The upcoming fantasy MMO Black Desert is causing a stir in the western world due to a competition by the Russian publisher. They want to see drawings from fans of the respective other gender of the heroes. Could the gender lock be crumbling?
Clash of Cultures
“Gender lock” means that a class always has only one gender. There is the warrior, but not the warrior woman. The huntress, but not the hunter. In Asia, this is a common concept in class design. While in the West it is quite normal to play both male and female characters from a class, in Asia, they create two classes out of it. The warrior and the valkyrie, for example, which both stem from one archetype (the fighter), but differ in gameplay.
In the West, the gender lock is seen as a breach of choice, while in Asia, people are surprised by this perspective: With a gender lock, there are many more classes. The warrior and warrior woman only differ visually? That would be somehow boring.
Black Desert, a sandbox title with breathtaking graphics, practices this “gender lock,” which is common in Asia, but scares many away in the West. Even in our preview, some players have already stated in the comments: “Sounds good, but gender lock? No…” For some, this is a no-go, an exclusion criterion.
The Giant – the Giantess; Competition focuses on a sensitive topic
Now, the Russian publisher of the game “GameNet” has once again focused on the topic and challenged fans to draw the “other gender” of a class. You can see the results, numerous pictures, in the source. Could this competition be preparing an announcement that the Russian port of Black Desert will differ more significantly from the Korean original than previously assumed?
Players shouldn’t raise their hopes too high that something will actually change regarding the gender lock. But at least it seems that Black Desert is aware of the problem, especially since the question arises in every interview about the port to the West.
The beta of Black Desert in the West is supposed to start in the coming months, the game then officially released in early 2016.
