Know this, oh ye studios and publishers: After 30 years, gender issues have overtaken violence as the hot button issue in video games. Earlier this year, Square-Enix was taken to task for not one but two of its studios’ depictions of women. Gearbox is now under fire as a newly announced downloadable character class for Borderlands 2 was described as “girlfriend mode” by one of the game’s lead designers.
Gearbox detailed a fifth playable character, the Mechromancer, that will be available as DLC for Borderlands 2 around two months after the game hits shelves. Taking inspiration from Jamie Hewlett’s (Gorillaz) old comic book character Tank Girl, the Mechromancer is a punk girl in a jean jacket, pigtails, and a robot arm. Her support ability summons a giant tank named Deathtrap who, unlike commando Axton’s turrets, is there to draw fire away from the player.
The Mechromancer is different from other characters in a different way. One of her three skill trees, the chain of abilities unlocked as you progress in the game, is called “Best Friends Forever.” Those skills are built to make the game significantly easier than playing as one of the other classes. For example the “Close Enough” skill will give shots fired a chance to ricochet so the player doesn’t have to aim particularly well.
So what’s the problem? Making Borderlands 2 more accessible without affecting the core game has to be a good thing, right? The problem is how Hemingway described the Mechromancer to Eurogamer during a Gearbox studio tour. “The design team looking at the [Mechromancer] concept art and though, you know what, this is actually the cutest character we’ve ever had. I was to make, for the lack of a better term, the girlfriend skill tree. This is: I love Borderlands and I want to share it with someone, but they suck at first-person shooters. Can we make a skill tree that actually allows them to understand the game and to play the game? That’s what our attempt with the Best Friends Forever skill tree is.”
Hemingway’s statements ignited a firestorm of angry Internet goers and the game remains a trending topic on Twitter as of this writing. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford took to Twitter himself on Monday morning to defend Hemingway and the game.
“There is no universe where Hemingway is a sexist,” said Pitchford, “The future DLC Mechromancer class has a skill tree that makes it easier for less skilled co-op partners (any gender!) to play and be useful.”
While Hemingway’s phrasing could certainly be seen as patronizing, Borderlands 2 is hardly a bastion of video game misogyny. The game is written by Anthony Burch, who along with his sister Ashly Burch is responsible for the surrealist comedy show Hey Ash, Whatcha Playing. The only serious topic that show ever tackles is how women are depicted in games, and the writer has shown a keen awareness of problematic game creation.
Hemingway chose his words poorly. If people want to take Gearbox to task for being misogynists, take them out for releasing Duke Nukem Forever.
The current overly-sensitive, degendering trend is getting to border on the ridiculous now. Girls are female, and sometimes like to be girly. Boys are male, and sometimes like to be macho. Can these cross over? Certainly, and that’s awesome. But trying to regulate everything to be gender neutral is just causing more friction than it solves.
This whole idea is great! If u have a gf/bf thats not really into games here is n easy way to spend time together. Females will pick Mechromancer cuz of the punky cuteness, n y wouldn’t a male pick her for starting out for the first time? Hell i would. This whole gender BS in video games is like beating a dead horse. Ppl make comments like “nerfing the game” u must b from the Y generation, or the “whine” generation. If your worried about difficulty crank it up. I don’t go play racing games with novice players or “newbies” and if i do i will use handicap. It’s about enjoying the game together not a cock swinging contest.
Gearbox, if Mechromancer doesn’t make it to DLC give her a wang, make him scottish/irish n only allow ppl from scottish/irish descent to play.
Poorly written article. Additionally, you mention “Hemingway” without ever introducing him or her. Had you edited and deleted the paragraph where you first did? The reader is left head-scratching, so can only reasonably assume you’re talking about Ernest Hemingway.
I’d just like to point out that no one who is reasonable will assume that the article is referencing Ernest Hemingway. You don’t exactly have to be a genius to know that the Hemingway mentioned in this article is involved in the game’s development in some way. That being said, forgetting the first reference is a serious issue. I can attest that this, as I made the same mistake once.
I’m a female gamer, and I admit “girlfriend mode” is a bit condescending. The fact that you can revive the other characters in co-op mode makes it easy enough. I was looking forward to exploring the Mechromancer, but knowing that there are only two viable skill trees… It is understandable that they’d want to expand their market, but come on. Nerfing a game for the gaming challenged, what is this? WoW?
Also, they may be called “action figures”, but they are dolls. I, personally, have played video games since I could use a keyboard. Commodore 64, and on. Suck my ovaries. ;)
They are not dolls. Dolls do not have a kung-fu grip.
As for nerfing the game, it’s only one skill tree on a DLC character. I normally only play FPS on PC, but I wanted to play co-op with my console friends. It took me until about level 15 to get the joystick precision down versus mouse and keyboard (infinitely better, more fun, and more accurate). I can totally understand if the casual gamer wanted something easier to work with (not that I would since my epeen is vast).
Real gamers have played on Atari 2600, Intellivison, ColecoVision, and TurboGraphics16. Long live plot graphics!!
Omg, some people just need to grow up. All this talk about gender issues in games and women with big boobs being wrong. It’s a game!!!
Honestly, I think this is a great idea, and I’m glad Gearbox is having fun with the concept. Too many games are trying to take themselves too seriously anymore, so it’s nice to see some more lighthearted and completed humorous games coming out. And for the record, my girlfriend is a gamer, but she struggles to play shooters well. She would never play Borderlands if it wasn’t for a character like this. I showed her this article and she digs the idea as well.
I hate political correctness…
HATE IT.
I know my girlfriend will need a girlfriend character and she would admit to that lol. I just hate to see all the ppl who know how to play the game using her just to play in any PvP.
i think the girlfriend character is a great idea!!! and catchy name lol i know all the ladies in my life couldn’t hold a candle stick to me let alone a remote control hahah jk lets face it girls are great at a lot!…. that being said, lets also face the fact that most females are not that good at video games while us guys grow up playing games knowing it is the norm, girls grow up thinking that being pretty and playing with dolls is what life is about. so no they don’t have a lot of time for games but want to play with the big boy’s, i say good let them have a leg up and really if your getting mad over the name you need a huge reality check. i also want to add.. look at the game your talking about its not exactly the most politically correct game out, and that is one of the greatest things about it… soooo get off the horse.
Hahaha. I like it. A lot. I think that those people who would take this as a sexist jab at girlhood should relax. In fact, I’m willing to wager that this is just the thing that my girl (who’s 30) will like most about Borderlands 2. I understand that it sounds sexist to make statements that read like you’re implying that ALL girls are bad at video games. I just don’t think that that’s what was meant. While there are some exceptional female players, the majority of girls I know just aren’t as “into” video games as their male counterparts. It isn’t that they’re inherently bad at playing. They just haven’t developed the skills due to a lack of interest. And, maybe, they’d like to spend a night battling along side a more seasoned player without feeling like they’re hurting the experience. All told, the character and it’s skill tree are just one more selling point for the title (for me). Now, if the “Girlfriend Skill Tree” includes animated hearts popping overhead whenever a boy walks by ..