I think I know what I'll be doing if we don't get something by year's end.

You may be hard-pressed to find the original statements from Mr. Reid and Mr. Erickson, unfortunately - they were never officially transcribed to the website (hence their hearsay status to everyone not involved in this thread), and that could be considered much of the case, as, even though there is great expectation based on Bioware's previous reputation, that reputation does not necessarily mean accountable obligation.

Basically you'd have to point at Bioware's previous games as grounds for reasonable expectation and the statements issued by Mr. Erickson at the Guild Summit (start pulling youtube videos) for such an action to start.

They could just as easily point to the early, early interviews where they said it wouldn't be in at all.

Which had it's own ME3 reaction, and Reid's "it'll be post launch" response... now we're just in the fog of unspecified implementation.

They could just as easily point to the early, early interviews where they said it wouldn't be in at all.

 

Which had it's own ME3 reaction, and Reid's "it'll be post launch" response... now we're just in the fog of unspecified implementation.

That wouldn't help them. If anything, it would hurt them, as it would show that they changed their stance in their advertisements specifically to keep people who would have left otherwise.

That wouldn't help them. If anything, it would hurt them, as it would show that they changed their stance in their advertisements specifically to keep people who would have left otherwise.

Fair point... the whole thing's long past the point of idiocy, with how they've handled it.

I think it would have done a world of good to have let us know when we asked whether those former statements still hold true, actually, but at this point if the content really will be out with 1.6 I think it is too late to tell us anything about it.

That would have been nice back when people were wondering how to approach game content early on, and it would have been nice if when they promoted current romantic content they also gave us an update. But by now, we are so plainly at the back of the bus, the belated inclusion of this content so obviously tokenistic that I really don't think even adding it will really help.

What would help? An apology and an explanation, and seeing this taken beyond token inclusiveness with virtually invisible game content and expanding same-gender romance options to the NPC [Flirt] options as well. None of which I ever expect to hear a word of, which is sad. They could have done so much better than this.

They could have done so much better than this.

And yet they refuse to admit there's even a problem. Bioware seem to be having a wonderful time of ignoring the issues this game has and pretending everything is fine. As for being on the back of the bus? I get the feeling the bus drove off without us as we were fishing around for change for a fiver.

As has been stated before, we are unlikely to hear anything on this topic until it's snuck into the game under cover of darkness and then, when the forums inevitably explode with "Oh my god! Gays! Noes!" Bioware will just say that the content has always been in the game, it's just you haven't noticed it until now.

Taa daa. It's the inclusive way.

And yet they refuse to admit there's even a problem. Bioware seem to be having a wonderful time of ignoring the issues this game has and pretending everything is fine. As for being on the back of the bus? I get the feeling the bus drove off without us as we were fishing around for change for a fiver.

 

As has been stated before, we are unlikely to hear anything on this topic until it's snuck into the game under cover of darkness and then, when the forums inevitably explode with "Oh my god! Gays! Noes!" Bioware will just say that the content has always been in the game, it's just you haven't noticed it until now.

 

Taa daa. It's the inclusive way.

It makes a horrifyingly amount of sense. Especially in light of that gamebiz article that we had to write in to get edited. As you pointed out, it would also justify the rare same sex flirts. I personally haven't run into any yet, although I did hear about Captain Zone's experience with a FTB on Tattoonine. This was with his lady Smuggler and another female NPC.

Those little obscure events I could see being used to support the notion that same gender content has always been in the game. Suuure, something so obscure that probably 99% of the playerbase doesn't know it exists totally counts as gamewide SGR content, right?

As my friends from across the pond would say, Bollocks.

I have a feeling that you're right. And for a lot of people, for and against, it'll be a "wait, what?" moment for them. This could get ugly and beyond the Chuck Norris jokes I heard in Korriban last night. So much for my mara alt until things settle some.

I really hope we are wrong on this one, but I honestly wouldn't put it past The Powers That Be.

I really hope we are wrong on this one, but I honestly wouldn't put it past The Powers That Be.

Considering that Bioware don't seem to have "oops, sorry" in their vocabulary (have you heard about the poor sods on The Bastion?), I fully expect some blind-arse, revisionist inclusion of this content. Of course, it will be without retro-active activation, because it's your own fault for not waiting 13 months with no information to make an informed decision about your play.

All I know at this point is that I'm going to beta test 1.6. I'm going to try to get in as soon as it becomes open.

I know I'll get a ton of spoilers, but I'll try to share what I can. I know without any doubt whatsoever that there will be a serious NDA in place.

I'll least let you guys know if it's on par with the quality of the current romance in the game. Or even in Makeb. I think they are going to going to hide this until two minutes til midnight (aka the last second. Midnight = nuclear war. The closest the Cold War got to mutually assured destruction was two minutes to midnight.)

I've never beta tested in a game before, but this is very important to me. Time to put up or shut up EA/BW.

Frankly, I've gotten angry at the AAA gaming companies in general. They've seemed to cared about the bottom dollar not the quality of their product, or the customers themselves. Overall anyway; there are some good ones left out there.

Sadly, the ones I grew up are darned near unrecognizable, such as Square (FFXIV anyone) and Blizzard, with the slipshod quality of their products.

Too Big To Fail, anyone?

I don't want to see EA continue down that path (fat chance of it stopping, I know) and I certainly don't want them to take BW with them.

All I know at this point is that I'm going to beta test 1.6. I'm going to try to get in as soon as it becomes open.

 

I know I'll get a ton of spoilers, but I'll try to share what I can. I know without any doubt whatsoever that there will be a serious NDA in place.

Share in a capacity that can in no way be linked back to you?

Also, beta test? As in pre-PTS release?

Share in a capacity that can in no way be linked back to you?

 

Also, beta test? As in pre-PTS release?

More like I'll try say if the writing is as good as OGRs (once they okay sharing the info that SGRs are in that patch) and leave it at that.

Anything else, I'd be risking a perma-ban, which I certainly don't want. If there is a really serious NDA in effect, I'll do what I can to inform you guys, and it probably won't be much. I hope I can at least share that it'll be in that patch. To say this thread/this community is owed this even this crumb of info is a huge understatement.

Beta was a poor choice of a word Mea Culpa. I meant more once it hits the PTS.

Anything else, I'd be risking a perma-ban, which I certainly don't want.

I don't want to see you get perma-banned, but I do agree with sharing information (I'd break the NDA personally and now Bioware won't let me play on the PTS Not like they read this thread anyway*.) However, I will add that I don't think this is something that Bioware can really keep under wraps if/when it does hit the PTS. The uproar of rainbows and people going "waah! Gay through the back door!" would be too great to stifle.

*Of course, breaking the NDA in this thread would be the one time they actually read it

I don't want to see you get perma-banned, but I do agree with sharing information (I'd break the NDA personally and now Bioware won't let me play on the PTS Not like they read this thread anyway*.) However, I will add that I don't think this is something that Bioware can really keep under wraps if/when it does hit the PTS. The uproar of rainbows and people going "waah! Gay through the back door!" would be too great to stifle.

 

 

*Of course, breaking the NDA in this thread would be the one time they actually read it

... I can already hear the idiots repeating that exact phrasing, while they marvel at the "brilliant humour" ot their double entendre.

Just once, I'd like to hear some information - unfortunately, Punxsutawney Joveth saw his shadow again and we get six more weeks of wilful ignorance.

I would like to know, have they made this option available? I mean same gender romance? Because I can't find it anywhere and there is no certain way to check it either...

Nope, not available. You would not be able to miss the anti-outcry if it had been made available.

I'm going to tread with some serious care here.

First off, I want to say, again, that this game is not for kids. It has the rating that it does for a reason. If a parent feels their child is too young to understand homosexuality, then they are too young for this game. Violence and cruelty are easier to explain from what I've been told, but that doesn't mean that LGBT content should change the rating system. In fact, the ratings won't once SGRAs go Live.

In the US, the game is given the "T" rating for Violence, Blood and Gore, Mild Language & Sexual Themes. The ESRB does not consider LGBT content a reason to give the game a higher rating. They've even said that homosexual romance content is not treated any different from heterosexual romance content when it comes to the rating system.

In Europe, The Pan European Game Information rating system is quite similar to the one used in the US by the ESRB. According to the PEGI, this game is rated 16+ for realistic looking violence, with sexuality not even mentioned. For more information about PEGI, check out their website here and here for all PEGI ratings related to the Old Republic line of games.

Secondly, the players in this gaming thread are not in the best position to offer RL advice on how to handle such talks with children. This isn't such a place as it is a "T" for Teen video game forum board. This is a thread asking for clarity on the murky information given to us by EA/BW specifically.

There should be some really excellent sites out there to help parents talk to their kids about topics such as this. The best advice I can personally give is that if it feels like blind hate coming from the kids(like with that lovely word that's slang for a cigarette,) a parent needs to sit them down and explain why hating people without meeting them is wrong and as well as how slurs can really hurt someone. As far as any peer pressure goes, that I can't help with, other than to suggest talking to the other parents if possible.

Enough with the insults please. We're all adults here, at least in theory. Don't belittle us, I won't belittle you (you as a general term.) There is more than just a handful of people that want this content. I can send you the links from the incarnations of this thread going back to January and there is certainly more than 300 people.

Also, please ease up on the whole, "Rainbow" stuff guys. It'll just start a crap fest throwing around more so than it has. Even those that oppose this content are pointing that out, and it's a reasonable point in this case. Many of us are frustrated, pissed off and defensive on both sides of this.

I can completely agree about why the defensive nature exists in the thread and there has been some great explanations for it as well. Just try to remember (by everyone in general) insults by supporters aren't cool either, and things are tense enough.

My goodness I hope EA/BW releases some info soon. Those that hate it and those that want this content need to know what's going on. If they think this debating and fighting here and there is bad, this is nothing compared to down the road, when SGRs hit (hopefully in 1.6) They need to address the players now more than ever. Just wish they'd stop being so fearful of it, especially after the recent LGBT article about EA.

I am not here to argue or push an agenda or anything. Right now, I am just here to ask whether Stephen Reid's and Daniel Erickson's prior statements on same-gender content still hold true under the current development plan.

That's not a lot to want clarified. It is in fact pitifully little. Fed up with asking. I don't like this game anymore, and it is how this issue is being disregarded that has soured me on all of the rest.

Enough with the insults please. We're all adults here, at least in theory. Don't belittle us, I won't belittle you (you as a general term.) There is more than just a handful of people that want this content. I can send you the links from the incarnations of this thread going back to January and there is certainly more than 300 people.

*applause*

I love how this always seems to be their argument... "but there are so few of YOU, and WE are the silent majority......."

Nope.

I do think DarkTrooperV is a good example of how straight peeps enjoy playing the homosexual storylines. I'm a straight female and like playing them. I've come to love Bioware because they found a way of implementing them so seamlessly, aside from the overall gorgeousness of their games.

That's not a lot to want clarified. It is in fact pitifully little. Fed up with asking. I don't like this game anymore, and it is how this issue is being disregarded that has soured me on all of the rest.

But..... this is correct also. I really wanted to love this game but as things stand now, there's just a big chunk missing. The prospect of LGBT content or SGRA was essential for me getting into the game, since I'm not even a huge Star Wars fan but a big fan of Bioware's storytelling.

No SGRs, no game for me, sorry Bioware.

In that case I'll rather wait for Dragon Age III or whatever comes next in the Mass Effect franchise, my fave game ever.

But I guess, should you drop SGRs for this one, there will always remain a slight regret of you not making it happen despite telling us you would.

Godwinning yourself in the first sentence... yeah, you clearly hate overused fallacies.

Did not say I hated them, just that trying to shut off dissent using said phrases is, well, pathetic. Also, I did not call them fallacies but described them as being fallacious, fallacious meaning "false notion" in this case. There is a difference.

Thanks for playing.

But..... this is correct also. I really wanted to love this game but as things stand now, there's just a big chunk missing. The prospect of LGBT content or SGRA was essential for me getting into the game, since I'm not even a huge Star Wars fan but a big fan of Bioware's storytelling.

 

No SGRs, no game for me, sorry Bioware.

At this point, for me it is no longer about the absent content but all about how discussion of this content was handled on the part of BioWare. In handling this controversial subject particularly, to take a stance of silence and invisibility is not just poorly considered, but farcically insensitive.

Bringing out the content yesterday won't change that. Talking to us might. Honestly, I'm not sure myself what a satisfactory resolution would be at this point. But the status quo for the past what is it now, ten months? is not remotely satisfactory. And it's pushing me away from the game.

And I've not been playing at all because they won't tell us anything and in fact, so far as these forums go, they never have.

Not one more dime, EA/Bioware. Got that? Talk to us.