http://www.swtor.com/user/ce/2e091

I agree that it would make romanceable characters more interesting and well-rounded if they could possibly rebuff you for various reasons - overall morality, a specific major action, friendliness with a particular faction, personal hygiene, etc. However, I don't think gender should be a deciding factor. Given the limited number of (long-term) romanceable characters even in an extensive RPG, I think herosexuality is a good compromise. If every sexuality were to be presented with several exclusive options of equal quality, that would be a great alternative, but making a smaller pool more flexible is probably a much more reasonable request. I also think there's a big difference between being rejected and not even being able to express interest in someone. Maybe Vette isn't interested in a romance with another woman. But my Sith Warrior is, and I'd have appreciated the option to make an advance even if it meant immediate rejection. Regardless of an NPC's sexuality, the player character's should be able to be expressed.

I'm disappointed that a few of my characters will remain romance-less, especially my Sith Warrior lady, but at least some of the others will have an opportunity. And I'm hopeful for the future. Also, the two gay NPCs are sort of the face of the game right now, and that's pretty brilliant.

It would be nice if gender were not so binary, in general. For instance, the choices of body type, voice, and pronouns (including a gender-neutral "they") could be completely separate options, not tied together in a predefined gender package. Something like that plus a decent selection of hero-sexual LIs, and I'd be over the moon.

Unless they were written as gender-neutral in the first place, which personally I'd have no problem with. But of course that's a moot point as far as SWTOR goes.

On the pre-launch forums, the 20+ incarnations of the SGRA thread had a poll asking which romance options you would pursue, including an option for those who would not pursue romances at all. 30% consistently answered that they would pursue SGRAs. That is not an insignificant number, and it doesn't even include those who wouldn't take part in SGRAs themselves but still supported their inclusion for others.

SWTOR follows the KOTOR timeline and is on the same level of canon. If anything is relevant to SWTOR's continuity, it's KOTOR.

What he said was that the earliest instance of SGRs, the ones on Makeb, will not be companion romances. He said that companion SGRs are delayed.

It's so great to hear that SGRAs are finally on the way! Thank you!

I'm so glad to hear that SGRAs will be introduced soon, even if it's not companion romances yet. It was quite a pleasant surprise to see this in the blog. I do still wish for some information on how future additional companion romances will be implemented, whether they'll be integrated into existing content or essentially stand-alone.

Here's hoping my characters can find their special someones very soon.

Vette is a great match for my juggernaut, Darth Sangreal, in strength of personality, and her lightheartedness balances out Sangreal's grouchiness well. Vette is a bright spot in what she sees as an otherwise rather grim world, and brings out the best in her. I dearly hope that Sangreal will be able to pursue a romance with Vette when SGRAs are finally launched.

I might be too much of an optimist, but I'm still pretty hopeful for Makeb. While the confirmations were hushed up, the statement was never retracted, either.

The FAQ mentions that, if we switch from subscription to F2P, These aren't covered on the comparison grid. What restrictions will be placed on these features? Will it affect our current items and inventory/character slots, or only not-yet-available items and slots? Will the F2P character limit be the current eight, or less? Will characters with subscription-only character creation options necessarily be locked if the subscription ends? Will there be an option to permanently unlock any of these with Cartel Coins?

Except that being inclined romantically toward a certain gender does not mean that that you flirt with or are interested in everyone of that gender. How often do companions show romantic interest in other NPCs at all? I don't think I've ever encountered that.

I would argue that sexuality only informs one's personality where it changes one's life experience. For instance, in a world where homosexuality is not stigmatized, growing up gay would arguably be no different than growing up straight. A companion with a backstory involving an old boyfriend could as easily have had an old girlfriend, and only that single term need be adjusted. Our perception of a character might change based on their sexuality, but their own perception, or that of other characters, might not.

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.

This IGN article about the upcoming patch, which was posted to the official TOR Twitter and Facebook accounts, states that "BioWare is working on new content for companion quests", though it won't be ready for 1.3.

This is awesome! I'd love to dress my male characters in some of these.

SGRAs will be coming at the same time as new story content, so I think there's a good chance that there will be new companions, perhaps in addition to new romances with some of the original companions.

I think my female Sith Warrior needs someone who can match her in strength of personality, preferably with some lightheartedness to balance out her grouchiness - so Vette's pretty much perfect, and I hope she becomes an option. Though, if she doesn't, I have a headcanon in place about a failed relationship there. My male Sith Inquisitor and Jedi Consular have a torrid romance going on betwixt themselves, but I can see them engaging in other romances outside of that story trajectory. My SI's out to corrupt all the innocents he can, and he's more pansexual than anything, so from what I've heard about Ashara I might actually be fine with that for him. My JC's more definitely gay, and I'd like to see someone strong and protective whose arms he can fall into, as he's rather fragile.

I'm actually pretty excited about the family tree feature - I've had several of my characters and their interpersonal relationships defined in my mind for upwards of two years. I do wish there was an option for romantic relationships short of marriage, though, and a master/apprentice relationship.

Huzzah for encouraging news! Personally, I would've been thrilled if they "flipped the switch" on all the existing LIs, but I also appreciate that they want to put the effort in to do it "right". Obviously whether the upcoming SGRAs will satisfy everyone's definition of "right" remains to be seen, but at the very least I think the developers' hearts are in the right place. With what we've seen quoted from the summit, I feel a bit more comfortable proceeding with the storylines without feeling like I might lose my chance at something, as it sounds as if SGRAs will be introduced as part of the new story content. Granted, if that's so, it will be extremely frustrating for any characters started from scratch. Obviously this is all speculation on my part. I do hope we find out at what point in the storylines - during the existing ones or only in yet-to-be-released continuations - we can expect to see SGRAs introduced, just so we'll know whether we have to avoid missing something or not.

This isn't really about politics, this is about a feature that we would like to see improved. Personally, I feel like I'm missing out on a large chunk of story, which is to me the most important "pillar" of the game, by not being able to pursue some of the romances in which I'm most interested. This is more important to me than any other improvement that could be made to the game - on a personal level, not a political one.

Well, I've posted again in the new Q&A thread. Maintaining an obvious presence can't hurt. I subscribed for six months right out of the gate, but once that's up I'll be seriously considering taking an extended break if we have no more information.