Is sexuality necessary in a MOBA?

aus102·7/14/2019, 8:48:45 PM·4 votes·2,570 views

The League of Legends champion roster has been growing since day one. From human looking characters to void creatures, all characters are unique and fill a niche role. There have been fan fictions about character sexuality also for awhile posted on these forum pages. For example, Ezreal and Taric, and Diana and Leona. The thread title is rather straight foward. Do you think that sexuality is necessary in MOBA and for that matter video games in general? I understand it adds depth to characters and also draws people who are interested in lore into the game, but would people not play if there aren't certain sexualitites in the game? If you think it helps, hurts, or doesn't matter to you, please respond your thoughts.

24 Comments

4 Step Cadence7/14/2019, 8:54:33 PM8 votes

Yeah because it adds depth to a character and makes them more believable. Not everyone in the real world is straight. No reason why fictional characters in fictional worlds should be any different.

ModThe Djinn7/14/2019, 9:19:01 PM8 votes

Is it necessary for a MOBA? No. Hell, names and appearances aren't necessary for a MOBA. League's gameplay would be identical if it were just featureless colored spheres.

Does it make the lore deeper, the characters more realistic, and does it provide something for players to relate to? Yes to all of those. As a result, it's something that should be kept around -- characters are supposed to feel like believable people, and believable people have many qualities including sexuality that can be used to help flesh out their identities.

Arcade Lulu7/14/2019, 9:04:19 PM6 votes

I mean, why not? It doesn't hurt anyone, and just adds more representation and makes the game more inclusive, which are positives Not everyone in the real world is straight, so why should everyone in league be straight? (yes, they could be non-straight without the need to announce it, but we live in a shitty heteronormative world so everyone is assumed to be straight, which is why they have to announce that someone isn't straight)

Fasmodey7/14/2019, 9:06:12 PM6 votes

How delightfully ironic it is that examples you have given ended with both being homosexual relationships. Sexuality is always unimportant when it comes to LGBT. Love it.

Terozu7/14/2019, 9:31:42 PM5 votes

The moment you mentioned the Taric meme I downvoted you.

Zardo7/14/2019, 8:55:39 PM5 votes

What you're taking about are relationships. While not necessary, they help with world building and character development.

Makattack7/14/2019, 9:43:13 PM4 votes

You listed only homosexual examples. Meanwhile Rakan and Xayah. Therefore, there’s no issue in including sexuality. It’s really that simple.

Pxerkza7/14/2019, 9:13:15 PM4 votes

Yes

if you don't like a game just because it depicts or doesn't depict a certain sexuality then you have bigger issues

Bârd7/14/2019, 9:18:45 PM3 votes

Yup.

Sexuality is a character trait like any other. Write it in where it makes sense. Not writing it in wouldn't make any sense at all, since these are meant to be "real" people.

Probably my favorite piece of lore is the Darius comic, since it brings out a new side to Darius, as well as reveals part of why he's so callous now.

As for varying sexual orientations, it's not a problem as long as it's well written, since it builds a realistic world.

JuiceBoxP7/14/2019, 9:06:49 PM3 votes

I kind of like MF's huge tities... don't you?

Warlord Dienekes7/14/2019, 11:05:23 PM3 votes

Personally? I don’t care about a character’s sexuality. Honestly the ubiquitous romance in fiction is always the most boring part of any story I read.

However, I would say if the goal of a creator is to get a wide variety of people emotionally attached to your characters, then yes, exploring sexuality is -if not completely necessary, very useful.

Romance is a large part in most people’s lives. To create the illusion of life in your characters they should express traits outside their basic function. To take a character I absolutely love: Tywin Lannister. I am fascinated by his political mind and mastery of the game. But he would not be a tenth of the character he is without his mounting hatred and disappointment in his children.

The characters in LoL need to be the same, if they want to get people to become interested in them. And sexuality is a very easy and popular means of doing this. There’s a reason romance is one of the most popular and profitable genres in fiction.

Luther King Jr V7/14/2019, 9:18:50 PM2 votes

tbh it's not necessary it's just fanservice if it would be necessary it implies there's some marriage system in the game mechanic of some sort but there's not so..

Camille Ferrøs7/14/2019, 8:59:24 PM2 votes

I mean in no way hurts the game it just adds more. And there is always space for more.

Butterwood7/14/2019, 9:48:07 PM2 votes

If anything we need MORE sexuality. Am I the only one that wonders what Urgot's into? How does Nautilus like to get nauty??

Asobi Spirit7/14/2019, 9:43:20 PM1 votes

I play Zac. Hes a blob. I've seen cute images of him marrying Riven, but I dont believe that he "likes" anyone. I dont know if he can like people in that sense. I play Evelynn. Shes a sexual demon who seduces men so she can later torture them to death. She exists for that purpose and is very sexual by nature. Ahri is also super sexual. Hell I've seen fanfic for Kda Evelynn and Akali. Rakan and Xayah are lovers, they may not be so open about it in some ways but you can tell they have intimate feelings and relations. Taric kindve flames gay, but I feel that's more playful.

It's all story stuff that may or may not play into the game itself but it doesnt mean much else. Riot isnt releasing comics on Evelynn's exploits, they arent making sexual stuff based on those champions listed, so I dont feel like it's a big deal. Even if Evelynn didnt speak sexy everytime she moves, I'd play her because she looks sexy and does crazy damage while hiding in plain sight.

Whyte Lyon7/15/2019, 12:52:59 PM1 votes

I'm confused, why have people bothered to downvoted this?

Typically the sizable downvotes are indicative of people presenting their dissatisfaction with the content of a thread. But it's not like OP was being intrusive, nor have they explicitly or definitively suggested there shouldn't be any sexuality (chemistry) between the characters. In fact, OP is obviously more neutral with this discussion. So the downvotes are for what exactly, are people actually discouraging champions from having romantic chemistry despite the fact the comments clearly advocate for it.

I'd have thought to upvote to show my encouragement for champions having romantic chemistry. But only a few others have done so already. So am I to not do that, am I to downvote to show my encouragement for champions having romantic chemistry? Yet that would feel counterintuitive.

Are people actually downvoting because they discourage champions from having romantic chemistry?

What?