The Veilgarde Guardians’ clumsy and preachy political messages do more harm than good

The best way to convince someone of your own point of view is generally not to hit them over the head with a baton, although this seems to be the preferred approach in modern political discourse and, unfortunately, in the entertainment industry. The culture, such as it is, has lost all sense of sophistication. In too many movies, TV shows, and video games, we see a heavy-handed, top-down approach to the issues of the day. It’s a shame that BioWare developers decided to go this route. Dragon Age: Veilgarde Guardian.

I already wrote my impressions of the game, which so far have pleasantly surprised me. I was nervous going in, but veilgarde turned out to be a lot more fun and engaging than I expected, even if I’m still annoyed by its over-saturated, overly cartoonish art style (among other things).

In my article, I noted that – at least so far – I have not encountered anything overtly preachy or that could be called overtly political or “overly woke.” The game is diverse and gives you the option to play as a man, woman or transgender, but at the time I played it I felt like it gave players more choice and freedom and I’m all for that, especially in RPGs where choice and freedom. pretty much the point. Other major games in recent years have done the same.

But I haven’t yet gotten to a certain section of the game that is currently making the rounds on social media and being openly – and rightfully – ridiculed. Unfortunately, the scene in question will play directly into the narrative that this game is “woke”, fueling a cycle of online discussion that goes nowhere but gets a lot of clicks. This will undoubtedly completely turn off many gamers, not necessarily because they are unsympathetic to trans rights, but because they are tired of the preaching.

In the scene in question (below), one character polishes another the wrong way. To atone for this sin, she does a series of push-ups and then lectures the other characters on how to properly apologize. The term “non-binary” is thrown around, despite the fact that it is a word that very few people have even heard of when Dragon Age: Inquisition came out ten years ago, not to mention the fantasy setting, completely divorced from the real world.

It breaks immersion. Honestly, it’s so poorly written that it looks like self-parody. The character’s performative apology is shallow and empty, as all performative apologies are. In my experience, a simple and sincere “sorry” is better than making a big show of it and then bragging about how much better your apology is. This entire scene seems freshly cut from some conversation in an undergraduate gender studies class in 2024—a conversation that, they say, someday undergrads will look back on and cringe. Here’s the scene:

Again, my problem with this scene is not the inclusion of trans or non-binary characters. dragon era, but this question is formulated awkwardly.

I recently wrote a review of Lev Grossman’s superb King Arthur fantasy. Bright Sword, and noted in this review that he included a trans character among the Knights of the Round Table. It is worth noting the difference in approaches here. The book never uses the term “trans” as it did not exist in Arthurian times (in the same way that the word “non-binary” would not have been a word in Age of the Dragon). Instead, the character is born one of two twins. At birth she is a girl and her twin is a boy, but she is irritated by all the girly things, restrictions and restrictions placed on her and wants nothing more than to train with a sword and become a knight.

She eventually meets a fairy with whom she makes a magical deal. The fairy takes her to the lake and orders her to swim down, where she meets another fairy. This second fairy gives her a magical blade to train with, and every night she returns to the lake to train for hours with the curious swordsman. She trains in this manner for many years and eventually becomes a sword master. Then one day she is told that she will be forced into marriage. Instead, she decides to run away by dressing up as a man and taking on a new identity. She’s always felt like she was meant to be a boy, not a girl, and with her new name and masculine disguise, she—now he—continues to live out her dream in Camelot by Arthur’s side.

It works because it never preaches. He does not clumsily embrace the terms of contemporary gender politics. Instead, Grossman tells a story that everyone can relate to (with beautifully written prose that never feels politically motivated, but rather is part of a larger, timeless story). Many people are born with the feeling that for one reason or another they do not belong. The story of this character (he calls himself Dinadin, and when the book’s hero meets him, it is Sir Dinadin) is one that almost everyone can empathize with and feels like part of an old fable rather than a conversation one might hear in a campus café. . In other words, it doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb. There is no performative apology after someone misgenders a knight, no annoying lecture inserted as some kind of message to the readers. It’s subtle and elegant and, in my opinion, a much more effective way to gain sympathy for transgender people than Dragon age clumsy approach.

Alas, this will undoubtedly dominate the conversation around veilgarde– and for what purpose? Will anyone playing this game learn anything useful from this scene? Will people who are hostile to social justice policies be convinced otherwise? That’s the problem with preaching to the choir. Someone not usually inclined to sympathize with transgender people might read Bright Sword and actually leave with more complex feelings; no one is playing Guardian of the Veil will. Instead, they will be rightfully annoyed that this type of dialogue (clumsy even for the modern era) is thrust upon them in the middle of a fantasy RPG.

There are better ways to solve these problems, but they require subtlety, smart writing and character building, especially since this is a fantasy RPG in a setting far removed from the modern world. The character in question is the Qunari, whose people have very strict gender roles in the lore of the game world. How hard it would be to get them to say something about their choice to abandon the restrictions placed on them by the Koon, and then go a little deeper into it, shedding light on the game’s lore rather than real-world terminology. world? There are so many ways to approach gender identity in this setting (this isn’t even the first time the show has explored it!), it’s just a shame that they chose this route instead.

You can see how wrong the game’s writers really are in the scene above. The character says the usual “it’s all about you” apology when she just clearly got everyone’s attention and made it all about herself. No one seemed to notice the irony. I have to ask, has anyone ever successfully apologized? lecturing everyone at the same time? “Ah, I made a mistake, here’s my apology and here’s why my an apology is so great, but your apology is so bad, even if you weren’t the one who made the mistake. Look at to me! Look how wonderful I!”

This is pretty much how I see BioWare in all this. They’re all about being praised for their progressive bona fides rather than doing the hard work required to tell stories that can actually elicit true empathy and understanding from players. It takes more than just a cudgel to take advantage of this and create something that people can enjoy. Nobody likes to get hit on the head. In the parlance of our times, “Do Better, Bioware.”

I still recommend the game. You can read why in my review. It’s not perfect, but it’s a bit like Age of the Dragon meets Mass Effect and I’ve had a lot of fun with it so far – much more than I expected.

Update: Watch this clip from YouTuber MrMatty Plays for an in-depth discussion of how BioWare screwed up the Taash character and how lenient they are treating him:

I also made a video discussion on this topic:

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