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BioWare dismisses homosexuality in Star Wars
Author: Joe Martin
Published: 28th April 2009
BioWare has clamped down on discussion of homosexuality in Star Wars in their official forums.
BioWare has made a controversial move to block discussion of homosexuality in the Star Wars universe on their official forums today, claiming that the idea is not relevant to the game.
Threads on the official BioWare forums that had discussed the idea of creating homosexual characters in BioWare Star Wars games have been closed and the moderators have decided to censor the terms 'homosexual', 'gay' and 'lesbian' in an effort to mute further discussion.
What's more, BioWare is even trying to prevent discussion of the ban according to Eurogamer, closing threads titled "GLBT discrimination in the forums?", among others.
The only real explanation yet offered up has come from BioWare's Community Manager Sean Dahlberg, who said that the discussions were not relevant to either the games or the larger Star Wars franchise. According to Sean the idea and terms of homosexuality do not exist in the Star Wars universe and are therefore being dealt with as irrelevant.
The explanation is being seen by many as flawed however, as BioWare has included romantic relationships in past games both in and out of the Star Wars franchise and hasn't shied away from the topic of homosexuality. There was even a potential lesbian subplot that could evolve between Juhani and the player character in BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Is BioWare right to clamp down on the topic to prevent discussion going off-course? What are your opinions of gay relationships in computer games? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Author: Joe Martin
Published: 28th April 2009
BioWare has clamped down on discussion of homosexuality in Star Wars in their official forums.
BioWare has made a controversial move to block discussion of homosexuality in the Star Wars universe on their official forums today, claiming that the idea is not relevant to the game.
Threads on the official BioWare forums that had discussed the idea of creating homosexual characters in BioWare Star Wars games have been closed and the moderators have decided to censor the terms 'homosexual', 'gay' and 'lesbian' in an effort to mute further discussion.
What's more, BioWare is even trying to prevent discussion of the ban according to Eurogamer, closing threads titled "GLBT discrimination in the forums?", among others.
The only real explanation yet offered up has come from BioWare's Community Manager Sean Dahlberg, who said that the discussions were not relevant to either the games or the larger Star Wars franchise. According to Sean the idea and terms of homosexuality do not exist in the Star Wars universe and are therefore being dealt with as irrelevant.
The explanation is being seen by many as flawed however, as BioWare has included romantic relationships in past games both in and out of the Star Wars franchise and hasn't shied away from the topic of homosexuality. There was even a potential lesbian subplot that could evolve between Juhani and the player character in BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Is BioWare right to clamp down on the topic to prevent discussion going off-course? What are your opinions of gay relationships in computer games? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
