For those who have not been following along there has been some negative publicity when it comes to The Old Republic on the topic of homosexuality/lesbianism. The big one being when they started banning people from the forums who talked about being gay/lesbian in their personal lives as the words were considered "bad" and broke the forum rules, this has since been rectified, but the other big topic in question has always been about whether or not you would be allowed to have said relationships in game.

While Bioware has had a long history of having gay and lesbian options in all their games, Star Wars on the other hand has had an even longer history of never allowing gay/lesbian characters in their universe. To the best of my knowledge the only time an openly gay character has been allowed in an official Star Wars sanctioned product was the character Juhanni in Knights of the Old Republic who would accept advances from the player if they were also a female character; coincidentally a Bioware game. There have been several forums on the official site asking about this, and up until now the answer has been a big resounding silence from the developers.

However, yesterday they finally came out of the closet and ended their silence on the topic with the below official statement saying that they would be including the option for players to romance people of the same sex in an update post launch.

The official statement posted on the SWTOR Forums discussing the topics:

Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature. Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options.

Whenever they do finally add it to the game, it should be some interesting reading in the patch notes. Sadly, there has still been zero word on Wookie romance options.

Can't wait to play as Darth Gader

I just hope they do it in the way Jade Empire did (same-sex relationships only happen if you really pursue them) instead of in DA2, in which every non-Dwarven guy was hitting on me, and would get incredibly angry if I denied his advances.

Wait, you can pursue a romantic relationship with a character not controlled by an actual human in the game? In a single-player venture, it makes sense. In an MMO, it doesn't. I can't take NPCs with me to the bottom of the Deeprun Tram. However, I had all my MMO romance fun while playing Ragnarok Online in middle school.  
Or I have no idea what is going on.

Eh, file that one under who gives a shit.  That is until Fox News asks if its indoctrinating the children.

I think that's the point. You want that kind of thing, you actively quest for it. I did not play DA2, but it sounded like one guy at least was dry humping your leg. But then, while I value the idea of love (of all forms and levels) in a game, and there can be indications of trysts, I still do not understand why I was screwing Miranda on the engineering deck floor. Also, in my book that is a good way of causing jealousies and fears of favoritism among the crew. I would not blame them.

GAY IS YAY!

ADMIT IT

STAR WARS IS BETTER WITH HOT LESBIAN SCISSOR ACTION!

Gaming industry turned into a fucking gay parade, seriously WTF ?

Why do we need homosexuals in games ? DA2 was a fucking disaster.

@Liber said:

Gaming industry turned into a fucking gay parade, seriously WTF ?

Why do we need homosexuals in games ? DA2 was a fucking disaster.

It's not a question of whether they are necessary, it's a question of whether those types of relationships can be done realistically, can be done well.

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

@Liber:

sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

Uh, well, yeah.

@Liber said:

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

Yeah it kinda...is.

This is gonna be interesting depending on how they implement it. I love that you will have the choice aslong as they don't completely lock you off from digging deeper with that character once you tell them you're not into dudes.

from what I've heard of George Lucas, the man is a lunatic who believes that the world will end in 2012, and is racist and homophobic in ways that, to any rational person, would seem almost comedic. so I'm not entirely surprised to hear this about Star Wars.

I wish there was a "punch a dude on the internet" button I could use on a certain poster in this thread. I bet he blew his load on his computer screen when he heard about the possible lesbian romance in Mass Effect, though.

@crusader8463 said:

@BoG: Every class gets a handful of unique NPC companions as you level up. Each one has a backstory and history that open side quests for you to explore if you like them and want to get to know them better, just like every bioware game to date. You can use them to fill rolls in a party while playing, or if you don't use them though they all sit around your ship like house cats just waiting for you to get home and show them some attention. Or instead of having them just sit around when you are not using them, you can put them to work for you. You can send them off on generic missions to rank up, gather loot for crafting, or just to make you money while you are not playing the game. As with every bioware game, if you do all their side quests and pick the right choices when you talk to them then you can get to sex them up. Just like house cats. I mean, uhh...

Dude, that's sick man! You do sidequests for your house cats?!

My Han/Luke rape fic can finally come true... Oh wait ...

well good for them for going that route.

@crusader8463: I was going to scold you for an offensive title, but then, you know, I read your topic. At first I thought you were using "gay" as a means of conveying that something was bad, as some people do.

It's like that "tossing your salad"-topic all over again.

@Liber said:

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

Sure it is, sticking your penis in your own butt though...that's generally looked down upon by society.

I don't like how they feel obligated to add it into every game. Hell, I don't even see the need for ANY kind of romance in an MMO. But I do think they try to hard to be "progressive".

If you're going to have a virtual romantic relationship, why not have one with a "real" person rather than a computer controlled NPC? Chances are it will also be a gay relationship because, you know, all girls are guys pretending to be girls in these games anyway.

If you're going to have a virtual romantic relationship, why not have one with a "real" person rather than a computer controlled NPC? Chances are it will also be a gay relationship because, you know, all girls are guys pretending to be girls in these games anyway.

I'm good with it. Why not? Plus, they get a lot of great press from people who are loud and love the same-sex relationships and those who are loud and hate the same-sex relationships. Either way, people are talking about their game.

People who have "virtual" mmo relationships are complete psychos, gay or not.

Fierce

I thought this said "going pay" and was going to write a diatribe about how of COURSE this game will not be free to play at launch, they want WoW money, etc. etc. Then I noticed pink vader.

Anyway... don't care.

Gaming industry turned into a fucking gay parade, seriously WTF ?

Why do we need homosexuals in games ? DA2 was a fucking disaster.

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

@Liber said:

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

You know, we haven't met. But, I'm pretty sure that what I'm about to say is accurate based off of the evidence above.

You're a terrible person. I'm not going to explain why I think you're a terrible person. If you can't understand why by reading what I quoted you saying above then there's probably no hope for you.

...for the love of God don't reproduce.

Romance is dumb in games, gay or not.

@PeasantAbuse said:

Romance is dumb in games, gay or not.

But then how else am I going to experience love?

@PeasantAbuse: I guess that in cases where people don't have irrational issues with homosexuality, that's the main issue- whether or not you want an exploration of human relationships in your games. The thing about that is that any game which is going to explore gay relationships is going to be doing that anyway, and it's probably just not the kind of game for people who don't want that. That doesn't mean that those games shouldn't exist, with the sheer number of options around.

@UncleClassy said:

Can't wait to play as Darth Gader

Dude yes! What's more dangerous than a Sith lord? A sith lord alligator. I like the way you think.

Like this, but with lightsabers and a black cloak and less shitty.

@Liber said:

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

It's shit like this.

@Liber said:

Gaming industry turned into a fucking gay parade, seriously WTF ?

Why do we need homosexuals in games ? DA2 was a fucking disaster.

You are either a very intelligent troll, or an incredibly bitter person. DA2 wasn't great, but it was the "gay" that ruined it for you?

Really?

If you are going to include sexuality in games, it's stupid and shortsided to only include the same kind of sexuality that you yourself subscribe to. I'm straight. Why the fuck would I care if they put homosexual options in the game? You do realize that there are homosexuals in real life too right? Bioware didn't just create this concept and introduce it to the world via DA2. You can't just pretend that there aren't and insist that games adhere strictly to your ideal view of how human sexuality should be.

Would you be alright with a white person asking "Why the fuck are there all these black people in games? What is this? Why do video games need to have black people in them? The industry is turning into some kind of million man march!"

No. It's a stupid ignorant view, and if you really believe it, you're stupid and ignorant as well.

@Liber said:

Why do we need homosexuals in games ? DA2 was a fucking disaster.

That sure had nothing to do with them being homosexual.

@BoG said:

Wait, you can pursue a romantic relationship with a character not controlled by an actual human in the game? In a single-player venture, it makes sense. In an MMO, it doesn't.

Also this. However I also have not interest in pursuing even an fakerelation ship with some teenage dude.

I always play a heterosexual guy - not even a lady. Because I know how to be one ;)

Kit Fisto by name, Kit Fisto by nature :3

@selbie: All those tentacles!

@niamahai said:

GAY IS YAY!

ADMIT IT

STAR WARS IS BETTER WITH HOT LESBIAN SCISSOR ACTION!

Oh yeah! Hot lesbian twi'lek dancers...

This should of been in it in the first place :<

*Siiiiiiiiigh* Games just shouldn't let you have relationships period, saves us all from this drama.

@manthorp said:

This should of been in it in the first place :<

agreed. Nothing wrong with giving the players options.

@Vodun said:

@Liber said:

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

Sure it is, sticking your penis in your own butt though...that's generally looked down upon by society.

I wouldn't look down upon the man, for he has solved an age old conundrum, and deserves applause.

@Liber said:

@crusader8463: DA2 was a fucking nightmare, Anders and Fenris tried to stick their penis in my Hawk, that's half of male party members, the other 2 are your brother and a dwarf.

I know DA2 is a M rated game but obviously kids played it too, guess what kids ? sticking your penis in other mans butt is OK !

Holy shit, you're nuts.

You are a genuine crazy person! HahahAAH!

@Captain_Felafel said:

*Siiiiiiiiigh* Games just shouldn't let you have relationships period, saves us all from this drama.

That's dumb.

well, that sucks.