Gender equality for companions?

NotaDaedraWorshipper · February 2022

Yes, I much prefer equal gender options.

MovesLikeJaguar wrote: »

But because it's slow, it's going to be uneven with genders.

The first ones we got was 1 female and 1 male character. Sooo if it had been the same thing now it wouldn't have been uneven, so that doesn't make much sense. It would've been a different matter if we only got 1 companion at a time.

It's an odd choice, but I suppose we can hold back...reluctantly, for now. Or at least until the next ones arrive which better be male companions.

luen79rwb17_ESO · February 2022

MovesLikeJaguar wrote: »

Uh I mean they've released 4 guys so far. 4! And only in DLC zones.

Here's the thing. They are releasing these characters, companions, slowly. Because they need to develop storylines for these characters to some extent. But because it's slow, it's going to be uneven with genders. 1 in 2 people is male generally speaking. Statistics say that even if they chose from a grab bag at random for the characters, the likelihood of it being 1 man and 3 women isn't super low.

Imo, this is an over-dramatization, and I would much rather see the devs developing companions for OG content, like, a companion or two and a questline for each in every zone (other than the tutorial zones like stros), possibly with characters we've seen before, complaining about that makes more sense. This is a videogame, and with very few options released so far when it comes to companions, of course your selection will be small.

They could make cheaper more basic versions available through CS with no questline at all. Nereid and Goblin companion would totally fit that and I bet noone would be mad at it

Vanos444 · February 2022

I rather have more females

coop500 wrote: »

Does gender equality matter to you for companions?
ATM it looks like we're gonna get two more females, leaving us with three females and only one male.
Personally this kinda bums me out a bit, as I prefer male companions when possible in games.
What's your thoughts?

Women are strong, smarter and powerful in ESO lore. Not TES lore but ESO lore.

spartaxoxo · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

Vanos444 wrote: »

coop500 wrote: »

Does gender equality matter to you for companions?
ATM it looks like we're gonna get two more females, leaving us with three females and only one male.
Personally this kinda bums me out a bit, as I prefer male companions when possible in games.
What's your thoughts?

Women are strong, smarter and powerful in ESO lore. Not TES lore but ESO lore.

There's never been any content you couldn't do as a woman in TES, and plenty of very powerful women.

ellmarie · February 2022

Yes, I much prefer equal gender options.

Yes, I'd like another male please. A badass that will do dark brotherhood and thieves guild with me and doesn't mind.

peacenote · February 2022

Yes, I much prefer equal gender options.

I prefer Bastian over Mirri but dislike that he gets so upset when I steal or something. ESPECIALLY when I'm doing it for an endeavor, it's so annoying.

So I was hoping for a male companion who would be a little more flexible and since they made a female Khajiit, who seems awesome, it is disappointing that our second character isn't a male.

It's not game-breaking, it isn't a HUGE deal, but I'm surprised by folks who think this isn't poll- worthy or comment-worthy. We talk about all things ESO here.

coop500 · February 2022

Other/mixed (feel free to comment)

peacenote wrote: »

I prefer Bastian over Mirri but dislike that he gets so upset when I steal or something. ESPECIALLY when I'm doing it for an endeavor, it's so annoying.

So I was hoping for a male companion who would be a little more flexible and since they made a female Khajiit, who seems awesome, it is disappointing that our second character isn't a male.

It's not game-breaking, it isn't a HUGE deal, but I'm surprised by folks who think this isn't poll- worthy or comment-worthy. We talk about all things ESO here.

I kinda expected people to get up in arms about it because some folks can't handle people discussing stuff on a discussion forums... ? Doesn't make sense to me, really.

Frankly my biggest concern is, we got two girls and one so far just seems like female Bastian. I'm excited for the khajiit and will probably use her a lot with my support characters and make her pure damage, plus I assume she'll be more savvy to my less than wholesome characters.

But the breton? I'm curious of what she adds, besides a pretty human lady face.

AlienSlof · February 2022

Yes, I much prefer equal gender options.

Kesstryl wrote: »

Exactly, I'm a female player and I know plenty of other female players, and many of us do get sick of straight male players being marketed toward because we want shiny things too. I also have a gay guildmate who is not happy about this. Diversity is good for everyone. Companions are still new, and to have an oversight like this so early in the companion system when you have such a huge diversity of players with different tastes is why threads like this appear. We are not being political, we just see what's going on and are not happy about being brushed aside for the perceived player demographic being marketed towards.

So much this. Bastian is nice to look at, but ohmygoodness, he's a moron! He gives the wrong battle advice at all the wrong times! 'Sheathe your weapons!' he cries in the middle of a boss fight! Or, he runs into the melee even when I equip him with ranged gear and skills and promptly dies! I actually prefer Mirri for general common sense.

As a female player, though, I like to see men on my screen! When I mod the single player games, I mostly make them for male characters, as I play mostly males with male companions. Extra male eye-candy for me.

I had really just hoped for a simple split down the middle, with one male and one female per set of new companions. Now I'm looking at possibly a year's wait to get another male who isn't Bastian! My hopes of a nice male tomcat Khajiit were sadly dashed.

JellySunset · February 2022

Yes, I much prefer equal gender options.

I was really annoyed when they announced two female companions as I was looking forward to another male companion, Bastian is wearing thin, so I would have preferred equal as it's fair imo as you would have at least got an option then. I'm now thinking oh next year they must give us 2 males lol.
But I would honestly love it if they let us make our own companions even if they make the story, I think that would be the best thing as well as everyone's companions would look different.

Not a huge deal as I just use them for company but still disappointing we didn't get a male.

BomblePants · February 2022

Other/mixed (feel free to comment)

I am happy it’s females but I appreciate others want equality in the offering of gender. I use Bastion but only because Mirri is sooooo skinny.

Does anyone know the race of the new companions yet? Sorry haven’t read the whole thread….

Thavie · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Perhaps they could offer companions with gender-neutral names and you could choose from either a male or female version at the beginning of the quest line? It doesn't seem like that much more work, and it would make a lot more people happy.

@ZOS_Kevin

That doesn't seem like a lot of work, sure! Just twice as much work for voice acting for each character.
Who cares about gender, why for fox's sake? You should care about the quality of the writing, the story of the character, the personality, likeability. Gender is not what makes a great companion great. Writing does.

DonHardstyle · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

Don't care about genders in an game. Definitely not about the gender of an companion since I think they are useless anyway.

Jeirno · February 2022

I don't use companions, I just came here for (insert reason)

I wonder, how many would have chosen "doesn't matter to me" if we had 1 Female and 3 Male companions instead.

ArchMikem · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

There now being a Female majority in Companions was the last thing to cross my mind. Was too busy thinking about how Ember fits perfectly with my Khajiit characters.

Lalocat · February 2022

Yes, I much prefer equal gender options.

I voted for equal but would prefer to be getting two new male companions rather than two female or equal options. At least neither of them is Altmer, so I can hope for a male Altmer next time.

meekmiko · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

BomblePants wrote: »

I am happy it’s females but I appreciate others want equality in the offering of gender. I use Bastion but only because Mirri is sooooo skinny.

Does anyone know the race of the new companions yet? Sorry haven’t read the whole thread….

Khajiit and Breton.

*Edited to add:

Ember the Khajiit & Isobel the Breton

swook33b16_ESO · February 2022

I prefer well written characters. Male or Female doesn't matter to me. Although I don't like if they point out everything I do, then I prefer a silenced Daedra/Animal creature follower instead. Don't want a nagging mommy following me (Both Bastian and Mirri have been, but not as bad as Eveli Sharp-Arrow has been in Blackwood chapter). So Im hoping the 2 new female companions will be better and not worse.

SammyKhajit · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

Reading through these posts, Sammy wonders if there will be the same call for “gender equality” if ZOS announced two male companions?

Sammy likes strong female characters. The more the better.

Anyway, the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread. Freedom in reproductive health, ending domestic violence, equitable access to services, the right to vote and so on = gender equality.

spartaxoxo · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

Jeirno wrote: »

I wonder, how many would have chosen "doesn't matter to me" if we had 1 Female and 3 Male companions instead.

I would have because this is a company I trust to do right by gender and have since like Oblivion. Also it's literally only 1 new update since the launch of the companions and I don't believe in the quota method for fixing things, so it's really easy to cause an imbalance rn not because of sexism or anything but because there's so few.

The video game industry at large is a different story. And historically it has never been imbalanced against males. So an all-lady main character game when measured against the history of video games would be different than the other way around.

Not that mostly male games should stop being made, I loved FFXV for example and think that story would have been weakened by having the women characters more prominent, but if someone wants more games made next year with predominantly women than men to catch things up, that would be an opinion actually rooted in the way games have been statistically created. The same is not true of an opinion the other way around.

SilverBride · February 2022

Eh, would be nice to have it equal

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

spartaxoxo · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

SilverBride wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

I mean he's right though that the phrase carries a lot of historical weight. Something like "should the companions have an equal number of all the genders?" Would have been a more neutral phrasing. I think the title is fine personally, but Sammy is not wrong about what the chosen title evokes beyond just it's literal meaning.

SammyKhajit · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

I mean he's right though that the phrase carries a lot of historical weight. Something like "should the companions have an equal number of all the genders?" Would have been a more neutral phrasing. I think the title is fine personally, but Sammy is not wrong about what the chosen title evokes beyond just it's literal meaning.

@spartaxoxo you get a sweet roll for being spot on. The usage of gender equality in this thread kind of devalues the meaning. We just need to be more considerate about what we say, especially in public forums.

spartaxoxo · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

Woohoo, sweetrolls! Hey, someone stole it. I should contact a town guard, I am sure they will want to know.

SilverBride · February 2022

Eh, would be nice to have it equal

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

I mean he's right though that the phrase carries a lot of historical weight. Something like "should the companions have an equal number of all the genders?" Would have been a more neutral phrasing. I think the title is fine personally, but Sammy is not wrong about what the chosen title evokes beyond just it's literal meaning.

You have to look at the context.

The OP stated their meaning very clearly with "Does gender equality matter to you for companions? ATM it looks like we're gonna get two more females, leaving us with three females and only one male."

spartaxoxo · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

I mean he's right though that the phrase carries a lot of historical weight. Something like "should the companions have an equal number of all the genders?" Would have been a more neutral phrasing. I think the title is fine personally, but Sammy is not wrong about what the chosen title evokes beyond just it's literal meaning.

You have to look at the context.

The OP stated their meaning very clearly with "Does gender equality matter to you for companions? ATM it looks like we're gonna get two more females, leaving us with three females and only one male."

What you intended to say is not the only thing that determines whether or not you used a poor word choice, regardless if when taken literally it communicates what you wanted it to communicate.

Some words and phrases have a history you may not want to evoke when discussing something.

SammyKhajit · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

I mean he's right though that the phrase carries a lot of historical weight. Something like "should the companions have an equal number of all the genders?" Would have been a more neutral phrasing. I think the title is fine personally, but Sammy is not wrong about what the chosen title evokes beyond just it's literal meaning.

You have to look at the context.

The OP stated their meaning very clearly with "Does gender equality matter to you for companions? ATM it looks like we're gonna get two more females, leaving us with three females and only one male."

The point here is that there are other important issues to get heated up about.

Gender equality, for example, in the old Zenimax board of directors. They were all men, men and more men. Of course, the board was dissolved after Microsoft acquisition but this one is more interested in how the video game industry leadership is represented, and how Microsoft will be managing.

SammyKhajit · February 2022

Doesn't matter to me

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Woohoo, sweetrolls! Hey, someone stole it. I should contact a town guard, I am sure they will want to know.

STOP YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE LAW.

Sammy still has nightmares about that voice.

Jeffrey530 · February 2022

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

...the “gender equality” label is misused in this thread

The subject is referring to both genders being equally represented as Companions, which I completely agree with.

I mean he's right though that the phrase carries a lot of historical weight. Something like "should the companions have an equal number of all the genders?" Would have been a more neutral phrasing. I think the title is fine personally, but Sammy is not wrong about what the chosen title evokes beyond just it's literal meaning.

You have to look at the context.

The OP stated their meaning very clearly with "Does gender equality matter to you for companions? ATM it looks like we're gonna get two more females, leaving us with three females and only one male."

No one is saying the op is wrong, just that the term 'gender equality' carries a far more political/historical meaning than what it literally means so a change or wording can prevent the situation. Again it is on those who didnt read op's post clearly, but also if there is a pragmatic way to avoid misunderstanding, why not.

To many people equality means way more than 'same number of characters from each gender', it also encompasses rights, status etc.

Psiion · February 2022

Greetings all,

After review of this thread, seeing as it has run it's course and derailed from constructive conversation, we have decided to close it down. Please keep in mind that the discussion of Real World Politics, and other inappropriate content, is simply not acceptable on the ESO Forums, and is against the Forum's Community Rules. The Forum's are intended to be a welcoming place for civil discussion about ESO and its community, and the Community Rules are in place to ensure it stays so.