Since this became really controversial, i have edited the original OP name to something less clickbaiting and more likely to invite both sides to the discussion.
Also added Trent Oster CEO answer from Beamdog's forum and Boogie's video from youtube (because i mostly agree with him). Both these informations are thanks to the user mornelithe, who posted them in this thread.
My opinion is that the mainstream media did a poor job while reporting this. While there is definitely a group making a fuzz about the trans character and hateful comments being throw around, there is also fair (and deserved) criticism to the game's writing (and not only to that). Finally there is the usual disappointment when a loved IP receives a less remarkable iteration, or at least one that fail to meet expectations.
[Beamdog CEO's response]
I'm Trent Oster, CEO of Beamdog.
First off, everyone here is ecstatic to have shipped Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. Siege represents years of hard work by a dedicated team that we grew from a combination of home grown talent, original Baldur's Gate modders and former Bioware developers. Siege of Dragonspear represents more than 25 hours of new Baldur’s Gate gameplay, and more than 500,000 words of writing. I’m proud of our team for launching this great expansion.
We’ve received feedback around Mizhena, a supporting character who reveals she is transgender. In retrospect, it would have been better served if we had introduced a transgender character with more development. This is a lesson we will be carrying forward in our development as creators and we will be improving this character in a future update.
The last few days have showed us how passionately many of our fans care for our games. We've had a lot of great feedback from players who love the expansion and are having a great time experiencing the first new Baldur's Gate story in 15 years.
While we appreciate all feedback we receive from our fans, both positive as well as negative, some of the negative feedback has focused not on Siege of Dragonspear but on individual developers at Beamdog -- to the point of online threats and harassment.
I just want to make it crystal clear that Beamdog does not condone this behavior, and moreover that it will not have the desired effect as we stand behind all our developers 100%. We created the game as a group, and moving forward we'll work on the game's issues as a group, which I believe is exactly as it should be.
We’ve received valuable feedback around some bugs we failed to catch for ship. We're hard at work right now patching up the issues that slipped through and we're striving to ship fixes and improvements quickly. We will provide a complete list of the issues we plan to address in our next update. Issues of note we are addressing are:
Multiplayer – We are acting on reports of multiplayer issues and hope to have this fixed in the next update.
Minsc – Minsc has a line which generated controversy. Looking back on the line, we agree with the feedback from our community, it has nothing to do with his character and we will be removing the line.
We hope all our players continue to enjoy Siege of Dragonspear and we look forward to providing an update in the near future.
Regards,
-Trent
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/51161/beamdog-statement-on-siege-of-dragonspear/
[Boogie's Take]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSzZ9jIl7pY
[Crave's Article]
The GOG and Steam store pages for Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear are littered with negative reviews, with gamers trashing the game largely as a result of an encounter that takes place between the player and a transgender character.
The new expansion, which is set between the events of the first and second game, features a conversation with a transgender character in which she explains her transition. Mizhena, a cleric in the game, explains the origins behind her unusual name in a dialogue tree if the player questions her about it. "I created the name myself several years ago," Mizhena says, adding: "My birth name proved unsuitable." When the player asks what was wrong with her old name, she continues: "When I was born, my parents thought me a boy and raised me as such. In time, we all came to understand I was truly a woman. I created my new name from syllables of different languages. All have special meaning to me, it is the truest reflection of who I am."
Many have taken umbrage with this line, littering its GOG, Steam and Metacritic user reviews with low scores, with the majority of these reviews referencing this exchange. A video titled 'Tranny Abuse' in which the player kills Mizhena after she reveals herself to be a transgender, has also been uploaded to YouTube, attracting over 13,000 views and over 350 likes, with the uploader writing: "It's refreshing to see that nearly everyone, even a lot of neutral folks, consider this a bastardization of a classic game world. Beamdog dug themselves a hole that their company will never recover from now. Any potential Baldur's Gate 3 they develop will fail due to people now knowing how little they care for the license."
A common suggestion made by those posting user reviews of the game was that developer Beamdog's inclusion of the trans character had somehow sullied its reputation, with it being commonly suggested that the dialogue tree with Mizhena had irreparably damaged the reputation of the series. A reference to GamerGate made by the developers, in which a character says "Actually, it's about ethics in heroic adventuring," has also rubbed many up the wrong way.Though these user reviews also cite other problems with the game, including apparent bugs and an unsatisfactory multiplayer component, the majority of these reviews devolve into panning the game's writing, focusing upon its supposed "social justice agenda." Despite the game's lone review from an actual outlet awarding it 87/100, an influx of user reviews are giving it the lowest possible score available, accompanying these reviews with complaints of the game "forcing gender politics down [their] throats."
The game currently sits at a 3.6 out of 10 on Metacritic's user reviews section and 2 out of 5 on GOG, though has a Mostly Positive rating on Steam. Coincidentally, this is the only one of those three platforms that requires the user to own the game they're reviewing. Take a look at a few of these negative reviews below:
"I consciously add as much diversity as I can to my writing and I don't care if people think that's "forced" or fake. I find choosing to write from a straight default just as artificial. I'm happy to be an SJW and I hope to write many Social Justice Games in the future that reach as many different types of people as possible. Everyone should get a chance to see themselves reflected in pop culture."
Beamdog founder Trent Oster also took to the forums in order to encourage those enjoying the game to post positive user reviews online, writing: "I usually spend most of my time lurking here, but I'd like to ask a favour. It appears that having a transgendered cleric and a joke line by Minsc has greatly offended the sensibilities of some people.
"This has spurred these people into action, causing them to decide this is the worst game of all time and give it a zero review score on Steam, GoG and meta critic. Now, I'd like to ask for that favour. If you are playing the game and having a good time, please consider posting a positive review to balance out the loud minority which is currently painting a dark picture for new players."
Our take:
It's odd that in a fantasy game featuring giant ogres and dragons, the appearance of a transgender character is where so many draw the line in terms of realism. While complaining about the game's writing is one thing, this clear attempt to damage its success as a result of it including a transgender NPC is very disappointing and, considering it is being staged by a group that supposedly champions developers' artistic freedom, quite ironic.
Given that Mizhena is a minor NPC in the game and can be completely overlooked, that the exchange between her and the player is what has inspired so many to leave such negative user reviews, strongly suggests that those who are angered only believe in developers' artistic freedom when those developers are creating things that they personally agree with. Also, considering that GamerGate presents itself as a movement fighting against a culture of outrage all too willing to feign offence, it's also curious that the movement cannot take a joke at its own expense.
