He Mass Effect Legendary Edition will allow fans of the franchise to experience the original trilogy with a new coat of paint when it arrives later this year, including the most critically acclaimed game in the Mass Effect 2 series. Fans are thrilled to see members of the team like Garrus, Thane, Jack, Kasumi and more, although in a new interview came to light some interesting details about the changes made to the character of Jack. In a new interview with The Gamer, Massive effects 2, lead writer Brian Kindregan, revealed that Jack was actually supposed to identify as a pansexual, but that changed after the game had already developed a lot thanks to criticism from Fox News .
“I was trying to draw the arc of [Jack’s] romance, which for much of the development, was actually too late to become an all-male / female romance, “Kindregan said.” It was essentially pansexual for most of the development of that romance. “
That changed after Fox News began discussing the game’s approach to sex and the fact that it included an indirect romance option.
“Mass Effect had been heavily and unfairly criticized in the US by Fox News, which at the time … maybe there were more people in the world who thought there was a connection between reality and what is being discussed on Fox News.” said Kindregan. “The Mass Effect 2 development team was an open-minded and progressive team, but I think there was a concern at pretty high levels that if [the first] Mass Effect, who only had a gay relationship, Liara, who in the role technically was not a gay relationship because she was of a mono-genus species, I think there was a concern that if this had caught my attention, that Mass Effect 2 you should be a little careful “.
Jack Courtenay Taylor’s actress also confirmed that the character was pansexual, and that’s how she played her.
“It makes me funny, because I always understood I was pansexual,” Taylor said. “So I don’t know if it’s something I deduced from the character or something he said maybe he was cut. I was surprised that a female romance wasn’t possible because it was my understanding. I think it was time, you know? I mean, what – 2008/2009? The industry has changed exponentially since then, and BioWare was in charge. “Of course she’s a lesbian.” But my sense was always that she was [pansexual] and it just wasn’t followed. Of course, the community modified it immediately so you can do it your way. “
Kindregan said, “It wasn’t like someone anti-gay on the Mass Effect 2 team said,“ We won’t have it. ”The short version is that many of us were asked quite late to focus relationships on a more traditional vector types “.
The decision was made in full development, so there are still fragments of dialogue that reflect the original version of the character, and many were surprised to discover that his wife Shepard could not end up in a relationship with her.
“I’ve definitely heard a lot from people who were surprised that Jack turned out not to be open to that,” Kindregan said. “I understand why. I would say there were many seeds planted in his conversations that surely hinted that he was pansexual, since he specifically refers to being part of a problem. She says there was a boy and a woman she was running with, who invited her to the robberies and to bed. It definitely refers to these things. It was explicitly to start sending the message that yes, he is a pansexual character. By the eleventh hour review of cleaning it up, it had already been partially recorded with voice-over. That could not be changed. “
“I would say even with things I could change, and I don’t know if that was the right decision or not, I still saw her as a character with advantages,” Kindregan says. “It’s not nervous, but with the advantage of not following traditional rules. I think I could have kept, even during the review process, some of these things with a sense of as if, it’s a person who’s been around and done a lot of things, who came out of the farm and went down to Paris. “
“I’ve worked with lesbian developers who have approached me and said,‘ Why doesn’t Jack notice me? Kindregan said. “And I have to say, ‘I’m so sorry, it’s partly my fault.’ But I’m still on the side of keeping it with a more varied background. Maybe one day Jack will be represented as a paella.
Should Bioware honor Jack’s original vision in the upcoming Legendary Edition? Let us know in the comments and, as always, you can talk, k all Mass Effect stuff with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!