The queerness is lore-accurate and Larian's vision

[Wizard College Dropout]

Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms setting: "Folks, the Realms have ALWAYS had characters (mortals and deities) who crossdressed, changed gender (and not just to sneak past guards in an adventure, by way of shapeshifting magic or illusions), were actively bisexual, and openly gay. So it has always been there, and is an integral part of the Realms. Sheesh. The world has REAL problems, people. Telling someone else how to behave in bed (or dress, or what jobs they can hold down) isn't one of them. Or shouldn't be."

And Larian's writers did an interview with Gayming Magazine talking about how important the queerness of the game was to them. "DnD is inherently driven by player imagination, and in the tabletop edition, players are given the freedom to flirt and fall in love as they please. This is something we wanted to replicate as far as possible, so while it’s an equally valid creative approach for romance-able characters to come with their own set preferences, the pansexuality of our origin characters not only feels true to them and their values, but also to the spirit of imaginative self-expression and self-exploration that lies at the heart of DnD. Speaking for myself, I can say that video games (and role-playing games in particular) were some of the first places I found a space to quietly express this side of my own identity, and as a result were also the first places I experienced acceptance of this. I hope our game offers others that same feeling for our players of being seen and loved for exactly who they are."

The game is queer because they wanted it to be queer and it's lore accurate to the setting, the creator of which says to get over yourself. Either accept the game for what Larian wanted it to be or move on to a different one.

[Matunus]

The game is true to the spirit of it's setting and the wishes of it's community. Larian was 100% right both morally and economically not to let social media incels (who would rather jump into an active vulcano than buy a D&D game anyway) distract them from creating this game true to the traditions of D&D and Forgotten Realms.

[Chaosolous]

Social media is not an accurate representation of actual reception. This applies to almost all forms of media.

[[Heretic]Rivga]

I recently talked to a friend just before the game and, mistakenly, said to him it was good that they'd change the setting to be more inclusive.
Him being a fan of the DnD since he was 12 and he is now into his 40s, laughter at me and stated DnD in general has never made a big deal of it but was WAY ahead of its time and very inclusive almost from the start.
In his words "outcasts" tend to show other outcasts empathy. And both the dnd and LBGT communities have been outcasts of a sort for a long time.

[Matunus]

Originally posted by HereticRivga:

I recently talked to a friend just before the game and, mistakenly, said to him it was good that they'd change the setting to be more inclusive.
Him being a fan of the DnD since he was 12 and he is now into his 40s, laughter at me and stated DnD in general has never made a big deal of it but was WAY ahead of its time and very inclusive almost from the start.
In his words "outcasts" tend to show other outcasts empathy. And both the dnd and LBGT communities have been outcasts of a sort for a long time.

I'm 44 and a D&D DM for 23 year and I can confirm your friend's thesis. D&D was inclusive far before inclusive was commonly used in that sense and at a time when Hollywood still thought Ronald Reagan was a god and women a reward for male action heroes. Gender equality and queer characters were always a part of the setting and are deeply ingrained in the traditions of D&D. Larian did not change anything about the setting and they are right to keep it the way it is intended.

[The_Dipl0mat]

I know DND was very accepting for a long time, it comes with the genre. But I was genuinely happy and pleased to see that we got so much representation in a triple A game
And in a really nice way too. It wasn't "oh I'm doing this because I'm gay" it was "I'm doing this and I happen to also be gay"

It's only a very vocal minority who thinks seeing gay people is the end of the world

[Wizard College Dropout]

Originally posted by HereticRivga:

I recently talked to a friend just before the game and, mistakenly, said to him it was good that they'd change the setting to be more inclusive.
Him being a fan of the DnD since he was 12 and he is now into his 40s, laughter at me and stated DnD in general has never made a big deal of it but was WAY ahead of its time and very inclusive almost from the start.
In his words "outcasts" tend to show other outcasts empathy. And both the dnd and LBGT communities have been outcasts of a sort for a long time.

Tabletop games are really great for that, exploring different sides of yourself through different characters.

[robilar5500]

Originally posted by Solu:

So in other words the Forgotten Realms has always had mentally ill people in it

Quite the opposite.
The occasional critic OTOH...

[Sonrangeri]

And lot of time, many species actually do no have actual "sexuality". They act purely on instincts. Male-Female is just what religion thinks as only option.

I haven't checked if this is possible, but can for example Druid shapeshifting into animal decide gender of shapeshift?

Or, if you use disguise self, and turn into Female while being Male, or other way around.
Let's say 2 females disguise self into male and female, and do the deed. What do you consider that relationship? This is all possible in realms of D&D, so it would be idiotic to compare it to real life.

[wagg40k]

Now if only it had been written well and the representation weren't as shallow as a puddle.

[[Heretic]Rivga]

Originally posted by Solu:

So in other words the Forgotten Realms has always had mentally ill people in it

Experts state they are not mentally ill, those same scientists also state being religious is not a mental illness either, so they could just have a different measure of what is aental illness or not.

[NoodleWarrior666]

inclusiveness is fine, gay companions forcefully trying to romance players is not fine

[nuther]

I remember when Forgotten Realms came out. It was the 80s. I dont remember it being particularly gay. Sorry.

[robilar5500]

Originally posted by NoodleWarrior666:

inclusiveness is fine, gay companions forcefully trying to romance players is not fine

Forcefully as in they tie you to the bedroll and have their way with you?

What game are you playing exactly?

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by NoodleWarrior666:

inclusiveness is fine, gay companions forcefully trying to romance players is not fine

Never happened.

[The_Dipl0mat]

Originally posted by robilar5500:

Originally posted by NoodleWarrior666:

inclusiveness is fine, gay companions forcefully trying to romance players is not fine

Forcefully as in they tie you to the bedroll and have their way with you?

What game are you playing exactly?

Ay yo can I get this copy?