Borderlands 2's Mechromancer and a new trailer

Sigh. Borderlands 2 made the headlines today - but not the good kind, like you want. In an interview with Eurogamer the lead designer John Hemingway explained the intricacies of the Mechromancer class, which is set to be available as DLC two months after the release of Borderlands 2 in September. Specifically he discussed one of the skill trees the mechromancer will have - the Best Friends Forever tree.

Designed with your non-gamer friends in mind, the Best Friends Forever skill tree gives a variety of boons for people who aren't particularly adept at first person shooters - one of the earliest available skills is 'Close Enough' - making shots which miss the target but hit a wall or object nearby have a chance to ricochet towards the enemy.

Which, in all honesty, sounds excellent. I know several people who just can't get into first person shooters because they don't care to put in the effort required (in fact, if for some reason I end up playing this on a console you can bet I'll be choosing this class) - and this makes for a great way to get them involved. But jeez, the language he chose.

We can discuss that after the break however - for now you really should check out the latest Borderlands 2 trailer, which is as awesome as we've come to expect. I've embedded it below and it's also available in our videos library - go full screen for HD of course.



Anyway, back to girlfriend mode. Discussing it with Eurogamer, Hemingway called it:

I want to make, for the lack of a better term, the girlfriend skill tree. This is, I love Borderlands and I want to share it with someone, but they suck at first-person shooters. Can we make a skill tree that actually allows them to understand the game and to play the game? That's what our attempt with the Best Friends Forever skill tree is.

Later, Randy Pitchford himself took to twitter to explain that there is no actual Girlfriend mode, it was a moniker devised by Hemingway based on personal experience. Which isn't how it is described in the interview - but it's possible Hemingway was taken out of context. If he was, then a larger issue becomes prevalent - deliberately dropping context to stir up controversy is outstandingly unethical - but we have no reason to assume Eurogamer did any such thing.

But still, some of you might be saying - what is the big deal? Who cares what he called it, his intentions were good?

They were good, and as I said before, I like the idea of it. Calling it girlfriend mode in his specific instance makes sense, but it marginalises a segment of the gaming population which is constantly marginalised - and that's where the problem lies. Especially given the amount of eye-rolling 'back in the kitchen hurr' style comments women gamers have to deal with every freaking day.

While the entire affair has been blown out of proportion somewhat by the raging echo chamber that is social media, it's important to remember that at the end of the day, video games - particularly video games with a strong multiplayer component like Borderlands 2 - get better the more people play. And if all we have to do to make things better is not make other people feel like they don't belong, then it's a very small price to pay. Right? What do you think of this whole thing? Let us know in the comments below!