I can't stop thinking about Boyfriend Dungeon, and not in a good way. I've read how terrible the representation of ace/aro people gets as the story goes along. Here are my thoughts.
In a thread.
In a thread.
This game is written for alloromantic people. It's as simple as that. I guess the thought was we don't play dating sims, so why cater to us? Except we do. We play whatever games we want, and it doesn't matter why.
So when we ask for representation, we don't want just a little "be whatever you want" sticker and characters that tell us we're lying when we say we're also ace/aro. We're asking for something like a Friend option where we don't have to romantically date anyone,--
-- or maybe date but not have sex with. People are diverse in their desires like that. So we're asking for options to sate that and feel like we're being true to ourselves without everyone telling us that we're not what we know we are. We've had enough erasure.
Normally I wouldn't fault a Dating Sim for having not enough ace/aro representation. I didn't go after Akash or Cinderella Phenomenon when their MCs yearned for love because it was expected. Boyfriend Dungeon was said to be different and have the representation. It doesn't.
This is why we have sensitivity readers as a recommendation, or have the people you're trying to represent on staff so you can listen to their feedback.
Looking at the dev for the game, and they've never made a dating sim before. A sample of their library consists of a personality test RPG, a space-themed roguelike, and a demonic murder mystery.
I've never known a non-date sim company to put out a good Date Sim without a LOT of hours and testing. Then they advertise to make it ace/aro friendly, something that is VERY ambitious and takes MORE care and MORE hours/work. Then add in a rouguelite?
They flew into the sun.
They flew into the sun.
@threadreaderapp unroll?
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