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At this point, I'm not even asking for much, just allow us to romance existing companions. No need to re-record lines or anything, and I wouldn't care if it sounded a little awkward at times. Just remove the gender restriction.

 

At the very least, toss us a new companion, be it cartel coins or next expansion or something, that we can do same gender romance with. Kissing some NPC every new planet isn't what we had in mind.

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At this point, I'm not even asking for much, just allow us to romance existing companions. No need to re-record lines or anything, and I wouldn't care if it sounded a little awkward at times. Just remove the gender restriction.

 

At the very least, toss us a new companion, be it cartel coins or next expansion or something, that we can do same gender romance with. Kissing some NPC every new planet isn't what we had in mind.

 

I've been willing to accept having the gender restriction removed for a while at this point. Would it be weird if Mako calls your female bounty hunter "big guy"? Yeah. Would it be better than what we have? Yeah.

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Just how complicated would it be for Bioware to add SSR to current companions? Could they just add [Flirt] options and romance convos for same gender toons? Or would it be more complicated than that? Edited by josephinec
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Just how complicated would it be for Bioware to add SSR to current companions? Could they just add [Flirt] options and romance convos for same gender toons? Or would it be more complicated than that?

 

They would need to call all the voice actors back in to do the dialogue which isn't really feasable outside of an expansion, and even if they did... redoing all the dialouge for the entire rest of the game like that would be a lot more expensive still. We're not talking a few hours in the studio to record a few lines and get them sounding right... we're talking weeks to record and such all that dialogue. Plus, getting it coded right to not be like "Oh, you are the most beautiful woman... " to your male character by accident.

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They would need to call all the voice actors back in to do the dialogue which isn't really feasable outside of an expansion, and even if they did... redoing all the dialouge for the entire rest of the game like that would be a lot more expensive still. We're not talking a few hours in the studio to record a few lines and get them sounding right... we're talking weeks to record and such all that dialogue. Plus, getting it coded right to not be like "Oh, you are the most beautiful woman... " to your male character by accident.

You overestimate the problems.

They already brought all the relevant VA back for SoR. You will notice that in the intro cinematic both the male and female LI for all classes speak while nearly all the other NPCs remain silent throughout the expansion. Recording the rather few lines needed for a SGRA with an existing companion can (and possibly has been) be done alongside the recording for the rest of the game and would not take more than half a day per LI (generous estimation).

 

The tricky part is the coding. Code for LI confrontations already exists (because some class-gender combinations have two LIs already) but it has to be expanded for the other classes. And depending on how the romance arcs are programmed (ME1-style initial gender-check with no later checks or DA-style with gender-checks in every dialoge) reprogramming can be a lot of work.

Not to mention that for existing characters who already leveled the affection to max and possibly even commited to an other LI issues can happen if new dialoge is added.

But since the last word on this is two years old they should have had enough time to figure something out by now or at least own up to the fact if companion SGRAs have been scrapped instead of delayed.

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They gave up on the no herosexual thing Erickson said, back when they talked to us, with the SoR mini-arcs.

 

Screw it, either gender-flip them or churn out a couple of new CM companions for it. Just use the "it's only the monthly allotment, so you're not really paying for it" excuse they did with the Cathar.

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"No heterosexual thing"?

No "Hero-sexual", also sometimes called "Player-sexual" . That is, that romancable characters are always interested in the player character and only the player character, regardless of the player character's sex / gender.

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No "Hero-sexual", also sometimes called "Player-sexual" . That is, that romancable characters are always interested in the player character and only the player character, regardless of the player character's sex / gender.

 

Oh, misread. So they previously said they wouldn't do herosexual but have changed their minds now?

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Oh, misread. So they previously said they wouldn't do herosexual but have changed their minds now?

 

Essentially. Sometimes a romanceable companion in an RPG is designed to be romanceable regardless of player character gender (herosexual), or only if they are a particular gender (heterosexual OR homosexual OR bisexual). For whatever reason, companions were all designed to be the latter; that is, have a particular realistic sexual orientation. That wouldn't be a problem, except in TOR, every. last. companion. is heterosexual. Hence the four years of concerns, which have always been - and seemingly, always shall be - unaddressed.

 

Providing romance (or, let's be realistic, one night stand) dialogue options with NPC's in expansion content that is available to both genders of player characters is technically a bisexual NPC, but without evidence of the character's romantic relationships with other NPCs, we are forced to conclude they are herosexual. Which Bioware said they didn't want to do originally. . . but clearly are now.

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If they're not going to retcon existing player companions to add SGRAs and they're not going to lift gender restrictions on them without new dialogue, new companions do seem to be the way to go. What about a cartel market unlock for the starfighter companions? As often repeated here, pay-to-gay is not the favorite choice, but if the cost is within a reasonable striking distance of the monthly grant, it's better than nothing.

 

That would mean Ashy and Kendra Novar as unlockable full companions with SGRA for the Republic and Salana Rok and either Aven Geth or Writch Hurley for the Empire. That way, they don't need additional character concepts, and those voice actors have already been selected. They also have at least some ties to the existing storyline and could even boost interest in starfighter.

Edited by PresentTense
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So out of curiosity - especially since I stopped playing TOR originally almost three years ago and only came back in March - What SGR content is there, anyway (try to avoid spoilers, obv)? I tried Googling, but it leads me either to this thread, or tons of links to 2011-2013 articles decrying either the lack of SGR or it's "eventual" inclusion.
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So out of curiosity - especially since I stopped playing TOR originally almost three years ago and only came back in March - What SGR content is there, anyway (try to avoid spoilers, obv)? I tried Googling, but it leads me either to this thread, or tons of links to 2011-2013 articles decrying either the lack of SGR or it's "eventual" inclusion.

 

I'm not sure how spoiler-free it is possible to make this, but I'll try to stick to the basics.

 

 

 

On Makeb, there is a male sith pureblood that can be romanced by Imperial male pcs, but his story can't extend past the planet.

 

Also on Makeb, there is a female scientist that Republic players can romance, regardless of their own gender. The romance does not extend past Makeb.

 

In the Shadow of Revan expansion, both Theron Shan, a male SIS agent, and Lana Beniko, a female sith, can be romanced by any pc of either faction. These romances end with the expansion storyline.

 

Those latter three bring up the question asked above of whether they are bisexual or herosexual. No matter what the answer, there are as of yet no female characters that can be romanced by only female pcs.

 

There are also a handful of other npcs with a few flirts, such as the female sith that runs some optional quests that came with the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. There are no same-gender flirts with any companions.

 

Edited by PresentTense
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If they're not going to retcon existing player companions to add SGRAs and they're not going to lift gender restrictions on them without new dialogue, new companions do seem to be the way to go. What about a cartel market unlock for the starfighter companions? As often repeated here, pay-to-gay is not the favorite choice, but if the cost is within a reasonable striking distance of the monthly grant, it's better than nothing.

 

That would mean Ashy and Kendra Novar as unlockable full companions with SGRA for the Republic and Salana Rok and either Aven Geth or Writch Hurley for the Empire. That way, they don't need additional character concepts, and those voice actors have already been selected. They also have at least some ties to the existing storyline and could even boost interest in starfighter.

 

I would love to have the starfighter crew as full-fledged companions in any way, shape or form!

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  • 1 month later...

I'd just like to say a few things concerning this topic.

I've been watching these forums ever since this game came out in the hopes that EA/Bioware/Whoever is in charge would implement SGR. Regardless, this is the first time that I've ever commented on this subject. I've always loved Bioware and its tendency to be inclusive (I've played the ME and Dragon Age series) when it comes to romances. At first, I was dismayed that they were not included at launch and the continued quagmire of vague statements over the past few years has really soured me to Bioware. I sincerely hope that SGRs will be implemented now that the financial issues have been leveled out.

If Bioware really does not intend on making companions SGRomancable, it would be great if they were actually communicate that to those of us who have been waiting for a CLEAR and CONCISE answer. After reading these forums and trying to decipher their cryptic statements, I feel it is time for Bioware to finally be both honest and straightforward on this subject.

I understand that there were financial problems. I understand that not everyone likes this particular subject. Yet there is a tired and loyal group of individuals who would like to see this implemented so they can better enjoy the RP aspects of their characters. The greatness of SWTOR was its dedication to story and without SGRs the ability of some of us to appreciate their characters and the story is diminished.

I know that this will most likely never happen, but please Bioware, just tell us what the deal is at this point concerning our companions. Stop leaving us in the dark. Communicate. With. Words.

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Well, long thread, too much to read.

 

So I'm chiming in a bit blind, but I'm fully aware of a few things.

 

1. SWTOR dev crew is Bioware Austin Texas USA, not Bioware Calgary Alberta Canada. So I do not expect the same level of inclusions.

2. Star Wars, is a licensed Game, the licence was Lucas Arts, and now it's Disney.

-2a. George Lucas, who had 1 female lead in Star Wars, who was your basic damsel in distress with attitude.

-2b. George Lucas who felt that in the future there are only two black guys.

-2c. George Lucas who's only 'LGBT' charter was a flamboyant Hutt in a cartoon. Hutts, which are both evil and natural hermaphrodites, so being a 'LGBT' stereotype was meaningless.

-2e. George Lucas who made the ruling on Video game canon saying '... in games were gender and morality are options, the character is always male, and light side choices are the only choices made.

 

So yes, Disney is more inclusive... cough ...Blackwidow... cough ... but they still have issues, since Marvel and Star Wars count as 'Boy Toys', so let's hope they do add more than a couple of player sexual characters.

 

p.s. Bioware became inclusive because of lazy programming. All the original same sex romance options happened because they forgot to include gender filters (in gaming it's called 'player sexual'), when they saw the positive reaction they made the choice to make it a feature.

Edited by gothshark
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Well, long thread, too much to read.

 

So I'm chiming in a bit blind, but I'm fully aware of a few things.

 

1. SWTOR dev crew is Bioware Austin Texas USA, not Bioware Calgary Alberta Canada. So I do not expect the same level of inclusions.

2. Star Wars, is a licensed Game, the licence was Lucas Arts, and now it's Disney.

-2a. George Lucas, who had 1 female lead in Star Wars, who was your basic damsel in distress with attitude.

-2b. George Lucas who felt that in the future there are only two black guys.

-2c. George Lucas who's only 'LGBT' charter was a flamboyant Hutt in a cartoon. Hutts, which are both evil and natural hermaphrodites, so being a 'LGBT' stereotype was meaningless.

-2e. George Lucas who made the ruling on Video game canon saying '... in games were gender and morality are options, the character is always male, and light side choices are the only choices made.

 

So yes, Disney is more inclusive... cough ...Blackwidow... cough ... but they still have issues, since Marvel and Star Wars count as 'Boy Toys', so let's hope they do add more than a couple of player sexual characters.

 

p.s. Bioware became inclusive because of lazy programming. All the original same sex romance options happened because they forgot to include gender filters (in gaming it's called 'player sexual'), when they saw the positive reaction they made the choice to make it a feature.

Well... aside from the fact that Lucas is no longer involved, KotOR 2 had a canonically female PC. I also doubt that Disney is concerning itself with minutiae like romance options in TOR.

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