Count me in as sending an email to GLAAD.

It's my way of celebrating the one year anniversary of TOR

Ah, I love Google. Shame that more people don't use it.

 

Proof that GLAAD has done this before:

 

GLAAD's support for SGRs.

 

So if anyone thinks GLAAD has no pull/doesn't care, they are in for a rude shock.

 

Ignored the ill formed and keep the letters coming folks!

They can keep trying but if you think EA is going to fold under the pressure I think you are in a for a shock. EA doesn't give a crap about anything other then the money and with y'all still paying your monthly subs that is all they care about. I find it amusing myself. If you are unhappy how about just walk away from the game and show them through the wallet or is this crusade over a video game too much to just walk away from.

So EA is ignoring GLAAD, so much for the GLAAD will take care of things. EA doesn't care about it's customers on any level. The fact you think that GLAAD will suddenly force BW to add SGR may just not happen.

Last time I checked no one thinks GLAAD is going to force BW to add SGR to SWTOR, we are just hoping that BW might be a little more forthcoming with information about SGR's with a group like GLAAD then they have been with the customer base.

I sent out the message to GLAAD less than 36 hours ago and they've already responded to my message twice now. So yeah, GLAAD listens.

I DO NOT WANT THIS PRIORITIZED OVER BUG FIXES. That is indeed much more game breaking and has affected all players across the game.

I DO NOT WANT CONTENT REMOVED FOR THIS. That would be counterproductive and I don't feel content should be added at the expense of existing content.

All we want is a simple answer. We're not claiming that GLAAD would make this SGRs happen overnight. They will, however, help us get an official and public answer. Just like last year.

If anyone thinks this is an exercise in futility, make your own thread as to why we're out of line on this.

Please make your own thread; laugh among your friends at us if you will.

I'd respect your views enough to not post there, even though I would strongly disagree.

Do the same for us.

Good luck keeping any sort of thread like that open though.

Wow, a G and an O? Busy night for Bingo.

I personally wouldn't expect a response from EABW before Tue/Wed at the earliest. The tail end of this week will probably be unofficial talk inside the company of the increased pressure, and then Monday morning palaver they'll probably officially talk amongst themselves about how to handle this, somebody will get assigned to the issue and they'll spend a day or two preparing answers and so on before saying something.

And that's the best case scenario IMO.

Big companies just don't move very fast. If they've been avoiding the issue as much as they have, they won't have people ready to answer questions at the drop of a hat, they probably don't even have a clear picture who inside the company should handle this.

I personally wouldn't expect a response from EABW before Tue/Wed at the earliest. The tail end of this week will probably be unofficial talk inside the company of the increased pressure, and then Monday morning palaver they'll probably officially talk amongst themselves about how to handle this, somebody will get assigned to the issue and they'll spend a day or two preparing answers and so on before saying something.

 

And that's the best case scenario IMO.

 

Big companies just don't move very fast. If they've been avoiding the issue as much as they have, they won't have people ready to answer questions at the drop of a hat, they probably don't even have a clear picture who inside the company should handle this.

And here I thought the unscheduled patch coming Dec 6 was the SGR bugfix

I personally wouldn't expect a response from EABW before Tue/Wed at the earliest. The tail end of this week will probably be unofficial talk inside the company of the increased pressure, and then Monday morning palaver they'll probably officially talk amongst themselves about how to handle this, somebody will get assigned to the issue and they'll spend a day or two preparing answers and so on before saying something.

 

And that's the best case scenario IMO.

 

Big companies just don't move very fast. If they've been avoiding the issue as much as they have, they won't have people ready to answer questions at the drop of a hat, they probably don't even have a clear picture who inside the company should handle this.

That's pretty much what I've been saying as well. You just phrased it better.

I really don't expect Jack from EAware just yet, but I know we'll hear (stupid typo) something soon.

I can't blame them for needing some time to prepare a public statement. They shouldn't have had needed time for prepare for this; it shouldn't have even hit this point. However, with the massive employee change ups, I wouldn't be too shocked if a lot of current employees either didn't know this was coming or thought it had been addressed, "multiple times by now."

Which they haven't done, obviously. At least this way we might get some kind of answer, rather than letting this whole thing die in the forums with a whimper.

And here I thought the unscheduled patch coming Dec 6 was the SGR bugfix

Edit: It looks like a fix is possibly incoming for the memory leaks. I'll be the first to say that bug fixes take far more priority than SGRs. There is a few posters even here that can't play because of that. So it's really awesome to see.

I am just not holding my breath for SGRs anytime soon, but getting an answer is my big priority.

That's pretty much what I've been saying as well. You just phrased it better.

 

I really don't expect Jack from EAware just yet, but I know we'll here something soon.

 

I can't blame them for needing some time to prepare a public statement. They shouldn't have had needed time for prepare for this; it shouldn't have even hit this point. However, with the massive employee change ups, I wouldn't be too shocked if a lot of current employees either didn't know this was coming or thought it had been addressed, "multiple times by now."

 

Which they haven't done, obviously. At least this way we might get some kind of answer, rather than letting this whole thing die in the forums with a whimper.

 

Edit: It looks like a fix is possibly incoming for the memory leaks. I'll be the first to say that bug fixes take far more priority than SGRs. There is a few posters even here that can't play because of that. So it's really awesome to see.

 

I am just not holding my breath for SGRs anytime soon, but getting an answer is my big priority.

Memory leaks are tough issues and can also be the result of drivers and or third party software (I was stuck for years with leaks caused by Microsoft Visual Studio, nobody but MS could fix those).

Personally I think this might have to do with reverse engineering. I've been having issues with it since path 1.4. It sometimes still doesn't give a schematic after 20+ reverse engineering processes. :S In the latest patch notes they only talk about the amount of items returned, that was only part of the problems though, I stopped reverse engineering altogether.

But who knows.

I've not logged in for days now, I can't play at this time, I'm frustrated. (nothing to do with reverse engineering in case one still needs to wonder)

The memory leak is rather inconvenient. I used to be able to play at max settings, but not anymore

Thank goodness they have different teams for working on story and working on bugfixes.

The memory leak is rather inconvenient. I used to be able to play at max settings, but not anymore

 

Thank goodness they have different teams for working on story and working on bugfixes.

Oh, I agree. It just gets lost on some people that we, um, play the game and want to see it as polished as possible before any new content is added. Picking and choosing seems to be the name of the game tonight.

Edit: For the trolls that is, not to any single poster.

While they do have different teams, it seems like a little patch like this for bug fixes comes first. Which as it should be. I just wish our feature was addressed in any way, shape or form.

What I find really frustrating and weird is that apparently, the lead writer of the game is not allowed to say one word about this. I'm still a tad bitter over that deleted Tweet. That was insulting and I'm very certain that Mr. Hood wouldn't have wanted it that way.

I wish I knew what Suit thought it would be a good idea to maintain this silence and tell Mr. Hood that he can't even talk about his department at all.

Well, that's it for my posting for a few days. I loathe General Forums.

People telling me to go back to WoW....I left that game last year for a reason. And I didn't even know about ToR.

Man, I hate people that can't read, or only read what they want to.

I'm gonna go play DA: O. Keep those letters and messages to FB going.

I'll come back when I have some more information.

Well, that's it for my posting for a few days. I loathe General Forums.

 

People telling me to go back to WoW....I left that game last year for a reason. And I didn't even know about ToR.

 

Man, I hate people that can't read, or only read what they want to.

 

I'm gonna go play DA: O. Keep those letters and messages to FB going.

 

I'll come back when I have some more information.

Their intent isn't to read. Their intent is to bully you away. I don't face bullies with reason, I do the only thing to bullies what I've been taught to do with them, either laugh at them, or bully them back.

Their intent isn't to read. Their intent is to bully you away. I don't face bullies with reason, I do the only thing to bullies what I've been taught to do with them, either laugh at them, or bully them back.

For my part, I am all out of polite. I am sorry if that takes discussion in a negative direction, but trying to be nice, to extend benefit of the doubt, has gotten us less than nothing.

I have been chastised for disregarding guidelines intented to make the forums a safe place for community discussion, but I maintain that the lack of any vocal support for this content from the community team whatsoever itself encourages an unsafe, bullying environment which tacitly supports hateful and discriminatory speech opposing same-gender content.

Some might say that the moderation team and Community Team must remain impartial, but if BioWare does intend to include same-gender romantic options, as previously advertised, then they have already taken a side. To abandon us without any support is cheap at best and malicious at worst. We don't know who has made that call. They are the ones responsible, ultimately. But ethically, the Community Team must accept some personal responsibility for the results of that policy as it is they who choose to implement it.

One cannot dodge culpability by saying "I was only following orders". That may be true, but if one believes the orders are wrong, one ought not to obey and if one does follow the orders then one is expressly endorsing them. A hard line, but no one ever said what is right is what is easy or convenient.

Agree. The whole "ignore them and they'll go away" thing does jack all to bullies. But confronting them makes them shrivel up like the little cowards they are.

People that disagree with you are not "bullies." And if you think I am a coward, just PM me.

People who come into a thread about content of no interest to them to harrass those sincerely concerned for it to tell them their opinions are invalid are at best inconsiderate.

And I don't see how I can be expected to accept statements opposing this content on the basis of someone else's opinion on sexual orientation any more than I would have to accept another player's stated objection to the Sith Warrior story because he doesn't believe he should be asked to take orders from Overseer Tremel, a black man, or objecting to Sith Inquisitor because it is not proper for a woman (Lord Zash) to instruct men.

Have you voiced any objection when BioWare has specifically promoted existing romantic content as a feature of the game? Have you posted in threads regarding existing, opposite gender romance options? No? Then is your opposition to the inclusion of this content based on anything other than conceptions of sexual orientation as such? If so, how is voicing that in a venue where support of that content is to be expected not an act of aggression? And if it is that, how is that not meant to be intimidating or, in another word, bullying?

**pops back in for a sec**

I just saw the good night post from one of the players that have been around tonight. I had a few things left to say and I really didn't want to deal with some of that right now.

Please don't feed the trolls. Yes, it's hard, which is why I'm backing off for a bit. Remember that it's becoming public knowledge we've gone to GLAAD, so the trolls are going to increase in number. Expect the new SGR thread in the General forums to be locked and redirected to Uluain's thread.

Secondly, I wanted to offer an expanded version of my definitions of a troll and a detractor.

Detractor =Someone opposed to the content, but with a level headed approach and at least a little respectful in their responses.

For one reason or another, this kind of poster disagrees with us, but isn't belligerent. A decent example is some of the parents/caretakers that come into the thread concerned about SGRs content with their younger children. We usually are respectful and even try to give careful advice where we can.

Troll=Someone opposed to the content that is disrespectful and destructive with their posts, usually with the intent to derail or demean the discussion.

I don't think I need to say anything more about this. It's been one of those nights.

Third, if you get too heated up over this, just take a break from the forums all together. When I got way too mad a couple of weeks ago, I decided to level my sniper. The Vector romance was surprisingly tender, so it worked for me. If playing the game doesn't help, try firing up an old game to remind you why you fell in love with gaming in the first place.

Finally, don't give up. Make sure you continue to spread the word not only to email or message GLAAD, but to remind them that GLAAD does care about this sort of thing and has stepped up for us before.

I'll probably post some in here off and on, but I won't be posting much for the next few days. I will make sure to keep you guys updated on any responses from GLAAD. I also sent an email to the website that we had to correct the article from, so I'll let you know if those guys say anything either.

Hang tight guys. It's gonna be a bumpy ride until this has gotten some answer confirmed. I'll be around, reading and reporting the posts that go too far. Remember, flag don't feed!

**poof**

People that disagree with you are not "bullies." And if you think I am a coward, just PM me.

But they can be. However, that can be a conversation for another time. You have made it clear that based off of your religion you don't agree with Homosexuality. Which is fine. However, you do realize you are playing a game written by a company that has publicly stated if they want to put SGR content into a game, they will right? So right there, Bioware as a company goes against your religious beliefs.

Moving on. You do realize this whole thing has gotten to this point simply because Bioware has gone silent on content they promised right? Whether or not you agree with this content is irrelevant. Whether or not you belivever there should be other priorities is irrelevant. Bioware has stated they were going to do it, and now the community looking forward to it is waiting for an answer. It's that simple.

So please explain again, why you feel the need to bring your intolerance to this thread? Nobody is trying to make you participate in SGR's, or even agree with the lifestyle, so what then is your beef with getting a question answered about content promised?

Since I promised I'd tell you guys if I got anything new, I came back in for a minute. I just checked my email.

I'm going to start posting this on the other (for now) two threads.

Earlier, I had sent a news tip to gamesindustrybiz.com about this matter. For those of you that don't know, this is the same site were the posters had to correct the article about EA's stance on LGBT content. EA allowed an assumption to be published that was clearly trying to state SGRs were in the game. Since they helped write the article, I figured they could be another brief stopover.

Glad I listened to my instincts.

I got the following reply:

Hi Real Name.

 

I'm looking into this. I have contacted Bioware, and while I can't

promise anything, they swill probably be willing to talk about the issue.

 

Thanks for getting in touch.

 

Matthew Handrahan

So that's two groups for certain that are looking into this matter. There is another avenue to take our messages and emails to. I'll come back by later if I get anything more updates.

Edit: For the record, I did not let them know I contacted GLAAD. They got the same letter as GLAAD and other websites have received.

Hello,

I'm curious about some of the statements in this thread, and figured I'd ask them openly instead of just hoping someone else would.

First, a few things about me. This could possibly be my first post ever on these forums. If it's not, it's my second. I honestly can't remember. I tend to lurk and get annoyed by the vast majority of people as it seems common courtesy is a dying art. Also, I'm a straight male that has yet to roll a male character. I have a strict policy of enjoying the backside I'm watching run around for the next 50+ levels. Started in KOTOR and continued through every BW game I've played. I got the game for Christmas last year and played until March, unsubed and then resubed in August. The first thing I checked while the game was installing (and massively patching in August) was about SGR's. I've always admired BW for having them in their games.

So here's the questions:

1) According to the Timeline, there is a 6 month gap between when BW said this would be post-launch (fair enough, things have to be cut or a game never ships) and the next statement in March about them being a story update. Question: It's been 3 months since the last statement about this topic. Why is this escalating to media outlets and rights groups so quickly and so suddenly?

2) SGR's have been tied to a story update. BW has a vast history of great stories. These take time to write, edit, re-write and then finally voice act. Then the game programming comes in. As someone that's been managing large projects for years I can tell you that timelines slip sometimes and it's not something you're proud to say out loud. Question: Knowing the above, right or wrong, could BW's silence on this be based more on embarrassment for missing the 'this year' mark? Would that make the silence better or worse?

3) There's mention throughout this thread that all the employees that have made statements about SGR's are no longer with the company. Question: Why is this important? If the company as a whole has said SGR's are coming, and layoffs are a part of any business, then why does it seem that these employees being let go or moving on is viewed in this thread as an attempt to put an end to the SGR additions? (Note: This is my perception based on reading this thread. If I'm wrong, please forgive me.)

4) Someone a few pages back (my apologies, I can't remember who and don't know how to quote it) made note of the timeline for how BW/EA would respond to this, saying that it could take upwards of a week to get a response based on the speed with which a large company can react to things. Question: Keeping that in mind, and knowing what has been said about the lead time needed for story writers, is it easy to assume that the process is just taking longer than initially anticipated? If an answer comes next week that this will be part of (example) patch 1.8 based on more time being needed to do this right with no mention of when 1.8 is coming, does that fix this issue?

I understand from reading about 100 pages of this thread (I just don't have time to read them all sadly) that what is really wanted is an update, and that most of the feelings in here could be patched up with something more than a canned response from a company representative. I simply ask my questions to see if I can understand things better.

Thanks for your time.

Well, as I see things.

1: The comment from this September said "the comment from March is still correct." That comment said, "coming with the story update/Makeb, which will be this year." (slight paraphrasing). End of the year is rounding on us fast, and there's been nothing to yay/nay if that deadline still stands. Does "this year" apply to 2012, or a year from when they said that in March? We don't know, it remains unclarified.

2: Things happen - we could handle that, if they'd just tell us. Hoping we get distracted by Christmas and don't notice is a pretty shoddy approach to Community Management. That's when people get ticked off and start believing it was one long scam to milk subscriptions.

3: Things can change very easily when new people take over, and bring new ideas to the table. Has anything changed? We don't know, it remains unclarified.

4: It would be a start, and fix some of it - there's still plenty of people in the thread who have characters they'd like to play, but are waiting for any word on if they'll have to keep stalling on levelling and companion conversations or not. "Refrain, reset, or reroll", being the basic quandry. Again, it remains unclarified.

It all boils down to the lack of communication, and the growing frustation at such. If there's a problem, just be honest about it. If not, tell us that. Tell us something - the whole thing has just become ridiculous.

The last thread opened about SGR in general discussion has been closed:

Hi everyone!

We appreciate your interest in more information on this subject, but ask that you please use the existing active threads for requests regarding more information. One exists in the Story and Lore forum here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=476215 and the other is in General Discussion: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=536092. If you have suggestions about the implementation of this feature, please visit our Suggestion Box!

We'd like to take this time to remind everyone that it is fine to discuss this feature and its implementation or to make suggestions about it, but it is not acceptable to discuss real world ethics, politics, social issues, or morality on the forums. Thank you!

Aaand 'Did I Hear This Right' has been 'temporarily' closed for cleaning.

/sigh, my head hurts now (too many brick wall meet head moments), all my characters are at the point where romances would start coming into play, time to take a break and revisit The Secret World for a while