From playing through the game for hours and reading the different outcomes with some of the companions I was surprised just how "gay" this game is. As a male character I cannot hit on Cass successfully without her being all defensive but I have the option of sounding like a Legion butt pirate. Arcade Gannon is ousted as a homosexual if you have the "Confirmed Bachelor" perk. Veronica was apparently in love with a chick back at her old brotherhood compound, the dude at the Mohave station where you have to get a pardon for that imprisoned powder ganger dude (is gay), and that Cpl. Betsy over at Camp McCarran whose into, "Tall blondes" whom she can "Jump their pants" (she was butt raped by a fiend).
Now it's not that I have anything against homosexuality but I've experienced no opportunities where I could pursue a deeper conversation with any of the games chicks. Some men might find Cass's sharp tongue very appealing. A wondering courier needs some pun to ya'know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.124.154.84 (talk • contribs). Please sign your posts with ~~~~!
Just to throw another one into the mix, if you talk with the Legate, it will come up that he is homosexual too. For me, the gay thing doesn't really interfere with the experience. If you want to get your character laid, then go to the Thorn, do Bleed Me Dry, and get your freak on.--76.231.200.143 08:32, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
I see your point, and it's something I wondered myself. It's like the game itself screaming "HEY GAY COMMUNITY, LOOK AT ME! I'M REPRESENTING YOU!". Now I'm aware there's at least one gay staff member at Obsidian who worked on this project, but it seems like the incidence of homosexual characters per capita is too high, much higher than in real life. It seems more like pandering than proper representation. --Kris 
10:04, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
- I wouldn't say so - most characters are still very much heterosexual, even if they don't respond to the Courier's relevant perks. There are as many of those that do respond to perks as for their heterosexual counterparts simply in order to balance out the perks gameplay-wise. However, if you look at the general population of the Mojave Wasteland, most people are definitely straight. Ausir(talk) 10:06, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
- I think the ratio is about right, and reflective of modern society. This does raise a few interesting questions though, would the crumbling (and to a lesser extent, rebuilding) of society have broken down a few of the barriers that cause 'in the closet' folks to hide it? --Johnny Trash (Talk) 11:26, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
I think when nuclear war has obliterated almost all infrastructure in the world, it's obvious that 'teh gayz' aren't your real enemies. As a gay man myself, it's nice to play a game where our existence isn't completely denied. Because of society's attitude to non-heterosexuality, people notice when a character is LGBT - it's still a bit of a surprise and it sticks out like a sore thumb, not only in video games but in other forms of media. But inversely, imagine playing a game intended for adults with male and female characters and no reference to any sort of sexual interaction at all. Wouldn't it feel a bit lacking, a bit like you as a player were being ignored? Well that's what it feels like for LGBT people all the time. You aren't forced as a player to explore the LGBT issues in FNV, and that's fair enough, but it's nice for them to be there. A lack of characters of different ethnicities or of women would seem very odd, especially in our current day and age in which equal representation is expected of any forward-thinking game developer like Obsidian who know their audience, young people, who are always the vanguard of social liberalisation. Moreover, I think that representing the personality traits that make characters distinct, 'the spice of life' if you will, fleshes out both the individual characters and the wasteland as a whole. For example in FO3 upon discovery that Flak and Shrapnel shared not only a room but a bed, my own and perhaps your perceptions of the characters changed to a great degree, understanding them as people with a bit of emotional pathos, people who actually had feelings, a relationship, perhaps one which shaped their rather brash personalities instead of merely as cardboard cutouts of rough-and-ready armorers. Sorry for the essay; it's something which I relate to as an individual but which I think also contributes to the character development which I feel Obsidian have done pretty well with, as did Bethesda in the previous game. (unlike, say, fixing physics bugs). 90.194.162.200 12:52, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
- You raise excellent points about the LGBT community's experience while gaming. It's true, you should be represented. The reason it feels inordinate and heavy-handed in FONV is because as a heterosexual courier, ZERO of my companions finds me a suitor (regardless of gender) but I had the option to flirt (man to man) with Arcade and Veronica mentioned she's lesbian. It seems clear that romance is in the air if you're homosexual, but the only option for heteros is a hooker from Gamorra's. That's why it feels heavy-handed. Perhaps you feel that it SHOULD be heavy-handed since homosexuality is underplayed in other games (not all). However, I think the fairest approach of all is to represent actual percentages in the real world. That certainly wasn't the experience I had when the majority of my companions had no stated preference, two were gay, and one wasn't interested in me, making the gay community of my travelling group 60% homosexual to 30% straight (ignoring the unstated).
Its Vegas what happens in vegas stays in vegas.
- I think that ones perception of the incidence of homosexuality is largely based on where one lives. I grew up in the bible belt, and did not meet a single openly gay person. However, when I moved to California to go to college.... man, what a culture shock! I would say a good 10% of the people I know here are openly gay.
2 words Brokeback mountain
As has been suggested before, impress Red Lucy by killing countless beasties and bringing back their eggs, and she'll sleep with you whenever you like. She's more interesting than Cass and Veronica put together, in my opinion. Im fact, if I can ever get the damn GECK working I intend to see about making Lucy a companion character as part of my mod idea to add some unique variants of items that didn't get uniques this time around. Schneidend 22:29, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
I've been wondering, where can you use Lady Killer? I always get Lady Killer and Confirmed Bachelor perks at level 2 and 3 and have found quite a few Confirmed Bachelor options (Sgt.Knight, Manny Vargas, can't remember the others) but haven't actually found any ones for Lady Killer. Can someone tell me the Lady Killer options? --Silent.Killa78 11:39, October 31, 2010 (UTC)
- I've only found two, though I found many uses for Bromancer (confirmed bachelor). One is to accuse Veronica of hitting on you, which repulses her (no dice for the heterosexual courier again). The other is to hit on the lady with a shack north of Novac when you need parts for Jason Bright's group. If you flirt with her, she gives you the parts for free instead of you having to pay her 500 (250 with Speech) or steal them from her cabin.
I also find LGBT over-represented. Let me rephrase that, I find LBG over represented; "T" isn't represented at all as far as I remember (Tabitha being female), making it actually under represented. Unless... you assume that every single character that isn't identified as being gay is straight. I think that they make up a much higher percentage of people in the Mojave than in real life North America. I like it though. The Fallout world isn't our world, and to me, this is just another way it has diverged. It makes the game more interesting to me. --2.2 Dog (talk) 00:34, August 2, 2012 (UTC)
More homosexuals in the Mojave Wasteland than in America nowadays? I don't think so. More have come out of the closet maybe, but what did you expect in 2218? ---- Galileo Galilei (talk) 13:46, August 2, 2012 (UTC)
- I thought it was all handled pretty well. There are straight people, gay people, not all the straight people are interested in the PC if they're straight and not all the gay people are interested in the PC if they're gay, but some may be in either case. I never felt anyone was throwing their sexuality in my face, I didn't feel like I was playing a Bioware game where half the NPCs in the world were deliberate dating targets, but I also didn't feel like my PC was a genderless eunuch like I often did when playing Fallout 3.
Oh do please get over yourself. Do you know how many games are out there where I have to be a straight character? Looking at my collection of over 100 games only two have gay options and one of them (Mass Effect 3) only added it in the third installment. If you have a problem with the homosexuality play another game where you can focus on "chicks" in the middle of an apocalypse. Let me point out two things, 1. This is a post-apocalyptic world where the monotheistic oppression of people no longer exists. 2. The estimated number of gay men in the world is 1 in 4 and bisexuals added pretty much makes it an even 50/50. If these words still have no effect upon you, may I suggest going out and actually getting a girlfriend instead of complaining about the lack of het romance options in fictional video games.
(Above isn't me) Alirght, when I saw the name of this forum, I thought you were trolling, and/or looking to start a flame war. As for the whole LGBT over-repreprisentation, it's a bloody RPG game. Some people like to roleplay it, others are LGBT irl and are happy to have the option, etc. It's one of those things that adds some amount of variety to F:NV, but isn't needed to get the whole experience. Avg Man (talk) 18:58, August 13, 2012 (UTC)
I find it funny that the Extra Credits video series Talked about including well developed and not ignored LGBT characters and other stereotype breakers in gaming yet criticised New Vegas the very next week for being too "samey". Their "review" of New Vegas really put me at odds with them... 5t3v0 (talk) 05:29, August 16, 2012 (UTC)
I'd like to agree somewhat with the OP. It's not that I think there are too many gay characters, but that there aren't enough options for heterosexual relationships. So far all the 'romance options' I've seen, including in the DLC, are homosexual. I haven't played through everything yet, but I have yet to see anything other than prostitutes and some mild flirting for my heterosexual male character, whereas there are plenty of options, especially among your NPC followers, for homosexuals. -fountainhead
Why, there are indeed sexual options for straight characters. And not just nameless hookers: Benny / (straight female) Courier is an example, Red Lucy / (straight male) Courier is another. I, for myself, am asexual and usually do not seek those options in my games; my Yes Man-using Courier is happily married with her city-state and her people, thank you very much. But I do bump into them from time to time.