Skyrim Legalizes Gay Marriage

[Mike Kayatta]

Skyrim Legalizes Gay Marriage

You know what they say; once you allow gay marriage, next thing you know people will be marrying lizards and cats. Oh, wait ...

Bethesda marketing and PR man Pete Hines has revealed via Twitter that same-sex marriage will be allowed in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. After being accused of being "hush hush" about the issue by a Twitter follower, Hines had this to say: "Not hush hush, just not making a huge deal out of it. You can marry anyone." In a second tweet he clarified, " ... not any NPC, just mean any male or female. Doesn't matter what you're playing."

Elder Scrolls spouses, regardless of gender, aren't just for show in Skyrim. By wooing NPCs, players can complete relationship-boosting tasks, find a roommate for the new 3,000-gold house they bought in Dawnstar, and even get a traveling companion for those lonely late-night dungeon crawls. Seeing as how Bethesda is turning these partnerships into something more than a "press triangle-press circle-groan-moan" cutscene designed to make twelve-year-olds snicker, it seems there may also be a practical benefit to having additional options when selecting a mate. Who knows, maybe that surly Argonian maid would be slightly better helping you explore the dank cave near your hut than the burly Nordic blacksmith you had one too many Skoomas with the night before.

Even if Skyrim relationships were purely meaningless and aesthetic, I'm extremely pleased with the tone of Hines' response. No, it's not a huge deal; it's just one more option available to enhance your role-playing experience, if you choose to take a same-sex mate at all. If for some reason you're the sort of person up in arms about Bethesda's choice, just breathe and take a moment to remember: You don't have to buy it. The rest of us, however, will be killing time-wielding, world-munching dragons without you. Just ask David Gaider. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106414-Dragon-Age-Writer-Same-Sex-Romance-is-Here-to-Stay]

Skyrim will be released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on November 11th, 2011, as if you didn't already have it circled on your Wiley Wenches of the Black Marsh wall calendar.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-25-same-sex-marriage-in-skyrim]


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[Seventh Actuality]

Nothin' witty to say. Just...go Bethesda, fuck yeah, this is 100% unambiguously good. In fairness, my hat still goes off to BioWare too for being (I think?) the first, but by following them Bethesda are helping solidify one good step into genuine progress.

 

[Erana]

Nordic blacksmith you had one too many Skoomas with the night before.

Nords and the mead, man.
You don't "Have"Skooma, you partake of it with the skooma pipes.
Why can't you get your fictional drugs straight!?

Its really important, you know.

But can I have a healthy non-sexual relationship in Skyrim? I don't like mandatory bonkings, and while we're talking orientations, I would like the asexual, hetero-romantic demographic to get to play. :3

 

[Irridium]

just breathe and take a moment to remember: You don't have to buy it.

Not even that. The relationships are completely optional, and you can play through the whole game without having to have a relationship with anyone.

 

[F'Angus]

I figure my partner will get eaten by a dragon as soon as we step into the wilderness.

 

[smartengine]

WoW... That's how many articles about Skyrim per day?

OT: They did it the right way: They didn't make a big deal out of it, but when asked by fans, they answered.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

Yay, now I can pretend marry a virtual wax doll

amazing

 

[kouriichi]

Will the Argonian maid polish my blade?
Id really like a buff from having her around.

And not a single word of that sounds non-sexual.

Im glad theyre following up with companions in vanilla Skyrim. I hope theres a lot of depth to who you choose as your partner/wife/husband/heterosexuallifemate/roomie.

 

[Deathfish15]

Why does there even need to be marriage in Skyrim to begin with? In Oblivion you were a lone wolf hero. Sure, you could own houses, towers, and kingdoms, but it doesn't make sense to tag along a wife or husband (or now "partner") into keeps to only attract more vampires and undead.

 

[lacktheknack]

Nothin' witty to say. Just...go Bethesda, fuck yeah, this is 100% unambiguously good. In fairness, my hat still goes off to BioWare too for being (I think?) the first, but by following them Bethesda are helping solidify one good step into genuine progress.

I think Lionhead got here first.

But anyways, I don't have issues with this so long as we don't have flamboyant couples everywhere in-game going on how great it is to be gay. I trust Bethesda to not do that.

 

[Rylot]

I wonder when polygamy will be allowed in a game. I'm not a fan of it irl but I'd be curious how that'd play out in a game.

 

[artanis_neravar]

Why does there even need to be marriage in Skyrim to begin with? In Oblivion you were a lone wolf hero. Sure, you could own houses, towers, and kingdoms, but it doesn't make sense to tag along a wife or husband (or now "partner") into keeps to only attract more vampires and undead.

Because people want there to be.

OT: Go Bethesda, every thing I read about Skyrim makes me work that much harder on my time machine

 

[artanis_neravar]

I wonder when polygamy will be allowed in a game. I'm not a fan of it irl but I'd be curious how that'd play out in a game.

It was allowed in Fable (at least II and III)

 

[Risingblade]

Dark Elf harem?

 

[Mr S]

It's always funny to see games be more open-minded than some countries or states (I'm not pointing fingers Texas)

 

[JoJo]

Not any NPC, just mean any male or female

This isn't a well-written sentence. Does he just mean that any gender PC can pair up with any gender of romancable NPC, or does he mean that every NPC with a gender (that's presumably a human-shaped adult) will be romancable?

 

[Mike Kayatta]

Nordic blacksmith you had one too many Skoomas with the night before.

Nords and the mead, man.
You don't "Have"Skooma, you partake of it with the skooma pipes.
Why can't you get your fictional drugs straight!?

Its really important, you know.

As I recall, there are also bottles of what I assume to be liquid Skooma available which you drink straight from the flask. And, hey! Let's not stereotype the poor Nords. Barbarians like to hallucinate just as much as the next guy.

 

[EHKOS]

I'm a little worried the game will be spread too thin. I will trust Bethesda though, they really never let me down. Brink wasn't their fault...really it wasn't lalalalalala.