Project BioWare Num-Nums

Dear Bioware, 

What can I say? There are no words to express how your company has impacted my life. Three years ago, I was a depressed sixteen year old girl living in an abusive household with no direction in her life. Three times it came to the point where I was ready to take my own life. I was being pressured into a career that made my life feel empty and joyless and I felt completely alone. I was so drained that the only thing in my life that truly brought me anything close to happiness was video games, but I saw no future in them. Looking around at all the main characters in games, I was surrounded by male faces. I never felt connected to my fellow gamers because they rejected me for being a woman, and even my own father called the game industry a “man’s world”. I felt aimless, and there was no hope in my life. 

But then three years ago, I also picked up a game called Mass Effect. For the first time in my life, my gender was not seen as a problem. I finally had a character that not only looked like me but WAS me. I cried and I laughed along the whole way, all the while becoming so attached the characters that depended on me like no one else ever had. And then the credits rolled and I saw women, just like me. I knew then that I had a place in the world. I moved on to Dragon Age and all the sequels, and I felt like I mattered for the first time in my life. 

Last year, I met a former member of the Bioware team at Comic Con, and it was honestly the first time in my life I have ever cried for joy. He was kind and encouraging and to this day it remains to be the best day of my entire life. 

Today I am a healthy, happy nineteen year old who fought her way into one of the best colleges in the United States with my intended major in creative writing and video game design. My grades have placed me at the top of my class, and I’ve submitted several papers critiquing both the roles of women and the LGBT+ community in Bioware games and the gaming industry as a whole. To me, Bioware will always be a company gives a voice to those who don’t have one. Before, I was a medical student that had no future in being happy. Now I have hope. 

Now my dream is to work for Bioware myself one day, in hopes that I can reach out to someone the same way Mass Effect and Dragon age reached out to me. 

All I can say is thank you for making me feel like I matter, and never forgetting that everyone deserves to feel that way. Thank you for femshep (and maleshep!), the Warden, Hawke, and The Inquisitor. Thank you for Garrus and Alistair and Kaiden and Ashley and Miranda and Tali and Cassandra and Liara and Dorian and Fenris and Anders and Varric everyone else that you brought into my life. 

Dear Bioware,

I… can’t honestly express how much you guys, as a company, have impacted my life. How DA:O managed to pique my interest one day when I was rummaging around Gamestop in the spring of 2012, and how that simple purchase drew me into gaming again. Or, how me buying Mass Effect 2 (simply because I was amazingly fond of one voice actress), led to me discovering my favorite science fiction franchise of all time. I can’t really put into words how much joy your games have brought me.

So, I’ll just say this. Thank you. Thank you for surprising me with Garrus, and making his relationship with Shepard (romantic or otherwise) so deep and heartwarming. Thank you for letting my Hawke being as much of a goody-two shoes as I wanted her to be, and still being snarky and slightly insane. Thank you for introducing me to all these characters- Liara, Tali, Wrex, Morrigan, Leliana, Alistair, Sten, Wynne- the list goes on and on. Thank you for allowing me to forge my own paths through your games, and perhaps, thank you most of all, for taking me on such emotional, heart wrenching, and worthwhile journeys.

Once again, thank you, and enjoy!

Thank you, Bioware, for helping me get into the wonderful world of video games. Dragon Age: Origins was my first real game, the first one that felt right. Thank you, Bioware, for crafting some of the most amazing stories I have ever had the pleasure to experience. Never have I cried so much than when I have suffered through finished one of your games. Thank you, Bioware, for creating my most beloved characters and personalities in any fictitious world that I have ever known. All of them have such a special place in my heart. Thank you, Bioware, for making me feel welcome in any of your games and for making it clear that whatever my gender, sexuality, skill, or interest, your games were for me. All of you are awesome, amazing, and I will continue to play your games until my dying breath. Which will hopefully be after Mass Effect 4 comes out, because let’s be honest here….!!!!

For allowing me to satisfy my childhood role playing dream that was denied by my parents in the 70’s and 80’s.  The whole perception of basement dwelling, devil worshipers made my parents decide I needed to spend more time in bible study not role playing.

For helping me to come out of the closet as a 41 year old wife and girl scout/soccer mom, who plays video games.  I know some friends who play, but the are all guys who have non playing spouses.  I realize it is okay if we occasionally read codexes for reading homework or practice algebra with gathering quests.

For great voice acting and writing.  This is truly why I am so obsessed with your games.  Steve Valentine, Jon Curry and Victoria Kruger and the other actors delivered amazing performances that I enjoy as much as the battles.  They are so in tune with the characters. The writing and voice direction allowed them to deliver those performances.  I can’t play Skyrim without yelling at Mauricio, the stepford husband, to get in touch with his inner Zevran. Thank you for making the writing and voice acting important.

For making games that stand the test of time, which makes a great value for my gaming dollars.  If I am buying a game for myself, it had better be worth more than one play through or the mommy guilt is brutal.  I just purchased DA:O a month ago, and pulled out my copy of SW:KotOR to play on my XBOX two months ago and they are still enjoyable.  They are worth every dollar I payed for them.

For your hard work and self determination for making these truly beautiful games. Never have I ever really encountered such a type of game that connected the player so deeply with the actual game like the games made by you. The fact that one’s choices are so important to the game and that it will possibly affect them greatly in the future was just so amazing to me. I mean, not a lot of games really do that to you. It makes you go back and want to be able to make sure that you made the most absolute best choice just so that you will further without having regrets. 

This is what really got me hooked to the game. However, that isn’t the only reason why I got hooked. The emotions that come with the game made it one of the best games I have ever played. And I have played a lot of games. Emotions like sadness when you face a character’s death, happiness like when you are able to help a character with their problems, and love like Romancing Alistair in Origins made me completely infatuated with the game. I can even go on, but I know more people have written to you and i want to keep this short.

I just wanted to let you all know that I am deeply grateful for your team work and your talent for making these games that connect with not only me, but many other players that live for your games. So, please never stop using those magnificent hands and brains of yours and keep on with the glorious work. 

Thank you so much to every single person who has brought the Dragon Age universe to life. There were so many times when I’ve felt run down by chronic illness. Sick, unable to do much, and miserable about it. But, I had Dragon Age (and Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic) and these games brought joy and comfort to my life. I was able to play as someone like myself. The ability to play as a woman or gay or brown was so amazing to me. BioWare has provided me with literally thousands of hours of joy. Not only that, but the devs who reach out to the fans are some of the best people possible. I’ve found people I admire, people I smile over, people who are friends. I cannot express how much the entire experience of being a BioWare fan has helped and improved my life.

So, thank you.

Love, Leila aka Darth Krytie.

I still remember the first time I played Dragon Age: Origins. My friend had lent me his copy and made me promise to play it. I agreed and fell in love with the game at the character creation screen. Most of the games I had played before, especially RPGs,  forced me to play a male character. The fact that I could play as my own gender was exciting. The fact that I could kick ass with said gender? Even better. 

As I played more, I fell deeper into the rabbit hole. The game made me feel connected to these characters; I was invested in their stories and well-being. I cried more than once, and I’m not someone who is easily brought to tears. When Alistair gained the throne and broke off the relationship with my Warden, I refused to play the game for three days. How many other games can say they’ve had their players rage quit from emotions? 

To so many of us, BioWare games are more than just entertainment. As someone who is very shy and anxious in social situations, I was terrified when I went off to college. I knew absolutely no one at the school I was attending and for the first few weeks I hardly spoke to my classmates. That all changed the day I wore an N7 shirt. The girls next to me struck up a conversation about the game, and before I knew it we had become friends. I’ve made friends both online and local because of BioWare games, and I honestly believe they’ve helped me work through some of my anxiety. 

Thank you. I mean it, I really do. Thank you for writing amazing stories,  for striving for inclusion and diversity, for helping so many people in so many different ways. And thank you in advance for the amazing experience I’m sure Dragon Age: Inquisition will be.

Thank you for enabling my unhealthy obsession with dwarves. 

Love, 

I cannot express adequately in words how much of a difference Dragon Age has made in my life. Every aspect of it has changed for the better starting from the moment I rolled my first Warden. I’ve met some fantastic people through DA, both fans and developers.

I’m glad that there are more games planned for the DA series after Inquisition, because I don’t want either the in-game journey or the outer one to end for a long time yet! :)

Thank you for your dedication and hard work! Know that it means the world to us. <3

Dear Bioware team,

I want to thank every single one of you, no matter what your job description is, for doing what you do. For creating all these incredible experiences, for letting us lead so many exciting lives, for making us heroes and champions and saviours of the galaxy.

Whenever you go through dark moments, whenever you find yourself in doubt or pain or confusion, wondering if it’s all worth it, remember us – the many, many people whose lives you have changed for the better. People who started writing, painting and crafting because of you. Who have found new courage, new power and new friends. Who have taken a closer look at themselves and discovered that they are loyal, strong, and don’t look too bad naked.

BioWare devs, thanks for all the hard work you put into your games! It really shows!

From good ol’ Baldur’s Gate 1 all the way up to Dragon Age Inquisition, you’ve made some of my favorite games of all time (Dragon Age series being my #1 fav!)

Because I have never seen game devs care more about their fans and the representation in their games. The Dragon Age series is the best series I have ever played, with the best characters, the story and all the emotion, and my hype for Inquisition is UNREAL. I am going to love this game and I can’t wait for the future of the franchise beyond this!