BioWare Launches "Gay Planet" For the Old Republic 333
DavidGilbert99 writes "Labelled as an 'oddly regressive move,' developers of Star Wars: the Old Republic have decided that all gay characters will be stuck on a single planet called Makeb. The move comes with the release of the Rise of the Hutt Cartel pack and the Makeb planet will be the only place in the game where players can select 'flirtatious' dialogue options with characters of the same gender. From the article: 'BioWare executive producer Jeff Hickman apologised for same sex relationships taking so long to be added to the game, referring to the company's most famous title Mass Effect, where homosexual relationships are available by default:
"First of all, I want to apologize that this is taking so long to get in the game," wrote Hickman in a blog post. "I realise that we promised SGR (same gender relationships) 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 realised 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. '"
Re:Just NPCs? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Remove suggestive dialog options (Score:5, Informative)
SW:TOR is a fully voiced MMO. Every line of dialogue has a voice actor. And most NPCs have a unique voice actor. Adding same-sex romance into the game meant going back and changing the scripting for each NPC, as well as bringing back the previous voice actors to record new dialogue.
That is why they're only doing it for new content.
Re:"Regressive"? (Score:5, Informative)
Bioware has included same-sex options in every game since Dragon Age. They're not afraid of any agenda. They don't just take heterosexual romance options and remove gender filters. Their same-sex romances in their games are written to be meaningful and different.
And bringing back all the original voice actors to record new dialogue is costly for a game that is reporting losing tons of money.
So instead of spreading FUD based upon assumptions, you should actually play SWTOR and look into Bioware's track record.
This isn't "regressive" (Score:5, Informative)
This is a bit long, but I don't see anyone else saying it, so I will. I power-played this game from launch to max level, and then for a few months after, until it was obvious my friends weren't going to keep at it- the TLDR version is that this isn't about shitting on gays at all, but instead money. Ok here's why:
If you play the main plot of TOR, you quickly find out that each of the four "base classes" on each "empire" or "republic" side (so eight base classes total) has their own plotline. Each plotline takes you through the same planets in the same order as the other base classes in your faction, with the exception that each faction has two starting planets- one for the Jedi/Sith, and the other for the tech heroes.
For instance: if you are a smuggler, you begin by pulling into the same planet that the Troopers start on, and your ship gets stolen. You then fall in with a kind of small time crime boss, and when he is assassinated his right-hand man becomes yours.
The smuggler can become a "scoundrel" or a "gunslinger"- the two "advanced classes". The "scoundrel" has a shotgun that has close ranged positional attacks, and a stealth belt, as well as some brawler type moves. You also gain some heals. The "gunslinger" has a belt that creates a portable force-field cover that can knock people back, and they use two weapons. The "scoundrel" is essentially a rogue with a healing spec, and the "gunslinger" is kind of a ranger or archer role. Which you pick has NO RELEVANCE on your plot, even though they play differently.
The "trooper" can become two types of thing as well (a character with a shield generator and the best armor who can tank or deal damage, or a character with a super advanced huge gun who can deal damage or use the gun to heal), as can the "Jedi Knight" (dual wield damage guy or single wield guy who can tank) and the "Jedi Consular" (force caster/healer or a stealthy two-bladed light saber guy). Both of these start on the planet with the Jedi Academy.
Meanwhile, on the Sith side, all of these choices are mirrored- the Imperial Agent can become an "Operative", who has the exact same powers as the "Scoundrel", or a "Sniper", who has the same powers as the "Gunslinger". But all the "Imperial" side plots are TOTALLY DIFFERENT than the Republic ones- there are EIGHT total paths you can follow in this game, based on all eight character types you can start the game with (Sith Inquisitor, Jedi Consular, Sith Warrior, Jedi Knight, Imperial Operative, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, Trooper). As you play through, you get "companion characters"- you get one very early, and then others as you play through your plotline. You can have one with your character at most times, but you can't hang out with all of them at once unless you are on your ship. Each has a series of mini plotlines that you can play through.
Importantly, THESE ARE THE CHARACTERS YOU CAN BE ROMANTIC WITH. In your plotline, you meet some NPCs that are just mentioned once or twice, and that will attempt to seduce you, or you can attempt to seduce them. That's not what anyone who wanted same-sex relations in this game was hoping for, and that's what this planet seems to be offering. The companion characters are all individually voice acted by professional actors and have a ludicrous number of things they can say, ways they can respond, etc. It is seriously high production value.
As an example: My smuggler is female. The first guy you meet, Corso Riggs, is a possible "romantic companion" for a female smuggler. Your wookie companion is not, and neither are the female companions or the fish-head alien. If you accept Corso's advances, he will prove to you that he's both desired by others and totally into just you, a reasonably common romance novel thing, and you can even marry him. A male character has similar options with his two female companions- for instance, Akavi Spaar, a rough and tumble alien warrioress, can fall for your advances, as can Risha, a human woman.
So everyone was expecti
Re:"Regressive"? (Score:4, Informative)
Nah, you're missing the point:
In previous Bioware games they allowed people to have same-sex relationships by default. In this latest Bioware game, they did not allow people to have same-sex relationships by default, and are only bolting it on in a clumsy fashion after the fact.
It's literally regressive in that this newest game by Bioware handles same-sex relationships less well than previous Bioware games. It's a step backwards for Bioware, even if it's a step forward compared to some other game makers.
Imagine the complaints if you took any $franchise and removed $feature that said $franchise was known for. People would rightly call it a step back.
As I said elsewhere, I find relationships in RPGs to be almost always poorly executed and pointless because they're not handled well, but as a gamer I can certainly see how people who come to a publisher expecting that publisher to deliver on something they usually deliver would be bothered when they don't get what they expected.
Re:Srsly? (Score:3, Informative)