Högskolan i Skövde

Many studies have been conducted on the experience of play in MMOgames to determine what makes them attractive to players. To deepenthis understanding and to suggest a potential longitudinal study, literaturehas been reviewed to determine key factors of what makesMMOs attractive to queer players. Social play, character creation,gameplay, jobs/classes, tasks, gestures, queer representation and thepossibilities of queer play as well aesthetic appearance was revealedto be important for queer players. These key factors were then appliedto Final Fantasy XIV to determine if it differs from or adheres to thestandard of MMO design.

In this paper, the author uses her personal experience of encounteringand engaging with same-sex romances in games as a way to discuss the positives and negatives of same-sex romances in games. Like all people, LGBTQ players look to role models in media for guidance and solidarity, and romantic relationships in video games can create particularly strong attachments for players to characters. Yet LGBTQ representations in games are rife with negative stereotypes or worse: complete exclusion. The paper argues for the potential power of games tohelp minorities explore their identities.