Baldur's Gate - The Siege of Dragonspear Controversy (#Gamergate)
Last year around this time I was writing about #Gamergate. Little did I know that a year later the developers and custodians of my favorite franchise will get involved by taking the side of corrupt and morally bankrupt demagogs. I cannot describe with words how crushed and sad I feel for writing this piece. As much as it pains me to think about these events, it seems that Baldur's Gate is finally dead. In the end it wasn't the catering to modern game design that ruined the franchise - as I always feared would be the case. No... the final blow was dealt by political ideologs who have the audacity to call themselves game developers and who spread toxic poison to everything they touch in the name of their moral crusade!
Well, at least the trailer is good. *sigh*
It all began with the anouncement that Baldur's Gate is finally getting a new expansion. I immediately bought the game after seeing an awesome trailer that made me feel happy like a little kid again. Then the rumors of social justice infilitrating the game began spreading like wildfire. At first I thought the internet was just overreacting as it usually does, so I went to Beamdog's forums to determine the truth for myself... and unfortunately the rumors were true.
The developers for some reason decided to shove and shoe horn bunch of social justice propaganda into their expansion at the expense of logic and writing quality. Not only have they retroactively changed some character's personalities to better fit their political ideology, but they went so far as to call the original game sexist! To make things even better, they started banning people from their forums if they dared to express concern or disapproval and it was #Gamergate all over again! Namely, these moral crusaders were quick to use women and minorities as a shield against any legitimite criticism and even I myself was banned under the false accuation that I was spreading threats of violence. Beamdog went even so far to ge me banned from Metcritic so that I would not be able to discuss these issues.
This was the last straw and I decided to refund the game - declaring the franchise officially dead. Namely if they can't get a fan such as myself to give them money for their game, then there is no future for the franchise. I feel sick after writing this, so I will leave behind some videos that go into much more detail - including an interview that I did with the Roleplaying podcast.
Links:
My interview with Roleplaying podcast
Why People HATE Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear by Boogie2988
Baldur's Gayte (OMG, She's Trans, You CIS Scum) by Weekend Warrior
