Same gender relationships clarifications?

[natashina]

I dunno if anyone's seen this link. It's an article about EA and Zynga's inclusion of LGBT themes. Presumably not EA's fault but rather the writer of the article, but it goes on to mention that SW:TOR recently added SGRA's. I know two people who saw the article and almost resubbed before realizing it wasn't true.

 

Anyways just thought I'd share it for anyone interested in reading about it.

 

Unfortunately, it's pretty much the same article as gameindustrybiz, just reposted by theverge. What Tatile and I are taking issue with is the fact that they are outright lying about SGRs currently being in game. I said to Hades with it and contacted the US and EU editors for gameindustrybiz about this.

 

"Recently EA added the ability to participate in homosexual relationships to Star Wars: The Old Republic, expressing that the LGBT issues should not be ignored," --theverve

 

 

Really? Really???? Anyone that feels like they been fed a bunch of bull should write to that site as well.

 

I want to be nice. I really do. I'm still trying by being polite and courteous. I'm not going to attack the CRS, since they are giving us what they can. So I'm not going to shoot the messenger. However, the handling of this by BW/EA feels like a slap in the face. I don't want the game to suffer, but I don't want to be belittled and lied to either.

 

Bah, I'm going to bed. Overnight shift and all that. I'll be in a better mood by then. I've done all I can. I've emailed/pm'd/emailed some more. We'll see what happens.

 

Edit: Sorry for the rant guys. I'm tired and cranky, so thanks for bearing with me. I try to avoid ranting, but this touched a serious nerve.

Edited October 17, 2012 by natashina

[Icebergy]

Please let's not get off-track with a critique of aspects of the RL politics of orientation. This is not the place for it.

 

As it has been a while, and to keep these concerns accessible to the community team, here's the summary of Things We'd Really Like To Know, Please:

 

 

• Will same-gender relationships be available with current companions?
  
• If so, with which?
  
• Will same-gender relationships be available for all eight classes?
  
• If not, with which?
  
• Will new relationship options be available to characters who have already fully progressed companion stories?
  
• Is the awaited same-gender content on the schedule to be released with Makeb?
  
• Are we still on track to see that content this year?
  
• Will same-gender romance require an in-game credit or cartel coin (or any other similar) expense to unlock?
  

 

Some of these questions date back to beta testing. Others are more recent, arising from changes at BioWare Austin and in the direction of the game. Clarification of any would be appreciated.

 

 

I can answer that for you.

 

-No.

-Yes.

-No.

-I have heard a rumor that there is some SGRA with NPCs in Makeb, but for companions, not yet. It will be when we get new companions.

-Makeb yes, SGRA looks doubtful unless you count it with NPCs on Makeb.

-This is the only one I can't answer. It is definitely possible that the SGRA enabled companions will be cartel coin purchases, but they could just as easily add them in with the level increase.

[Captain_Zone]

I can answer that for you.

 

-No.

-Yes.

-No.

-I have heard a rumor that there is some SGRA with NPCs in Makeb, but for companions, not yet. It will be when we get new companions.

-Makeb yes, SGRA looks doubtful unless you count it with NPCs on Makeb.

-This is the only one I can't answer. It is definitely possible that the SGRA enabled companions will be cartel coin purchases, but they could just as easily add them in with the level increase.

 

Actually, BioWare reps have stated that SGRs will be available with some current companions. Your intel is faulty.

[stormdrakelord]

I know this may be old but, I think we got hints on some of who might be SGR options when SGR's are released, what with the courting gifts for some companions from the same gender PC still add affection points.

 

not getting my hopes up on that though.

Edited October 17, 2012 by stormdrakelord

[Quething]

I can answer that for you.

 

-No.

-Yes.

-No.

-I have heard a rumor that there is some SGRA with NPCs in Makeb, but for companions, not yet. It will be when we get new companions.

-Makeb yes, SGRA looks doubtful unless you count it with NPCs on Makeb.

-This is the only one I can't answer. It is definitely possible that the SGRA enabled companions will be cartel coin purchases, but they could just as easily add them in with the level increase.

 

[citation needed]

[Uluain]

Indeed.

 

All we have ever been led to expect is same-gener romance options with companion characters. Don't get me wrong – I would very much like to see same-gender [Flirt] prompts for mission NPCs as well, but BioWare has never so much as mentioned this as a possibility.

 

So unless you can document your sources, I am not going to be able to credit your guesses. We are asking BioWare to answer those points because they do remain ambiguous or else otherwise in doubt even in the wake of what has been said about same-gender romance in SWTOR.

 

We have a pretty comprehensive catalog of statements on the subject. If you have information we don't, please do share it.

[Tatile]

Apologies, but that TheVerge article pissed me right the **** off and I felt the need to contact the author:

Dear Alexa Ray Corriea,

 

I feel obliged to inform you that there is a gross factual inaccuracy in your recent article:

"EA, Zynga say LGBT themes are a 'non-issue' for company investors"

 

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/10/16/3511724/ea-zynga-say-lgbt-themes-are-a-non-issue-for-company-investors

 

This inaccuracy being that "Recently EA added the ability to participate in homosexual relationships to Star Wars: The Old Republic" - that is wholly and completely untrue. Same-sex relationship options, whether they be with the Companion NPC's attached to each class or those that exist in the world in general are not possible. The option simply does not exist.

 

I would direct your attention to the Same Gender Relationships Clarifications? thread on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forums: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=476215 where the subject of same-sex options has been around since beta, with nary a look-in from developers.

 

In the interest of accuracy I would like to suggest that you amend your article with regards to Star Wars: The Old Republic having same-sex romance options. It is untrue and a gross disregard for the issues the LGBT community is having with the companies of Bioware and EA over the decision not to include same-sex options in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

 

Sincerely,

 

<name removed>

 

You do not get away with spreading such blatant lies.

 

Contacted Mr. Gonzalez on the subject:

Mr. Gonzalez,

 

I feel it is necessary to tell you that two articles I have recently encountered have spread blatant lies about the game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

 

The first of Games Industry:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-10-15-Publishers-LGBT-Equality-is-Civil-Rights-Issue-of-our-Time

 

The second of The Verge:

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/10/16/3511724/ea-zynga-say-lgbt-themes-are-a-non-issue-for-company-investors

 

Both articles state that same-sex romance options are currently available in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Ms. Corriea even went so far as to say "Recently EA added the ability to participate in homosexual relationships to Star Wars: The Old Republic"

 

These people are spreading lies about Star Wars: The Old Republic. If possible I believe that Bioware should contact these magazines and tell them the truth: that same-sex romances are not in-game and that their future is uncertain. Having such blatant factual inaccuracies circulating around Star Wars: The Old Republic is only going to further damage its reputation.

 

I'm just... this really just *********** pisses me off. You'd think that even the most basic of journalists would have the scrap of sense to follow up on such a subject, instead of regurgitating such blatant misinformation.

 

Nothing's going to happen, of course, because they don't care. This only proves it.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Tatile

[stuffystuffs]

It looks like the article was edited...I see no mention of SWTOR.

[Uluain]

"Blatant lies" is a bit strong, really. It is (or was) a misunderstanding caused by the announced intention of bringing SGRs to SWTOR. This is not the first time those reporting on the issue have been confused. It would be a blatant lie if that story had run as written, had EA/BW said that they would never include SGRs. It's a flub, and has been corrected in the gameindustry.biz article.

[Tatile]

It has been corrected in both articles, in fact.

 

Yes, I agree "lies" is a bit strong, which is why for the most part I tried to use "factually incorrect". It's just the second article got my blood up...

 

I'll try to be more restrained in future.

 

(Me: My god, they edited the articles.

Husband: Nice! You probably had an impact.)

[Ohamsie]

Has anyone tried contacting Courtney Woods or Amber Green? They might not be as "visible" as Allison and Joveth, but they both seem to do pretty good jobs of posting on the forums. Or are they different departments?

[Tatile]

I've not, but that's mostly because all I've seen them do is update patch notes or maintain the PTS forums, so I have rather made the assumption that their roles belong to the game "as is now" rather than being pestered about how the game should be.

 

 

"Blatant lies" is a bit strong, really. It is (or was) a misunderstanding caused by the announced intention of bringing SGRs to SWTOR.

 

Yes, it's more than likely the confusion was over Mr. Amatangelo's (I can never spell his name, have to Google it every time) "I kind of think it might be maybe", that a lot of people assumed 1.5 to be Makeb for a fair while and, of course, that Bioware games do have same-sex romance options. I just was most annoyed by the fact that the articles' authors and their editors failed to check the accuracy of those statements. It wouldn't even have taken five minutes. But they have amended the problem and so I've nothing more to say to them. In a way I'm rather impressed that they did, I wonder if they were surprised...

Edited October 17, 2012 by Tatile

[losdia]

I've not, but that's mostly because all I've seen them do is update patch notes or maintain the PTS forums, so I have rather made the assumption that their roles belong to the game "as is now" rather than being pestered about how the game should be.

 

. . . If they're the ones who work with PTS they probably have more of an idea of what's going on with content that is still in the pipeline than any of the other CS people...

[Tatile]

. . . If they're the ones who work with PTS they probably have more of an idea of what's going on with content that is still in the pipeline than any of the other CS people...

 

You make a good point, but the drive to send snippy PM's to people has rather left me this evening. I'll have some tea in the morning and once again inflate myself with hot air. Directionless, confused frustration will be available once more, eventually

[Uluain]

Has anyone tried contacting Courtney Woods or Amber Green? They might not be as "visible" as Allison and Joveth, but they both seem to do pretty good jobs of posting on the forums. Or are they different departments?

 

I have approached both of them on occasion, but only been replied to by Allison or, once, Joveth (which turned into a two or three email exchange). My suspicion is that really, the watercooler effect means word does get around the studio – which is how PvP Czar Gabe Amatangelo came to have info regarding SGRs and Makeb, which apparently no one had thought to tell him not to talk about.

 

I also infer that when Courtney (who I follow on Twitter and seems like a really fun person) or Amber get private messages outside their direct areas of responsibility, they pass them on to Allison – who does whatever follow-up there is to do. So different departments – or rather, different responsibilities within the Community Support department. Again, all inferred from observation of who posts regarding what. Maybe we will see a Meet the Community Team blog some day.

[Tatile]

You know, I've been thinking about this subject and I really do think that all of this hub-bub was caused by the decision to not talk.

 

It's present in all aspects of this game, but feels most poignant here because of EA and Bioware's public stance of being pro-LGBT. It's almost as if some of the management and marketing directors had a meeting and said "I don't understand why people would want information. That doesn't make any sense to me." and following on from that decided not to provide any. Then we as a community have asked for more information, greater communication (which I still feel has not happened) and the response has come back: "But we decided not to give you any information, why we should start doing it know? I don't understand what you're asking for." and they've retreated back into their little holes.

 

Ah, I don't even know why I'm bothering to post this. The Community Team aren't reading this thread and even if they were, this wouldn't reach the people it's meant for.

 

I suppose for too long I've attributed malice to something which was actually an act of unrelenting stupidity.

[natashina]

I heard back from Allison today. Sadly, there isn't anything much more she can tell us:

Hello <name removed>,

 

Thanks for writing to me with your questions and concerns. We know that this is a topic that's very important to many players, and that waiting to hear new details can be frustrating. Please rest assured that the Community Team knows about your (and others') desire for more information (we read the SGRA thread frequently and part of our job is to bring up community concerns like this one), and that as soon as we have anything new, we'll share it right away.

 

Thank you for your continued patience on this topic.

 

At least she answered and acknowledged the thread. This is probably about all I can do right now. I have not heard back from Ms. Maseda yet, but I'll let you guys know if that changes.

 

Now excuse me, I've got a nap to catch and an IA to continue with. Best story I've played thus far!

Edited October 19, 2012 by natashina

[Tatile]

Hi again, Tatile!

 

I apologize for taking a while to get back to you on the Private Messages you've sent since my last response!

 

Thanks as always for being a passionate advocate and voice for players like you on the forums, and for maintaining constructive discourse.

 

The Community Team continues to gather and provide feedback on this and many other issues from the community. As soon as we have any new information, we'll share it right away - we know that you have many questions, and hope we'll be able to bring you answers soon.

 

Thanks for sending along this list of questions, and have a great weekend!

 

"maintaining constructive discourse" through copious amounts of tea, chocolate and writing about my own gay couple. I got my own personalized copy pasta as well, yay.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Tatile

[Noremacv]

Really, no notable update? Holy hell...

 

Can we at least know if SGRAs will be made retroactively available to existing toons that have not engaged in a romance with any crew members so that we can still play them? I don't want to play through 2 of my characters that I have plans to put through an SGRA only to find out in an announcement "sorry, but you have to re-roll to experience this".

I asked this for the weekly Q&A that ended back in the end of July, and we've heard squat about that Q&A since, yet we got a Q&A afterwards about Free-to-play that also still isn't out. So please, enlighten us. Personally, I don't care about when the SGRAs are coming. I just need to know if the SGRAs will at least be retroactively available so I can play my female Sorcerer now and romance Ashara later without worrying about if I've wasted my time leveling to find I have to re-roll to experience this possibility.

I don't think that's unreasonable. Do you?

Edited October 21, 2012 by Noremacv

[Icebergy]

Actually, BioWare reps have stated that SGRs will be available with some current companions. Your intel is faulty.

 

Link please. That would basically break RP in the game.

[Noremacv]

Link please. That would basically break RP in the game.

How? Some companions basically already are open to both, we just can't pursue the SGR with them. Like jaesa and Kaliyo being the 2 immediate ones that come to mind. Quin probably isn't far off.

[natashina]

This is from the Guild Summit in March, with Daniel Erickson. Although he has left the company, several posters(including myself)have been writing the community team. They said that these statements still hold true. If you ever want any way to get a hold of Bioware employees respectfully and politely, please ask some of the members of this thread. We're getting a lot of practice.

 

Since I understand why some posters are asking for proof about our ideas of SGRs with current companions, this is a video from the Guild Summit. It goes into a little more detail.

 

Here's

as requested.

 

So, with this in mind, that is why players currently have every reason to believe that at least some of the companions will be available for same gender romance content.

Edited October 21, 2012 by natashina

[stuffystuffs]

Really, no notable update? Holy hell...

I just need to know if the SGRAs will at least be retroactively available so I can play my female Sorcerer now and romance Ashara later without worrying about if I've wasted my time leveling to find I have to re-roll to experience this possibility.

I don't think that's unreasonable. Do you?

 

I don't think so...others (including myself) have basically been asking for the same thing. Not sure why they at least can't tell us something like that.

 

I kind of started a female Inquisitor too but I think I'll stop leveling her at Taris for now.

 

Link please. That would basically break RP in the game.

 

For me, it would greatly fix RP in the game.

Edited October 21, 2012 by stuffystuffs

[Tatile]

Link please. That would basically break RP in the game.

 

I've yet to meet people who RP with the companions - I seriously have no idea where you're coming from with this. How?

[Noremacv]

I don't think so...others (including myself) have basically been asking for the same thing. Not sure why they at least can't tell us something like that.

 

I kind of started a female Inquisitor too but I think I'll stop leveling her at Taris for now.

My SI hasn't even been started yet because of the lack of info. She's created, but not played. My Juggernaut, however, has been played up to level 17 so far, but has been sitting at the path to the Dark Temple for a few months because I don't want to waste my time on the thought of having to re-roll. I'm hoping it will be retroactive because that Juggy is one of the toons that got 20 black hole comms as part of the "I made a toon on an origin server" bonus from BioWare.