I also think that this is somewhat of a letdown for a stretch goal. I don’t completely hate the idea of playing as a female, but it’s not something I’d really desire either. I think the team could find a better use of their time than pandering to a minority of people who’d find this enjoyable. As noted by one of the other posters, if they have to do it make it AUTHENTIC, as in possibly the common woman, to open peoples eyes to the hardships of life at the time.
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No, I still can’t see the major role in it. Leading charge doesn’t mean leading army. You are not superhero. Persuading nobles (as a bard) to fight one another (in a fist fight?) says nothing about how big the role is. I don’t say a character has no impact on the story, I say he has no major impact on politics of the country. He is not meant to change history. It has been said repeatedly. And if by that female character problem grows smaller, then i really don’t get why you used it as an argument to prove exact opposite in your first post. You are contradicting yourself again.
I’m basing my posts on the very same facts you have given away, though I have come to different conclusion, because I don’t consider rare examples as a rule. And yes, I consider dozens of examples even in 400 years period as very rare. We are talking about dozens out of at least tens of millions through generations so I’m pretty convinced it is the very definition of “almost impossible”. So I’m basing my opinion on fact that women were not warriors, which you actually prove by examples of like 0,0001% of them who were. Hence I don’t find relevant how these super rare women were treated because they were…total freaking exeptions and by no mean believable heroines of realistic medieval game.
And your question for examples of heroic men is also kinda core problem, beacause the game main character is “not superhero”. So to fit in more or less believable character you don’t need representative of 0,0001% minority, but you can pick one out of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in medieval history.
I would never say women had no impact on our world, this is not what I was talking about at all. I can’t see how it is relevant.
About that 40% thing - i didn’t say women don’t play RPGs, I said they are not 40% of RPG players and no, I don’t have statistics, it’s just my opinion. I don’t know what they showed you at courses, but I hope they showed you these 40%, because they are probably very good at conspiring.
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This is a very interesting topic and I read it with great interest. I would only ask everybody to cool down a bit before replying – I believe the discussion was mostly civil so far and it would be great if it stayed that way.
To speak directly to the subject: our goal is to create a game that’s more story-based than say Skyrim, for this reason we decided to go with the main character who is pretty much defined – not only you cannot change his gender, you cannot even change his name. This gives us several benefits production-wise: there is only one set of voiceovers to be done, the NPCs can call you by name, everything is just a little bit simpler and that’s frankly a great benefit to a team like us.
I agree that it would be possible to have the female protagonist, but it would require more than the other set of voiceovers: it would be a different story – it could be a similar story, and it could be very interesting story, but unfortunately, it’s not the story we are going to tell.
In case anybody has any doubts about it, I would also like to re-iterate that there will be women of different classes and stations of life in our game. We are trying to base our understanding of medieval society on up-to-date scientific research so to the best of our knowledge it should accurately reflect the role of women as well.
Lastly, how can a humble blacksmith son influence the events in his homeland? I am sorry, but I cannot divulge more from our story. Rest assured though, that it won’t be by forging swords for other people.
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Thank you for the response! As I stated earlier, I definitely understand the challenge of working in a small team, and as such I appreciate the reasoning behind the decision, even if I obviously wish you had the resources to tell both stories. Some other time, perhaps!
I was going to write a final rebuttal to @Freix last reply, but I can see the quality of the discussion has deteriorated and we are probably not going to get much further in our discussion without it coming to semantics and repetition, so I will refrain for the time being. If anyone else has anything to add or wants something clarified, though, I would welcome it.
And I wouldn’t mind further discussions if someone want to chime in with something new! Hope people enjoyed the reading so far!
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I think misunderstanding in this discussion comes from statement that it was women who suggested a female playable character. But it is mainly man who like to play as female characters. I think they just consider it fun, like being on bad side or being thief and so on. I like the option too but it was mistake to state that woman would not play a game when a female character would be missing. 
I think man would have more problems with it 
Perhaps if there was a way to vote over ideas like these, as dreadful as that sounds. To be able to vote over many of these topics would be enjoyable, but accuracy may be lacking. I generally don’t like Yes, No, options… Make sure you include “indifferent.”
I didn’t call DA a masterpiece RPG, just refuting GodFather’s claim that it is without personality. Or rather the Warden was without personality. Which simply isn’t true. Gameplay/combat were what lacked in DA. Not personality.
if only i could have played Larry Croft, I’d get into Tomb Raider series…
on a more serious note: female fighters in fantasy games? sure! in a medieval game which prides itself on its accuracy? not so much, unless you are a plotting noblewomen of some means,
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even noblewomen didn’t fight. the closet thing to a female warrior in the 15th century was joan of arc, and she didn’t physically engage in combat either.
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exactly, hence the “plotting” part.
It is a very boring discussion if people are going to argument who weren’t present in the 15th century. It has already been pointed out and “proven” that the books which have been written about that age came from monks, priests, nobles and some kind of historicans who would never write against the meaning of their lieges.
This discussion was all about an playable female character and as far as I know is that this character already has been approved by the developers.
You will be able to play a female person in the game but the main story will be about the blacksmith.
And maybe if the developer decide it that way the female person will come back in act 2 or 3 or 4 or whatever and maybe will be a possibilty to accompany the main protagonist in those campaigns as a cooperative character in the “maybe” happening cooperative game mode in further acts.
In that way it would be very, very great if the discussion would continue in that direction and not in
"Woman didn’t fight for their lifes and blah" because thats nonsense. If someone is threatening your life and you have a pitchfork you will going to kill that one for sure. And at least the game should be realistic, hm?
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Not true; that you don’t know about them doesn’t mean they didn’t exist, as anyone with an internet connection can easily find out. Joan of Arc certainly did actively participate in battle, there are contemporary sources that confirms this. There are few people who lived during the middle ages that can claim better documentation than Joan of Arc.
Elise Eskilsdatter, a norwegian noblewoman who was also a pirate who warred and ravaged areas of what is now part of Germany is another 15th century example.
Yet another is Margaret of Anjou, who played a major role in the War of the Roses and was a part of at least two battles. If she was in the frontlines, I can not answer, but probably not, but then neither were noblemen most of the time, as is testified by the fact that by far the most usual cause of death for nobles in battle during the age was execution after the battle was over.
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Death Daisy is already saving the day again 
Just my two cents: I would ultra-enjoy playing as a lemale lead character. Hopefully it will be modded, if the devs can’t support it.
it is the difference between a game I will like, vs a game like Skyrim, that I LOVE, and play over and over and over again (and mod it also, to make the story mine).
Elise Eskildotter is the only one named by you that we can be fairly certain actually did any physical fighting. one way or another, we are remember these women because they were a very notable exceptions and not a rule.
i’m sure there was a skilled women fighters in some outlaw band or possibly a tomboyish noble girl who practiced with a sword and was as skilled as many men, but again, it was very rare.
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The game’s characters were mostly strawmen, cliches, and the same character archetype you would see in most poorly written novels and fan fiction, where’s the personality?
There are two cultures that actively allowed woman to fight that I can think of at the top of my head, the Gauls, and the Danish. That being said I don’t think anyone is saying woman never fought, or that there was a few historical “hero” like female figures that actively took part in combat like Thyra, and Hangoku*. What people are trying to get across is that it’s very rare, realistically speaking having woman in melee combat eeeeeehhh…
she was mostly away from the brunt of the fighting and mounted. the only wounds she ever suffered were from arrows fired from long ranges.
i don’t consider that is an active role in battle. i think her influences were far more political than martial.
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no one is arguing women shouldn’t be allowed to fight, but defending yourself is different from being a female warrior, one on equal terms with men in fighting prowess and ability. that’s what’s being proposed here.
political and great for morale, that’s not to be underestimated