: That's not true. You could choose for your Six to be female or male. They
: had very distinct body types to accompany their gender, and the choice was
: open to players because the character was a blank slate. They weren't an
: ambiguous gender, they were one or the other. That there is a canonical
: version of that character is an entirely different thing altogether.

I recognize that dichotomy completely for the sake of simplification in game development. You can only put so much on the disc. No matter what you chose, everyone's course throughout Reach was the same. Everyone fought and bled beside the rest of Noble Team in the exact same interactions as each other save for those pronouns. So that's exactly my point. If they were either or, and both were embarking on this journey initially in an equal capacity, then I believe the specific canon interpretation of the character should reflect that.

: I think it would be incredibly difficult to write for a character simply
: because I microscopic part of the fan base wishes for that character to
: identify as a Cabbage, or whatever. Should they use "he",
: "she", "it", "SHeIt"?

Please don't try to be witty. It's not funny, no one appreciates it, nor are you lending anything substantial to the conversation. I'm willing to put everything behind us if we can both be friendly and respectful.

Gender-neutral pronouns such as they, them, and their are preferred by many who don't use masculine or feminine pronouns for themselves. At a more specific level, a gender-neutral name like Sam versus Samuel or Samantha if the writers so choose. Otherwise we can keep calling them Noble Six, Six, 312, or anything else that directly refers to them.

: There's representation, then there's screwing up a simple story (even though
: 343 has screwed up yet again with this story) to appease an audience, and
: this doesn't seem to be the time or place for that... And that's
: unfortunate, but true.

: But ultimately that's your interpretation of the character. Snipe had his own
: interpretation, and he isn't crying that no mention was made of Noble 6
: having a robot arm. I'm sure people with prosthetics would love
: representation too...

That's an interesting thought actually. Again, though, it's all about interpretation. Noble Six is a genuinely mysterious character and you can't say that all too often about those as visible as they are. Totally, there is a chance that it could screw up a story if being overly mysterious is taken to extremes, but done just right with little teases here and there, and it can continue that "everything goes" attitude that people had with Noble Six in Reach.