There are no marriages, but you can date your companions. Why not date the same sex? I see no negative reason not to. As far as gameplay goes, as a spy, I flirt with every person I need to use. As in real life, if you are not gay or your religion prevents you from being gay, don't be gay. No reason to stop other from doing what they want. I don't think anyone was pressuring MMO's to allow gay equality. I do, however, see there being religious groups putting pressure on this game to not have it.

Funny how that works...

Ah yes, we must protect the 'children'. Best way of doing that is obviously denying that homosexuality exists. If not they will all become gay

If we go by the standards of other games, there is no cause for a mature rating. There is more sexual content in most other games that are only rated teen. Are you making the argument that homosexual sex is somehow more mature than heterosexual sex? I really don't see the logic in that.

There is with your companions. As for the whole homosexual thing, I personally feel from my reading of the scriptures that God condemns the practice but He is the one to judge and take action, not me or some web surfing individual. As for its possibility in the game, well I make the decision in real life to not got that way so I can make the decision to not go that way the game way. The fact that it is in there is between God and the developers.

As for the gameplay itself, I have been playing the 1.2 beta patch and see come nice things coming along. More will be added later with 1.3 and so on.

Well, Bioware went there in Mass Effect 3, so it's possible. And in terms of other minority sexualities, kissing your sibling is very Star Wars... 

Attack of the Nuns!!!

Run for your liiiiiiiives

The answer is YES I would and do argue against murder and violence in video games because it ends up desensitizing children to the point they are not disturbed by it.

I know this to be true. Add to that the quality of these video games which makes the violence and murder so realistic, that it is all the worse. Worse yet, some glamorize murder and violence. 

Anyway, thankfully, there are resources out there for parents who want to keep tabs on video games. 

One very good one that I used was "ParenTools" which not only gave the rating but info about the content as well. 

http://www.esrb.org/parentools

http://www.mariowiki.com/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board

A world where religious bigotry is just as intolerated as your views on homosexuality? Slavery and murder has been "justified" by scripture before, so I'm not too keen on accepting homosexuality as against God's will because our version of the Bible says so. The Bible isn't meant to be a literal translation of history or God's will, it's meant to be a tool for those with (or without) faith to feel God's love and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If the Prince of Peace were here right now I'm sure he'd be more pre-occupied with healing the sick, feeding the hungry, sheltering the poor or helping bring peace to the Earth... not so much campaigning against pretend, implicated homosexuality in a video game (or in real life either).

I don't think we're supposed to be discussing 'religion' on these forums, but while this thread remains open I guess I can throw my cents into the mix.

While I am a man of 'faith' I haven't been referring to myself as a christian for some time now.  The following are some reasons why:

1.  I cannot on any level agree with the sentiment being expressed by the christians of the world today.  Yes we are to 'judge behaviour' and take actions in our personal lives accordingly but we are NOT to condemn which is unfortunately what most christians take 'judgement' to mean.

2.  Adding the word christian to something/anything in this material world does not in fact make that material object/action into a spiritual one.

3.  Too many 'christians' are reading the bible as a "book of what not to do" instead of a guide on what to do/how to act while forgetting that much of the bible can only be applied to the timeframe within which it was conceived.  Without becoming long-winded here, the old testament (while it may have some historical value etc.) is really just the shadow cast by the light of the new testament being shone on this broken world.  So taking this or that verse out of the old-testament to 'use' for an agenda goes against the core values the bible (as a whole) is attempting to teach. 

I believe true faith/spirituality is stifled by placing it in a box, tying a neat ribbon around it and calling it 'religion'.  For that reason all organised religion is not for me.

The problem is, material things must be dealt with in the 'material/physical realm' just as spiritual things must be dealt with in the 'spiritual realm'.  Rules from one realm do not apply to the other.  Video games fall squarely into the 'material/physical realm' and as such cannot be dealt with using the bible or any other form of spiritual guidance.

Internet Griefers and their ability to pick and choose certain sad comments and make idiotic, sweeping comments about Christianity amaze me.  A couple of comments that might be interpreted as all Christians not allowing homosexual relationships is the big topic of the day.  Have you met most Christians? I haven't, but go meet 10 and tell me that they all interpret the lessons the same way.  ... I tire of this.

The only thing worse than Christians who aren't educated in their Religion, is idiots of harp on them like they're the only type Christians to exist.

First we had: 

And then: 

Yes, we judge behavior, in this case homosexuality, by either approving or condemning it. Approving homosexuality goes against God. 

So what!

I'm here for the first time simply because I found a timely article about updating Star Wars:The Old Republic video game and brought it to your attention. Did not Pacov entitled his article a "discussion thread"? 

I'm not the one who first brought up religion or Almighty God in the discussion. It was only after others framed their comments around religion that I added my 2 cents worth.

Yes, of course the rules (or laws) from the spiritual realm apply to our material/physical thoughts, words and actions. We can't get away from it even if we try. These rules are called the Natural or Moral Law which is written in our heart.  The sense of moral obligation confirms these rules. In every one of us there is a sense of right and wrong. A man knows interiorly when he is doing wrong. Something rebukes his conduct. He knows that he is going against an inward voice. It's the voice of conscience, a law we did not make and which no man could have made for this voice protests whether other men know our conduct or not. This voice is often quite against what we wish to do, warning us beforehand condemning us after its violation. The law dictated by this voice of conscience supposes a Lawgiver who has written His Law in our hearts. 

Now, apply that to the coming updated video game and the issue and choice of either condoning or condemning homosexuality and exposing that to children. 

Morality is a subjective aspect of the human psyche. There no moral absolutes in humanity. In fact, some people have totally thrown out the idea of right and wrong in favor of more pragmatic terminology. I guess this is opinion-logic you seem to mistake for logic. I have never heard of any legitimate claims of innate morality. We see other moral codes and internalize them. I guess that is what it comes down to in your argument and presence in this forum that is foreign to you. Seeing gay performed in a game will probably affect children below the age of 12. It will seem normal and harmless. One choice among millions that doesn't affect anyone else in a significant way. If morality was innate, you might have a point, but really you are just trying to spread your brand of morality on the assumption that children need special protection from homosexual content. I guess if there were any other parents on this forum that also wanted to make sure their children thought exactly what they did, your presence here would be slightly welcome. As it stands, you seem to barking up the wrong tree.