update2:
just some clarifications, thanks to Veezy
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ighting-reactions-to-swtors-gay-ghetto-planet
just some clarifications, thanks to Veezy
Again, for those who missed it, and will hopefully read this.
It's not "pay 2 gay" (well it is kinda, but whatever). Many players have been clamoring for SGR in the game since release. Due to the way companions are heavily integrated into the story line and the way EVERY SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE is fully voice acted, there's no feasible way to go back and make some of the companions have a SGR options.
This is because they'd have to (A) write new lines of dialogue then (B) get the original voice actors to record the new lines of dialogue then (C) redesign the dialogue trees and animation to allow these new options over 50 levels of MMO gameplay all while deciding who is going to go (D) from complete straight characters to bi or gay characters while considering that (E) some people will have already romanced the newly gay/bi characters and figuring out how that integrates into your PCs story line.
So, Bioware decided to add a same gender romance option to new characters you will meet on the new digital expansion. Yes, it's behind a paywall because the new content is an expansion, not part of the free to play. It has nothing to do with being ashamed of the content and keeping it from free players. You do not have to rub your alien penis on their alien penis. In addition, future releases in TOR will have more SGR options, which you won't have to pursue. This is simply done this way to add something to the game they've been promising to include since beta.
It's in no way segregation. Your character hasn't ran into the option to ever be gay before. No body of the same gender has ever came on to your character before. All that's happening is your character is running into somebody that happens to be gay and flirty with you, should you pursue it. This happens to be part of a planet with five more levels of gameplay for end game players that buy the expansion pack (which, you don't have to actually be subscribed in order to buy it).
Granted, it's piss poor from due to "is my guy/gal that fucking sexy this person is just coming onto them" standpoint, but the ENTIRE game is that way, this includes the straight relationships.
This is not an issue.
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Fox News said:‘Star Wars’ game segregates gay characters on gay planet
Published January 14, 2013
Despite vocal opposition from thousands of angry gamers, a software developer has added support for homosexual relationships to the game “Star Wars: The Old Republic” -- albeit just on a single planet.
“As we have said in the past, allowing same gender romance is something we are very supportive of,” wrote BioWare’s Jeff Hickman, executive producer of “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” in a blog post last week. He revealed that same-gender romances (or SGR) would be allowed on the planet Makeb, and the company is “pursuing more SGR options in the future.”
The gay planet will appear only in an expansion pack called “Rise of the Hutt Cartel,” and it will include characters with canned, flirtatious dialog for same-sex players. The move has generated controversy among everyone involved, with some calling for a separation of sexual preference from the game, and others lambasting what they say feel like digital segregation.
In a heated debate on the company’s webservers, the topic received more attention than the ongoing drought on Tatooine or the Empire’s latest Death Star.
“Well it's good to see the SGR people are getting some attention. They've only been asking for the option since beta,” one player noted. Publisher Electronic Arts has been wrestling with the issue for months, after promising in April 2012to stand up against what was described as “several thousand” letters and emails protesting the inclusion of same sex content in its games.
"Every one of EA's games includes ESRB content descriptors so it's hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment," Jeff Brown, vice president of corporate communications, told Games Industry International at the time.
It was no April Fool’s joke, however, and some gamers remain vehemently opposed.
Others were more strongly unified against same sex relationships than the rebel alliance.
“Star Wars is a family based story with nothing to do with SGR,” one gamer wrote on the forums. “Please, please, please Bioware, Lucasarts, and EA do not allow SGR in Star Wars The Old Republic. It will ruin the game and make a lot of people leave it.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/01...s-gay-characters-on-gay-planet/#ixzz2I3HpLZ6f
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ighting-reactions-to-swtors-gay-ghetto-planet
EA and Bioware have come under pressure from both sides for the introduction of same-sex relationships to the Star Wars MMO The Old Republic.
The new options to romance "companion" NPCS will be restricted to one planet, itself part of the content only available to paying customers rather than those taking advantage of the game's free-to-play sections, upsetting both those who campaigned for and against their inclusion.
Whilst Bioware has a good track record of offering non-heterosexual romance options in its games, attracting the ire of religious and homophobic groups for the inclusion of SGR in the Mass Effect series and its plans to do so for Star Wars, the decision to restrict them solely to Makeb for the time being has upset many who had campaigned for their introduction. As a result, Bioware and EA have been accused of marginalising, ghettoising or segregating non-heterosexual romance.
Although it represents a marked improvement on the views of same sex relationships expressed in any number of games historically, the decision to put these options behind a paywall instead of adding them to existing areas has also attracted accusations of exploitation - arguing that EA is trying to squeeze what cash it can from those players who wish to engage in the new romances.
On top of that, Bioware's forums are also ablaze with the fury of those Star Wars fans who feel that homosexuality has no place in the fictitious universe, calling for a return to intergalactic family values, albeit ones which are happy to allow inter-species coupling, genocide and the ruthless pursuit of absolute power at any cost.
In a blog post discussing the game's developmental progress, executive producer Jeff Hickman addresses the issue.
"First of all, I want to apologize that this is taking so long to get in the game," Hickman writes. "I realize that we promised SGR to you guys and that many of you believed that this would be with a companion character. Unfortunately, this will take a lot more work than we realized at the time and it (like some other pieces of content we talked about earlier in the year) has been delayed as we focused on the changes required to take the game Free-to-Play. As we have said in the past, allowing same gender romance is something we are very supportive of."
