Same sex class companion romance? For what is probably the kagilionth time.

[Jellax-Jedi]

I know we will probably never get it, but please EA? Pretty please?

[PetFish]

... and for what is probably the kagilionth time:

 

-1

/notsigned™

 

 

There are several reasons to not do this with some being:

 

1) Unless they completely re-do the game going back to re-do all of the companions just for this would be a gigantic waste of time and money.

 

2) Having every single companion able to do every single thing in the game (ie. crafting, combat, romances) destroys much of what makes each companion unique. They've already mostly ruined them by removing crafting and combat from being unique to each companion but at least those changes were "easy".

 

3) Making every single companion 100% interchangeable for everything makes companions next-to-worthless and they become simply placeholders and then bye-bye to any kind of special feelings one might have for a unique character or characters.

 

Let some be gay. Let some be straight. Let some be bi. Let some be poly. Let some be WHATEVER but absolutely DO NOT make them all the same where we just tell them what and how they're supposed to feel all the time or have them switch back-and-forth depending on our mood of the day.

[BRKMSN]

As long as they give me the option in the settings to disable any and all same-sex romance content on my characters, I don't care how much they add for people that want it. Sexual preference is just that ... a preference. I'd prefer not to see it (same sex flirt options, references in story content (including mail).

[IoNonSoEVero]

Asking them to remove all same-sex references and options from the story to accommodate some people's homophobia is not reasonable. LGBTQ people exist, and people are born with their orientations. If you don't want to have a character in a same-sex relationship, don't choose those flirts. Simple. Edited November 21, 2017 by IoNonSoEVero

[BRKMSN]

Asking them to remove all same-sex references and options from the story to accommodate some people's homophobia is not reasonable. LGBTQ people exist, so deal with it. And people are born with their orientations. If you don't want to have a character in a same-sex relationship, don't choose those flirts. Simple.

I didn't ask them to remove them. I asked for an option to turn it off. People are asking to make straight characters gay to suit their own preferences. According to your apparent beliefs I was born straight (or a homophobe) --- so you can just as easily deal with that. I'm not interested in that topic or reference or agenda or whatever.

[Eshvara]

In ME1 I liked how there was no romance indicator at all. I liked figuring out myself how to woo Kaidan. While I don't think disabling SAme gender flirts is necessary on its own, I wouldn't mind all flirt hints turned off optionally kind of like you can with allignment choices.

 

I have that turned off by choice as well as I want to pick the options that relate to me rather than just because it's DS.

(But that's just me)

 

 

As for the topic at hand, no. It's too much trouble.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Eshvara

[Paulsutherland]

If they want to open up the same sex upon said characters return, I'm good with that. Not sure about them going back to edit everything though.

[LordFell]

Unfortunately, this is one of those things that defies a "ret-con."

 

I do think that, sooner or later, the game will need to roll out a SWTOR 2. A lot of the things that they've learned along the way doing the original SWTOR will be incorporated into that game... and offering same sex romance options will be one of those things. I mean... I'd like to see them go this way; when I learned there was same-sex Flirt options with Kaliyo, I thought "Finally! My Femme Sniper gets to satisfy a craving!" I'm told that (if I even get a Flirt option) that Kaliyo doesn't want to roll that way (which strikes me as ridiculous, she clearly rolls both ways).

[IoNonSoEVero]

If they want to open up the same sex upon said characters return, I'm good with that. Not sure about them going back to edit everything though.

 

I think that's the most likely scenario going forward. I doubt they will change anything in the class stories (they haven't even fixed all the bugs there yet...) but I could easily envision them opening up some of the returned class companions to SSR in future chapters.

[SteveTheCynic]

Unfortunately, this is one of those things that defies a "ret-con."

 

I do think that, sooner or later, the game will need to roll out a SWTOR 2. A lot of the things that they've learned along the way doing the original SWTOR will be incorporated into that game... and offering same sex romance options will be one of those things. I mean... I'd like to see them go this way; when I learned there was same-sex Flirt options with Kaliyo, I thought "Finally! My Femme Sniper gets to satisfy a craving!" I'm told that (if I even get a Flirt option) that Kaliyo doesn't want to roll that way (which strikes me as ridiculous, she clearly rolls both ways).

She doesn't say that.

 

She says that she's getting too old for head games, and that that's all she's good for with women.

 

So if she thinks she can get something from you, she'll "play the game" and lead you on. It's not clear whether, in other circumstances, she'll lead you on all the way to a bed if you're female (she certainly will with a man), but with the Outlander, she doesn't, She turns down any Outlander who isn't an agent she married in the class story, but the "no thanks" is different for men and women.

 

(Also: it's worth doing this one at least once on an agent that married her, because her letter and the dialogues in Chapter X are ... unique ... among the love interests.)

[IoNonSoEVero]

She doesn't say that.

 

She says that she's getting too old for head games, and that that's all she's good for with women.

 

So if she thinks she can get something from you, she'll "play the game" and lead you on. It's not clear whether, in other circumstances, she'll lead you on all the way to a bed if you're female (she certainly will with a man), but with the Outlander, she doesn't, She turns down any Outlander who isn't an agent she married in the class story, but the "no thanks" is different for men and women.

 

(Also: it's worth doing this one at least once on an agent that married her, because her letter and the dialogues in Chapter X are ... unique ... among the love interests.)

 

She does behave differently for men and women, but it's worth noting that in the class story, you can really see BW's original plan (IIRC she was one of the class story companions they *were* planning to open to SSR) with a lot of her lines. A lot of her interactions with female agents aren't marked as flirts but come across that way.

 

And in KOTFE she does tell you she 'sponged off a senator's daughter' for a while which can be taken in various ways.

[xordevoreaux]

 

Let some be gay. Let some be straight. Let some be bi. Let some be poly. Let some be WHATEVER but absolutely DO NOT make them all the same where we just tell them what and how they're supposed to feel all the time or have them switch back-and-forth depending on our mood of the day.

 

Okay, I'm gay so let's have that some be gay include:

 

Torian

Malavi

Corso

Vector

Theron

 

Anyone disagree?

Of course people disagree! I know lots of women who pine after Theron, Vector, and Malavi, and want to do so on their female toons!

 

The problem with let some be gay is that you're simply starting another argument about what constitutes the some.

Sorry, interchangeable is best.

 

You. Have. Not. Thought. This. Through.

[fishpeople]

The problem with let some be gay is that you're simply starting another argument about what constitutes the some.

Sorry, interchangeable is best.

 

Wouldn't 'Interchangeable' start a similar argument?

[Egyas]

Okay, I'm gay so let's have that some be gay include:

 

Torian

Malavi

Corso

Vector

Theron

 

Anyone disagree?

Of course people disagree! I know lots of women who pine after Theron, Vector, and Malavi, and want to do so on their female toons!

 

The problem with let some be gay is that you're simply starting another argument about what constitutes the some.

Sorry, interchangeable is best.

 

You. Have. Not. Thought. This. Through.

 

I agree. For the original comps, it seems like they are all straight. For all the comps in the expansions (with the exception of 1 I think), they all seem to be bi. Why not just flip the gender requirement on the original comps "off". No need to really change dialogue options, etc.

 

I'm a straight guy, so it's difficult for me to do a romance story line when I'm playing a female toon. Having that option makes it easier, and frankly more fun.

 

Romance options...

http://swtor.wikia.com/wiki/Romance

Edited November 22, 2017 by Egyas

[Sith-Viscera]

I say to each their own. But how will this make the game better. If you'er wanting to do this to make the game more realistic? Then make the whole game realistic. As far as companions riding on mounts with the player. Or having more then one companion join you at a time on missions. Having companions and pets wandering around on your ships and strong holds stopping to chat with each other from time to time, pets running around playing with each other. Just to name a few things....

 

I mean you know what they would have to do and the money it would take to make all that happen? What i am saying? At this point and Late time in the game, is just to late for all that stuff. If all that and Companions being homosexual was implemented in the beginning would of been best. Again this late in the game, its just not practical.....

 

And with so many un-fixed bugs still in the game from beta and so much more after, that needs that money to fix, i say they come first..........

[SteveTheCynic]

I agree. For the original comps, it seems like they are all straight. For all the comps in the expansions (with the exception of 1 I think), they all seem to be bi. Why not just flip the gender requirement on the original comps "off". No need to really change dialogue options, etc.

If memory serves, there are a few class-companion flirt conversations that mention the sex of the player character. (i.e. where a male companion talks about "a woman like you" or vice versa). And Doc's final romantic chat with a non-human Knightess talks about the possibility they might not be genetically compatible, and if not they can always adopt. That makes NO sense if Doc is talking to a male player character. (There is a similar line with Aric, which is used for all troopers who romance him, even Cathar. It is of course more unisex for him, since he says it to everyone, but I have a recollection of at least one line where he refers to the player character as a woman.)

 

And some of them are seriously lacking in credibility as anything but straight. Corso? Doc? Neither of them makes much sense as gay. A playersexual(1) Kaliyo sort of makes sense, somewhat, although as suggested above, I don't entirely buy her being the sort to actually seek romance with a woman, not like she does with men. I don't doubt she's willing to lead some woman on, tease her, flirt with her, and maybe even bed her, but it will be about keeping her sweet so she keeps doing stuff for Kaliyo, buying stuff for her, giving her money and a place to live, and so on, and it will most certainly not be about any sort of romance or love. (Heck, she's *mostly* like that with men as well. The Agent turns out to be a super-rare exception to that, but he isn't the only one.)

 

(1) That is, having a sexual orientation that suits romancing the player. Lana, Theron, and Koth are all playersexual. Lemda Wossname and Cytharat on Makeb are homosexual, and all the class companions are heterosexual.

[xordevoreaux]

 

And some of them are seriously lacking in credibility as anything but straight. Corso? Doc? Neither of them makes much sense as gay.

 

I don't think Corso's more than a six-pack away from rolling over. Maybe if he's stubborn we'll drop a few Jaeger bombs, but hey, we're not talking having to hit the jello shots, you know?

Edited November 22, 2017 by xordevoreaux

[IoNonSoEVero]

I think they could plausibly write some of the class companions as being LGBTQ in future story content. They could still be bisexual and chose to be in an opposite-gender relationship during the class story era, or maybe they weren't sure of their own orientation yet (many of the class companions are early 20s and many people are still figuring things out then).

 

There are some companions that strike me as being straight and only straight, like Andronkios, but there are others - Kaliyo, Kira Carsen, DS Jaesa spring to mind as a start - that could swing both ways IMHO. As for Kaliyo, who ever she's with, I think she'd still hurt or betray them if it suited her purposes.

 

Making the companions playersexual has both positives and negatives, IMHO. It means everyone gets to romance them, but perhaps it also takes away something. In KOTFE I felt strongly that Lana felt like she was meant to only like women, Koth came across as only straight, and Theron came across like he played both teams. But all three of them ended up playersexual.

[Eshvara]

I agree. For the original comps, it seems like they are all straight. For all the comps in the expansions (with the exception of 1 I think), they all seem to be bi. Why not just flip the gender requirement on the original comps "off". No need to really change dialogue options, etc.

 

I'm a straight guy, so it's difficult for me to do a romance story line when I'm playing a female toon. Having that option makes it easier, and frankly more fun.

 

Romance options...

http://swtor.wikia.com/wiki/Romance

 

Several companions talk to you based on your gender, they removed that with the other multisex companions. I don't think Theron Koth or Lana ever something based on your gender(correct me if I'm wrong). Like, I love her/him. Or something including with man or a woman You're always a "thing" Arcann will probably be the same.

 

I find that unappealing.

[fishpeople]

Several companions talk to you based on your gender, they removed that with the other multisex companions. I don't think Theron Koth or Lana ever something based on your gender(correct me if I'm wrong). Like, I love her/him. Or something including with man or a woman You're always a "thing" Arcann will probably be the same.

 

I find that unappealing.

 

I'm not sure but I think they only ever refer to the player as 'the commander.' I don't think at any point have we been referred to as he or she from any of the basic speaking races. I might be wrong, but nothing is coming to mind.

[SteveTheCynic]

I'm a straight guy, so it's difficult for me to do a romance story line when I'm playing a female toon. Having that option makes it easier, and frankly more fun.

Sorry, just noticed this one. I'm a straight guy, too, but I don't have any difficulty with my female characters romancing a male companion. (I'm not interested in watching men-on-men stuff, but that's just me.) It was enormous fun having my first female SW torment Quinn, and the Trooperette versus Aric ... well...

 

I did that first with the game set to French. The conversation is called "Surprise Inspection" or similar in English, and Aric opens with the remarks about weapons malfunctions, misfires and the like.

 

If your character is male, the "interesting" line is something monumentally bland in both languages.

 

If your character is female, the French line is, in translation, "Are you going to inspect my equipment?" with a clear implication in the VA's tone that she means the fleshy equipment inside her armour. The line at the same place in English is less cheesy, more like "I have some things in my locker that are contra-regulation" with Aric picking up the flirt pretty well, "What you wear when you're off duty is none of my business ... unless you make it my business."

 

Good fun.

[LordFell]

I think the notion of whether one companion might be gay, straight, bisexual or merely playersexual (a very useful term) is entirely perception based. Often, experience based. Like, someone said Doc is clearly straight. Well... I can see that argument. I could also see that his hyper-flirtatious nature, combined with his metrosexual grooming are hallmarks of a classic queen.

 

...for the most part, though... I think this is all pointless wrangling. I mean... if, maybe, SWTOR takes a step into our next expansion to give us something of a reboot. Destroy the Eternal Alliance. Break the player's Power Base... we have nothing left but our ship, and the half-dozen companions we like best. New stories await us in a classic Imp vs. Pub cold war.

 

...maybe, yeah, they could reboot us with companions who are more playersexual.

[Antonfourteen]

Making all companions bisexual takes away the diversity of the companions and their own preferences/interests. You'd think from some comments that LGBT people make up 50% of the population yet according to CDC surveys, in America alone, only 1.6% of adults identify as LGBT yet everything needs to change and pander to this small minority. The vast majority of people who play Swtor are straight therefore most romances are heterosexual-orientated. Now obviously this will change in time as BW adds more LGBT romances in future expansions but asking them to change established straight companions to be bisexual for such a small minroity is ludicrous to me.

 

I'm sure vegans/vegetarians (I am vegetarian myself) feel un-represented in Swtor due to most characters eating meat/hunting yet I don't see dozens of threads from vegans asking BW to add vegans into the story, why? Because we just accept the fact we are the minority.

 

Or what about mechaphiles? (People who are attracted to cars) I don't see the small minority of them asking BW to implement lots of droid romances.

 

I for one am extremely quiet too and while it would be nice if BW could impliment a [silence] option for conversations to fit my Sith Warrior's personality, I realise that would be waste of money and time because I'd assume most people who play Swtor are a lot more talkative and I'm in the minority.

[LordFell]

That feels like a slippery slope argument. "if you're going to include representation for X, you must also represent Y, and if you're representing Y, you should just go ahead and represent Z..." I mean... vegetarians? Uhm.... er... I don't recall anyone running out and hunting for meat. There's not a whole lot of eating in SWTOR in general... and, while we haven't really discussed it, how do we know food isn't synthesized from plant based protein? Sure, that Bantha Steak was grilled to perfection... but it never came within 10 miles of a real, live, Bantha. It came from a vat. Why not?

 

...Depending on your stats, LGBTQ represent anywhere from 3 to 10% of the population. But, in context of a Roleplaying game, I'm relatively certain those numbers are higher. I mean, lots of guys play female toons, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that a lot of those are straight guys, who'd be just as happy to romance a female companion on their female character. Somewhat more surprising, is a LOT of women play male characters ... either out of interest, preference or to avoid people who hit on female characters... and some of them would prefer to same-sex romance a male companion on their male character.

...but, even beyond that. Even though I'm a straight male, I've roleplayed gay male characters. I mean, I've done table top, pen & paper roleplaying. If you're the Game Master you play every character not run by a player, so that's a pretty big canvas. But even as a player, when I'm developing the personality of a character I've occasionally realized that one of my characters is something I didn't expect.

[Antonfourteen]

You didn't care to address my primary argument. I was using the vegetarian thing as an example of people who would feel un-represented. And you summed up my point for me, you say there isn't a whole lot of eating in Swtor same way romance is almost completely irrelevant to the game and there isn't a whole lot to it. I mean what is romance in Swtor? Kiss that fades to black, cheesy one-liner and the game just continues as before. No changes to companion dialogue when you click on them, no special event... I almost completely forget about romance the moment I've finished it with a companion. It would be nice if they expanded on romance like BW do in their other titles like Dragon Age and Mass Effect where you can have conversations with your companions even after finishing a romance with them but I'd rather them focus money and time on story/expansions like most other people do.

And it's a perfectly reasonable point to bring up. If you give representation to one group, then another group who aren't represented will want representation. Case in point like I said, I'm sure mechaphiles would want to romance droids, they don't have the option yet I don't see dozens of threads from mechaphiles asking BW to represent them by adding droid romances with SCORPIO for example because they are such a small population, smaller than LGBT.

 

My main point is that making every single companion in the game that have been established heterosexual characters to suddenly become bisexual would take away any diversity and just seems stupid especially just to accommodate a small percentage of the human population. The reason why all class companions are heterosexual is because the vast majority of people who play Swtor are heterosexual, as I said CDC surveys found only 1.6% of the American population identify as LGBT and America is one of the most pro-LGBT countries in the world.

There's no proof to say LGBT could make up to 10% of the population and that's just dishonest saying that without any figures or evidence. If America, the most pro-LGBT country in the world where LGBT is featured everywhere only has a LGBT population of 1.6%, what makes you think most of the other countries across the world who are less pro-LGBT would have a significant LGBT population bigger than America's?

 

I personally think romances should have their own preferences like they did in Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Some companions should be homosexual, some should be bisexual, some should be heterosexual, some should only romance specific races (like Solas from DAI only romancing Elves).

That would be a true diverse romance choice instead of just making everyone suddenly bisexual. I guarantee if it was vice-versa of heterosexuals asking for a lesbian character to become bisexual, there would be an uproar about homophobia but because people want heterosexual characters to become bisexual, it's instead about diversity...