Same-Sex Romance Coming to The Old Republic

[James Joseph Emerald]

Same-sex romance post-launch sounds like an odd concept. I wonder why BioWare has it slated for after release. Maybe it'll be - like - an expansion pack, complete with half-naked Twi'lek companions and Hutt-like harems to compose hedonistic, inter-terristrial orgies with your team... for Yoda-knows-why.

All kidding aside, this game is fantastic! BioWare is really going to leave their signature story-driven narrative marks on the MMO genre, no doubt about it.

Story wise it will be awesome, i really wish the gameplay was a bit better though.

I don't get why people say that. I mean, Bioware are okay writers, in the same way that Tom Clancy and John Grisham are okay writers. In other words, they've been telling the same story again and again for over a decade.

I bet you anything this is how the story goes:

You're a person with a vague, unimportant past who is thrust into a sudden military conflict. There are three basic styles of gameplay: direct combat, stealth/thievery/hacking or magic/psychic power (in this case, The Force) which you must choose between. Then, you're inducted into some elite order of ultimate badass heroes and given the task of saving the world. You meet a bunch of characters on your way who join up with you, each one having a distinctive personality trait (one, and only one).
These companions dutifully follow your every whim (standing around while you loot treasure chests or waiting at a designated spot for you to come talk to them), and have a very structured way of interacting with the world once they're on your team. There are a select few of these companions (usually three) who, if you converse with them a certain number of times, they'll give you a quest which, upon completion, allows you to shag them. You're then in a "relationship", but it's never really mentioned or alluded to again (except for a few minor changes in dialogue).
Inevitably, towards the middle of the story (around the beginning of the third act), your mentor figure betrays you. Then it ends with you raiding a big evil fortress, killing a bunch of dudes and then wiping out the antagonist in a rather static, lackluster showdown.

After about 7 games which pretty much follow that description to the letter, just having the name "Bioware" attached to a game is a massive spoiler.

It's like the people who keep buying Tom Clancy novels. They're all the same, how can you keep getting your hopes up for each one?

 

[Haagrum]

Personally, I'll be interested in seeing how Bioware implements it. I don't have time for another MMO addiction, but it's a new aspect to an established genre and I think if anyone can pull it off without it seeming tacked-on or gratuitous, it's them.

I would have thought the initial response might have been on the basis of them using someone else's IP. Regardless, it's heartening to see that constructing a fictional setting "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away" doesn't necessarily mean "apply the social conventions of 1950s Western societies".

 

[Druyn]

I don't understand what the benefit to having romance options in a MMO is? Your just going to have a thousand people all running around with the same person ruins immersion a bit I would imagine.

It's like dating a prostitute. Its just not the same when everybody else gets just as much as you.

 

[GaltarDude1138]

Besides, this is a MMO. What are relationships even doing in a game like this?

Wow. Way to shoehorn this shit into all your games Bioware.

The below quote is basically what I would've replied to Gamemaniac's post. It's BioWare. It's become their thing as of late to have romances in games. That's why I' m not looking at TOR as a conventional MMO; I'm looking at it as a BioWare game. And that's all I've really wanted.

 

[lovest harding]

But wait. How can they deny same-sex relationships in Star Wars when they introduced the first canon homosexual character into Star Wars (I know this isn't entirely relevant, but it still confuses me)?
Did I miss Lucas announcing that Juhanni isn't canon? Doesn't anyone give a shit about her?
Why the hell am I the only one who ever mentions her?

But writing and story is not only or even mainly the overarching themes. I can turn to any number of book, movie, game, etc. that uses a story arch that is very similar or spot on exactly the same. The point is that a lot of people consider their writing (in the sense of character and specifics) is well done.
As it's been said, there is no original stories anymore. They've been told thousands upon thousands of time, the real originality and quality comes from where the specifics go. That is what modern writing relies on.
If you don't think that BioWare can write, that's fine, but I disagree. Me, though, I can't just look at their biggest flaw (sticking way too close to a formula) as voiding the rest of what they can do and have done with writing in video games.

 

[Imbechile]

YEEEEEEEAH! Bioware are revolutionizing the genre, pushing the envelope!
Ah Bioware, you were once good. You abandoned the RPG genre to work on dating-sims. How pathetic :-(

 

[SammiYin]

I'm beginning to suspect that this is Bioware's main selling point...

 

[Sir Prize]

YEEEEEEEAH! Bioware are revolutionizing the genre, pushing the envelope!
Ah Bioware, you were once good. You abandoned the RPG genre to work on dating-sims. How pathetic :-(

Since when?
I'll admit that they have included love interests in most if not all of their games lately, but calling them Dating Sims is farfetched at best. If you want to blame anyone for the focus on love interests, blame some of the community, who draw way to much attention to that kind of thing. Yes their announcing it, but that's probably more to do with drawing in some of the fanbase.

 

[teagee]

the screen cap used is so awesome in the context of this article

 

[Imbechile]

YEEEEEEEAH! Bioware are revolutionizing the genre, pushing the envelope!
Ah Bioware, you were once good. You abandoned the RPG genre to work on dating-sims. How pathetic :-(

Since when?
I'll admit that they have included love interests in most if not all of their games lately, but calling them Dating Sims is farfetched at best. If you want to blame anyone for the focus on love interests, blame some of the community, who draw way to much attention to that kind of thing. Yes their announcing it, but that's probably more to do with drawing in some of the fanbase.

Yes, blame the community! They are the ones who decide what gets implemented in the game.


Oh wait, .....

 

[BabyRaptor]

Cue Faux Noise starting outrage!

Thank you, BioWare, for making sure that everyone gets a choice. It's appreciated.

 

[Sir Prize]

YEEEEEEEAH! Bioware are revolutionizing the genre, pushing the envelope!
Ah Bioware, you were once good. You abandoned the RPG genre to work on dating-sims. How pathetic :-(

Since when?
I'll admit that they have included love interests in most if not all of their games lately, but calling them Dating Sims is farfetched at best. If you want to blame anyone for the focus on love interests, blame some of the community, who draw way to much attention to that kind of thing. Yes their announcing it, but that's probably more to do with drawing in some of the fanbase.

Yes, blame the community! They are the ones who decide what gets implemented in the game.


Oh wait, .....

Not what I said.

The romance thing never plays that big a part in the games, but the community tends to draw more attention to it. The LI thing can be completely avoided in every game very easily, but the community spends so much time talking about on the Bioware forums. Of course Bioware will draw attention to it, since the fans do want Love Interests.

Also in this case, it's probably more of them trying to go back on the pervious statement about the Star Wars universe.

 

[zombiesinc]

Great news. I just hope it's done a hell of a lot better than in the Dragon Age games (among many other things, of course). But I won't lie and say I care much beyond a thought, I'm more concerned about it within Mass Effect 3.

 

[DrWilhelm]

Seriously, at what point did it become the "in thing" to verbally harangue Bioware over quite literally everything they do? It's getting tiring people.

 

[Sixcess]

Has anyone ever sat down with Bioware and explained what an MMO actually is?

I'm not even trying to be funny here. It's an MMO. If you want to get your romance on there are other players out there! Hell, some of them might even be female!

I love Mass Effect, but in an MMO I can't think of anything sadder than trailing around my NPC love interest for all the world to see... especially when there's going to be a ton of other players in the world with the exact same love interest.

 

[Imbechile]

YEEEEEEEAH! Bioware are revolutionizing the genre, pushing the envelope!
Ah Bioware, you were once good. You abandoned the RPG genre to work on dating-sims. How pathetic :-(

Since when?
I'll admit that they have included love interests in most if not all of their games lately, but calling them Dating Sims is farfetched at best. If you want to blame anyone for the focus on love interests, blame some of the community, who draw way to much attention to that kind of thing. Yes their announcing it, but that's probably more to do with drawing in some of the fanbase.

Yes, blame the community! They are the ones who decide what gets implemented in the game.


Oh wait, .....

Not what I said.

The romance thing never plays that big a part in the games, but the community tends to draw more attention to it. The LI thing can be completely avoided in every game very easily, but the community spends so much time talking about on the Bioware forums. Of course Bioware will draw attention to it, since the fans do want Love Interests.

Also in this case, it's probably more of them trying to go back on the pervious statement about the Star Wars universe.

Yes, and you know why the community draws more attention to it? Because Bioware gave it to them in the first place and didn't cut down the idiot tree while it was still small. It's Bioware's fault that its community is like that.
You can toss the blame on fans, EA or anyone else, but Bioware is guilty of many things also. There is no denying that. Nor can you deny that Bio's games are getting worse and worse.

 

[Sir Prize]

YEEEEEEEAH! Bioware are revolutionizing the genre, pushing the envelope!
Ah Bioware, you were once good. You abandoned the RPG genre to work on dating-sims. How pathetic :-(

Since when?
I'll admit that they have included love interests in most if not all of their games lately, but calling them Dating Sims is farfetched at best. If you want to blame anyone for the focus on love interests, blame some of the community, who draw way to much attention to that kind of thing. Yes their announcing it, but that's probably more to do with drawing in some of the fanbase.

Yes, blame the community! They are the ones who decide what gets implemented in the game.


Oh wait, .....

Not what I said.

The romance thing never plays that big a part in the games, but the community tends to draw more attention to it. The LI thing can be completely avoided in every game very easily, but the community spends so much time talking about on the Bioware forums. Of course Bioware will draw attention to it, since the fans do want Love Interests.

Also in this case, it's probably more of them trying to go back on the pervious statement about the Star Wars universe.

Yes, and you know why the community draws more attention to it? Because Bioware gave it to them in the first place and didn't cut down the idiot tree while it was still small. It's Bioware's fault that its community is like that.
You can toss the blame on fans, EA or anyone else, but Bioware is guilty of many things also. There is no denying that. Nor can you deny that Bio's games are getting worse and worse.

Dragon Age 2 was bad, but apart from that I can't really see anything truly awful from them, but that's from my point of view. Also, it's not that recently that they have added the romance thing, they had in early games.

You're calling those who want Love Interests idiots, while I do agree some of the fanbrats ARE obessive, I have to say that in itself is stupid. It's an extra that doesn't really have much of an impact on the game, why act as if it's some massive horror destorying them?

If Bioware create more bad games, it won't be down to LIs. It'll be down to them rushing production.