I honestly don’t understand this discussion. Women are not another species. Unless the gender is actually important in the story, can’t one just write them like any other character?
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In terms of reviews and hostile comments, I’ve definitely found a higher volume of criticism directed to genderlocked female games than genderlocked male ones. If you count comments of “I’m not going to play a game which is genderlocked [insert gender here]”, there’s a lot more of that referring to genderlocked male games, but that’s likely because there are more of them, and it seems that every time someone does say that, someone else is ready to pounce on them for it.
In terms of actual criticism (as opposed to a description of personal taste), I’ve received a few incidences, and all of those came either very early (as in, they stopped by the time I put up chapter 5 or so of Sabres) or were so blatantly uninformed as to be worthless. I’ve received more for hypothetically bringing up the idea of making a future title in the same universe with a genderlocked female MC.
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I’m genuinely uncertain you should count “I’m not going to play it because X lock” should count as a real criticism. It’s just a statement that they have no interest in it. I don’t feel like some groups of readers should be faulted for not being behind it, especially if they are like me, and generally do more than one play through and play a different gender anyway.
I’ve already made my own thoughts clear before that I think it detracts from the actual merits of someone’s writing since it just turns into a discussion about genderlocking, but also that authors are perfectly allowed to do what they feel like.
Following that, In the general sense of it, if authors reserve the right to make games how they want and they always have that right, then players and readers reserve the right to simply not play something that doesn’t interest them.
Also while I’m informed Sabres of Infinity is genuinely good, I am one of those people who didn’t bother with it because of genderlocking. However, there is no point in commenting on threads for it that I’m not going to play it because of that, because it’s just mostly pointless to do and there’s no real point to do it.
You already know there is going to be detractors for genderlocking, it brings nothing to comment on it and since you are the one who did the work, you have every right to make a game as you want it to be.
Point is, I don’t think that’s really so much a critical statement, as just people pointing out the obvious, like they will if if a game has a lack of ROs. People tend to act in fairly predictable behaviors. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad or uneducated for not sharing the exact same opinion of what makes a game enjoyable to other readers.
Now, is there always going to a loud minority of people complaining about some insane thing? Yes. You get those everywhere. Why I get complaints about religious themes that don’t exist in my game is because there is always some group, no matter how small that just wants something to complain about. Picking what is actually valid and just people complaining to complain, is important.
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I disagree, mostly because as someone who does this for a living, I have to think in terms of market as well as artistic intent.
Anyone who says “I don’t like this because of [thing]” is someone who’s not being reached as either an audience of the story I want to tell, and as a customer who pays my rent and phone bill. I have a vested interest in reaching those people if I can.
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Except that is more or less, them, straight up informing the author of exactly how they would be interested in a story. It’s making what they dislike about the story, fundamentally clear.
And again. You are by no means required to.You put the effort and work in and invest the time to it, so yes, you do dictate the story. However, if they straight up tell you what they want to see, then they’ve made it apparent how they could be reached.
This isn’t a personal criticism and I’m going to apologize because it sounds dangerously close to it. I just think that concept is slightly skewed since it’s already established what that group wants and what would make them more interested.
Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.
I’m not counting “criticism” as a fault on the part of the person delivering the critique.
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Hm this might come off offensive, but be assured it is not meant that way. Have you ever thought, that maybe there is just something wrong with this “I can’t write a woman, because I do not understand them”? I can understand, why someone might think that, perhaps the author never had a female friend or a girlfriend before. But please believe me. When you can write a good male character you can write a good female one too. Cause only media tells us, that the genders are so very different from each other. If you have a character, you think about his life, his talents and his dreams, not a body makes a character believable. His ambitions, dreams and talents make that. Even in a romance both genders are not so different there are shy guys too, Ones that would like the woman take control and there are woman who want to conquer and not get courted.
It is more a difference of character and not the gender. I would be much happier if I as a woman am not treated like a different species. No offense meant. I am of the opinion, as stated before, that anyone can write anything and has the right to do that. But certain things will piss certain people off. If you can’t live with the consequences change something and do not blame the reader or give false excuses.
If you can live with readers that do not like your text, thats totally ok. But do not blaim others, I live with authors who write genderlocked games, when the game is interesting I even might play it, but it is something that is a con for me, when I decide if I buy a game.
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Really? Wow, that’s new to me (I only ever read like the first chapter when I decided to gave that game a chance despite my aversion of the genderlock). But at least you didn’t go “I don’t undeestand women” then wrote a bunch of female NPCs leaving the player with the feeling that the choice to be one is only taken away from them.
I’m curious how people will react to the female genderlock you plan and how tactful they’ll be about their opinion. Will be interesting to see.
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This is true, but if I ever want to write something it would probably a silly gay dating on the more explicit side in the vein of say “coming out on top” game and while, yes, I could research lesbian sex for the lesbian side of things, doing so is about as exciting to me as watching paint dry and like @hustlertwo hinted at I get enough bureaucratic tedium in my day job.
Anyway it if I ever get around to actually doing something about it anything I do would be a very much a niche product anyway.
Sure, but can you match @iris and trigger and cater enough of other very idiosyncratic tastes with it to overcome the 99% thing? 
Otherwise most female locked stories simply aren’t for me, but I applaud your efforts to write one, just like @Goshman tried with the second instalment of his budding series before his virtual disappearance.
But it simply remains very, very, rare that a genderlocked female story will hit the certain X factor that appeals to me as for most of my escapism and mostly want to be able to play unabashed gay protagonists of the kind that are still very too risky for mainstream media to ever dare show.
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Thing is, a gay dating sim is inherently different from the types of games everyone thinks of when you say the phrase “male genderlocked”.
You wouldn’t be excluding women because of a heteronormative attitude regarding female characters and how “difficult” it is to place them in action narratives, so much as creating a space for mlm to express themselves.
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THIS.
I can sort of understand that cis males would feel uncomfortable on writing a woman character as a protagonist because they feel they wouldn’t be able to do her justice, but I feel that is still an excuse.
Are you telling me they never met a powerful or respected woman in their life to be able to portray that in a novel or video game?
To me it sometimes makes me feel like women are somehow these complicated beings that a male cannot understand how they work. 
I know for Persona 5 the reason why there is only a male protagonist is because they said a female protagonist “would not make sense in the story”. Like…you are making this story and it concerns me you say this like you originally planned a male only protagonist and when someone said “What about a female protagonist?” they had already fleshed out the entire outline of their work without even thinking about it or bothering to want to change anything to fit her in.
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From my perspective, having done 2 female protagonists (novel, not IF) it would be because I am never going to have a 900 year old space wizard, or the world’s greatest spy, or even as an actual alien not of this Earth criticize, or even read, what I write. Put another way, I don’t care if I offend a 900-year old space wizard that I’m never going to meet.
When I write I want to do it well - as well as I possibly can - especially if I am going to release/publish it. To that end, I used 2 female editors to read the novels I did, so that I could get a sense for whether stuff jarred with them. It didn’t and so I had done okay.
So, from my perspective the problem isn’t anything more than nerves. I wonder if there might be a tendency - on this forum/in this community - to look for a sinister motive that isn’t [always] there?
Having done two - successfully in terms of writing the two protagonists - I would have no problem doing it again. Part of the reason for me joining this community is that - from what I’ve read - one (or maybe both) of the characters might go down quite well (if I turned the stories into IF).
The way PC are done in many of the IFs I have seen here, you have a point (because they are - often - written to be whatever the player wants) - So I do take your point. But then this discussion is about the “pitfalls” of genderlocking a PC and so is/could-be a different thing (I think)? (And yes, I agree, depending on the type of character portrayed and whether the gender is important to the story)
Very well put, Reaper 
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I was referring to the part of discussion revolving around ”I don’t know how to write X”, but I agree that my post kind of… fell out of context, since there appeared more posts between it and its intended context due to me being too slow. 
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I’m not saying you’re wrong and it’s not as if I don’t understand your point of view, a little. But you also made heroes of Kendrick stone and Mecha Ace, two games I love by the way.
Except in them, the pc already could be any gender they wanted. I guess I just don’t totally see why it needs to be treated as a bigger deal, when there’s already pre existing games when it wasn’t made the whole point of the narrative?
Why is it suddenly treated like non male mcs are a separate entity?
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I’m not actually sure about the timeline, but maybe he wrote Sabres before Kendrickstone and Mecha Ace? So by the time he wrote the second two games he feelt more comfortable about writing a female MC? Tho feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here, @Cataphrak.
Also if iirc the different gender didn’t make much difference in Mecha Ace it was more like only a pronoun change.
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I wrote Sabres first, then Mecha Ace, then Kendrickstone.
Note that Sabres was also the first piece of fiction I’d ever had published.
Like, ever.
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Yeah, those came after. And they were great.
My point is, those already existed before the upcoming genderlocked female game where gender wasn’t made it into a big deal in those previously, and now it’s being made into that.
Going by all the threads about genderlocking I think this is something brought up by people for a very long time not just lately.
Also to point out one of the cons of giving a gender choice it often feels like the gender doesn’t matter at all. Just a pronoun change. In the games I really like it matters some way if my MC is female even if it’s just some flavour text. Without the game going offendingly sexist of course. But even if it’s just the “he” switched to “she” and otherwise my MC almost feels like some genderless entity, I’m still willing to take that after having to play so many games where I didn’t have even this option. Just my two cents here.
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Now this made me think. And I think you might have some point there. If you only see the CoG forum side of the story. I think on the forum the people who complain about the male genderlock are the people who want more inclusivness while the male players don’t necessarily need to make the market catering to them stronger or bigger since they have most of that already.
But if you look at other sites the ones who would be most vocal are the hetero male players feeling threatened by others (females, non-binary folk or gay players) being included.
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That is because there is an overweight about mc-locked games.
People complaining about genderlocks here come in three types:
- Don’t like genderlock at all.
- Don’t like genderlock at all, but thinks that we should have some female locked ones to even it out. (me.)
- Is just tired of male protagonists.
Meanwhile, in moonrise one of the first complain was someone trying to suggest that the company was transphobic for not providing a male mc.
There is a difference.
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