Dragon Age writer David Gaider has defended Baldur's Gate 3 companion Lae'zel, stating that the female characters in games always receive more criticism than the male ones.
Baldur's Gate 3 has been in the wild for two weeks now and players have been sinking hours into the game. There are many companions you can meet, form friendships with, murder, and even romance; everyone has a favourite, so it's no surprise players are sharing their opinions online (via GamesRadar).
A recent post shared on Twitter about the Githyanki warrior Lae'zel has started a discussion about how female and male characters are always treated differently in games, despite having similar personalities.
"Lae'zel is the RPG party member equivalent of 'the show gets really good after season 4'," the original post reads, which was then quoted by another user who said, "I'm confident if Lae was a guy people would be swooning about him being so edgy and such a bad boy. Oh wait I forgot, that's Astarion."
Can confirm. The Dragon Age fandom consistently gave WAY more latitude and forgiveness to male characters as opposed to female characters, in every game. It is very much a Thing. https://t.co/fTNe9WROkfAugust 18, 2023
David Gaider, writer for the Dragon Age series - as well as the recently released Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical - also shared his thoughts, and said that it was the same case with the BioWare series, adding that players were more forgiving to male characters than female.
"Can confirm," Gaider said. "The Dragon Age fandom consistently gave WAY more latitude and forgiveness to male characters as opposed to female characters, in every game. It is very much a Thing."
When another follower suggested that "the audience demographic was different back in 2009", Gaider said:"It was the same way for [Dragon Age 2] and [Dragon Age Inquisition], not just [Dragon Age: Origins]. Fandom has always treated male characters with more forgiveness - full stop."
The PS5 version of Baldur's Gate 3 is set to launch on September 6, but players who pre-ordered can expect to preload their games two days early. There's good news for PC players, too. The recently rolled-back hotfix for Baldur's Gate 3 has been reinstated, so players can now load their save files which were temporarily made unplayable.
Check out our list of the best RPGs you can play in 2023, as well as our best class guide for Baldur's Gate 3.