No, you're inventing fiction. No one catered to homophobes and bigots. There is no gay-bashing in the game. Gays aren't portrayed in a negative light.
The game went over-budget. Features were cut. And before Bioware could add SGR into the game, they wanted to get LucasArt's permission. LucasArts approved it. That decision was made right around launch. Bioware had lay-offs. The game didn't meet financial expectations. The game shifted to F2P because it lost money.
And despite the financial losses, SGR was still added.
And you're upset about that and lying to justify misplaced anger. That doesn't change the fact that you're lying.
Furthermore, insisting that any content that doesn't include SGR is homophobic is just asinine.
Writing gender neutral romances doesn't serve anyone well and isn't inclusive. That just makes for poor romances. Bioware goes out of their way to write each romance arc as something unique. When Fenris has a romance with a female PC, it is different from a romance with a male PC. Their romances often change based upon the player alignment as well. Instead of a half-assed effort that plays poorly, Bioware is taking the time to do romances correctly for everyone involved.
And yet you're complaining that someone is making so much effort to be inclusive instead of complaining about the companies who do nothing.
You're trying to defend a broken argument. You accused Bioware of segregating gay players to a gay ghetto planet, which isn't true.
Bioware is only responsible for their decisions. Saying that Bioware is responsible for things out of their control is absurd and unfair. Your rage is misplaced.
The systems weren't designed so poorly as that same-sex romances couldn't be included. This is purely a financial issue. Every feature in the game costs money. There are many features that Bioware wanted that weren't included initially because the budget exceeded $200 million.
Bioware is including all players, when I don't think other MMOs even offer this options for same-sex romance. So instead of thanking and praising the companies that do try to be inclusive, you're attacking them?
Gay characters aren't being segregated. The article is mistaken.
The new planet holds new content for all players and is the center of the expansion pack. Same-sex romance options are only being added to new content, including this new planet.
I'm not saying the gay community shouldn't be upset over how they're treated by the media, or the lack of romance options in video games.
But this article and summary attack Bioware, which is absurd. Bioware has gone out of their way for years to cater to all players. The fact that Bioware needed permission from LucasArts isn't Bioware's fault. Calling this regressive behavior on Bioware's behalf isn't fair.
And you're also mistaken. Gay players don't have their own planet. The article is misrepresenting the facts and spreading bullshit that is getting people outraged over lies.
All players are being directed to the new planet for new content. All future planets and all future content will include same-sex romances.
No one knows for sure, but my assumption is budget and the need for approval from LucasArts.
SWTOR reportedly cost over $200 million to make. They set the Guiness World Record for most voice actors on one project. And they localized the game in several languages. Bioware romances generally play out differently based upon gender (even if the NPC is bi and can be romanced by a male or female) and alignment. For each of those options, they would have to record new dialogue in several languages.
In Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Bioware owned the properties. They could do what they wanted without asking permission.
Adding homosexual content to Star Wars requires the permission of Lucas and LucasArts. Karen Traviss added a gay character/couple in one novel I believe, and it turned into a huge controversy even though it was a minor background character. The debate as to whether or not homosexuality even exists in the Star Wars universe had never been determined. George Lucas is a self-described "hippie" living in Marin County, so it is quite possible he had no problem with it personally, but the Lucas-empire had to decide how it would financially affect the brand.
Amazingly enough, they eventually signed off on it, and homosexuality does apparently exist in Star Wars.
Because Bioware has never done it that way. For example, there is a character in Dragon Age 2 that is bisexual and can be romanced by a male or female character.
They don't just ignore gender in the equation. The romance is actually different if it is started by a male or female, even though both can romance the same NPC.
And as I stated, they still need new voice recordings. Voice actors aren't cheap. They have to line-up all the original voice actors to add new dialogue, and the game is reportedly losing a lot of money. So long as they are presenting options in the new content, I doubt they feel it is worth the cost to re-do all the old NPCs.
Bioware has included same-sex options in every game since Dragon Age. They're not afraid of any agenda. They don't just take heterosexual romance options and remove gender filters. Their same-sex romances in their games are written to be meaningful and different.
And bringing back all the original voice actors to record new dialogue is costly for a game that is reporting losing tons of money.
So instead of spreading FUD based upon assumptions, you should actually play SWTOR and look into Bioware's track record.
SW:TOR is a fully voiced MMO. Every line of dialogue has a voice actor. And most NPCs have a unique voice actor. Adding same-sex romance into the game meant going back and changing the scripting for each NPC, as well as bringing back the previous voice actors to record new dialogue.
That is why they're only doing it for new content.
Going back and changing scripting and bringing back all the original voice actors to voice new dialog for same-gender/same-sex dialogue is costly and a pain in the ass. So for new content moving forward, they're planning for it.
Bioware is trying to be inclusive by adding the content in the first place. They aren't trying to segregate players.
This is still Lucas. I doubt he wanted to center a show on rape and cannibalism for no good reason. However, the show will likely be anti-heroes if it does center on bounty hunters. They'll constantly be surrounded by criminals and there will be a lot of death.
Except McCallum and Lucas described the live action TV series as Deadwood in space. They've suggested it will be so dark and mature that only HBO would air it.
The plot is supposed to center on bounty hunters between Episode III and IV.
Last year, high school soccer players suffered more concussions nationally than athletes in basketball, baseball, wrestling and softball combined, according to estimates from the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) in Columbus, Ohio. Although the media has focused on concussions in football, little has been written about the effects of concussions on soccer players.
Frank Gore is an amazing athlete and yet didn't start his rookie year. Running backs are more likely to start as rookies than many other positions where raw speed and fresh legs are preferable. Part of the reason he didn't play more early is that he took longer to learn the offense than some of his counterparts. And his low Wonderlic score is part of the reason why he was drafted in the third round as opposed to the first round, even though by pure athleticism, he was perhaps the best college running back. It cost him millions of dollars.
People who haven't played football often underestimate the amount of strategy in the game.
Here is a real basic breakdown of the offense the 49ers and Frank Gore operate in today. It requires quick decision making skills.
The game has changed significantly in the decades since he played. Pure size is no longer the advantage it once was.
Offensive and defensive playbooks are quite complex. New packages and formations are installed every week. And it isn't simply memorizing a great deal of information. Players (especially at professional levels) need quick reasoning skills to analyze everything unfolding around them at blistering speeds.
Before the NFL draft, incoming players go through a combine. Vertical leap, 40 yard dash times and the usual are compiled. But players now have to take an intelligence test as well.
Football is perhaps the most complex of the major sports. To excel at it, especially at the NFL level, you have to be fairly intelligent.
Perhaps you were suggesting that only idiots take a known risk for no reason, but we're only now discovering evidence linking brain damage to football. So guys like Junior Seau weren't idiots for playing the game.
There are also helmets which supposedly reduce the risk of concussions, but the NFL won't mandate them for some reason. They keep saying that they think for some reason that attempting to protect players would make them more liable in a lawsuit if a player still ended up with a concussion. That would only really be the case if the NFL false promised they are guaranteed to prevent concussions.
But part of the problem is that many of these helmets are designed to help protect against the most violent blows, while some researchers think the root cause for permanent brain damage is the quantity of small hits, not a small number of big hits.
Guys who played lengthy careers and were involved in as many tackles as Junior Seau may have still developed brain problems even with a concussion-reducing helmet.
The more and more we learn about this issue, it may in fact create a discussion where parents don't allow their kids to play football, or any violent sport. Soccer oddly enough has even higher concussion rates (perhaps due to headers). I'm not sure what major sport is safe, perhaps save for baseball.
I just converted some large MS SQL databases to Oracle (on Solaris) recently with 10 years of historical data. It doesn't cost millions. But I get your point that many companies do operate under the assumption that Microsoft is the only alternative.
The enterprise market really is the bread-and-butter for Microsoft. That is what really amazes me. They seem to be alienating the enterprise market in many ways currently.
Slashdot Mirror
No, you're inventing fiction. No one catered to homophobes and bigots. There is no gay-bashing in the game. Gays aren't portrayed in a negative light.
The game went over-budget. Features were cut. And before Bioware could add SGR into the game, they wanted to get LucasArt's permission. LucasArts approved it. That decision was made right around launch. Bioware had lay-offs. The game didn't meet financial expectations. The game shifted to F2P because it lost money.
And despite the financial losses, SGR was still added.
And you're upset about that and lying to justify misplaced anger. That doesn't change the fact that you're lying.
Furthermore, insisting that any content that doesn't include SGR is homophobic is just asinine.
http://www.cabrillo.edu/~jhancock/coda.html
Writing gender neutral romances doesn't serve anyone well and isn't inclusive. That just makes for poor romances. Bioware goes out of their way to write each romance arc as something unique. When Fenris has a romance with a female PC, it is different from a romance with a male PC. Their romances often change based upon the player alignment as well. Instead of a half-assed effort that plays poorly, Bioware is taking the time to do romances correctly for everyone involved.
And yet you're complaining that someone is making so much effort to be inclusive instead of complaining about the companies who do nothing.
That is called biting the hand that feeds you.
You're trying to defend a broken argument. You accused Bioware of segregating gay players to a gay ghetto planet, which isn't true.
Bioware is only responsible for their decisions. Saying that Bioware is responsible for things out of their control is absurd and unfair. Your rage is misplaced.
The systems weren't designed so poorly as that same-sex romances couldn't be included. This is purely a financial issue. Every feature in the game costs money. There are many features that Bioware wanted that weren't included initially because the budget exceeded $200 million.
Bioware is including all players, when I don't think other MMOs even offer this options for same-sex romance. So instead of thanking and praising the companies that do try to be inclusive, you're attacking them?
Let me know how that works out for you.
Gay characters aren't being segregated. The article is mistaken.
The new planet holds new content for all players and is the center of the expansion pack. Same-sex romance options are only being added to new content, including this new planet.
I'm not saying the gay community shouldn't be upset over how they're treated by the media, or the lack of romance options in video games.
But this article and summary attack Bioware, which is absurd. Bioware has gone out of their way for years to cater to all players. The fact that Bioware needed permission from LucasArts isn't Bioware's fault. Calling this regressive behavior on Bioware's behalf isn't fair.
And you're also mistaken. Gay players don't have their own planet. The article is misrepresenting the facts and spreading bullshit that is getting people outraged over lies.
All players are being directed to the new planet for new content. All future planets and all future content will include same-sex romances.
No one knows for sure, but my assumption is budget and the need for approval from LucasArts.
SWTOR reportedly cost over $200 million to make. They set the Guiness World Record for most voice actors on one project. And they localized the game in several languages. Bioware romances generally play out differently based upon gender (even if the NPC is bi and can be romanced by a male or female) and alignment. For each of those options, they would have to record new dialogue in several languages.
In Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Bioware owned the properties. They could do what they wanted without asking permission.
Adding homosexual content to Star Wars requires the permission of Lucas and LucasArts. Karen Traviss added a gay character/couple in one novel I believe, and it turned into a huge controversy even though it was a minor background character. The debate as to whether or not homosexuality even exists in the Star Wars universe had never been determined. George Lucas is a self-described "hippie" living in Marin County, so it is quite possible he had no problem with it personally, but the Lucas-empire had to decide how it would financially affect the brand.
Amazingly enough, they eventually signed off on it, and homosexuality does apparently exist in Star Wars.
Because Bioware has never done it that way. For example, there is a character in Dragon Age 2 that is bisexual and can be romanced by a male or female character.
They don't just ignore gender in the equation. The romance is actually different if it is started by a male or female, even though both can romance the same NPC.
And as I stated, they still need new voice recordings. Voice actors aren't cheap. They have to line-up all the original voice actors to add new dialogue, and the game is reportedly losing a lot of money. So long as they are presenting options in the new content, I doubt they feel it is worth the cost to re-do all the old NPCs.
Grr. Shouldn't multi-task while typing. I meant Baldur's Gate, not Dragon Age. They've done same-sex for quite some time.
Bioware has included same-sex options in every game since Dragon Age. They're not afraid of any agenda. They don't just take heterosexual romance options and remove gender filters. Their same-sex romances in their games are written to be meaningful and different.
And bringing back all the original voice actors to record new dialogue is costly for a game that is reporting losing tons of money.
So instead of spreading FUD based upon assumptions, you should actually play SWTOR and look into Bioware's track record.
SW:TOR is a fully voiced MMO. Every line of dialogue has a voice actor. And most NPCs have a unique voice actor. Adding same-sex romance into the game meant going back and changing the scripting for each NPC, as well as bringing back the previous voice actors to record new dialogue.
That is why they're only doing it for new content.
This.
Going back and changing scripting and bringing back all the original voice actors to voice new dialog for same-gender/same-sex dialogue is costly and a pain in the ass. So for new content moving forward, they're planning for it.
Bioware is trying to be inclusive by adding the content in the first place. They aren't trying to segregate players.
Jedi classes make up 2 out of 16, or 1/8th of the possible class options.
This is still Lucas. I doubt he wanted to center a show on rape and cannibalism for no good reason. However, the show will likely be anti-heroes if it does center on bounty hunters. They'll constantly be surrounded by criminals and there will be a lot of death.
Except McCallum and Lucas described the live action TV series as Deadwood in space. They've suggested it will be so dark and mature that only HBO would air it.
The plot is supposed to center on bounty hunters between Episode III and IV.
And yet every report I've seen on the subject says soccer is on par with football, or worse than football for concussions.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/mar/16/heading-taking-lot-blame-concussions-increase-socc/
Last year, high school soccer players suffered more concussions nationally than athletes in basketball, baseball, wrestling and softball combined, according to estimates from the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) in Columbus, Ohio. Although the media has focused on concussions in football, little has been written about the effects of concussions on soccer players.
Frank Gore is an amazing athlete and yet didn't start his rookie year. Running backs are more likely to start as rookies than many other positions where raw speed and fresh legs are preferable. Part of the reason he didn't play more early is that he took longer to learn the offense than some of his counterparts. And his low Wonderlic score is part of the reason why he was drafted in the third round as opposed to the first round, even though by pure athleticism, he was perhaps the best college running back. It cost him millions of dollars.
People who haven't played football often underestimate the amount of strategy in the game.
Here is a real basic breakdown of the offense the 49ers and Frank Gore operate in today. It requires quick decision making skills.
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2012/12/27/3792740/pistol-offense-nfl-redskins-rg3
The game has changed significantly in the decades since he played. Pure size is no longer the advantage it once was.
Offensive and defensive playbooks are quite complex. New packages and formations are installed every week. And it isn't simply memorizing a great deal of information. Players (especially at professional levels) need quick reasoning skills to analyze everything unfolding around them at blistering speeds.
Before the NFL draft, incoming players go through a combine. Vertical leap, 40 yard dash times and the usual are compiled. But players now have to take an intelligence test as well.
Football is perhaps the most complex of the major sports. To excel at it, especially at the NFL level, you have to be fairly intelligent.
Perhaps you were suggesting that only idiots take a known risk for no reason, but we're only now discovering evidence linking brain damage to football. So guys like Junior Seau weren't idiots for playing the game.
Soccer does actually have higher concussion rates in youth sports than football.
There are also helmets which supposedly reduce the risk of concussions, but the NFL won't mandate them for some reason. They keep saying that they think for some reason that attempting to protect players would make them more liable in a lawsuit if a player still ended up with a concussion. That would only really be the case if the NFL false promised they are guaranteed to prevent concussions.
But part of the problem is that many of these helmets are designed to help protect against the most violent blows, while some researchers think the root cause for permanent brain damage is the quantity of small hits, not a small number of big hits.
Guys who played lengthy careers and were involved in as many tackles as Junior Seau may have still developed brain problems even with a concussion-reducing helmet.
The more and more we learn about this issue, it may in fact create a discussion where parents don't allow their kids to play football, or any violent sport. Soccer oddly enough has even higher concussion rates (perhaps due to headers). I'm not sure what major sport is safe, perhaps save for baseball.
I do think Microsoft is on a decline that will likely only be rectified if they change leadership.
They have:
* Desktop
* Server
* Cloud
* Office
* SQL
* Development
* Games
* Mobile
* Hardware
* Search
* Advertising
* Music
I'd call them relatively diverse.
I just converted some large MS SQL databases to Oracle (on Solaris) recently with 10 years of historical data. It doesn't cost millions. But I get your point that many companies do operate under the assumption that Microsoft is the only alternative.
The XBox division has gone back and forth between profit and loss over the years.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/microsofts-xbox-division-loses-229-million/
The enterprise market really is the bread-and-butter for Microsoft. That is what really amazes me. They seem to be alienating the enterprise market in many ways currently.