What I meant was not that gay characters are great and positive but they are just humans, I do not see their personality and deeds based on they are gay or not... The reason I do not like Maya too has nothing to do with her being lesbian, she is just terrible friend and malcontent person.
Yes, you are right that she should be angry as much as it would be a girl. The point here is not her being angry anymore that he cheated her but what comes after that. The feeling that she is not pretty enough, that she was not sexy or attractive to him, that she was boring or something else what made him to cheat and be with other girl. I would say it was more relief in that moment and she was pitty of him knowing he had to hide himself all the time from everyone. That's why she was disappointed when she confronted him (basket scene), told him he can trust her and tell her and yet he did not. Because of her empathy she was more pity of him in the end but it was her closure and could finally move on.
He attacked him because he thought that MC wants to publish his secret what would destroy him. This is not absurd, clearly you are lack of empathy... MC do not care about Chad in way that he is not his friend but it does not mean that he will enjoy destroying his life or him being in troubles. Dude, we are all humans, all different, all make mistakes, there is no bad blood between them especially when you know that all he did was just acting to cover his true face. You can be vengeful or forgiving here.
She was sorry about that blackmailing, if you refuse she told you that she would give you it back anyway just needed help with Chad and as he was cheating her with another girl (as she thought) there was no one she could trust. And again, Chad is not dangerous, she didn't make him spy Vinny on his way for drugs in night alley but to go to campus gym to see if he is with any girl...
Not sure if you know that Sage has no idea about Quinn restaurant. If she knows that they do sex it is their free will, she does not a thing about prostituting and free tuition. If I were her I would expect them to come to me for help, they see each other everyday so it is easy to overlook things like that. It is easier too notice problems of "new" people. As far as I see DPC good job here, I also agree that in general it would make more sense if it would be Jill helping Maya, I guess it was just part of big plot-twist with Jade.
I see your point yet I see it from the whole different side and even for second I didn't thought Sage is bad because of her actions. I guess it is just different life experience and character perks.
More like "My dad is a guy that gives scholarship, so I will offer that option and suggest her to my father" and believe me or not this is how the whole real world works. You either know someone or not, if you have connections you make sure to make good use of them. She is not making her dad to give her tuition but to give her a chance to present and apply. She does even know what are criteria etc so she just arranged meeting as her father agreed. What is wrong with that? If your mother would be manager in shop and your friend would need job, wouldn't you try to get it to him? Not blackmail mother to employ him, just give CV and arrange job interview? This is how it works.
Maya because she noticed she need help and was MC's friend and felt guilty with this whole HOTs pledge situation. She was sorry Maya for giving shit about her when she was "daughter" because of her own problems. She has no idea about prostituting and even so, none of girls seem to be bad about it, more like they do enjoy it and a little extra cash. They do not sit alone depressed in dorm but party and have fun all the time. Sage being sometimes bitch is an extra point to her character because life is no 0/1, people often act contradictory and this is fine, it makes her more real and human and this is the way to recognize good from bad character writing.
I think we both made all our points, at least I did. I do not intend of making you change your mind, I enjoyed discussion but if you insist you can reply to that too, I will not tho. Thanks.
Look, I prefer Sage being a decent girl more than a bitch. My point is that DPC presents her like a spoiled bitch, the kind of hot girl that only cares about herself and thinks that can get everything from guys just because she's hot, and then he turns her out into a decent person. I think that DPC should have found another way to present us the character. For example, instead of blackmailing MC with the guitar, she could have used her personal charm and another kind of blackmail: emotional one. Imagine this dialogue:
-S: MC, you are the only one that can help me.
-C: Why? A girl like you probably knows half of the guys of B&R. Any of then probably could help you better than me.
-S: All the guys I know are either friends of Chad, or are scared of him. You are the first one that has stood for me... It's clear you have balls, and I think you are a smart guy too, I'm sure you'll find a way to help me... Please MC, I need to know because its driving me crazy, and you are my only hope... I will be in debt with you, and I´m the president of the HOTs so I can introduce you to a lot of girls, invite you to parties, help you with the DIKs if you decide to become one... With my help, you will be a popular guy here in no time...
-C: OK, if it's so important for you...
See? A mix of flattery, playing the damsel in distress and the promise of rewards. It would have had more sense than that thing of "I know that my boyfriend has stolen your guitar, but I´m not going to give it to you if you don't do what I want". That makes Sage an awful person at the beginning of the game and difficult to believe that suddenly she only want to help others.
And even if she were a good person from the beginning... Has she never seen Rio, Sarah, Mel or Quinn worried about money or any other thing? They have been living together for more than a year. Has she never asked them if they are OK? Why they look worried? If she could help, as a sister? Camila either? But she sees a couple of times Maya, and suddenly, she knows that something is wrong with her, she opens her heart to her, things that she has barely told to MC, that is her best friend and/or lover, and her number one priority is to help her... Not to talk that she knows that something was wrong between her and MC, her actual best friend or lover, and she doesn't even ask... That subplot, just doesn't work. It's forced, I suppose because DPC wanted to introduce that stupid cliffhanger of "fuck, fuck, fuck".
You are justifying Chad. It's crazy. Do you think that things work that way in real life? " Yes, your honor, I attacked a poor boy from behind at night. I'm four inches taller than him, and I weigh twenty pounds more muscle. But I just thought he might be blackmailing me, even though I didn't even have any proof of it, so... I'm forgiven, right?" Chad is a violent guy, with Sage in the cafeteria, with MC, and even with poor Anthony.
Why MC would care about a guy like this one? Because he's gay? Another approach: let's say Sage reacts bad.
-S: I should tell everybody that Chad is gay and ruin his reputation!
-C: Sage, please, no. She's a scumbag, but you are not, you are a decent person. If you do something like that now that you are angry, you will regret.
The result is the same, but MC is caring about Sage, not about Chad.
The problem is I really like Sage, and for that reason, I'm specially sensible to the flaws of DPC's writing with her, and I'm afraid of what he's going to do with her. I hope from now on she will be the sexy, funny, smart and kinky girl that would be perfect for MC as a girlfriend, and won't be involved in minor absurd drama. Her arc is clear: she's going to find at some point that her life is a lie. That her sorority is actually a ring of drugs and prostitution, her sister have been lying to her, and her own father is involved in it. It's going to be devastating and heartbreaking, and she's going to need all the MC's support she can get. She doesn't need gay cheap drama with more Chad or Maya in her story.
And about gay characters, I like that they are humans. But I don't like that DPC creates characters that are objectively awful people, like Chad, Troy and Maya, and pretend that the player should care about them instead of hating them, because they are gay. The first thing Maya does is collaborating with Quinn in a really cruel and dangerous prank to the MC. And the MC is forced to forgive her. And then, the MC is forced to forgive her that she didn't tell that she's already in a relationship when they are starting one... Those are really dick moves of Maya, but she's gay, so... MC is forced to be her friend in any case. I hate that.
For example, DPC has created other awful characters, like Quinn. But I don't think he pretends that players feel sympathy for Quinn. She has some good qualities: she's brave, smart and hot, so players can feel some kind of attraction towards her. And she comes from a shitty family, so until a certain point, players can feel pity for her. But that's all. Nobody thinks that Quinn is a positive character, and MC is not forced to befriend her. That's the difference. And I'm pretty sure it's because Maya is a gay character, and in 2023, gay character must be treated like positive ones, even if they are not.
I know this is an unpopular opinion. Even a scary one in a forum like this one because can trigger certain kind of people. Nobody is going to give me "likes" (at least nobody is given me "facepalms" so far, that's something) but it's what I think and I am not going to deprive myself of writing it, even if nobody seems to care about.