A few days ago, the GLAAD Media Awards were held for the 30th time. For the first time in 2019, also in the category Outstanding Video Game. And the winner is … The Elder Scrolls Online! Read here what makes this MMORPG so educationally valuable.
ESO has once again scooped an award. Specifically for the quest “The House of Masks”, which is part of the 2018 expansion Summerset.
In this quest, a particularly authentic LGBTQ story is told, according to the award givers.
Other nominees included Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, and The Sims Mobile.
What are the GLAAD Media Awards? The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a well-known non-profit organization of LGBT activists in the USA.
They advocate for the visibility of gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual individuals in various media, from newspaper articles to films to video games.
One of the most prominent programs are the annual GLAAD Media Awards, attended by celebrities such as Britney Spears or Jay Z and Beyonce. The aim of the awards is to honor people and projects from the entertainment industry for their careful representation of the LGBTQ community.
What is the award-winning quest about? The quest “The House of Masks” is given to you by the NPC Rinyde near the city of Rellenthil, where the namesake house is located.
Rinyde is lamenting that her brother Larydel has run away and joined a masked acting troupe.
Yet Larydel is such a gifted mage and an excellent scientist. The sister finds it simply terrible how her brother wastes his talent, but what can be done?
As it looks, the guy has chosen a different path in life.
Rinyde certainly wants us to ensure that he has some sense and returns to his old life. But Larydel is no longer he, but she and goes by the name “Alchemy. “
We would not like to spoil any further at this point.
The jury praised the quest for reflecting the topics of coming out and acceptance, which also play a significant role in the real lives of transgender people, particularly well.
How do players find the quest? Comments on Reddit suggest that most players have spent a few enjoyable hours with Alchemy and had fun.
It is also highly praised that the message of the quest is not pushed in a intrusive manner and that sexually diverse characters, of which there are a considerable number in ESO, are generally integrated into the game world in a very natural manner.
The Reddit user Lateshifter writes, for example:
As someone from the LGBT community who has been there since the BETA, I am so happy that this game won. The representation – of LGBT people (editor’s note) – has been part of this game from the beginning, but it has been done in the way that I absolutely prefer. We are treated just like normal people.
Did you also come across this quest while playing through Summerset? What do you think, is the award deserved? Or should it have gone to one of the competitors instead?
