Jeff Hickman, executive producer of Star Wars: The Old Republic recently announced on his blog, state of the game, that the Rise of the Hutts expansion would allow players to be involved in same gender relationships with certain NPCs (no companions) they will encounter but only on the planet Makeb for the time being.
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.
While this news was hardly surprising considering how inclusive Bioware have been of gay relationships in their previous games (see Dragon Age 1 and 2 and Mass Effect 3), it immediately caused an uproar not just among people opposed to such unions, but also from those who are supportive and advocate allowing same sex couples to wed. According to this latter group, by limiting same gender relationships to the NPCs of Makeb and not everyone throughout the galaxy, Bioware have effectively created a ‘gay ghetto’ and therefore approve of treating gay relationships as separate but equal — a label that has found to be lacking when comparing civil unions to actual marriage in real life.
While I find it hard to believe that Bioware was trying to create a ‘gay ghetto’ by limiting SGRs to one planet, it does make sense from a business standpoint since they need the continual investment from players to keep TOR profitable and the gaming community still seems to be struggling with accepting homosexuals.
While portrayals of homosexuality have become commonplace in modern pop culture in almost all mediums, from movies, books, television shows and even to comics, video games still stand out as one of the last huge bastions of heterosexuality. Even though 47% of gamers are women, many of the games released pander to an extremely masculine audience, filled the holy trifecta of guns, ‘splosions and big breasted women — even in games that appeal to players of all sexualities (Marvel v. Capcom, Mortal Kombat, DmC, etc.). This testosterone fueled audience isn’t the most supporting of male homosexuality either as evidenced by a lot of the comments found on gaming web sites in response to this announcement:
“Homosexuality however is a potentially dangerous practice with no benifit to the human species.”
“Its natural if its two chicks!”
“Homosexuality is disharmonious to the laws of nature. This is one of the many evils/illnesses that we, as a society, are trying to deem ‘acceptable’.”
And of course,
“Necrophile and zoophile folks game too – so where’re necrophilia and zoophilia romances?”
It goes without saying that people are often a lot ‘braver’ and say things they don’t always mean when hidden behind the wall of anonymity on the internet, but the fact remains that there are many ignorant people out there, and Bioware are taking their thoughts into consideration too, which is most likely why they are testing SGRs on just one planet. I’m not saying it’s right, but I honestly believe this is what they are doing, and while it’s not quite the plunge they made with Mass Effect 3, it’s a step in the right direction.
Lt. Cortez in Mass Effect 3
Speaking of which, I can’t tell you how taken aback I was in Mass Effect 3 when Steve Cortez made a casual and matter of fact statement about the husband he used to have; it blew me away, and I plan on marrying my fiance soon! Not only was there a gay character who wasn’t based off some stereotype or a nameless Red Shirt, but someone you could actually build a relationship with if you so desired. I didn’t go down that route, but it was still really cool to see that the choice was there and there was no shame or stigma attached.
When it comes down to it, gamers (and outraged social conservative groups) need to keep in mind that no one is forcing them to engage in a same sex relationship in TOR or any other game out there — just the way it is in real life. If you want a same sex, different sexed or NO partner, that decision is completely up to the individual and will make no impact on how the game plays, story or its denouement. As society becomes more accepting of homosexuality, and by extension, gay marriage, people need to realize that art will change to reflect what is commonplace. They can stick their heads in the sand or cover their ears and eyes, but it doesn’t change the fact that gay people are not going away. Change always happens gradually, then suddenly, even in video games.