Respectfully, I disagree. I'd have agreed if you'd said that only Isabela was really, really open about it. Anders comes in second on that score (as long as you don't count Zevran). As for the others, we don't know if they were 'Hawkesexual' or just not as blatant about their tastes as Isabela was.

If you're refering to Anders's convo about him and Karl, I think you can only hear about it when you play a maleHawke. Most my hawkes were female and I don't recall any other stuff about Anders and men.

As for the bolded part, that's kinda the point. We don't know. One can say "everyone is bi" using knowledge that is not present in a specific game (a unique reality). We don't know, it just looks like trying to force a label on companions that is not needed.

We don't know if Quinn does or doesn't like men. We only know that a male PC can't flirt with him, that can't pursuit his romance.

It's the Oreo cookie fiasco, merely in game form. I personally think the number of people who are likely to leave the game over this is going to be quite small; there are bound to be more people who want to experience an SGR with their characters, even if it is "ooh look, lesbians" (I'll come out of my extremely shallow closet and say I'm really starting from an "ooh look, hot gays" position, bolstered by feeling a bit of a guilty Ally).

There's no shame in thinking lesbians/gays are hot XD

There's no shame in thinking lesbians/gays are hot XD

*giggles like a schoolgirl* Why do you think I write so many stories about my little Agent/Jedi pairing? I <3 my boys.

I personally would leave this game if such a thing were implemented, as I am strongly against it.

I think it's ridiculous that someone would just pick up and leave if same sex relationships were implemented.

In this game, you can choose to execute an entire group of POWs by firing squad. You can mercilessly choke a civilian and then snap his neck with the force. You can own a slave and treat them like crap. You can cheat, lie, steal and murder if you want.

But, OH NO!!! Two people of the same sex having the option to start a romantic relationship!! Blasphemy! Heresy! That's the worse possible thing you can implement!!! I'm uninstalling IMMEDIATELY!!!111

Seriously.

What a joke.

There's no shame in thinking lesbians/gays are hot XD

Two ladies kissing. It's a beautiful thing, man. Just a beautiful thing.

There's no shame in thinking lesbians/gays are hot XD

*giggles like a schoolgirl* Why do you think I write so many stories about my little Agent/Jedi pairing? I <3 my boys.

Quoted for emphasis. While I do believe in respecting people for who they are, I also know there are tons of people who love reading/watching same-sex romance and all that goes with it. Seriously, go to any place on the internet where people post fanfic. Odds are good you'll find more than a little slash (male/male) and femslash (female/female) stories. You might find some that I've written. I have serious doubts that implementing SGRs will have a negative effect on TOR's subscription numbers; it might even give them a bit of a boost. Hell, I know some people have unsubscribed because of the lack of SGRs, saying they'll only come back when the feature is added. So there's that.

Here's a thought: in the spirit of SGRs and slash/femslash fanfic, which companions would you pair up if you were writing a story about them? Kaliyo trying to seduce Vette would be hilarious, methinks. And I'd love to write Kira and Mako having awesome adventures. ...now that I think about it, that doesn't even have to be femslash, they just seem like they'd have all kinds of fun and get into all kinds of trouble together...

I imagine that in terms of subscribers you'll probably see a wash. While there may be a large number of people will to use the feature its not likely to greatly influence subsriber numbers. Likewise, while there may be a significant number of people turned off by the feature because its a part of the game that relatively individualistic its not likely to drive away a large number of subscribers. Maybe if we were talking about having a gay parade drive through the fleet at all hours of the day that would drive large numbers of subscribers away, but even then I'm not so sure.

Either way, I think its a nice gesture to make towards a relatively small segment of the population but it isn't likely to be a big money maker. Which is why I generally favor an implementation that doesn't spend significant resources on features likely to enjoyed by a relatively small part of the fanbase (modifying existing companions) and prefer resources be spent on new content for everyone (new companions with same gender enabled).

Which is why I generally favor an implementation that doesn't spend significant resources on features likely to enjoyed by a relatively small part of the fanbase (modifying existing companions) and prefer resources be spent on new content for everyone (new companions with same gender enabled).

But if you consider the companions as individuals with their own distinct personalities it makes more sense for implementation of SGRs to be a mix of existing companions and new ones. Sexuality is very much a part of who someone is. To just put in a slew of new companions who just happen to be bi would be a lazy way of implementing something that could add additional depth to the characters we already know. It makes more sense to me that some of our companions (both current ones and those implemented in the future) are OGRs, some are SGRs, and some are both. That means that I may run into a situation where one of my hetero girls may have a guy on her crew who prefers guys or a girl who would like to be with her who she's not interested in. That, to me, reflects the range of relationships you run into in life.

I think its a nice gesture to make towards a relatively small segment of the population.

How awfully kind of you.

Had you been with this topic for a while, you would understand that the number of players wishing to see this long-promised content implemented include many who are not lesbian, gay or bisexual. I believe your "relatively small segment" is a lot larger than you suspect.

Try not to be condescending. It's not attractive.

I generally favor an implementation that doesn't spend significant resources on features likely to enjoyed by a relatively small part of the fanbase (modifying existing companions) and prefer resources be spent on new content for everyone (new companions with same gender enabled).

And yet opposite-gender content was in the game at release. Players know these companions. They have favorites, whose stories they have explored. Mako, Kira, Corso, Quinn... others get named as well, but you will hear those mentioned frequently. Now, is it remotely fair that we have gotten attached to these companions, who have been romanceable since release, but never to make them available for same-gender romance?

What features do you imagine "everyone" will enjoy? It probably really just means "content I want more."

That is pretty ridiculous! More paying customers would leave the game then it would gain from adding such a feature. The "huge fanbase" that you claim is more likely just wishful thinking. There is only a small minority that would use such a feature and adding it would be a huge waste of time and resources. Bioware says (like many game companies) that it will be added in the future. We'll see if that is accurate or not and I'm sure if it is that the exodus of paying customers that it brings may make them regret such a decision, if the feature ever even makes it in game.

I'm not so sure I agree with this, but unless a valid polling is done, we will not know. I'm sure a company does not get as big as Bioware by ignoring marketing facts. If their marketing research department determines that this is a valid point, then they will add the content. If not, they won't. Just because they alluded to the content being added, does not mean it will be added. Just because they plan to add it, does not mean they actually will. Companies do it all the time. Unless you have a written contract with BW to add the content, don't bet the farm on it.

 

Had you been with this topic for a while, you would understand that the number of players wishing to see this long-promised content implemented include many who are not lesbian, gay or bisexual. I believe your "relatively small segment" is a lot larger than you suspect.

 

If you look at this thread alone, I would agree with this, but the people who post are an incredibly small segment of people who play the game. You said "long-promised", however, I can find nowhere that Bioware "promised" to add this content. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. I see several post claiming Bioware said the content will be added, or they promised it, but do not see any press releases, posts, or any other media from Bioware on this. See my earlier post about Software development releases. In order for this content to implemented they way many posters in this thread want it, many dollars will have to be spent in rewriting code to make some happy. Once again, goes back to financial balance of implementation.

I told my daughter I may buy her a pony someday. Doesn't mean I promised her that I will and doesn't mean it is actually gonna happen.

Two ladies kissing. It's a beautiful thing, man. Just a beautiful thing.

Doesn't that make guys realize that we don't need them?

Doesn't that make guys realize that we don't need them?

Still need them to procreate. No males, no babies. Besides, I like guys way too much to like girls. Girls are way too much drama for my tastes. Oh, btw, I am female. And life would just be boring without guys.

Still need them to procreate. No males, no babies. Besides, I like guys way too much to like girls. Girls are way too much drama for my tastes. Oh, btw, I am female. And life would just be boring without guys.

I was asking guys. And not everyone wants babies. But to each his own, anyway.

I was asking guys. And not everyone wants babies. But to each his own, anyway.

True that. My husband and I are probably going to have the discussion of "babies versus pets" at some point in the near future. We're both still in our early twenties, so it's pretty obvious why pets are currently winning.

Not to mention, scientific endeavour in the Star Wars universe could make the need of an opposite sex donor for children somewhat obsolete.

If you look at this thread alone,

Or this one: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=268112&page=81

Or go on the social.bioware forums and see how many people have LGBT tags in their signatures.

Or simply realise that the inclusiveness BiOWare has displayed in it's games over the last ten years, garnered it a massive LGBT gamer fanbase, this has been acknowledged for years on end, the amount of people I know have unsubbed because they don't believe they are getting the full story is quite a lot and having been involved in this debate since May 2009, I can assure you that this is not a 'small' demographic, in-fact there were times that so many people were posting about it, they had to reincarnate the thread three times a day, because it kept capping at 1000 posts.

 

I told my daughter I may buy her a pony someday. Doesn't mean I promised her that I will and doesn't mean it is actually gonna happen.

This is exactly what i'm thinking from the beginning, when they did not put the Sgra on launch (as in any other BW game).

SWTOR has born with some kind of "intellectual inferiority" vs WoW: a lot of ppl come up from the Blizzard MMO and my opinion is that BW it's trying to appeal them as much as possible; just look at the development agenda since now: pvp stuff, tons of operations and FP, Corellia Black-hole storyline that's ONLY for group. Not a single new solo storyline, not even an upgrade on regular companions plot; when you reach the end of their plot lines they're simply "dead", no dialogue at all nor iterations when talking with other NPC (like in the class-story mode).

I believe BW has other objectives in the short term than SGRA

I told my daughter I may buy her a pony someday. Doesn't mean I promised her that I will and doesn't mean it is actually gonna happen.

There is quite a difference between you telling your daughter that you MAY one day buy her a pony, and a representative of a corporation telling their customers that they WILL include a particular feature.

The former is not likely to be legally binding (because it is unlikely that you intended to form a legal relationship with your daughter), while the latter... If not legally binding, then a good argument could be make for misleading and/or deceptive conduct.

They said they'll do it, the only question now is when.

They said they'll do it, the only question now is when.

More importantly, they keep on saying that they're going to introduce SGR's. Generally if a company lies about something in the beginning of a project they tend to back track and say "you've misunderstood" etc.

If you look at this thread alone, I would agree with this, but the people who post are an incredibly small segment of people who play the game. You said "long-promised", however, I can find nowhere that Bioware "promised" to add this content. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. I see several post claiming Bioware said the content will be added, or they promised it, but do not see any press releases, posts, or any other media from Bioware on this. See my earlier post about Software development releases. In order for this content to implemented they way many posters in this thread want it, many dollars will have to be spent in rewriting code to make some happy. Once again, goes back to financial balance of implementation.

Also: you talk about the people wanting SGRs as a small percentage of people who play the game. Do you have any data to back this up? I'm certain BioWare knows how many people have done the companion romance missions; considering they made the game, I've no doubt they have the systems in place to track such things. Based on that, I'm sure they can make a good guess at how many people would pursue other companion relationships, and thus see if adding more relationships would be good for the game and keep people playing. If you have no hard numbers to back up your claim, I'd like to ask that you stop making it. Thank you.

I told my daughter I may buy her a pony someday. Doesn't mean I promised her that I will and doesn't mean it is actually gonna happen.

I recall David Gaider saying that only a small portion of players for Dragon Age (which had much greater options than the Mass Effect series in general) did homosexual romances. I imagine for the most part that most players don't really care about the romances in general, straight or otherwise, and it's more of a dedicated fanbase thing. Thread sizes aren't an indication of *most players* so much as those who go on the forum to talk about the story (probably a lesser amount than those who go primarily/solely to talk about gameplay related things).

If SWTOR had no romances or they were taken away, somehow you'd have some complaints on the forum, but I doubt that would affect subscriptions overly much.

For what it's worth, the pre-launch SGRA thread included a poll, the results of which indicated that more than half of its responders would be interested in playing SGRAs. There were also plenty of thread posts from people who wouldn't play SGRAs themselves but supported them being included in the game. Is it a completely accurate analysis of the audience? No. But it certainly shows that those interested in SGRAs are far from a negligible minority.

For me, the continuing lack of SGRAs is not an immediate dealbreaker, and in fact I'm letting my six-month subscription roll over this week. I'm still enjoying the stories that I can play without worrying that I'll be cutting into a future SGRA. But those worries do still exist for me, and I think eventually they're going to halt in its tracks my desire to play. I just wish we knew where/how they're going to implement SGRAs - whether they (and SG flirt options) will be integrated into current content or only appear in future content, whether playing current content will negate future SGRAs - so at least we can stop fretting about our individual characters' future prospects. It seems that the developers can't possibly not know that yet themselves.

I'm still enjoying the stories that I can play without worrying that I'll be cutting into a future SGRA. But those worries do still exist for me, and I think eventually they're going to halt in its tracks my desire to play. I just wish we knew where/how they're going to implement SGRAs - whether they (and SG flirt options) will be integrated into current content or only appear in future content, whether playing current content will negate future SGRAs - so at least we can stop fretting about our individual characters' future prospects. It seems that the developers can't possibly not know that yet themselves.

This. I stopped playing my Consular-Sage because I really feel like she should be interested in Nadia... Or Qyzen

I recall David Gaider saying that only a small portion of players for Dragon Age (which had much greater options than the Mass Effect series in general) did homosexual romances.

I don't recall him ever saying this. He might have said that a small portion of DA players do a romance period.

I believe he once stated that a greater percentage of people pursued a SGRA in DA:O than expected but didn't provide any numbers. Apparently, it was a decent sized number considering they made all the DA2 LIs open to both genders.

Anyway, here's a link if you want to see what he said for yourself