sparklecat Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Marriage. Why would it be anything else? So much more to say on this, but sadly I can't without breaking forum rules. One thing I'm NOT down on is the whole "babies ever after" aspect that seem to pervade the "happily ever afters" of romance in SWTOR. I'm a woman who doesn't seem to have a biological clock, I've never wanted children (and at 40, I'm not likely to be changing my mind any time soon). The whole idea that babies make everything better fills me with a faint sense of horror. Ditto to all of this. For that matter, is it just what I've run into so far, or do all the relationships seem to necessarily end in marriage as well? If your character wants it, awesome, but I'd like the option to keep the relationship going without. Which actually reminds me of another thing I'd like for all the romances in general, both new ones and patched onto the current - we've got the [Flirt] clearly there to keep us from accidentally getting into a relationship; can we have something equivalent to DA2's broken heart icon to keep us from accidentally ending one as well? But back on the babies thing, it's especially ridiculous that, say, my Sith Warrior who's totally planning on being involved in fighting enemies of the Empire for at least the next few decades has her husband going on about how awesome babies are and making plans for them during a five minute break in fighting said enemies. Perhaps the message to take away in general here is that companion romances should be exploring options beyond 'a man and a woman love each other very much and get married and have 2.5 kids and a dog and a white picket fence'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuffystuffs Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Perhaps the message to take away in general here is that companion romances should be exploring options beyond 'a man and a woman love each other very much and get married and have 2.5 kids and a dog and a white picket fence'? Yeah, from what I've heard, they all seem to fit that mold. ...even Kaliyo...I can't see her ever getting married...even to a male. I just find that incredibly odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suaine Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So I've had a thought. One of the arguments against implementing SGRAs with content that has already been published, therefore "redoing" or "reworking" content, was that the teams should rather focus on something new. But the same never holds true for class mechanics. We want them to look at and update class and skill mechanics all the time. I see no reason why story mechanics should be different. Why, of all things, should their star feature be left static when everything else in an MMO changes over time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cythereal Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 But back on the babies thing, it's especially ridiculous that, say, my Sith Warrior who's totally planning on being involved in fighting enemies of the Empire for at least the next few decades has her husband going on about how awesome babies are and making plans for them during a five minute break in fighting said enemies. Perhaps the message to take away in general here is that companion romances should be exploring options beyond 'a man and a woman love each other very much and get married and have 2.5 kids and a dog and a white picket fence'? Well, Imperial and Sith culture are noted to be very family-centric, and this goes double for the Empire's Force-sensitive bloodlines. In the SW's backstory they're scions of a distinguished Sith family to boot. It's only natural and culturally expected that Malavai and the SW would want to have kids, ditto the male SW and Vette/Jaesa. Getting married, having lots of kids, and raising them carefully and well is the norm and the cultural expectation for Imperials. As for Kaliyo, my personal impression is that she's doing it for the tax benefits, as it were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamaranis Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 But back on the babies thing, it's especially ridiculous that, say, my Sith Warrior who's totally planning on being involved in fighting enemies of the Empire for at least the next few decades has her husband going on about how awesome babies are and making plans for them during a five minute break in fighting said enemies. Blarg! Perhaps the message to take away in general here is that companion romances should be exploring options beyond 'a man and a woman love each other very much and get married and have 2.5 kids and a dog and a white picket fence'? Well on one hand this kind of thing is about fantasy and wish fullfilment and such, and a lot of people want that. On the other hand, I find it really difficult to image any of the main character classes wanting that. They aren't exactly normal people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuffystuffs Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 As for Kaliyo, my personal impression is that she's doing it for the tax benefits, as it were. Pssh, as if Kaliyo pays taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kioma Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Well on one hand this kind of thing is about fantasy and wish fullfilment and such, and a lot of people want that. I wouldn't support taking it away for exactly this reason... but I see no reason why there can't be an equally As Happy Ever After As You Get In The Middle Of Intergalactic War ending that doesn't involve kids. Provide both. Not everyone has the same fantasy and not all wishes are fulfilled in the same way. And as you say, the PCs aren't necessarily 'normal'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kioma Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Out of curiosity do the baby conversations happen in cutscenes or in text mails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suaine Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Out of curiosity do the baby conversations happen in cutscenes or in text mails? I believe most of these are mails, from what I've read/watched on youtube. Haven't gotten anywhere near the end myself as only one of my characters is straight and into sex and he's... level 15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cythereal Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Out of curiosity do the baby conversations happen in cutscenes or in text mails? The Vette and Malavai ones are in mails, don't know about the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarrickBlackSun Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) I'm a major geek and not embarrassed to say the majority if not all my toons are female, and I know they havent yet implemented same sex romance in game yet, but would any one have any idea at what point the romance part of heterosexual companion interaction begins? I.e.: Affection lvl, character lvl, act number, etc. Edited February 17, 2012 by GarrickBlackSun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suaine Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I'm a major geek and not embarrassed to say the majority if not all my toons are female, and I know they havent yet implemented same sex romance in game yet, but would any one have any idea at what point the romance part of companion interaction begins? I.e.: Affection lvl, character lvl, act number, etc. With some, you can flirt the moment you meet, even before they are officially your companions. The romance starts for real fairly early - I usually had to turn down the over-eager puppies on my uninterested characters around their fourth or fifth conversation. Level depends mostly on when you get them - say you have a smuggler and want to romance either of the female companions; they might be fairly low in affection but you're high in level because either of them only becomes a companion after Act 1 is over. If you want to hold out for SGRAs the safest bet is not to talk to them at all. Fair warning, you might still end up disappointed. We don't know anything about whether we even get current companions, as much as we might wish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LyriaFrost Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) But back on the babies thing, it's especially ridiculous that, say, my Sith Warrior who's totally planning on being involved in fighting enemies of the Empire for at least the next few decades has her husband going on about how awesome babies are and making plans for them during a five minute break in fighting said enemies. Perhaps the message to take away in general here is that companion romances should be exploring options beyond 'a man and a woman love each other very much and get married and have 2.5 kids and a dog and a white picket fence'? *dramatic music, clashing lightsabers, and two force-users sweep back and forth across the room in a climactic fight scene* *suddenly the sith warrior's holocom starts beeping loudly* Sith: Doh. Hang on, time out. Jedi: What? Sith: Have to answer this. Jedi: Uh... Sith: *turns it on, to see a crying baby* Aw, don't cry baby. Momma'll come take care of you. Jedi: Ah, kids. Gotta love 'em, eh? How old is he? Sith: Yeah. Three months next week! Okay, so...gimme like...an hour or so? I need to head back to the ship and rock him to sleep. Jedi: Sure thing. Catch you in a bit. Cute kid. Edited February 17, 2012 by LyriaFrost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cythereal Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 *dramatic music, clashing lightsabers, and two force-users sweep back and forth across the room in a climactic fight scene* *suddenly the sith warrior's holocom starts beeping loudly* Sith: Doh. Hang on, time out. Jedi: What? Sith: Have to answer this. Jedi: Uh... Sith: *turns it on, to see a crying baby* Aw, don't cry baby. Momma'll come take care of you. Jedi: Ah, kids. Gotta love 'em, eh? How old is he? Sith: Yeah. Three months next week! Okay, so...gimme like...an hour or so? I need to head back to the ship and rock him to sleep. Jedi: Sure thing. Catch you in a bit. Cute kid. Ironically, both Vette and Malavai agree that Malavai will be playing nanny if and when kids appear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suaine Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 *dramatic music, clashing lightsabers, and two force-users sweep back and forth across the room in a climactic fight scene* *suddenly the sith warrior's holocom starts beeping loudly* Sith: Doh. Hang on, time out. Jedi: What? Sith: Have to answer this. Jedi: Uh... Sith: *turns it on, to see a crying baby* Aw, don't cry baby. Momma'll come take care of you. Jedi: Ah, kids. Gotta love 'em, eh? How old is he? Sith: Yeah. Three months next week! Okay, so...gimme like...an hour or so? I need to head back to the ship and rock him to sleep. Jedi: Sure thing. Catch you in a bit. Cute kid. That... is actually pretty fun. And, well, I think with a ship full of patch-work family, one could conceivably be a mother or father and still a big damn hero. It'll just take a little imagination for those who do want it. Not that it should be the default, of course. But having had working parents and an extended family taking care of me in my childhood, I could see that working out just fine. Although, admittedly, my parents were not Jedi masters. They did call me an alien though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kioma Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I believe most of these are mails, from what I've read/watched on youtube. Haven't gotten anywhere near the end myself as only one of my characters is straight and into sex and he's... level 15. The Vette and Malavai ones are in mails, don't know about the others. I can see how this would be an issue from a developer's point of view. Mails are non-interactive; it's really just something pretty to read from time to time, in a sense. If the question of whether to have kids or not is raised and requires an answer, it'd then require a cutscene - which would lead to more VO, making the issue of whether to have kids or not a slightly more costly thing to implement. I'm not saying they shouldn't, just putting it out there that questions requiring answers leads to cutscenes, and transferring something from mail 'conversation' to cutscene could be prohibitive in the short term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cythereal Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I can see how this would be an issue from a developer's point of view. Mails are non-interactive; it's really just something pretty to read from time to time, in a sense. If the question of whether to have kids or not is raised and requires an answer, it'd then require a cutscene - which would lead to more VO, making the issue of whether to have kids or not a slightly more costly thing to implement. I'm not saying they shouldn't, just putting it out there that questions requiring answers leads to cutscenes, and transferring something from mail 'conversation' to cutscene could be prohibitive in the short term. Mind, Vette's mail specifically says that you two haven't talked about it, but she's starting to think about having or adopting kids. Malavai terms his an "infant contingency report" and comes across as a "In case of babies, proceed according to Plan A." Neither explicitly state that they want to have kids, at least not immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suaine Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I can see how this would be an issue from a developer's point of view. Mails are non-interactive; it's really just something pretty to read from time to time, in a sense. If the question of whether to have kids or not is raised and requires an answer, it'd then require a cutscene - which would lead to more VO, making the issue of whether to have kids or not a slightly more costly thing to implement. I'm not saying they shouldn't, just putting it out there that questions requiring answers leads to cutscenes, and transferring something from mail 'conversation' to cutscene could be prohibitive in the short term. Didn't one of the devs once say that SWTOR will be the first game with companion romance that can end in divorce? I have no idea how to find the quote, but it does make me think that they have more planned for the romance than what is there now, so maybe those mails are really just nice flavor place-holders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kioma Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Wouldn't that make it the first MMO that can end in tears? On second thought, probably not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenovan Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Just to chime in on the marriage and children front, Torian asks IF you have kids, if they would be raised as Mandalorians. That's a Big Deal for him since it's one of the 6 tenets of being a Mando. For comparison to relationships mentioned earlier, this does happen during a conversation, not in a mail. Also, like many of the other relationships, this one can end in marriage. Torian's a nifty option for a gay romance; one of the canonical gay relationships in the SW EU is between two married Mandos, and their culture is one that sorta promotes adoption anyway, if the couple did eventually want children. Seems to work out just fine with the expected Mando lifestyle, which is an argument for why the Mandos would be cool with SGR in the first place, I guess. Edited February 17, 2012 by Jenovan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitsutenma Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) I'm happy to see this is going to be an option in the future. Am I the only one that wonders if Xalek will be romancable? Edited February 17, 2012 by Kitsutenma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandydude Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Any idea when this weeks community Q&A will be up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklecat Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Well, Imperial and Sith culture are noted to be very family-centric, and this goes double for the Empire's Force-sensitive bloodlines. In the SW's backstory they're scions of a distinguished Sith family to boot. It's only natural and culturally expected that Malavai and the SW would want to have kids, ditto the male SW and Vette/Jaesa. Getting married, having lots of kids, and raising them carefully and well is the norm and the cultural expectation for Imperials. Oh yeah, definitely can see that, but.... now? Also I'd suspect that the cultural expectation was more that she could have fun with her Imperial on the side all she wanted, but she was going to have babies with a nice force-sensitive Sith guy, which is another reason why I think marriage doesn't always fit in with certain classes/relationships. And I'm hoping this is something we'll see a bit of a departure from in the SGRAs, though I'd also be concerned that they leave the current ones as they are, and unintentionally manage to send the message that straight people get married in committed relationships, and gay people are more likely to play around. Also, in response to another post of yours, you do get an email from Quinn about babies, but he also talks about them in your last conversation. He presents it as 'whenever you're ready, if this is ever something you want!', but by the time he's brought it up twice, you kinda get the impression this is something he's in favor of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cythereal Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Oh yeah, definitely can see that, but.... now? Also I'd suspect that the cultural expectation was more that she could have fun with her Imperial on the side all she wanted, but she was going to have babies with a nice force-sensitive Sith guy, which is another reason why I think marriage doesn't always fit in with certain classes/relationships. Male light-side Sith Warriors can actually have a very interesting situation here - you can romance Vette, and independently of that, suggest to light-side Jaesa Wilsaam that you have children together even though there's no proper romance. Feels rather Dune-like in that while you may love Vette, Jaesa will be your wife for the sake of society and bloodline. It is true, though, that every single Force-sensitive class's romanceable female companion is also a Force-sensitive (exception: one of the two romanceable female companions to the Warrior), while no Force-sensitive class has a romanceable male companion who is also Force-sensitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kioma Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 It is true, though, that every single Force-sensitive class's romanceable female companion is also a Force-sensitive (exception: one of the two romanceable female companions to the Warrior), while no Force-sensitive class has a romanceable male companion who is also Force-sensitive. I wonder if that's just coincidence. I can imagine the writing team looking at that and going, "Hey, how about that? Never noticed that..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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