Why are the Light/Dark side reward companions both female?

[Matisaha]

Why are there no male companions? Do you hate your female players? I would have loved to have a male force using companion...

 

Oh well, more reason to keep away from this asinine event. Thanks for nothing. You'll be fortunate if I don't cancel my sub by the end of the day.

 

 

Hm.. you ladies do deserve a force using comp that is male, aye. But this one will be generic (although, the chiss is less generic as.. well we do not have any chiss comps yet... ) so, honestly I hope they'll instead add a male force user companion that is possible to romance and get to know. Would be a lot better in the long run I'd say.

 

I personally I enjoy the event otherwise as long as they decide to make 65's work retroactively and make the gear we get not be bound/legacy bound... if the Chiss becomes the comp I'd be more happy though as again, We have Akaavi. We do not have a chiss yet. The event itself... I dunno. I see more people around in low level zones again and I did of course have a class not at 65 already which did make it less painful I guess.

 

Opinions do differ but, yeah. In the end I do think a proper companion would be more suitable. Not quite sure why there are no male companions that use the force yet.

[Tsillah]

Basically, again, it boils down to keeping the male playerbase happy before anything else.

 

That is actually a false representation. Yes, the majority happens to be male but the point is not to keep the male player base happy but to keep the majority happy.

 

If the majority of players was female and there were 2 male companions, would you be complaining here on behalf of the male players? I suspect you would not.

 

Also there are also female players who prefer female companions and those who don't mind either way. I would really advise not making this a gender bias issue. As we know BW, if anyone, has done a lot for breaking gender prejudices in their games. And to be fair, I do not even know why BW chose to have 2 female companions, it's just my interpretation, but from a business point of view it makes sense to look at what the majority wants. It's not about gender bias but about majorities.

 

Besides, who knows what they will do next year? Maybe we'll have a similar event with male companions to win. It could happen.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Tsillah

[Drudenfusz]

I don't mind that both are female, if just one would be female I am pretty sure that would mean most male players would just go for that side. Also, I think in general that men are more motivated to work towards getting a woman than women are willing to work to get a man (even with all the equality there is still plenty of people who have this tendency towards classical gender roles... and I have to say it is occationally weird that no male NPC in the game is initiating a flirt, but well at least nobody can complain about unwanted attention).

 

Anyway, I also hope that there will be a male force user that can be romanced implemented in the future. Until then I will try to enjoy this event and don't care much which of those two girls is going to become a companion (also, I wouldn'T be surprised if the other will end up in the cartel market).

[Newyankalt]

All the force sensitive males are strong and independent and dont need no man/woman to guide them (see even Scourge is gone atm). All women are insecure and need a Master *grabs popcorn*

 

Well I got to say I always did enjoy Xalek more then the 4 Jedi girls... Shame he comes so late into the story. You only have one planet left with him in the main class stories where stuff actually matters and companions actually interact.

 

Playing the warrior again as a female this time and well Jaesa sucks IMO... The voice acting is bad and overall her interactions are way better when playing a male. They're just awkward on a female.

[Newyankalt]

Well I got to say I always did enjoy Xalek more then the 4 Jedi girls... Shame he comes so late into the story. You only have one planet left with him in the main class stories where stuff actually matters and companions actually interact.

 

Playing the warrior again as a female this time and well Jaesa sucks IMO... The voice acting is bad and overall her interactions are way better when playing a male. They're just awkward on a female.

 

I liked Scourge a lot too though because he was already trained and experienced... The 4 Jedi girls are all the same, young and sometimes often annoying...

 

 

So I got to say as a male player I think I'd rather another male force user. I'd take Scourge and Xalek over Kira/ Nadia/ Jaesa/ Ashara any day. Plus there's Senya and Lana now....

Edited July 9, 2016 by Newyankalt

[serenitty]

That is actually a false representation. Yes, the majority happens to be male but the point is not to keep the male player base happy but to keep the majority happy.

 

If the majority of players was female and there were 2 male companions, would you be complaining here on behalf of the male players? I suspect you would not.

 

Also there are also female players who prefer female companions and those who don't mind either way. I would really advise not making this a gender bias issue. As we know BW, if anyone, has done a lot for breaking gender prejudices in their games. And to be fair, I do not even know why BW chose to have 2 female companions, it's just my interpretation, but from a business point of view it makes sense to look at what the majority wants. It's not about gender bias but about majorities.

 

Besides, who knows what they will do next year? Maybe we'll have a similar event with male companions to win. It could happen.

 

Don't suspect anything, I would feel just as bad for male players if the situation were reversed. But, looking back over the game from the beginning you can see anything beyond the main story is definitely geared for male play. More flirts for males, advertising to appeal to males and now female only comps as event rewards.

It's true BW has done good in general towards breaking the gender barrier..Dragon Age in particular have done extremely well but I definitely feel when playing this game I am not as important as a paying customer as my male counterpart...it's not enough for me to not want to play anymore, I love this game and this is the only gripe I have with it.

There is a difference in keeping the majority happy and outright ignoring the minority.

Edited July 9, 2016 by serenitty

[Tsillah]

Don't suspect anything, I would feel just as bad for male players if the situation were reversed. But, looking back over the game from the beginning you can see anything beyond the main story is definitely geared for male play. More flirts for males, advertising to appeal to males and now female only comps as event rewards.

It's true BW has done good in general towards breaking the gender barrier..Dragon Age in particular have done extremely well but I definitely feel when playing this game I am not as important as a paying customer as my male counterpart...it's not enough for me to not want to play anymore, I love this game and this is the only gripe I have with it.

There is a difference in keeping the majority happy and outright ignoring the minority.

 

I think that is the point of a suspicion...thinking something but not knowing.

 

I also think that your assessment of ignoring the minority is a false conclusion. You can't win em all and in the end there are plenty of male companions as it is, so clearly you are not being ignored in this game.

 

Same gender romance doesn't go beyond a bit of flirting in later parts of the game...there is a group of people that have more right to complain in my view.

[serenitty]

I think that is the point of a suspicion...thinking something but not knowing.

 

I also think that your assessment of ignoring the minority is a false conclusion. You can't win em all and in the end there are plenty of male companions as it is, so clearly you are not being ignored in this game.

 

Same gender romance doesn't go beyond a bit of flirting in later parts of the game...there is a group of people that have more right to complain in my view.

You're right, people wanting same sex romance do have more of a right to complain, doesn't mean I don't have any, and no you can't win them all and they can't please everyone all of the time but if (and I hate comparing games but I am going to) Dragon Age can effectively and fairly include gender and sexual differences in their games despite a majority and minority divide then why can't swtor?

Maybe I am not being completely ignored but when I have a male character flirting with half of the galaxy and my female character lucky to get one or two, or my male character having a choice of two companions to romance and marry while my female character is given one and on occasion a fling, there is a definite difference there.

[Newyankalt]

Don't suspect anything, I would feel just as bad for male players if the situation were reversed. But, looking back over the game from the beginning you can see anything beyond the main story is definitely geared for male play. More flirts for males, advertising to appeal to males and now female only comps as event rewards.

It's true BW has done good in general towards breaking the gender barrier..Dragon Age in particular have done extremely well but I definitely feel when playing this game I am not as important as a paying customer as my male counterpart...it's not enough for me to not want to play anymore, I love this game and this is the only gripe I have with it.

There is a difference in keeping the majority happy and outright ignoring the minority.

 

Meh I'd say that's more the Star Wars influence rather than Bioware... The prequels and original movies have a grand total of 2 female characters that matter.

[benficakungfu]

Maybe its the KOTFE (new chapters) factor, but I just did ch10-14 after a 6 months hiatus and feel really impressed, to the point I think the new event is ok.

Why so much grief about a new companion -its gonna be generic all the way -no talking, same stats as every other 4.0 companion, personality explained in the event ad (ruthless, or honourable? -can't recall the exact phrases)

 

Point of the event is obviously getting fresh players to try the vanilla story instead of jumping to instant 60 character.

I'll just make new consular and play her through. See afterwards what I've achieved. No special expectations. Although I'd like to have that Tulak Hord set

 

That cant be the point, in no parto of the event you are required to do vanilla except for lvl 50 achiev, this event is crystal clear aimed for social interaction/grouping.

You need x matches of GSF x matches of pvp, do all fps sm/hm, kill ops bosses etc.

 

The event in itself is totally solo unfriendly contradicting with focus on story ( thank the stars ).

Imo aside from the way they handled rewards, very poorly, event as been pretty cool, and i really hope they follow this trend with social/gaming interaction in mind because it brings life to this game.

[Newyankalt]

You're right, people wanting same sex romance do have more of a right to complain, doesn't mean I don't have any, and no you can't win them all and they can't please everyone all of the time but if (and I hate comparing games but I am going to) Dragon Age can effectively and fairly include gender and sexual differences in their games despite a majority and minority divide then why can't swtor?

Maybe I am not being completely ignored but when I have a male character flirting with half of the galaxy and my female character lucky to get one or two, or my male character having a choice of two companions to romance and marry while my female character is given one and on occasion a fling, there is a definite difference there.

 

That all depends on the class, some male classes don't have many flirts either.

 

 

The companions, every female companion is human or humanoid. While half the male companions are aliens. Why the romance options are very different and not equal.

 

 

Easier to represent all those aliens as males since they use those same models again in the game. For most of those alien species we never see female versions anyways not just in this game but the EU as well.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Newyankalt

[serenitty]

That all depends on the class, some male classes don't have many flirts either.

 

 

The companions, every female companion is human or humanoid. While half the male companions are aliens. Why the romance options are very different.

 

I played a male Warrior and Jedi and both were flirting before they even left their starter planets, my females had none.

 

There are a couple of female classes that do have flirts but they are all in their class stories and maybe one flirt with a random guy in the galaxy. The male characters I played were flirting with and sometimes more with npc's outside their class stories.

[Newyankalt]

I played a male Warrior and Jedi and both were flirting before they even left their starter planets, my females had none.

 

There are a couple of female classes that do have flirts but they are all in their class stories and maybe one flirt with a random guy in the galaxy. The male characters I played were flirting with and sometimes more with npc's outside their class stories.

 

They didn't have gay flirts before ROTHC otherwise it wouldn't be an issue I think.

 

 

But there's a lot of alien quest givers that are all male, all the weird aliens are male. So it limits female interactions with a lot of them.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Newyankalt

[SweetAcacia]

Simply put, because there is a HUGE straight male leaning bias in this game. They shouldn't have to be reminded women are here and we shouldn't have to BEG to have choices put into the game for us. Sometimes it can be VERY unwelcoming to female players. Get a stronghold in Yavin to avoid fleet cesspool and just accept Bug Boy is as good as it gets.

[Newyankalt]

Simply put, because there is a HUGE straight male leaning bias in this game. They shouldn't have to be reminded women are here and we shouldn't have to BEG to have choices put into the game for us. Sometimes it can be VERY unwelcoming to female players. Get a stronghold in Yavin to avoid fleet cesspool and just accept Bug Boy is as good as it gets.

 

Pretty sure the main reason they didn't get around to be expanded romance options was production time. They wanted to delay the release again but EA made them push it out in 2011.

 

It's a massive effort to voice act every line in the vanilla game and they didn't prioritize or have time for the same sex options or more flirts overall.

[Ralei]

Why are there no male companions? Do you hate your female players? I would have loved to have a male force using companion...

 

Oh well, more reason to keep away from this asinine event. Thanks for nothing. You'll be fortunate if I don't cancel my sub by the end of the day.

 

1) I appreciate your sentiments. I feel the same way. I finished all the class stories way back in the first year and it was borderline disturbing the amount of young, impressionable, naive force using little girls the male force users got as romances.

 

Like, gross.

 

I'm female and had no interest in romancing them, so I mostly ignored them cause it just felt icky. Don't even get me started on keeping Vette in a slave collar.....

 

The only one I enjoyed was DS Jaessa, as her "Master I want to go **** men is that ok" and I was like "helllll yeah girl" felt like a conversation I would actually have with an apprentice.

 

2) I played a ds jedi knight, so having Lord Scourge show up was like mana from heaven. But then, he didn't even acknowledge any attraction I had toward him. Not even a "Hey girl, I know you're into me, but I can't feel my wiener." The writers are cruel.

 

3) This new companion will be a cardboard cut out with no personality, so this conversation is fun, but ultimately pointless.

[Tishana]

Why are there no male companions? Do you hate your female players? I would have loved to have a male force using companion...

 

Oh well, more reason to keep away from this asinine event. Thanks for nothing. You'll be fortunate if I don't cancel my sub by the end of the day.

 

Have all male companions: What? Women aren't good enough to be heroes?

Have all female companions: What? you hate women with not giving us any mancandy?

 

This is the problem with the world today

[Newyankalt]

Have all male companions: What? Women aren't good enough to be heroes?

Have all female companions: What? you hate women with not giving us any mancandy?

 

This is the problem with the world today

 

The first wouldn't really be a valid point since there's 6 female force using companions and 2 male...

[Tsillah]

You're right, people wanting same sex romance do have more of a right to complain, doesn't mean I don't have any, and no you can't win them all and they can't please everyone all of the time but if (and I hate comparing games but I am going to) Dragon Age can effectively and fairly include gender and sexual differences in their games despite a majority and minority divide then why can't swtor?

Maybe I am not being completely ignored but when I have a male character flirting with half of the galaxy and my female character lucky to get one or two, or my male character having a choice of two companions to romance and marry while my female character is given one and on occasion a fling, there is a definite difference there.

 

Well, I suppose I had a right to complain then when we got Nico Okarr, cause we could only get him and not a female companion. But I would consider that being petty.

 

Honestly, I don't think it's fair to take this one example of companions and separate it from the rest of the game to create an issue that actually doesn't really exist.

 

I'll give you a fun fact...all classes have 5 core companions. For all classes the 5 companions are predominantly male. Each class has 3-4 male companions and 1-2 female companions. Well ok the agent doesn't but that's the only one.

 

You know what...it's about time BW stopped ignoring the majority instead of catering to a minority.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Tsillah

[serenitty]

Well, I suppose I had a right to complain then when we got Nico Okarr, cause we could only get him and not a female companion. But I would consider that being petty.

 

Honestly, I don't think it's fair to take this one example of companions and separate it from the rest of the game to create an issue that actually doesn't really exist.

 

I'll give you a fun fact...all classes have 5 core companions. For all classes the 5 companions are predominantly male. Each class has 3-4 male companions and 1-2 female companions. Well ok the agent doesn't but that's the only one.

 

You know what...it's about time BW stopped ignoring the majority instead of catering to a minority.

Nico Okarr was already an established character within a cinematic that I assume people had an interest in, which is why I assume he was added. If I am wrong I apologise but I don't recall seeing these 2 comps in any part of the game, which makes me believe they were just created for the sole purpose of the event, in which case they could have had one a male no problem.

 

I only brought in the rest of the game as an example of the clear leaning toward male players in response to you stating it not being a gender issue.

And I wasn't just refering to the companion ratio but the game in general.

[Tsillah]

Nico Okarr was already an established character within a cinematic that I assume people had an interest in, which is why I assume he was added. If I am wrong I apologise but I don't recall seeing these 2 comps in any part of the game, which makes me believe they were just created for the sole purpose of the event, in which case they could have had one a male no problem.

 

I only brought in the rest of the game as an example of the clear leaning toward male players in response to you stating it not being a gender issue.

And I wasn't just refering to the companion ratio but the game in general.

 

How does it matter that he was established in the game? I had no option for a female companion. It's about having options isn't it? They could've offered a female established companion as well. Stop twisting around and just acknowledge the simple fact that this game has more male than female companions. So really the game has been leaning towards you for 5 years and now ONCE you don't get a choice of a male companion, suddenly the game is leaning towards male players? Honestly, you just can't make a credible case for that.

[Newyankalt]

How does it matter that he was established in the game? I had no option for a female companion. It's about having options isn't it? They could've offered a female established companion as well. Stop twisting around and just acknowledge the simple fact that this game has more male than female companions. So really the game has been leaning towards you for 5 years and now ONCE you don't get a choice of a male companion, suddenly the game is leaning towards male players? Honestly, you just can't make a credible case for that.

 

But like I said half the males are weird aliens that can not be romanced. Qyzen, Blizz, Broonmark, Khem Val, Xalek to name a few. Where as all the females are humans/ close to humans that can be romanced.

 

 

Even the quest givers for flirt options. For Males lots of them are the weird aliens and the ones that are human are usually Jedi Masters/ Sith Lords/ High ranking officers. People who wouldn't make sense to flirt with (inappropriate) or just wouldn't have interest. Where as a lot of the females you can interact with for starters will never be odd unromanceable aliens since they have no models for them and usually are of lower rank.

 

Why the flirt options are not equal in the game, I don't think it really matters but some people complain about it...

[Tishana]

The first wouldn't really be a valid point since there's 6 female force using companions and 2 male...

 

I was just trying to describe how some people desperately want to be victimized no matter what you do... and they'll always cry injustice even if you do whatt they ask...

 

It seem impossible for people to accept compromize these days

[Tsillah]

But like I said half the males are weird aliens that can not be romanced. Qyzen, Blizz, Broonmark, Khem Val, Xalek to name a few. Where as all the females are humans/ close to humans that can be romanced.

 

 

Even the quest givers for flirt options. For Males lots of them are the weird aliens and the ones that are human are usually Jedi Masters/ Sith Lords/ High ranking officers. People who wouldn't make sense to flirt with (inappropriate) or just wouldn't have interest. Where as a lot of the females you can interact with for starters will never be odd unromanceable aliens since they have no models for them and usually are of lower rank.

 

Why the flirt options are not equal in the game, I don't think it really matters but some people complain about it...

 

Looking at the core companions again there are more male humans than female companions. Even if you count Ashara and Nadia Grell, the male humans/humanoids still have the numbers. I also have seen no mention of any kind that these event companions are romanceable so the amount of romanceable companions that exist is not a valid comparison.

 

That is a different comparison and even there I have to say that this is SWTOR after all and race should not be a factor in my view. All in all, there is no real reason to say that BW are leaning a specific way... the only argument that is here is "boohoo, I'm not getting what I want and therefore BW/SWTOR is bad". Perhaps taken to an extreme but that's the general idea because when you actually count the companions we have lots of male ones. There is no issue.

[Rolodome]

Simply put, because there is a HUGE straight male leaning bias in this game. They shouldn't have to be reminded women are here and we shouldn't have to BEG to have choices put into the game for us. Sometimes it can be VERY unwelcoming to female players. Get a stronghold in Yavin to avoid fleet cesspool and just accept Bug Boy is as good as it gets.

I mean, it's probably true and I don't really agree with it, but it was probably marketing-driven. More straight males playing than any other group or whatever (at least, that was the likely speculation). Traditionally, companies market for what yields the most profit. Sometimes they're just biased though (like what happened with SW7 and the Rey paraphernalia).