Sexual violence, slavery, and genocide. Just another day in the Empire?

[Baconmonster]

I am an art major who has worked in the Advertising/Graphic Design industry as an Art Director for one of the largest advertising firms in the United States (for the past 25 years) ... video games are not art and will never be deemed "art." They're entertainment.

 

The Supreme Court would disagree with you. As would many, many other individuals myself included.

 

OT: Welcome to the Galactic Empire, where evil is the currency and the market is a boomin'. I'm a Bounty Hunter so I basically get to do as I damn well please. Sorry to hear you're having such issues with the Sith Warrior class, but the choices are what you make them. The I don't like the dark side choices, but don't want to play light side argument bugs me. However, that being said I wish that....

 

 

I could have joined Malgus after Ilum, his concept of the Empire imo is far superior to the current empire.

 

 

You don't have to like it and I'm glad that people at least acknowledge that some choices bother them, but sheltering individuals from the fact that STUFF LIKE THIS REALLY HAPPENS, you know just with less lightning involved, doesn't really stop it from happening.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Baconmonster

[Mateops]

Salaryman talks of a 50 page rants, and that somehow we all missed the subtle in the OPs post. Would you do us the courtesy to explain that, tell us my friend, tell us what was so subtle we all failed to see it.

 

We are listening, bring us light!

Edited February 8, 2012 by Moitteva
removed religious references/inapp content

[LyriaFrost]

Look at the male SW trying to enforce his wishes on Vette when they're in a relationship (not to mention the fact that the collar has to come off for it to even get that far, as has been said); she breaks up with him if he attempts to force a threesome with Jaesa, from what I see people saying, he has to marry her before she'll sleep with him, and in general she simply seems to require better treatment and *respect* if you want to maintain the relationship. She stands up for herself to the male Sith partner, and I find her to be an example of a strong female character in a bad situation.

 

Exactly. Far from being the "helpless girl being abused", Vette is actually an extremely willful, independent, and STRONG female character; despite being in a situation that would break most people, she doesn't let it break her. She's no "mopey slavegirl". Despite repeated abuse, she just shrugs it off and keeps going, not letting it affect her outlook on life in general. "This too, shall pass", as the saying goes.

 

Not to mention the fact that she clearly CANNOT be "sexually abused" while the collar is still on, because you can't get anywhere with her sexually/romantically until it comes off. She simply won't let you. Think about that for a moment, from an in-game perspective. Despite being a slave with literally no rights, and arguably no power to physically stop you, she stands up for what she believes in and FORCES a powerful sith-lord to accede to her wishes through sheer force of will (and a healthy dose of snark).

 

Vette, IMO, is probably one of the strongest female characters in the game. Go Vette!

Edited February 8, 2012 by LyriaFrost

[Mateops]

Vette, IMO, is probably one of the strongest female characters in the game. Go Vette!

 

I agree with that 100% Thats why I married her.

 

A funny thing is she actually changed my play style, I got in there thinking I would go all dark side, until I met Vette, she changed my SW and my sith philosophy...

[Deirhese]

Perhaps they highlight "female inferiority" because its one of the major issues in todays world. In fact it was/is a major issue seen throughout history. It is far less common to see anything about females owning male slaves for torture, work, pleasure, etc... I do understand though about gender equality but maybe thats why Bioware went that route because its an issue many people are more familiar with.

[Deadslip]

Did you read the entirety of the post? How often do you press spacebar? Do you feel there's anything problematic with the way some of the Empire quest lines are handled given it's T for Teen rating?

 

perpetuating age old chauvinistic view of female characters, aiding in slave trades, verifying race purity, sexually abusing a companion who genuinely just wants to help you.

 

Why does it seem like developers go out of there way to make games unfriendly to women? My girlfriend was literally sickened by it

 

--and yes she agreed that under the circumstance of a more intelligent, well developed scene the actions could be made justifiably, but as they stand it's just gross. Certainly worthy of an M rating and not fitting the Pixar vibe you get for the other odd half of the content.

 

So you are saying that in the wild west women were not bellow men, and that acts of sexual violence didn't happen?

 

Everyone running around saying Star Wars shows a future we don't want to head towards is correct. We don't want to go back in time. In this story universe you have to remember social norms and period opinions are not translatable to ours as easily as they appear. This is an even in the past, that happened in a time period in another universe that is closest to the wild west in some parts, and others its WWII era Germany. I don't see how you can have those complaints knowing that at Earths time in history that mirror those, they were not issues yet.

[Stabmaster-Arson]

 

Vette, IMO, is probably one of the strongest female characters in the game. Go Vette!

 

Certainly stronger than Ashara Zavros who sells out all of her beliefs and Jedi ethics simply because you shock her a few times lol. She doesn't even try to fight.

[salaryman]

Salaryman talks of a 50 page rants, and that somehow we all missed the subtle in the OPs post. Would you do us the courtesy to explain that, tell us my friend, tell us what was so subtle we all failed to see it.

 

If the writing was smart, if it was well done and conveyed the sense of dread with an element of satire or commentary, or even presented itself as remotely problematic I might be able to stomach playing an Imperial. As of now, I'm just stunned this isn't being talked about more by the media.

 

Given the great games that Bioware has put out in the past I think we were all somewhat surprised by some of the directions they took with the game...and the fact they ignored/overlooked other directions that would have been more interesting, broken new ground, etc.

[Frozztie]

i think this is one of the absolutely best written topics ive seen here.

its got evberything, its well thought out, spellchecked, inteligent and reeks of hours of play time!

i just dont agree to it.

any of it.

[Jenovan]

i think this is one of the absolutely best written topics ive seen here.

its got evberything, its well thought out, spellchecked, inteligent and reeks of hours of play time!

i just dont agree to it.

any of it.

 

Actually, I'd have to disagree with the first bit of this post (totally agree with the last bit). The OP is a very literate post, but it's piss poor at making a point. It wanders all over the place mentioning things the OP thinks are bad without crystallizing a good argument for the point we must assume he's trying to make. (Seriously, if I'd written that as a paper in grade school English, it would have come back with a D on it for being a really poorly constructed thesis. No extra credit for proper grammar and spelling.)

 

The TL;DR actually tries to be more concise, but unfortunately, I suspect a lot of readers became incensed before getting that far:

 

The problematically 5th grade level writing in ToR touches on topics from sexual violence to torture, slavery and bigotry without even a bit of intelligent context or commentary.

 

The OP could have perhaps written this up in a couple of paragraphs and it could have been great fodder for discussion (although the condescending tone still doesn't go over well). As it is, though, he also had to compare the writing and gameplay to WoW, go off on the sexual abuse tangent, worry for "the children!!", and bemoan the ratings system. He presented so many broadside targets for everyone that it's no wonder this thread became a shooting gallery.

 

(As for the Vette issue, others have addressed the argument of "sexual abuse", but I question whether the OP actually has played a Sith Warrior at all, let alone until Hoth. He mentions having the possibility of "electrocuting her repeatedly in between flirting sessions" -- given that you must remove her collar to romance her, how is that even possible?)

[xXIzazelXx]

I'm honestly not sure what the OP's point in this is really.

I'm a staunch advocate for sexuality, gender and LGBT and strongly

support the need for Bioware to add the same sex options in SWTOR.

More than anything to show that they are with the times and brave

enough to meet the haters head on and show themselves bigger than

that ideologically.

 

That said, I do not agree on some of the other things listed in the OP's post.

 

Unlike WoW or EQ2 or any other MMO, you do not have choices in how you

play the quests. In most MMOs like WoW, YOU are an agent of genocide from

level 1. YOU are an agent of mass destruction from level 1. There is absolutely

nothing heroic about your character no matter what MMO you are on.

 

A Paladin in WoW must still slaughter millions of humanoids and animals on a

regular basis to get their level X uber elite gear. What are you going to say?

That you are doing it for "good" and for "God(s)". Then the Inquisition wasn't

all that evil then after all was it? Then the Crusades wasn't religious/ideological

attempts at genocide either, huh?

 

Vette starts out as a prisoner captured by the Empire. Her captor uses her

shock collar on her to not only keep his prisoner in line but to interrogate her.

Yes he does it will glee but in the end he has absolutely no apathy for his

prisoner at all. You get the feeling that it's more because she is an expendable

prisoner and one he rather despises. There's nothing sexual about that.

Not even racist considering he never once tosses in that she's a Twi'lek and

any personal thoughts he has on that. She's just there and he can.

 

 

When you get Vette, he informs you on how dangerous she is and and suggests

you make use of the collar as you see fit.

 

And that right there is the point. AS YOU SEE FIT. Its YOUR choice to use it or not.

 

You never have to, in fact you can remove it. You can play nice with her if you

want and have her as a strong and loyal friend as well as companion.

And did they mention just how much she doesn't like being abused? How you

lose favor and gain hate with her?

 

Companions aren't empty stupid vessels you can just abuse at your own sick

leasure. They have programmed feelings and AI. And if you do refer back to the

"your own sick leasure" part.

 

My character is a bounty hunter. And Mako and I are as close as it gets. I don't

know anythinhg about any "breakdowns". I've been as loyal a freind to her as

she has been to me. Choices people.

 

In Age of Conan my character probably helped cause the extinction of Mammoths

and many other species mankind wiped out in real life.

Same goes for ant other MMO I've played.

 

Now say that finally add same sex relationships and a female can marry Vette.

Or Mako. Then you have the otherside rolling female just to get their rocks off.

Not sure how many actual male gamers are going to seduce Torian (my companion

hubbie or Corso.

 

Now I digress.

 

My real point is this. I've seen just as much evil and just as much "bad" on

the Repub side. If you have a Sith Warrior and you tried to get Jeasa without

killing her family please tell of how her own Master goes darkside violently and

tries to kill her and you. This was her master and mentor and he goes apesh*t

brutal. I (as a BH) had to put him down 3 times helping to get Jaesa.

 

So it's not all "the evil Empire". There is good and bad and heroes on both sides.

 

Please try and be a little less biased and soapbox.

 

~ Izzy

[xXIzazelXx]

I agree that Vette is most definitely the strongest female companion

in the game. And by putting down Jaesa's master 3 times, I don't

mean he killed me three times. I mean the SOB wouldn't stay down

and kept getting back up after each defeat. A real nice guy and poster\

child Jedi, huh? lol

[Treedodger]

I'm sorry, this is what I read;

 

"I am a human being. Like most, I hold inside me a terrible, animal side that secretly desires to conquer, own, and use the people around me. I am also a sexual being who takes great pleasure in fantasying about being sexually dominate.

 

BW forces me to face this fact about myself by giving me the choice to either not be evil, or be evil. I was simply unable to resist this temptation. I choice to be evil. And I loved it.

 

This has forced me to rethink my world view. Realize that the reason I don't do horrible things is not because I am a "good" person, but because I fear repercussion.

 

In a world with no rules, would I be a monster? The very daemon I fear?"

 

Isn't that ... exactly how art is supposed to make us feel?

 

Thank you so much Bioware. For the flaws and issues of this game, THIS is why we love. You made Video games art.

 

Well said. +1

[ByronixHero]

The OP was 100% correct.

 

And to post this I just had to wade through 50+ pages of reactionary rants that did nothing but prove that they completely missed the subtle points the OP was trying to make.

 

I would call asking for censorship of game content anything but subtle. Except for saying the game lacks ramifications for the players' actions(and I agree with him there) there's nothing else in the OP's posts that indicate more.

[Conlann]

My claims relate to the lack of intelligence or premise to warrant that sort of thing. Also an ESRB rating that fails to acknowledge the deeply rooted gender and torture related issues that present themselves.

 

Yes, the Empire is evil--you volunteer for it. But folks who buy the game expect an experience like the original trilogy, not a product where you're literally guided to make the decision to shock an enslaved, sexualized companion in order to get dark side points for specific gear.

 

 

I can relate. I love this game, though, as I did Kotor (best evil moment in any game I had ever played to that date... making the wookie kill the girl was unreal.). I would not have let my teenage children play that game anymore than I would this game and absolutely agree that the game rating on this game is far too lenient. There are not just sexualy and violent undertones it is often flat out and obvious.

 

I don't have a problem with that though as I don't with that content in any media I enjoy. I understand it and can see it for what it is. My kids can't.

 

People who have watched the movies will undoubtedly buy this for their kids and not think that at any point in this game their kids are going to be able to make decisions to torture and murderously kill people (I picked that adjective to set this statement apart from the general killing of people that takes place in any shooter game. You have to think and choose to murder someone in this game vs just hit your shoot button), hook up with random encounters or ensalve and coerce other beings. (again I have no issue with doing that - I'm an adult who can put it into context and have already developed my values and sense of right and wrong) Teenagers or younger kids playing this game don't have the firm set of values already developed that tell them that that behaviour is not acceptable in reality. Yes it's a game but younger minds have more trouble discerning the difference.

 

Now - I also think that the writers have done an awesome job making the Sith exactly who they should be - frickin' super-powered space Nazis. As evil and ruthless and wrong-headed as a being can be. It's all about control and dominance and getting power over others through any means neccessary. They got it absolutley right.

 

the movies have a disney-goggles sense of that (hey - Tarkin tortures Leia and then kills a couple billion people...) but the games, books and comics etc take it to the extremes that Lucas never thought of portraying. This game should certainly have been rated mature but then it wouldn't have sold that well would it?

 

I think the marketing department who cut some deals on the rating must have been Sith...

[boba_dan]

I'm having a hard time narrowing down the complaint here.

 

Is it just that the writing isn't as brilliant that it could be?

 

Is it that the Imperial storyline doesn't satirize its own characters?

 

Although I don't disagree that the Empire of the game is horribly racist, sexist and bigoted, it's supposed to be. The different eras of Star Wars are connected by a theme of cyclical history where events repeat themselves and the same kinds of societies rise and fall. Palpatine's Empire is canonically racist, even in the movies (the only aliens they ever employ are the bounty hunters, compared to the rebels who have the Mon Calamari, Sullustans, Bothans and others clearly involved). In the same way, the earlier Empires also display this trait. It's one of the things that defines who the good guys and bad guys ARE in the long history of the SW universe, and in that way I think the games implicitly have a positive message about equality: The bigots are the badguys.

 

I suppose its hard for me to understand what else the OP would have wanted the game to do. Generally, the racist/sexist/etc choices in game are Dark Side choices. The fact that they don't LET you rationalize it is a strength here: You can do these things, but its inherently evil, as judged by the glowy energy that powers the entire universe. Is she upset because the choices exist? If they didn't, why would the Empire exist as a faction? Why would the Dark Side be a player option to exploit?

 

I can understand that having to play through these things could be unpleasant, but isn't this the point of allowing the Dark Side/Light Side choice to be an individual one per character and not a faction choice? I won't say that you can play through the entire Imperial Campaign being 'good', but there are a LOT of quests that have diplomacy or non-violent solutions.

 

And if the Empire on a whole is too evil, even taking the Light Side choices, then why not play Republic? So much of the storyline for the Republic deals precisely WITH fighting against slavery, exploitation, and so on. Jedi have countless opportunities to protect the weak and make the galaxy a better place.

 

So why not choose this option? Anyway, I don't think these concerns are baseless, especially not in the video game industry as a whole, but in this game they seem strangely placed since so much of it is about personal choice.

[Mechavomit]

Wait.. Where exactly is the Empire sexist?

[boba_dan]

As far as I know there's not a single female officer of rank in the original films. Contrasted to the Alliance which is led by Leia and Mon Mothma.

 

There are some references to it in game as well, in dialogue choices, although I'd say they're fairly uncommon compared to anti-alien statements or just murdering people.

[Stabmaster-Arson]

I'm glad the Original Trilogy was made in the 70's and 80's. Today it would probably be a really lame politically correct hack set of films. Oh yeah, like the Prequels were! Let me jog a few things down from memory here.

 

Evil Sexist Empire:

 

1. There are NO female Imperials. Not a single one. In the Fleet or Stormtrooper corps.

 

2. They blow up a planet filled with billions of people...just because they can. It gained them absolutely nothing. All they got was an upset Princess Lia. Not only that, but not a single Imperial, from officers to the gunnery crews, showed even the slightest regret, trepidation, or hesitation about doing it. Just another day at the office for our Evil Imps!

 

3. When they find the location of the Rebel Base, instead of capturing the base as we all know they could, they opt to, you guessed it; try blowing up the ENTIRE planet of Yavin IV.

 

4. They torture Han Solo with a big future electro-shock machine, for absolutely NO reason. They don't even ask him questions or interrogate him. Once again, just because they are so evil.

 

5. Because Luke Skywalkers adopted parents bought droids the Empire happened to be looking for, even though the Empire knew they had absolutely no idea of their significance, they are dragged outside of their home and burnt alive. Nothing is left of them but smoking skeletons by the time our hero arrives. If they wanted the droids, why not just hold them for ransom and force Luke to trade the droids for his parents? Nope, that wouldn't be EVIL enough. Just kill them, just because, even if it gains the Empire absolutely no tactical advantage.

 

6. Vader. Nuff said. If you screw up and make a mistake, he chokes you to DEATH in-front of your own people. Hell he probably did this to people just because he didn't like the look on their face. And NOBODY says a word about it, certainly not the Imperial commanders who just lost a good officer.

 

7. Emperor. Really, nuff said. The guy is evil incarnate. He makes Hitler look like a Boy Scout.

 

Star Wars General Sexism:

 

1. Han Solo constantly demeaning Lea, a Princess and Rebellion asset, with sexist demeaning dismissive terms like "Sure your Highness" and other quips. He even corners Lea in the hallway on Hoth and engages in a conversation that, by today's standards, would be sexual harassment. Note: Most of this takes place on the job.

 

2. Lando Calrissian. Same deal pretty much. He hits on Lea blatantly from minute one, and doesn't let up. He doesn't even know/care who she is. He completely objectifies her based on nothing but her looks alone.

 

3. Mon Mothma. Hey a female in Star Wars that's actually in a position of power! Well, she has about 4 lines and is only seen once during the entire trilogy. The Emperor and Vader get 20X the exposure. The message here is female leaders just aren't interesting.

 

4. Lea's "Slave Girl" outfit scene. A man in her position would be thrown in a jail cell. She's forced to wear dental floss and be demeaned by Jabba the Hutt as he humiliates her and licks her with his grossness in front of everyone.

 

5. General lack of representation. Females can be Princesses or a political leader. But they cannot fight with the troops. They cannot serve in the Fleet's. They cannot pilot a ship. They're never the hero. They CAN dance however, provided they dress sexy.

 

Honorable Mention - Racist Robots

 

That's right folks. AI in Star Wars is so good, robots can actually form racist opinions all on their own. As illustrated by C3PO's statement:

"I can't abide those Jawas. Disgusting creatures!"

 

LOL, I mean..come on! How awesome was that? Racist robots!

 

 

Now if I left any out, feel free to chime in guys. But to the OP, I mean seriously, what Star Wars movies were you watching?

 

The important thing here is that most of these were done on purpose as a method of storytelling. Much as SwTor does. By my thinking, SWTOR is more politically correct and sensitive to women than Star Wars ever was.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Stabmaster-Arson

[tehjai]

 

<Awesome post of awesome>

 

 

All of this. This this this. Context -- that is to say, the context of the universe in which the poor treatment is occurring, not necessarily real-world connotations or parallels -- is so important in this discussion.

 

/internet highfive

[Emarthepaladin]

I have come across some pretty sadistic imperial players in this game. I was trying to get the tatooine datacron with the blimp ride one day - the 45 minute blimp ride. I play on a pvp server and It took my 6 passes with the blimp to get the datacron because of imperials. I suppose that's nothing out of the ordinary, pvp happens. But one group of imperials let me ride the blimp near to the drop point. We were chatting the whole way. They casually knocked me off at the end of the 45 minute blimp ride so I couldn't get the datacron and then they came back to make sure I would miss the next pass as well! That's not the only case of sadistic twisted imperial players I've met but it's probably the worst. I wonder if the quest and story lines for imperials are the reason so many imperial players are total jerks. I know for sure Horde was never this bad, I played Horde.

[SithZigg]

I have come across some pretty sadistic imperial players in this game. I was trying to get the tatooine datacron with the blimp ride one day - the 45 minute blimp ride. I play on a pvp server and It took my 6 passes with the blimp to get the datacron because of imperials. I suppose that's nothing out of the ordinary, pvp happens. But one group of imperials let me ride the blimp near to the drop point. We were chatting the whole way. They casually knocked me off at the end of the 45 minute blimp ride so I couldn't get the datacron and then they came back to make sure I would miss the next pass as well! That's not the only case of sadistic twisted imperial players I've met but it's probably the worst. I wonder if the quest and story lines for imperials are the reason so many imperial players are total jerks. I know for sure Horde was never this bad, I played Horde.

 

That has nothing to do with being either Republic or Imperial; you just ran into a group of ******s.

[Akasya]

To the OP, I can only say this: grow up.

 

I was playing 'Turok: Dinosaur Hunter' and 'Primal Rage', among others, at the ages of 10 and 11 and I could very easily differentiate between shooting a person in the neck in game and having his digital blood spew everywhere and shooting someone in real life. Not once did I ever desire to shoot someone.

 

Come to think of it, I don't like realistic violence in general and never have. I don't watch mob or gangster movies and "Saint's Row" pushes it to the point that if my guy were not playing it with me, I'd avoid it altogether.

 

Furthermore, I hate guns. I've held two real guns in my life, for a few seconds each, one of which was entirely incapable of firing, and both made me nauseous. Yet, I loooove shooting psychos in 'Borderlands' (headshots with an incendiary sniper rifle are my favorite). The violence is so over the top and so obviously fake that I can just roll with it.

 

Regarding the sexual thing with Vette.. I thought it was tame. I saw worse when I was 12 and first exploring the internet (my mom hadn't discovered parental controls yet and I figured out how to get around them when she did), but somehow I still realized those things were not expected to be done without consent.

 

Want to know how I knew? Because I was raised by a mother who repeatedly told me what behaviors were socially acceptable and which were not. She also made sure I knew what was and was not appropriate for men to say to me at a young age so that we could tell her if someone mistreated me. She instilled her values in me and until I was old enough to question them and decide with which ones I agreed, I stuck with all of them (lemme say here I still agree with most of what she taught me).

 

My point is if you've got a kid who can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, then the problem is with the kid and/or his or her parents/guardians and not with the game, movie, etc.

 

I personally think Teen is a more than fair rating for the game.

[Abataamala]

OP: I humbly suggest you haven't paid sufficient attention to the story, to say nothing of the back-story, lore, etc.

 

The Empire is predicated on an ancient philosophy of the Sith, namely that cultivating the "dark side" of the Force is the path to success, be it personal enrichment or maintaining a vast galaxy-wide government. Self-absorption, advancement through whatever means necessary, and promotion through slaughtering your superiors is the norm for this society. Direct correlations to these practices can be drawn from Earth-based governments, regimes, potentates, philosophies, and bodies-politic.

 

Should a thinking and rational person find sexual violence, slavery, genocide, and other unsavory behavior to be morally repugnant? Absolutely. But your outrage appears to be aimed at a game that is, at best, holding a mirror up to our own society (and make no mistake, if you believe genocide and slavery are bygone horrors in our world, you may need to re-evaluate that notion.)

 

So Vette is an enslaved and often mistreated character...if a Sith warrior decides to play in keeping with the philosophy he has had drilled into his head his entire life. Certainly, he can rise above such baser acts and emancipate his mistreated servant and make "good" decisions. But often these decisions are simply the lesser of two (or three) evils, and not truly and objectively "good." The key concept here is that there are DECISIONS to be made. Critical junctures where one is at a moral crossroads and must choose how to act, and then subsequently accept the consequences, for boon or bane, of those decisions.

 

Is Vette's treatment misogynistic? On one level, certainly. But assuming depravity is only aimed at females in this game would be short-sighted. In another story arc, a character finds out that a male noble is essentially being held captive by a female aristocrat. He has been told that his family has effectively abandoned him, and while the female tries to maintain a rather feeble public ruse that he is related, he is in fact her 'boy toy." To make matters worse, when the truth is brought to light and the male wants to return to his family, the woman adopts an "if I can't have you, nobody will" attitude and wants his life ended. Now of course, I would be mortified at such actions. As an artistic story-telling tool, however, I find it not only acceptable but gripping. That's the benefit one gets when one thinks critically and approaches this as 1) a work of fiction, 2) an artistic expression, and 3) a game.

 

Do I personally find certain types of entertainment to be over-the-top? Certainly. I'm not a big horror or "slasher" film fan. I have yet to play any of the "Grand Theft Auto" games. These are personal decisions I have made. At the same time, I acknowledge that there are plenty of people who find these types of expression extremely fulfilling. Those are personal decisions they have made. So long as there aren't real people being held captive by maniacal puzzle-masters or being curb-stomped for their cars, I'm curiously okay with the concept that other adults can have differing opinions.

 

You may be better served by either developing a thicker skin when it comes to fictional depictions of atrocious actions, or making a choice to steer clear of such sources that cause you consternation. Food for thought.

[gaskull]

Might be the problem right there. This is a video game. We do not WANT political correctness in video games. Gender equality? My female Inquisitor is one of the most powerful members of the Empire. Moffs bow when I walk past, and when I talk, they say "Yes my LORD" or else. If that's not equality, I don't know what is There's no glass ceiling here.

 

I appreciate that you're an advocate for a special interest. That's all well and noble. But, no offense, maybe take that passion and commitment and stow it when playing a science fiction MMO?

 

The fact that SwTor has provoked this response, while other MMO's don't, is a good indication that they were successful in getting an emotional response from the player. That's why SwTor is so unique, and why it HAS advanced the art form of video games. In WoW or other games, you blindly hit "accept quest" without a care of the consequences because there are none. You don't even bother reading the quest text half the time. It's always the same (kill x number of kobolds, deliver package to y) with no impact at all on anything. Not even your characters mental state or beliefs. In SwTor your choices matter. It's an MMORPG because we've finally gotten back to the "role playing" aspect. Something that's been neglected for too long.

 

I've done things and made choices playing my Sith Inquisitor that have made me feel real genuine emotions. I once had to choose between 100 Dark Side points or murdering someone who's only crime was helping me. And dooming the rest of his group to a slower similar fate. I was amazed to feel real genuine conflict over this decision, and even a little bit of self loathing when it was made. In a video game!? I'm 34 years old. I have played everything, done everything, and you could say I'm jaded at this point. Games haven't been "real" for me in a very long time. But when SwTor makes me do a double take and evaluate my moral fiber because of something I've done....well that's just amazing. BioWare should be praised for truly breaking new ground on a game of this scale.

 

I'm sorry they hit a nerve. But it sounds like you want censorship, and I cannot abide that no matter how eloquently you hide behind the "children" who might be playing. Or your girlfriends who might be offended. Or what Forbes, a known socially Conservative publication, feels about it.

 

Agreed