I'm curious about this. Bioware has always been very liberal with their options. I do not recall these complaints. They have always tried so hard to add options for everyone, I'm honestly surprised there were any objections. 0.o
Doesn't matter.
Sexuality is a very slippery slope.
Just because you, and other don't see it as a problem, others will.
Which is why as I said about the Valentine's event. SE no longer forces player to do stuff with NPCs or have NPCs suggest you like a certain gender. Now only you can choose what person to do things with.
Admiration can drive people to do things beyond what can drive them through romantic interest. The way I saw it, was that the Exarch was looking up to us in admiration as heroes. And us remembering his name is what drove him to tears. I have seen people break into tears just by knowing they have done something that disappoints the person they admire and are filled with extreme joy when they're praised by them. And there's not a single bit of romantic interest between them.
In the case of the Exarch, it really depends on how the player assumes the Exarch's feelings towards the WoL/D. If someone was to assume the Exarch has a romantic attraction to the WoL/D, then they will see it that way. If someone was to assume it as pure admiration (just like in my case), then they will also see it that way. And that is why you're not the only one who thinks that it's romantic. But since we don't have the option to flirt with him, it seems more likely that the author's intention was admiration.
I dunno, I've been far more annoyed about some of the options we're stuck with now than anything related to my character's gender or sexuality lmao
It only affects your character at all if you actually, you know, pick that option.
And I'm not acting like people aren't - I just honestly think it's hilarious that people are more sensitive about the choice to assign a sexuality (which can be ignored) than about the choice to be a miserable awful person lmao
But whatever, this whole debate is pointless. Either SE will let us flirt with NPCs, or they won't. Doesn't matter much to me, and won't stop fanfic writers from doing their thing either way :P
The Valentione's Day event you are talking about required you to find a member of the opposite sex to make that glammed heart thing with so you could complete the event. The option to flirt with G'raha would not require you to flirt with G'raha. It would be optional. You're comparing apples and oranges here.
This is kind of an aside, but I'm curious... I'm assuming you mean Aymeric, but he wasn't the first one. Have you ever seen the Japanese version of Haurchefaunt? Or a translation of the other version of the game? Because he is very overtly, um, *interested* in the WoL in that version. He's basically an entirely different character lmao, but he treats you the same regardless of the character's gender. That probably would've raised way more eyebrows than any optional dialogue option if it wasn't so heavily changed tbh xD
That is the other thing really... It is a Japanese game, so cultural differences are a thing to consider too.
But again... It doesn't matter much to me if they do let us flirt with NPCs. I'd enjoy it, as I did (immensely) in SWTOR, but it's no skin off my back if they don't. :p