So, I was all set to make fun of the whole… hubbub? scandal? QQ? about the so-called gay planet.
I could do this all day! Ahem, ok, let’s be rational now.
We Agree To Disagree
There are a lot of things people don’t agree on. We’re not killiks. That’s why it’s called “tolerance” and not “we-have-to-think-the-same-ance.” Different opinions are always going to be there, the only question is how we behave towards others who hold those different opinions.
Back in WoW, I was pretty peeved off about Nazis in one zone, and some people were saying “yes, exactly!” while other people were scratching their heads and thinking I was way overreacting. Most people who disagreed did so in an intelligent manner. One particularly uncouth person called me a pearl-clutching drama-whore. Hint: that’s not tolerance.
There’s a lot of shit to object to, for a myriad of reasons. In one quest, I have to decide whether to kill people quickly or kill them slowly via a sith’s sick experiments. Wait, the light side option was to kill them? The options were both “kill” and there was no “save.” In some places there isn’t even a choice, other than to refuse the offending quest.
The argument that your particular religion finds something objectionable is not a trump card. There is no objective standard by which we can say that a moral objection based on religion is more valid that a moral objection based on other reasons. Everyone’s objections should be equally valid, regardless of whether they are based on religion, personal experience, or any number of other things.
Folks, you don’t have to TAKE the [flirt] option. It’s like in real life: people will come on to you when you’re not interested in them, for whatever reason. You say “no thanks” and move on. NPC’s in the game do a bunch of things that you or your character don’t approve of. They don’t keep a respectful distance and ask whether they can assault you, they just do. And you get to decide how to respond.
Unlike being tossed into combat when you’d rather work out a peaceful solution, you aren’t tossed into a romance. Unlike Space, romance isn’t on rails.1
Limited to One Planet
People are making too much of the fact that it’s only on one planet. The reason is obvious: retroactive changes are much harder (and more expensive) than simply adding things going forward. If you recall, many changes to the game have been made on a “going forward” basis only, such as set bonuses being tied to armoring. Yeah we’d like our old armor to have that feature, but too bad. It’s a logistical, not philosophical, decision. We would have more equality if they had more money, but as we know from ye olde cartel market, they do not.
Let’s not freak the fuck out about something that is not fashion-related, k? As Bill and Ted would say, we should be excellent to each other.
(Because some people get downright stupid and completely forget how to behave when discussing certain issues, I’ve turned on comment moderation so that I can nuke from orbit any comments that offend my oh-so-delicate sensibilities. If you’re not a raving nutjob, your comment will appear in a bit, just be patient.)
- Granted, there are some problems with some companions, for example Aric Jorgan, where once you go down the romance path you don’t have the option to break it off later. Which kind of sucks, but at least you had the initial choice. ↩