Mass Effect 3 - Patrick Weekes on Same-Sex Relationships

BioWare writers Patrick Weekes and Dusty Everman write answer canned questions on the BioBlog about writing same-sex relationships in Mass Effect 3:

How did you approach writing a gay character in Mass Effect 3?
PW: Liara’s relationship in Lair of the Shadow Broker can be with players of either gender, so I was familiar with writing dialog that needed to work for a same-sex romance. Nevertheless, I’m a straight white male – pretty much the living embodiment of the Patriarchy – and I really wanted to avoid writing something that people saw and went, “That’s a straight guy writing lesbians for other straight guys to look at.”
I also really wanted the romance with Traynor to be positive. One of my gay friends has this kind of sad hobby in which she watches every lesbian movie she can find, trying to find ones that actually end up with the women not either dying or breaking up. I think the most positive one she’s found is “D.E.B.S.” I wanted to avoid any kind of tragic heartbreak, to make this a fundamentally life-affirming relationship… at least, as much as possible within Mass Effect 3′s grim war story.

More information.

Clear example of why the genre needs to refocus on the killing!

Patrick Weekes is one of my favorite writers (and people) at Bioware so this was a great read. I also some how missed it during my usual forum browsing each day so thanks very much for posting it - it wasn't anything earth shattering but enjoyed reading how they approached it.

What a shame more work did not go into ass effects end.

Huh? Liara isn't a woman, she's … well, alien. The whole species has just one gender.

Yeah, sure. And the elf princess isn't half-nude just for the male audience, no, it's because it's her culture :-)

So much effort is put into sex in Bioware RPGs, but adds nothing for me. S'pose sex sells?