Dragon Age writer David Gaider speaks out for Baldur’s Gate 3’s disliked character Lae’zel. According to him, male characters are less criticized than female ones. There are more details about the story on MeinMMO.
What is it about? Lae’zel’s personality is causing quite a stir on social media. Many players love her, but many don’t like her character either. Dragon Age writer David Gaider has discussed how Lae’zel from Baldur’s Gate 3 is perceived by players and how gender dynamics may play a role.
The discussion started with a Twitter post from PleasantKenobi calling Lae’zel the least favorite party member in the game and adding a TV show comparison, “The show gets really good after season 4.”
Here is the mentioned Twitter post about Lae’zel:
Lae’zel raises debate about how female characters are viewed in games
What are the arguments? Another user named BlackSalander responded to this debate, stressing that people’s reaction would be significantly different if Lae’zel were male: “I’m confident that if Lae’zel were a guy, people would swoon because he so edgy and such a bad boy.” He then referred to Astarion. The tweet has since been deleted.
Dragon Age writer David Gaider, who is well versed in character development, agreed and shared his observations. He pointed out on Twitter that in the “Dragon Age” series of games, male characters were generally given more leeway and forgiveness in the fan circles than female characters.
You can see David Gaider’s contribution here:
User Joseph Clark also joined the discussion on Twitter, comparing Lae’zel to popular Dragon Age character Morrigan: “I’ve been thinking about this all week. This first meeting with Morrigan is brilliantly written for an RPG. It does everything right to make you like the character before she shows her darker side. I don’t think they did that to Lae’zel.”
David Gaider defended Lae’zel with the following words:
It really doesn’t matter. This isn’t unique to Lae’zel, but in her case, the fandom would have been more forgiving if the character had been male. I guarantee it.
David Gaider
How unpopular is Lae’zel really? Lae’zel has not been well received by many players. Statistics from Larian Studios showed that she was the least popular choice of Origin created characters to play with, and also underperformed other characters in the Romance Choice.
In contrast, Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart are very popular. Specifically Gale as a character to play with and Astarion in love.
Although Lae’zel is perceived by many players as “gruff” at the beginning of the game, her strong character is revealed as the story progresses. In the course of the game, it shows quite profound facets.
Character perception is subjective and can be influenced by many factors, including personal preferences. There are different views on how players perceive and evaluate character – which ultimately creates a topic for discussion.
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