-sex romance options. This sadness turned to anger and distrust in January when news broke that Jack and Jacob also had planned same-sex romances which were ultimately cut from ME2 [Source 1; Source 2]. And that distrust only grew when various reports gave contradictory reasons for why this happened [Source 3]. Finally, when fuller details emerged in February about the extent of the work being done on ME1 led to questions about including Kaidan's same-sex romance, we got more excuses about his romance never being planned - despite already known evidence to the contrary in the form of unused dialogue and animations left behind in the game's code [Source 4].

Given the numerous reports and contradictory information coming from the studios and developers over the last few months regarding ME's same-sex romance options, we are asking for:

          1. A full, detailed explanation of the reasons why these characters'
              same-sex dialogues and romances were originally planned on
              some level and had dialogue written and/or recorded, but were
              ultimately excluded from the games;

          2. A formal apology from the studios for the deliberately
              exclusionary decisions made regarding all three characters, both
              in the original version and Legendary Edition;

          3. A Legendary Edition post-release patch for an MShep-Kaidan
              romance using and filling in existing material so we can have one
              trilogy-spanning male same-sex romance;

          4. A frank and open assessment of the possibility of finishing the
              same-sex romances for Jack and Jacob and the potential for
              Legendary Edition patches;

          5. A detailed, public plan of concrete steps the studios and creative
              directors will take to ensure diverse, accurate, and comparable
              LGBTQIA+ representation in future ME projects.

For the following reasons:

- BioWare made the fantastic decision to normalize FemShep's face model throughout the trilogy and implement a better character builder! Modders already made some of those changes possible, often using existing material in the source code. Modders also used material in the source files to generate same-sex romances in ME1. While claiming to have consulted fans and the modding community during its planning and completion of the Legendary Edition [Source 5], BioWare has apparently elected to stop short of also increasing LGBTQIA+ representation. This is a deliberate decision with harmful consequences, regardless of intent.

- Kaidan Alenko's same-sex romance especially doesn't reinvent the wheel. An MShep-Kaidan romance following the same story arc as a FemShep romance largely using existing material changes neither Kaidan's canonical bisexuality nor any major trilogy plot points.

- Likewise, Jack and Jacob's same-sex romance arcs could also follow the existing tracks for their respective Shepards and still work without needing to make drastic story changes.

- Post-release patches give the development teams enough time to do these treatments right without adversely affecting their working conditions under a looming deadline during an ongoing pandemic.
BioWare has previously demonstrated both their ability and a willingness to edit their existing games to fix this lack of representation. After fans showed a need and desire for increased same-gender romances in Mass Effect: Andromeda, the studios released a patch to add a romance for Jaal with Scott Ryder. The patch notes specifically state "The relationships with your crew are some of the most loved and cherished parts of our games, so we wanted to make sure we got it right. We consulted with members of the LGBTQ community, both externally and within our own studios. After carefully considering all feedback, we decided this was an important change to make, and one that made sense for Jaal, Scott, and the angara." [Source 6]

- Addressing and fixing these issues demonstrates we're a valued fanbase who face real-life consequences when we're not represented well and have to ask for it. After all, we're all signing with new usernames or initials out of concern about targeted social media attacks.

- Restoring this content in 2021 when LGBTQIA+ representation has never been more visible and expected in mainstream entertainment will only serve to bolster the studios' reputation moving forward.

It is our hope that BioWare and EA will give serious consideration to addressing these concerns in your endeavor to revamp interest in the Mass Effect universe. We recognize that these games have helped make strides in LGBTQIA+ representation easier, and we are now asking the studios to do better as a show of good faith in anticipation of future projects.

And to our fellow LGBTcrewmates, supporters and allies, thank you for signing! We will update you as the situation changes.

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