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Star Wars: The Old Republic confirms same-gender romance, more endgame content
Executive Producer Jeff Hickman is riding in the new year with a bold state of the game letter for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In it, he not only trumpets the benefits of free-to-play but addresses several pressing questions from the community and gives a few hints at Update 1.7 and the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. Hickman says that F2P has done well by SWTOR, although he doesn't deliver specific numbers: "The game is incredibly healthy with an ever increasing number of players who are actively playing (the servers are rocking!)." He also said that players will soon see changes to "a special PvP area," a lot more content for endgame customers, improvements to Ilum, and the ability to copy characters to the test server. Regarding PvP, Hickman indicated that pure open-world PvP will not be coming to the game any time soon. Finally, the state of the game address confirms that same-gender romance will be added to SWTOR in the expansion, although it will initially be confined to interactions with NPCs and not companions. "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," Hickman said.
Hyperspace Beacon: What does the future hold for SWTOR?
I really want Star Wars: The Old Republic to succeed in 2013. On the whole, I believe it's carved out its own niche in the MMO genre. Granted, it's not the niche EA or the developers had hoped for, but I believe it to be solid and stable at this point. Without offering a lot of new content, the current servers have had consistently high populations since the game converted to its free-to-play model. We are also witnessing a new group of fans come to the game, fans who appear to be a little less jaded about the years of pre-launch hype. This week, I want to spend a bit of time discussing the different aspects of SWTOR and give my predictions for the future. The developers of the game like to say that combat, exploration, progression, and story are the four MMO pillars. But as the game has grown over the last year, I have found that the true four pillars are story, PvE, PvP, and social interaction. With each update to the game, these seem to be the biggest focal points of development as well as the four areas the community seems the most divided over.
Activists target SWTOR's future same-gender romances
It looks like the notorious Family Research Council has decided that it's again time to dust off its pitchforks and light some torches, and this time the organization has Star Wars: The Old Republic in its sights. In a post on the Family Research Council's website, president Tony Perkins announced that "in a galaxy not so far far away, Star Wars gamers have already gone to the dark side." Why are SWTOR players seeing a sudden influx of dark side points? Because, as the group states, "the new video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, has added a special feature: gay relationships." Well, not quite -- fans of the game know that same-gender romance arcs have been slated to be a post-launch feature since last fall but are still not part of the live game. The FRC is calling on players to think of the children and claims that parents and forum-goers alike are bothered by this "Star Warped way of thinking," asking them to "show companies who the Force is really with!" Massively addressed the topic in a 2010 opinion column. You can read the organization's full statement at the link below.
Hyperspace Beacon: More nuna bites
Like just about everyone else watching the PAX coverage, I was expecting something big to come from Star Wars: The Old Republic. However, aside from a release date, I really didn't know what the team could give us that everyone would find important. At this point, you either like what you see or you don't. Nothing short of actually playing the game is going to make a difference. This oversaturation of information is a direct consequence of starting a marketing campaign three years ago. This long campaign results in news being regurgitated a few times over, as if it were new info. Take for instance the same-gender romance arc -- that was a topic we covered two years ago. As I did in the last nuna bites segment, I'd like to take a moment to discuss some of the smaller bits of news that you may have missed. At the same time, I would also like to weigh in on the same-gender-romance-arc subject because it is important, and I would like others to feel comfortable about expressing their personal viewpoints on the subject too.
Anti-Aliased: Even virtual relationships are hot button issues
Before I even begin this column, I need to give a shout out to Interitus. This week's topic was inspired by an e-mail he recently sent me, regarding the ongoing debate on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums with their "romance" story arcs. So, thanks Interitus for the idea! So, to recap for everyone before we dive into the discussion for the week, here's the deal -- Star Wars: The Old Republic will let you romance your companion NPCs much like Mass Effect. Using dialogue options, you can form a romantic relationship with your chosen follower. However, BioWare has neglected to state how far this system will extend. All we know is that only you'll be able to see your romance storylines and there won't be any explicit sex. Star Wars is all about understated sexual tension, AKA Han Solo and Princess Leia. So what about romances between two characters of the same-sex, like Mass Effect? Well, we're not too sure about that at the moment. BioWare has said nothing confirming or denying their existence. And, because gay romance is a huge hot button issue, the SWTOR forums are aflame regarding the addition of same-sex romances. Should we include same-sex romances? Are they appropriate for the Star Wars universe? Are they appropriate for the target audience? Well come along everyone, and let's discuss.
