Those extras are merely prolongation of long-time RPG tradition having an option to choose a sex of your character. Nothing new, and since ancient times this option don't affect game experience greatly.

I suppose, but my thought was that it's a start. It seems the only way you'd agree with what I was saying was if the romance paths were more fleshed out, and more thorough, and not so 'reward-orientated'. This is an action/strategy RPG we are talking about though (DA:O at least), and RPGs deal with things in a reward-orientated manner, that's the norm.

@Astrotrain

"And as for the Bioware discussion, I'd have to say I agree with Mai. The able to play as a woman and pursue several avenues of sexual orientation is certainly an admirable feature, but the depiction of sex in those games is that it is a form of conquest or reward, a sentimentality that the majority of females aren't big on. It's less about the simulation of a romantic relationship than it is the accurate and healthy portrayal of one."

I don't disagree really, but I don't agree either haha =P

As I stated above, it is an RPG, that's a part of the genre, are you trying to say that females aren't big on the genre template? All romance-ish games have a formula, you make choices, in what you do, and what you say, and the proper choices will lead to forming a relationship with a game character. It's like you are expecting too much from it, that the only way a female gamer could get into it is if it is a deeper romantic experience. Putting aside the whole flaw in stereotypes (then again this thread is alla bout stereotypes anyways, nothing wrong with that), that's a little ridiculous, and a little much to ask. Especially since it is isn't regarded as a main feature of the game.

You pretty much said "Yeah I get what you're saying, and you're right, it's a nice feature, but it's not enough" which is fine, but remember, this is like a first step. And I wouldn't be surprised if they did what they could with the female gamer in mind.

Your main point from the OT seemed to be about developers not really paying attention to the female gamer, unless they are specifically creating a game towards that demographic (Cooking Mama for example). My point is that there are developers that are taking steps to try and create an appealing game to ALL demographics (or as many as they can). Are they succeeding? Yes, they are taking steps. Are they all the way there yet? Hell no.

Then again, this is ALL built upon stereotypes anyways, what reasons does a girl have for not liking Halo or CoD? "I don't like violent games" or "I've played shooters, they are boring". I've heard guys say this before as well.

I don't know, this a hard topic to discuss. You can talk about games, or movies targetting a specific demographic, and sometimes it expands beyond that demographic, but does that make other movie/game publishers bad at what they do because they're product cannot break out of its demographic? Shouldn't you appreciate any and every effort from a publisher or developer or whatever that tries to break the mold, or branch out just a bit at a time? Instead of being like "well it's not good enough" how about "well, let's see where this goes". It's almost as if you would expect everything instantly, and that's just silly =P