verus27: 1. Baldur's Gate is regarded as one of the best narrative driven games ever made. For a company to come along after this much time and decide that they can improve the story is arrogant to say the least.
But they haven't done that. They have not (as far as anyone has indicated) changed or tried to improve the story of the original game in any way, or engage in any sort of retconning. The story of Baldur's Gate is still there, unblemished, as glorious as it was in 1998. What's they've done is
write new stuff.
verus27: I haven't read *all* the D&D source material, novels, etc. but I do NOT *ever* remember coming across homosexuals, transexuals, etc. Sexism, homophobia, transgender issues, etc. have NEVER existed in this world.
Those are two very different statements, though. Even if no LGBT characters had been portrayed in general D&D material or the Forgotten Realms setting (which may, I'm not sure, have been true in 1998-2000, though it certainly isn't true now), that is a far cry from saying that such people were canonically nonexistent. Think of all the works of fiction set in the real world that do not have any such characters; that doesn't mean LGBT people do not exist, or did not exist in e.g. Victorian London.
Besides, think of the trouble TSR got into in the 1980s with American Christian fundamentalists who complained about it promoting witchcraft, devil-worship and all that codswallop (which, incidentally, is why 2nd Edition has baatezu and tanar'ri rather than "devils" and "demons") - do you think at the time they'd have dared wave a red rag at that bull by portraying explicitly gay characters and letting themselves be accused of turning America's children gay?
As for sexism, D&D books have been constantly trying to address that, to changing degrees and in changing ways, since at least as far back as 2nd Edition, whose Player's Handbook, for example, has right at the beginning a (very brief) note on its stylistic choice to use the male pronoun and a statement that they don't want to exclude women. And, as I have already mentioned, note the statement that has always been present in the Baldur's Gate character creation screens: "Females of the Realms can excel in any area they wish, and are easily the equal of their male counterparts in every skill or respect." That is an explicit statement of anti-sexism for the game and the setting that has been there all the time.
Anyway, as I said, whether or not what you say about "the D&D source material" was true in 1998, it definitely isn't now. The current edition rules explicitly endorse gender and sexuality diversity for characters, and Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms, has stated that LGBT people exist and are accepted in the Realms.
verus27: it's a problem because they are, unilaterally, messing with the source material. They are taking it upon themselves to inject their own wants and politics into a universe that has existed for a long time without them.
No they're not and no it hasn't. That is merely your headcanon. See above.
Totenglocke: There's nothing "petty" about expecting consistency within the game world
There is, however, something exceedingly petty about complaining about such "inconsistency" where none exists.
Totenglocke: Unfortunately for Beamdog, I have a strict policy against financially supporting a company that spews hatred for their customers
"Spews hatred"? Seriously? If you actually think that what Beamdog has done here amounts to spewing hatred for their customers then your attitude is unbelievably infantile. Grow up.