In Asian MMORPGs like Black Desert Online, a gender lock is completely normal. In the West, this gender lock is often criticized. Why is that?
What does gender lock mean? In games that have a gender lock, we have no free choice between genders. Male and female characters are assigned to specific roles. This limitation between genders is typical for MMOs that come from Asia. For instance, the Valkyrie in Black Desert Online is always female, or the Hrothgar in Final Fantasy XIV are always male.
What is the problem with gender lock? In the West, this strict division of genders is not well received. In Western MMOs like World of Warcraft, it would be unthinkable that we are restricted in whether we want to play our class as male or female. The gender lock from Asia has already caused significant frustration among us:
That’s why there is a gender lock in Asia
We asked an expert: Wes Connor is the head of the Asia MMORPG Astellia. He was also involved in the development of Black Desert Online.
In Astellia, they consciously chose against a gender lock in the West. In Korea, however, the gender lock still exists. There are two versions.
Wes has deeply engaged with this phenomenon and the differences between the West and East. When we asked him why there is a gender lock at all in Asia, we received the following statement from Wes Connor:
“Gender lock has been a hot topic in the gaming industry for years. Some don’t care about gender lock, while for others it is a dealbreaker. However, it is not often that we ask: Why does a gender lock even exist? Usually, when this question is asked, there are one or two persons who say that companies just want to save money or budget to create more unique classes. But the origin of the gender lock goes much deeper than that.
First of all, it is important to look at the history of MMORPGs, back to the multi-user dungeons (MUDs) and even the games that came before them. In the early years of the industry, RPGs were truly role-playing games, in which players took on the role of a predefined character and experienced the game through that character’s direct narrative. Just think of every Zelda game where you play as Link and follow the story of Link.
This type of storytelling was the norm for decades. But as we progressed in the diversity and complexity of our games, players no longer assumed the background of a predefined character. We now create our own characters and write their stories through our own decisions within the game.
In Asian games, it is still normal for us to follow this classic style of storytelling. In Astellia, for example, you play as a character that is a unique hero with a legendary background. But you can already see that this doesn’t fit well with a “massively multiplayer online game.” Astellia was released in Korea with a complete gender lock for the classes. We only started talking about lifting the gender lock when we wanted to bring Astellia to the West.
These things happen because players in the eastern market do not view their characters and stories the same way as western players. To eastern players, they are simply characters, not their characters. However, we cannot say whether one or the other is right in all cases. It is up to developers and publishers to consider the preferences of their communities and provide what is in the best interest of the game and player experience as a whole.”
Wes Connor, Product Lead at Astellia
What does this statement mean? Wes essentially attributes the gender lock to two things:
- the history of video games, where we always played a predefined character in earlier RPGs. We had no choice about who we were, and there was nothing else at that time.
- the Asian culture, where the individual perspective is not as prominent as it is in the West. For a player in the East, it is normal and acceptable to play as “any character.” He/she does not wish to fulfill themselves through the character.
Are there more reasons for a gender lock?
The gender lock is primarily attributed to the history of games and the culture in Asia. However, there may also be more advantages for the developers.
Another factor: In an interview with MMORPG.com, the developers of the Asia MMORPG TERA once revealed that it is a significant effort to create female and male for a class. Every movement and every skill would require its own elaborate animation.
In Asia, different genders receive completely different animations, and these are generally produced in a more elaborate manner than in the West. Therefore, developers also weigh whether to create a male or a female class next.
TERA even pushed this to the extreme and released five female classes in a row. The reason? Simple: cosmetic items for women would sell better than those for men, according to the developers.
So yes, financial considerations certainly play a role in the decision on the gender lock. It is just not the only reason and not always the decisive one.
Gender lock also has its advantages
What disadvantages do we see in gender lock? For us, gender lock is seen as sexist and we feel restricted in our free choice.
For us, it does not align with the modern worldview that a woman cannot be a muscular warrior with a large sword. Likewise, a man can also be a delicate bard in a tight silk costume.
What advantages does gender lock offer? With the gender lock, a game has more different playable classes. Because each class with a gender lock has its own skills, its own backstory, and its own mechanics. Viewed this way, it brings more variety than having the same gameplay twice, just with a different gender.
A gender lock often also has a historical background. Players who care about lore and story appreciate the gender lock. For example, when Final Fantasy XIV introduced the rabbit-like Viera to the game, they were released as a pure female class. Viera are always female in the lore of Final Fantasy. In return, the leopard-like and purely male Hrothgar were introduced.
In that sense, there are also fans of the gender lock, as it means more variety in gameplay for them and does not disregard the story/lore.
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