I'm going to take a guess and say you haven't played the Dragon Age games before, where the romance dialogue is exactly the same no matter what gender your character is. Some people didn't like it because it made the companions bisexual rather than gay, but most people appreciated that this provided the ability to to have a SGR in their game. All that would be needed to bring this to TOR is a code change and perhaps some small dialogue changes. That isn't preferential treatment, not by a long shot. It's making a small effort to make sure that the player can create their in game character to be whatever they want it to be, which is the entire point of a story driven MMO.

It's discriminatory? Really? I know for a fact it doesn't take that much effort to include SGRs. I've seen Dragon Age Origins modded on PC so that Alistair becomes a romance option for a male Grey Warden, and I know that the Mass Effect games have had similar mods too. If someone at home can change the code to include SGRs I don't think it would take that much effort from Bioware.

Yes but you could argue that relationships aren't neccessary full stop. After all in an MMO the point is to interact with other players in a role playing enviroment instead of with scripted NPCs. But this isn't any MMO, it's got the story telling elements of a Bioware game, which means that the player can craft their character into whoever they want them to be, and that should include their sexuality. I do agree that there are other things that need working on. But that does not mean that SGRs can't or shouldn't be worked on at the same time. Anyway glad to hear some word of progress. It may not be the best source, but I'm not going to complain given that up until now it's been pretty much silence on the subject.

Sounds like the perfect match if you ask me. Who would suspect a doting parent with their infant?

I wish I grew up with a wookiee babysitter!

Implementation of SGRs does in no way equate to hate speach. SGRs are a bond between two people, a bond that need I remind you does not have to be formed in your game. Implementing a character who spouts hate speach however is an attack on someone for their sexuality/beliefs. Bioware would never do that, outside of their swing at xenophobic bigotry in the Mass Effect games that is. And as Kioma points out, the game is rated T for teen (Here in Europe it's a PEGI 16), meaning that there is no need for parental controlls. The age rating specifically states TOR is not intended for children.

I would have thought the lack of references to religion would have had more to do with the fact that the game is based a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. You wouldn't be able to fit religion into that setting. Mass Effect proves that Bioware are willing to touch upon religion if the setting permits it. Legion is named after a quote from the bible, and Ashley has a discussion with Shepard about her religious beliefs.

Why is a flirt option such a problem? Is it really such an outrage that there is a dialogue choice available that you simply don't click on? And why would it be such a problem to have a character who is the same gender as your toon come onto you? All you would have to do is turn them down, much like you would in real life. I appreciate that you seem to feel SGRs are immoral for some reason, but including an optional route for you to take your character down is not exactly forcing it upon you. And I think you'll find Lucasfilm has probably already provided some form of permission. Otherwise I don't think Bioware would have ever got away with confirming SGRs as post launch content.

Somehow I just can't imagine my Republic Trooper coming home from a hard day of work shooting at various forms of Imperial scum bag just to change Junior's huggies. Of course I'm not saying the feature shouldn't be implemented. In a game like TOR the whole thing revolves around the concept of choosing how you shape your character for yourself. And from that stand point I think that if your character can get married then I don't see why you can't start a family. It would be a nice option. But for me, I signed up to shoot stuff with a blaster rifle, not to spawn little NPCs to mess up my Thunderclap while I'm out securing the safety of the Republic.

I've been reading this thread for a while, mainly because I'm interested in the prospect of SGR in game, and I don't recall anyone saying they are being discriminated against. The general consensus seems to be more that it's frustrating that a feature that has been promised to be incoming has completely vanished from public view and no one is clarifying if it's still going to happen or not. To use your analogy, warzones and companions were constantly shown off pre-launch. Because of this there never was any doubt about the features being in game, even if Bioware were tight lipped about specific detials. But with SGRs there has only been one announcement, and when people ask if it's a feature still being worked on they recieve nothing but silence. It's nowhere near confirmation that they are no longer working on it. But it's understandable why some people who are invested in the idea of SGRs are worried they've been silently scrapped.