the mass effect: developing alternate relationship dynamics
DESCRIPTION
DOWNLOAD TO VIEW VIDEO CLIPS! Presented at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association's national conference, this presentation details an alternative to traditional gender/romance dynamics in video games. Focusing on the pairing of Commander Shepard and Garrus Vakarian from Bioware's Mass Effect series, this presentation examines what unique qualities this couple shares that make them resonate so strongly with fans.TRANSCRIPT
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The Mass Effect: Developing Alternate Relationship Dynamics in Video Games
Kathleen DobruseMichigan State University
April 17, 2014PCA/ACA National Conference, Chicago, IL
@dobrusek
The Mass Effect: Developing Alternate Relationship
Dynamics in Video Games
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Women in gaming
• Industry still male-dominated• Need to think critically about how to make
games inviting to women• A focus on the relationships—romantic or
otherwise—between characters would appeal• Could have the ancillary benefit of making
games more enjoyable for male players too
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Defining “alternate” dynamics
• Contrast with traditional relationship dynamics: male=active, female=passive
• Women as prizes to be won– Mario franchise– Early Zelda– Double Dragon– Dragon’s Lair, etc.
See TV Tropes:– Save the Princess– Smooch of Victory– Standard Hero Reward
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There's something terribly retro about all this, besides the fact that you're saving your kidnapped girlfriend, which as game stories go is only slightly newer than "you have to shoot the thing." — Zero Punctuation, Shadows Of The Damned
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Recent romance mechanisms
• Fable 2 (2008)– Perform “favored actions” (ex. dance, make fart
noises, thumbs up, etc.)• Skyrim (2011)– Go on specific fetch quests, then propose
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009)– Give gifts to raise approval to minimum threshold
to initiate romance dialogue sequence
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Mass Effect 2
• 2010 sequel to Mass Effect (2007), which had its own problems with romance.
• Focusing specifically on the female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian (aka “Shakarian”) pairing.
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(Cosmic Love, 2012, p. 51)
Demographics
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(Cosmic Love, 2012, p. 54)
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(Cosmic Love, 2012, p. 55)
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So why the interest?
• Despite differences in species, Garrus remains a popular Love Interest (LI) among both female and male players. What is the attraction? What did the developers “do right”?
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A relationship built on friendship
• Trust• Camaraderie• Honesty• Open communication• Freedom to disagree
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Alternate dynamics
• Equal power distribution• Shepard initiates romances, but there’s no
active/passive dynamic
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Resources• Deviantart
– Garrus-Fangirls– ME Romanceables
• Tumblr– #shakarian– #shakarian Sunday– FuckYeahShakarian– FyeahGarrusVakarian
• An Archive of Our Own– Commander Shepard/Garrus Vakarian– Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
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References• Kafai, Y. B., Heeter, C., Denner, J., & Sun, J. Y. (Eds.). (2008).
Beyond Barbie & Mortal Kombat. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
• Wendell, S., & Tan, C. (2009). Beyond heaving bosoms: The smart bitches' guide to romance novels. New York, NY: Fireside.
• Cosmic Love. (2012, December 17). Mass Effect 3 romance DLC survey results: Revised edition. http://me3cosmiclove.wordpress.com/
• Sarkeesian, A. (2013, March 7). Damsel in distress: Part 1 - tropes vs women in video games [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q