Guild Wars 2

I was just idling around the gate to Fractals of the Mists in Lions Arch, and happened to overhear two NPCs chatting…

I’ve heard them before, but never truly listened until now.

The NPC in question is Aid Worker Sya. She has a discussion with Lionguard Hela about helping her during Scarlet’s attack.

The gem from this conversation revealed to me (after finally paying attention) was that Sya was once Symon, and has decided to openly live the life of ‘Sya’, a woman!

I don’t know if I’m the first to say this, and probably not, but…

THANK YOU SO MUCH ARENANET TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!

I myself am a transgender individual, and I’m sure there are a slew of us playing your fantastic game, but THIS takes the cake. I have officially deemed GW2 as my all time favorite game in gaming history!

No other game I’ve played has even brushes the topics that Guild Wars 2 so effortlessly presents. On top of that, its always in a respectful light, where we the minority feel like we have a chance to be normal in the realm you’ve so masterfully created.

On behalf of all my trans friends and family who support mine and others causes, I’ll say it once more..

THANK YOU ARENANET TEAM!!!!!!!!!!

-A loyal fan for life.

I don’t see how this is a big deal…
All this does is add diversity to the game.

I’m not going to say one way or another.. I’m just happy in my own life. I have my own uphill climb, and seeing something like this brings a lot of happiness to me

Plus, diversity changes worlds one nibble at a time!

They had a long thread about it a year ago, and a mention or two since then. I’m glad it’s something that they put in that made you happy.

If you want to read the thread, this is it here. (Of course it has both positive and negative remarks in it.)

TY Anet for Transgender NPC

If someone asks me they should keep politics completely out of a video game.
This reminds me of the guys that was offended by one of the free armors becuase it looked like it had crosses all over.
These things go pretty ugly fast.

The next person wants a black transgender… then an asian transgender in a male body
with female hair and a quaggan lower body. Soon we end with ghost marrying horses.

Like i say, they should keep politics out of a video game.

Kirschsahne.2081:

If someone asks me they should keep politics completely out of a video game.
This reminds me of the guys that was offended by one of the free armors becuase it looked like it had crosses all over.
These things go pretty ugly fast.

The next person wants a black transgender… then an asian transgender in a male body
with female hair and a quaggan lower body. Soon we end with ghost marrying horses.

Like i say, they should keep politics out of a video game.

That was risky…

But yes, I’m sure there was a lot of people who agreed that Earthling problems should have been kept out of Tyria. It ruined immersion into the game being reminded of real world problems.

On the other hand,

It’s great for people to feel welcomed in Tyria, as Earthlings haven’t quite accepted how to let others live their lives yet.

Haha I alway camp around the fractal portal and thia is news to me!

When I first hear those npc’s talk , my first though was some kinda of mulan thing going on and then never thought about further

The important in life, is to love yourself, wether you are a man wearing a corset or not.

I see being transgender (or gay) as biological rather than political. Life is diversity, thank goodness. I appreciate games that deal with both in ways that make them seem absolutely a non-issue in their worlds. We are not on Earth anymore…

As far as “ghosts marrying horses”- ghosts and horses will do what they will regardless of what we Earthlings have to say about it. :p

Kirschsahne.2081:

If someone asks me they should keep politics completely out of a video game.
This reminds me of the guys that was offended by one of the free armors becuase it looked like it had crosses all over.
These things go pretty ugly fast.

The next person wants a black transgender… then an asian transgender in a male body
with female hair and a quaggan lower body. Soon we end with ghost marrying horses.

Like i say, they should keep politics out of a video game.

The existence of a transgender person really is not a political issue. If ANET placed her in a female char bathroom then it would be political lol, and is it just me or does an Asian transgender women with a quaggan lower body NOT sound amazing?!?! In fact, now I am kinda hoping thats what bubbles will look like…

Also, Ashencourt, I’m glad your so happy about this. I’m not transgender myself but I understand how much it can mean to see ANET place these things in their game, its part of why they are so awesome!

Kirschsahne.2081:

If someone asks me they should keep politics completely out of a video game.
This reminds me of the guys that was offended by one of the free armors becuase it looked like it had crosses all over.
These things go pretty ugly fast.

The next person wants a black transgender… then an asian transgender in a male body
with female hair and a quaggan lower body. Soon we end with ghost marrying horses.

Like i say, they should keep politics out of a video game.

Some things are better left unsaid. But since you bring it up, I have to ask:

What if your gender were conspicuously missing for obviously “political” reasons? You seem awfully sensitive to someone else being acknowledged in that situation. What’s it to you? Or are we going to get political and discuss why you have the right to be acknowledged in this way while others do not?

Nice slippery slope, bro.

I take it that the idea behind it is that, the more you hide it, the more you allow fear and lack of unsderstanding to settle in the society. Somehow they went from an extreme to another as to compensate for the lack of such presence at a more global scale in the medias. But all that will be forgotten the day we will discuss how miserable the lack of inter-planetary syndicates makes the life of height legged moth-horses at the local bar on mars because a week of work is still 8 hours on earth.

We seems to make progress quite rapidly !

I totally agree, Ashencourt. It’s a good step in the right direction as far as acceptance and equality for all. There’s no shame in it and there’s absolutely no reason to keep who you are private.

Mad respect for the LGBT community.

I think it’s pretty cool… Not “OMFG TYSM ANET” cool, but you know…

Although, I can see how it would be pretty neat if you were transgender yourself, and saw some representation.

I thought the conversation between Symon and the npc was amusing. The picking of the very feminine “Sya” as a new identity and the frilly outfit are all honest representations, intended or not, of real-life transgenders, male to female that is.

I can’t comment on the emphatic praise given to this character by OP and others, or rather I think it’s safe not to.

This is a thread where a transgendered individual thanked ArenaNet for recognizing him or her in a positive and respectful way. That’s all. The OP never politicized it. It’s not a ‘political’ issue, but a reality one for them.

Please quit taking someone’s thank you down this road.

Djinn.9245:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

This is a thread where a transgendered individual thanked ArenaNet for recognizing him or her in a positive and respectful way. That’s all. The OP never politicized it. It’s not a ‘political’ issue, but a reality one for them.

Please quit taking someone’s thank you down this road.

Some people can’t help but be negative.

Agreed. It’s pretty amazing, the number of people who instantly get offended when any small recognition is given to a group’s mere existence. Kind of sad, really.

I’m happy that you are happy, OP.

Well if you watched the Guildwars 2 streaming like guild chat. You would know that one person is responsible for creating Symon/Sya. That person is also a transgender goes by the name of Teddy Nugyen. Just so you all know that don’t

Chyanne Waters.8719:

Well if you watched the Guildwars 2 streaming like guild chat. You would know that one person is responsible for creating Symon/Sya. That person is also a transgender goes by the name of Teddy Nugyen. Just so you all know that don’t

This makes a lot of sense.

Two things.

Kirschsahne.2081:

The reason for writing my comment was to make my opinion known for keeping absolutely everything out that should or could turn into a political issue.

This was a “Thank you Anet!” thread until you mentioned politics. You took the congratulatory and thankful thread to a political tone where there previously was none.

Kirschsahne.2081:

Discussions like that will encourage the wrong people for the wrong reasons
to force their “issues” on innocent others.

Again, I think if you step back and approach this from an objective position, you will find that you are unintentionally being the person you are decrying. I don’t think you are intentionally trying to insult or demean anyone with your words, but you are choosing the wrong words to relay your thoughts and many of us are perceiving a strong sense of negativity behind them.

(I should note that this is my own personal opinion and likely does not reflect the opinions of others in this thread.)

Moving on!

Whether this was the work of one individual person at Anet or a whole group of developers, I’d also like to add my resounding “Thanks!” to the crowd of well-wishers. You’re good eggs, all of yah.

Djinn.9245:

Mitch.4781:

Well, I’m glad you’re happy OP, but I must say, I’m surprised that you are convinced by this. It’s yet another example of Anets’ utter tokenism when it comes to minorities, sexuality or gender. It’s like they sat around a table and went, ok, what box can we tick today. I got it, it’s wednesday today so transgender!

I have absolutely no issue with any of these things in game, but at least implement it in a convincing and sensitive way. The whole “sya” thing is hilariously poorly done. The conversation is on loop ad nausem so I’m quite surprised you’ve never heard it before. It literally lasts about 3 mins. Is that really good enough for such a sensitive subject? 3 mins of a generic female NPC repeating an inane conversation full of meaningless platitudes?

“No other game I’ve played has even brushes the topics that Guild Wars 2 so effortlessly presents”. Oh you’re right about that, but not in the way you think. The topic is not brushed, merely coughed at. Frankly, if I was trans gendered, I’d be rolling my eyes at such a feeble act of tokenism. Also, Bioware has done this and LGBT stories and characters way before Anet thought it was the in thing to do. They also did it so much better with depth and sensitivity. You should check out the Mass Effect and Dragons Age series.

I guess you missed this prior comment in this thread:

Chyanne Waters.8719:

Well if you watched the Guildwars 2 streaming like guild chat. You would know that one person is responsible for creating Symon/Sya. That person is also a transgender goes by the name of Teddy Nugyen. Just so you all know that don’t

Doesn’t really change the point though.

These threads only lead to irrelevant to the game debate and end up getting locked, whether they start as thanks or not. How about we keep them off the forums.

CMM.6712:

These threads only lead to irrelevant to the game debate and end up getting locked, whether they start as thanks or not. How about we keep them off the forums.

Sadly, despite the OP’s intent which I find laudable, you have a point. Especially given recent responses.

Djinn.9245:

Some people can’t help but be negative.

Indeed.

I love Sya and I love Majory and Kas…. Kasmeer is my favorite chr alongside Countess Anise… BUT ANET ITS TIME FOR A LEAD MALE GAY COUPLE PLEASE LOL. I look forward to seeing that.

Djinn.9245:

sephiroth.4217:

Torzini.1523:

Djinn.9245:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

This is a thread where a transgendered individual thanked ArenaNet for recognizing him or her in a positive and respectful way. That’s all. The OP never politicized it. It’s not a ‘political’ issue, but a reality one for them.

Please quit taking someone’s thank you down this road.

Some people can’t help but be negative.

Agreed. It’s pretty amazing, the number of people who instantly get offended when any small recognition is given to a group’s mere existence. Kind of sad, really.

I’m happy that you are happy, OP.

Kirschsahne.2081 wasn’t being negative. Only logical.

There’s absolutely nothing “political” about a gender… O.o

We’re not living pre-women’s liberation or in the middle east. Including all types of gender is simply reflecting the way the world is.

No, it’s political now….

Realistically this thread should have been closed the moment Anet received the thankyou rather than leaving this open out here like this. Very grey subject.

All of these subtle things are a part of what makes Guild Wars 2 such a great game if you actually stop to simply look at everything around you.
They should be including transgender people or homosexual characters in their games as far as I am concerned. This feels like a step in the right direction.

However, AreaNet still needs to be careful to not go overboard with that. We are speaking about representing minorities here. I understand how big of a subject seeing relatable representions of your minorities can be.
Still, I feel like people expect to see mostly straight charactes and especially couple as that is what they can relate to.

You take a walk downtown in real life. Lots of people around you. You could pass a straight couple arguing about what to eat for dinner tonight. A couple of kids windowshopping at a toystore. At one point you pass 2 people talking to each other, and from the little snippet of conversation you overhear you understand that one of them is transgender. You continue your walk. None of these people have backstories that you know of, but you know that they have backstories. Do you have to know every detail for it to be legitimate?

Introducing a transgender/LGBT/racial character because he/she is transgender/LGBT/racial, that is pandering. Marjory came into the game on her own. Her sexuality only surfaced later on, when she met Kasmeer. The same goes for Kasmeer. She wasn’t introduced as a lesbian character. She just turned out to be lesbian when she met Marjory and fell in love. That is how you incorporate such topics into a game. By not making a big deal out of it but just presenting it as the most normal thing there is. Because that’s what it is: normal.

I am gay myself. I don’t need special attention. I don’t want to be put on a pedestal or in the spotlight because I am gay. I don’t even think about the fact that I’m gay, like most straight people probably wouldn’t think about being straight. I assume they don’t but can’t know for sure since I’m not straight.

From my point of view ANet doesn’t pander to any single minority. Those minorities just happen to be in the game because they’ve created a world full of diversity. Sya is done perfectly. She’s there, she tells a bit about her history and how she came to the decision to be who she really feels she is. Marjory and Kasmeer fell in love. They didn’t make a big deal out of it. It just happened (you know, like falling in love in real life). You can draw many analogies to real life with what’s presented to us in this game. Two simple examples: religious fanaticism (White Mantle), race wars (Charr/Humans) and the prejudice that comes with it. I don’t hear anyone complain that this resembles real life too much. How can it not? It’s a story created by people with real lives, who live in the real world. Would it be better if they purposefully stayed away from anything that might even remotely resemble something from real life? That’s impossible. There is cultural diversity in this game, various sexual orientations, gender fluidity, religion, political agendas, etc., etc., etc. There’s nothing PC about it. It’s just the world they created. As time goes by and real life societies start accepting more and more diversity, it’s easier to incorporate that into a pastime commodity like a computer game without backlash from the community. Take, for instance, the friendship between Rox and Braham, two people from different races. How do you think people would respond to that 80 years ago? These days it’s nothing special but it didn’t always used to be this way. The point is, there will always be a degree of real life reflection in any story created from the minds of humans, and it will always be possible to draw analogies with real life as well. I noticed Sya a long time ago and heard her conversation, thought to myself “That’s cool” and went on with my business. It is only an issue in the minds of some people because they make an issue out of it. And if you actually are part of a minority and chastised because of it, or lack all the rights “normal” people have, coming across something like this in a game, a book, a movie or whatever, can really lift your spirits. And that, to me, is a wonderful thing.

A little something I forgot to mention in my post: the Sylvari. With that race ANet shows it’s both normal to be asexual (because that’s what the Sylvari essentially are) and that love is love (because the gender each individual Sylvari resembles says nothing about who they fall in love with). They fall in love with a person, their character and personality. Whether that was their intent or not doesn’t matter. It’s a sign that Tyria is created as a diverse world with diverse cultures and people. They’ve literally done that from the start. All these little tidbits (or not so little tidbits, when it concerns major characters) are nothing more than a normal and natural part of this fictional world that keeps growing throughout the years. That’s life, and life is anything but political.

God Bless you and all transgender players Ashencourt!

There are those who don’t understand how a small gesture like this makes such a huge difference for some. Virtual hugs for all!

All Sya needed was total makeover kit + name change kit roughly 1200 gems

Or she got lucky with mystic forge keys

TheNecrosanct.4028:

You take a walk downtown in real life. Lots of people around you. You could pass a straight couple arguing about what to eat for dinner tonight. A couple of kids windowshopping at a toystore. At one point you pass 2 people talking to each other, and from the little snippet of conversation you overhear you understand that one of them is transgender. You continue your walk. None of these people have backstories that you know of, but you know that they have backstories. Do you have to know every detail for it to be legitimate?

Introducing a transgender/LGBT/racial character because he/she is transgender/LGBT/racial, that is pandering. Marjory came into the game on her own. Her sexuality only surfaced later on, when she met Kasmeer. The same goes for Kasmeer. She wasn’t introduced as a lesbian character. She just turned out to be lesbian when she met Marjory and fell in love. That is how you incorporate such topics into a game. By not making a big deal out of it but just presenting it as the most normal thing there is. Because that’s what it is: normal.

I am gay myself. I don’t need special attention. I don’t want to be put on a pedestal or in the spotlight because I am gay. I don’t even think about the fact that I’m gay, like most straight people probably wouldn’t think about being straight. I assume they don’t but can’t know for sure since I’m not straight.

From my point of view ANet doesn’t pander to any single minority. Those minorities just happen to be in the game because they’ve created a world full of diversity. Sya is done perfectly. She’s there, she tells a bit about her history and how she came to the decision to be who she really feels she is. Marjory and Kasmeer fell in love. They didn’t make a big deal out of it. It just happened (you know, like falling in love in real life). You can draw many analogies to real life with what’s presented to us in this game. Two simple examples: religious fanaticism (White Mantle), race wars (Charr/Humans) and the prejudice that comes with it. I don’t hear anyone complain that this resembles real life too much. How can it not? It’s a story created by people with real lives, who live in the real world. Would it be better if they purposefully stayed away from anything that might even remotely resemble something from real life? That’s impossible. There is cultural diversity in this game, various sexual orientations, gender fluidity, religion, political agendas, etc., etc., etc. There’s nothing PC about it. It’s just the world they created. As time goes by and real life societies start accepting more and more diversity, it’s easier to incorporate that into a pastime commodity like a computer game without backlash from the community. Take, for instance, the friendship between Rox and Braham, two people from different races. How do you think people would respond to that 80 years ago? These days it’s nothing special but it didn’t always used to be this way. The point is, there will always be a degree of real life reflection in any story created from the minds of humans, and it will always be possible to draw analogies with real life as well. I noticed Sya a long time ago and heard her conversation, thought to myself “That’s cool” and went on with my business. It is only an issue in the minds of some people because they make an issue out of it. And if you actually are part of a minority and chastised because of it, or lack all the rights “normal” people have, coming across something like this in a game, a book, a movie or whatever, can really lift your spirits. And that, to me, is a wonderful thing.

Thank you, excellent post.

I LOVE SYAAAAAAAAA AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Smooth Penguin.5294:

God Bless you and all transgender players Ashencourt!

There are those who don’t understand how a small gesture like this makes such a huge difference for some. Virtual hugs for all!

Yassss this. Perfectly and WELL SAID!!!!!!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Aid-Worker-Sya-Transgender-Character
You are a year late. Please use the search function.

Shadowmoon.7986:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Aid-Worker-Sya-Transgender-Character
You are a year late. Please use the search function.

/sigh
Not everyone started at Beta…:P
And kudos the the writing team at ANet- GW2 is truly beautiful.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

God Bless you and all transgender players Ashencourt!

There are those who don’t understand how a small gesture like this makes such a huge difference for some. Virtual hugs for all!

Bingo! Thank you. +1 and well said.

Edit: +1 to TheNecrosanct as well. Outstanding post.

Shadowmoon.7986:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Aid-Worker-Sya-Transgender-Character
You are a year late. Please use the search function.

I prefer people start a new thread if the original thread is older than 6 months myself. Nothing more annoying than those necro’d threads that just don’t make a whole lot of sense anymore because they are out of sync with the current situation.

And for the record, I do think it’s a nice touch. There’s just too much prejudice in this world.

Ashencourt.9512:

On behalf of all my trans friends and family who support mine and others causes, I’ll say it once more..

THANK YOU ARENANET TEAM!!!!!!!!!!

-A loyal fan for life.

Much thanks from me as well! I know she was just added as a minor npc that most people would not even notice but it is wow. Just like adding having Taimi have a disability or other characters represent various communities. I am not sure if the majority culture realizes how much it means to people to play a game, read a book, or watch a movie and see themselves in there.

TheNecrosanct.4028:

I am gay myself. I don’t need special attention. I don’t want to be put on a pedestal or in the spotlight because I am gay. I don’t even think about the fact that I’m gay, like most straight people probably wouldn’t think about being straight. I assume they don’t but can’t know for sure since I’m not straight. I noticed Sya a long time ago and heard her conversation, thought to myself “That’s cool” and went on with my business.

I totally agree with the above. This is, IMHO, exactly as it should be. All I give a kitten about is if a person is a decent, caring human being. Black, white, gay, straight, male, female, Christian, Jew, etc. … just irrelevant details to me. If we need to recognize every group in our books, games, movies, etc. where does it end. What about nudists? Should they be represented? Wiccans? Polygamists? And who decides?

Personally, I find it sad (and annoying) that our differences are what we seem to notice, discuss, and call attention to rather than what we all have in common.

TheNecrosanct.4028:

I am gay myself. I don’t need special attention. I don’t want to be put on a pedestal or in the spotlight because I am gay.

Well said, all of it, not just the bit above. But the bit above reminded me about the two kids outside the LA bank, who sadly do put Kas and Marjory in the spotlight with their repetitious dialogue. It’s as if anet thought we wouldn’t notice they were a couple, they have to keep reminding us. Anyway, moving on. :/

Chyanne Waters.8719:

Well if you watched the Guildwars 2 streaming like guild chat. You would know that one person is responsible for creating Symon/Sya. That person is also a transgender goes by the name of Teddy Nugyen. Just so you all know that don’t

I follow her on twitter – she’s awesome (and very talented). :-D

She posted about it I think, on reddit or twitter. I forget where exactly. It’s really sweet.

note: it was on her twitter she talked about it :-)