It would be one thing if the plot had been linear all along, and you weren’t given the impression that you had input and that your choices mattered. Those games can be fun too, in the sense of someone telling a story and presenting challenges along the way (in the form of fights or such).

This stopped being true after Assassin’s Creed III. Starting with Black Flag the animus no longer required a genetic match, just viable DNA, to the historical figure.

Ah, I haven’t played tabletop RPGs really, but “railroading” is a great term for it.

Ubisoft seemed to really be open to supporting a variety of roleplaying experiences, so it’s especially disappointing that they’re now so tone deaf they didn’t see why this is a violation of that promise that made many people embrace the game in the first place.

The one true cardinal sin of DMing is railroading your characters to fit your story instead of adapting your story to fit you characters. This is just laziness and I’m glad I don’t have this DLC.

...Yes, it does? I’m not completely certain of this question.

We don't fall in love with men to do so though. 

Yes. Yes, it is. If you create a game where sexuality and romance exist as an aspect of shaping your character’s story arc and push your players to surrogate themselves into that identity with a strong campaign focused on how the hero’s choices are your choices, any attempt you make to later strongarm the character…

It’s not one hetero sexual encounter, which is bad enough. Your character is shown to fall in love and settle down with someone and have a child together. If you’re playing a gay character, how does this *not* cheapen your choice? Heck, if you’ve chosen to play a straight character and the DLC suddenly forced you to…

It’s railroading, and it’s probably one of the worst thing you can do as a DM/GM to players.* It’s just lazy storytelling, plain and simple - but the fact that they purported to give people choices, or make it seem like those choices matter, is what really makes it even more awful, because it takes away all that…

The issue is, as presented—even in the article, here—that the relationship both comes out of nowhere (as it still happens even though the author plainly stated they rebuked the NPC partner all throughout the game) and then also that it goes on to not explain any real reason for the child existing.

I mean, I’m a straight, white man and I totally see the problem with this. Maybe it’s because I enjoy diversity in stories so I have been playing as Kassandra, because she’s a fucking badass and her voice actor is so much better than Alexios, and I’ve been playing her as a lesbian. Not because it’s “hot” or anything,…

and it sucks cause you know they’d never dare force a same-sex pairing on a straight gamer. Would’ve been shot down from the start.... but fuck the gays amiright.

“Does it really cheapen the character to have a single hetero sexual encounter for the sake of getting pregnant? “

It doesn’t help that the achievement for completing it is called ‘Growing Up.’  Like, it’s a minor thing, but I know at least for younger lesbians, we’re frequently told we’ll eventually ‘grow up’ and get a husband and have a child.  Just a small bit of added irritant.

Why the hell....would they do this?

Maybe it’s because I’m a straight, white male, but I don’t entirely see the problem with this.

Oh no, this sucks. The first DLC was unremarkable but okay, but I definitely noticed that they were trying to get Kassandra and Natakas as being in a developing relationship and despite being pansexual, my headcanon Kassandra would never go for Natakas.

The idea of the past protagnist needing to be a blood relative of the present protagonist went away during Black Flag. IIRC you get to play as Kassandra or Alexios because you find the spear in the present and it has their DNA/genetic memory/whatever on it.

The thing is that this doesn’t really hold true when you consider option 4. Get the dna straight from that persons body as they did in AC:Origins.