It's not entirely new information since the State of the Game #2 announcement (4 days ago from this post), but, I feel it's worthy of mentioning, and discussing.

Star Wars: The Old Republic – State of the Game #2

01.02.2013

http://www.swtor.com/info/news/blog/20130102

Topic #4: Same Gender Romance: Any news on this front would be great…

Answer: First of all, I want to apologize that this is taking so long to get in the game. I realize that we promised SGR to you guys and that many of you believed that this would be with a companion character. Unfortunately, this will take a lot more work than we realized at the time and it (like some other pieces of content we talked about earlier in the year) has been delayed as we focused on the changes required to take the game Free-to-Play. As we have said in the past, allowing same gender romance is something we are very supportive of.

Secondly, I want to reveal today that we are adding SGR with some NPCs on Makeb and do intend on pursuing more SGR options in the future. More details to come!

OK, where to begin.  It's great that EA has acknowledged the request for Same Gender Romance Arcs (SGRA) from many gamers.  This topic started WAY before the game released, however, so it's nothing new.  Fans really wanted companions to be romanceable, though, even if gay/lesbian.  Adding those arcs was apparently too hard for EA (in other words it cost too much), so it gets watered down to NPC's, likely shared across both factions (just like the main Hutt story).

If EA adds SGRA NPC's this time, then to be consistent with the SW universe, they would need to continually add them.  Wouldn't it be better for the overall scalability of the game to just keep SGRA available to companions, and limit it there?  EA is running their costs up now - it will only disappoint later when they can't deliver, as players will find that every content update doesn't include SGRA  (ie short fix now, costs more in the long run).

Not according to EA.

The number of romanceable NPC's will be less than the number of companions who could have been romanceable.  I'd expect much less .. maybe 1-4 NPC's total, across all factions and sexes.  Yeah 1 or 2 per sex.

This is very weak.  And those NPC's that are Bi or Gay only exist on Makeb?  Nowhere else?

There are some story holes here.  They don't exist anywhere else?  EA is opening a door here - Makeb is LGBT friendly, but only on this planet, nowhere else is it thought of or allowed ...

edit spelling

I'm just going to jump right in here before things go south...

The last time we had this exact thread it ended with moderation. It's great to discuss these things and even better to do so while we respect everyone's opinions.

so... Rules of Conduct just in case some people need a refresher...

http://www.mmorpg.com/disclaimers.cfm#conduct

Ok, have a great discussion.

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars - not appropriate.

How is it in appropriate because it's star wars? I mean I think it NPC romances are inappropriate in an MMORPG because they water down the genre,  but you're not compaining about npc romances, just the gay ones. Why is that a problem?

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars - not appropriate.

It's optional, as in you don't need to flirt with the same sex.

In addition to the logistics of such a move, as I mentioned earlier, a major area of ill-will amongst players is that content is coming along so slowly as it is, so when SGRA hits it a big deal..  Some love it, some don't.  If EA was spamming players with content, then this would be a non-issue.

I think it's good, but that's just me.  I'm concerned of what SGRA means to future content, as to continually providing it .. as well as to story, explaining why it's not permissable in the original game.  Hence why companions would have been a better solution.

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Originally posted by Paradigm68
I support the idea, but in the context of an MMORPG I can hardly think of a dynamic that more shows how the genre has lost its way than romances with NPC's (regardless of their gender) in a game that should be focused on players interacting with each other.

 Ding, ding, ding... we have a winner.

People will get caught up in a "cause"... personally I couldn't give a crap about that.  It's just IMHO a silly thing to focus resources on "romancing" pixels to see a few lines of pre-determined dialogue.  I'll happilly sacrifice every heterosexual (or anysexual) storyline in return for them focusing on increeasing player interaction and actually fixing the actual game...

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Answer one of my three questions and I'll answer yours.

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Really? Are you saying that nothing can be in the games that didn't explicitly happen in the official lore? That is a silly reason to be against it.

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Answer one of my three questions and I'll answer yours.

My answer is because Star Wars does not have, except soon SWTOR

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Answer one of my three questions and I'll answer yours.

My answer is because Star Wars does not have, except soon SWTOR

Have you complained about any of the other things in SWTOR that aren't in Star Wars?

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Well, some similarities exist between the Star Wars Universe and our universe.

The avatars in Star Wars have a striking resemblance to humans .. they seem to operate under the same laws of physics.  They have emotions similar to humans, including love, friendship, and hate.

It would only follow that they also have differences amongst themselves, just as other lifeforms do, as with life on Earth.

Originally posted by Paradigm68

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Really? Are you saying that nothing can be in the games that didn't explicitly happen in the official lore? That is a silly reason to be against it.

Does any disney stuff have this in any of them? I don't think so, and there is a reason why not

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Paradigm68

Originally posted by superniceguy

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by superniceguy

I thought this idea was scrapped?

This is a very bad move, and the fact this topic leads to discussions going south, speaks volumes as to why this is bad.

Seriosuly I was thinking I may have bought the expansion, but not if this goes in. If this was in a GTA game, or some adult based game, then that is fine, but this is Star Wars / Disney (kids stuff)- not appropriate.

How is it not appropriate? Are we now shielding our children from the horrors of gays/lesbians? Save the children! Save the children! 

Or were people just all straight a long time ago in a galaxy far away?

Where in Star Wars did this happen?

I am sure some players got together in SWG, but SOE never made the game have it

Really? Are you saying that nothing can be in the games that didn't explicitly happen in the official lore? That is a silly reason to be against it.

Does any disney stuff have this in any of them? I don't think so, and there is a reason why not

So you're changing your reason for objecting to 'cause it's a disney property' now? Does this mean you're abandoning the 'because it's not in Star Wars' obection? If you're not, I'm still curious if youv'e objected to anything else in SWTOR that isn't in Star Wars, and if you are, what kind of objection is "cause it's Disney"? They already have relationships, what is the problem with the given gender of the people in those relationships?