Lord of the Rings Online Sparks Gay Debate
A weekend Salon piece outlines how developer Turbine was torn between whether or not to allow same-sex marriage within Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.
As games and MMOs in particular gain popularity, real-world issues such as gay marriage extend into virtual realms.In the newly-released LOTRO, players are currently not allowed to marry the same sex, which raises questions about game design as well as discrimination."The rule that we tried to follow across the board was: if there's an example of it in the book, the door is open to explore it," explained Turbine designer Nik Davidson. "Very rarely will you see an elf and a human hook up, but it does happen; the door is open. Dwarves don't intermarry with hobbits; that door is shut ... Did two male hobbits ever hook up in the shire and have little hobbit civil unions? No. The door is shut."
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I think I'd have to agree with the game's designers. If the fantasy world of Middle Earth as it was created did not include 21st century social/civil rights then the game should remain true to the "reality" of that fantasy world.
ReplyDeleteAs much as we might want to see Sam and Frodo hook up, if they did, they were very discreet about it.
Nerd Herder