Talk:Vess the Disputant

The Disuptant's disputed gender
Maybe ANet got too lazy to create a male model, and instead just recycled the female model? And I swear there was another instance where a female was referred to as "Sir"... --WhiteAsIce 08:23, July 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * ANet is well known for its problems with copyediting. I agree, it is much more likely that they weren't paying attention than that they intentionally added a cross dresser. Still, developers do like to throw us for a loop occasionally. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 08:49, July 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * "Sir" isn't an issue, using that for both male and female officers has become idiomatic (although it isn't actual military usage). If they had intended to make Vess male, they would have used the Sycophant or Abbot model for him - I know there have been cases where they switched up the models like that for this exact purpose, but I can't recall them offhand.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 13:16, July 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * They're just giving LGBT equal representation, for political correctness. --Macros
 * I'm going to have to agree with Macros on this one.&rarr; Qelsi710 [[Image:Qelsi_Qompas_sig.png]] 16:21, July 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * I hadn't thought about the more modern uses of Sir (although, some cultures go for Mum ...and arguably, Tyrian, Elonian, and Canthan cultures are supposed to be parallel to pre-20th century earth...but heck, it's a game, so the developers are free to pick and choose the idioms they like).


 * I prefer the she appears to be language because I don't think the gender is obvious. Vess is a toon in a PG13 game, so there's no anatomy to take a look at. I don't know about others here, but where I live, plenty of men dress up to look more feminine than Vess does. There's equally scant evidence that the developers intended her to be male as there is for female: two his references in the dialogue (for male) vs the choice of GFX models (for female).


 * I agree that it is more likely that ANet intended female, and then made a mistake with the 3rd person pronouns. However, in the absence of developer confirmation, I think we should stick with the provable fact, Vess appears to be female.


 * On a side note, I also prefer Shining Blade bounty in the note because I think it reads better than the awkward quest name. It also helps articulate the brand of quest. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:28, July 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * Here's a crazy idea - someone could report the discrepancy to Anet and maybe they'll actually correct it. *shrug* Jink  16:43, July 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * I was already doing that. :P
 * @Ernie: Why are you bringing real-world semantics into this? You said yourself, "Vess is a toon in a PG13 game," and as such should be analyzed within the limits of that game.  Based on comparisons to other models in the game, the White Mantle Savant is indisputably female.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 16:56, July 20, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think it's much more likely that Vess is female. But the compelling arguments are real-world: ANet has made more textual than model mistakes and GW hasn't made a point of LGBT inclusion in the past. It's the in-game evidence that is, imo, ambiguous. I'm glad it's obvious to some, but I remain convinced it would more accurate to say, Vess appears to be female.


 * re: crazy idea to report: ANet has been extraordinarily slow in fixing textual errors. I expect this situation to remain until GW2. &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:15, July 20, 2010 (UTC)