I was intending to get back to our regularly scheduled debates this week, but something ugly is rearing its head again and I just wanted to take some time and talk about it. There are a lot of good reasons to want to boycott Electronic Arts, like the Mass Effect 3 ending, the never-ending parade of Sims expansions, the Mass Effect 3 ending, the ruination of the Command and Conquer franchise, the Mass Effect 3 ending, or even the Mass Effect 3 ending, but just because future companions in The Old Republic might be homosexual? I'm beginning to wonder if the people at the Florida Family Association have ever played a BioWare game, or if this is the first time that anyone has seriously paid any attention to them. 

Welcome back to another issue of The Darker Side of Life, the roleplay column for The Old Republic where we take a look at the issues concerning roleplayers, and try to find solutions for them. In this week's issue, we're tackling stealth and how it affects roleplay, specifically spying and information gathering. Spying can be a core part of an RP community, with different groups trying to figure out what each other is doing. There are all sorts of ways to gather information, from bribery, to torture, even just being a fly on the wall and listening in. The real question is, what happens if that fly on the wall has stealth abilities and can't be seen by the other players, is it still legitimate?

One thing many people point out about the original Star Wars movies is the lack of women. In the article on racism, I retold the joke from Family Guy about Lando being the only black man in the galaxy, but minorities aren't the only under-represented group. Most of the women we see in the original trilogy are Twi'leks dancing in Jabba's palace, and none of them are Imperials. Princess Leia is the obvious exception to this, but think about it for just a moment. If you're male especially, and the first thing you see when thinking of Princess Leia isn't her in a metal bikini, you're probably lying to yourself. 

Star Wars fans are a very opinionated bunch; in fact, it is sometimes hard to find two fans of the franchise that can agree on much of anything. The deservedly infamous Star Wars Holiday Special seems to exist outside of this bubble of conflicting opinions, though; pretty much everyone agrees it is really, really bad. The cult classic has a reputation for being embarrassing, hilarious, and horrifying in various degrees. But are all Star Wars holidays destined to be so campy and pointless?

In-game holidays are a staple in many MMOs. Perhaps the most extreme example is World of Warcraft, which manages to replicate just about every real world holiday with corresponding in-game events, such as themed items to collect and special quests to complete. Star Wars: Galaxies was also host to many Star Wars-themed holidays over its long run, such as Life Day (Christmas) and the Ewok Festival of Love (Valentine's Day).

In a game like World of Warcraft, which is filled with pop culture references and doesn't take itself too seriously, holidays are normally well-received within the community as an added bit of fun. But in Star Wars: Galaxies, there was very much backlash from players--especially roleplayers--about how silly and out of character some of the events seemed. At the same time, many would argue that in-game holidays are meant to be taken as something fun and lighthearted, which means they are not necessarily part of the epic main storyline that a game presents.

Is there really any harm in having holiday events, even if they are a little bit silly or nonsensical? Would you prefer holidays were kept completely out of The Old Republic, or do you eat them up? Do you only enjoy more "serious" holidays, or are the silly ones just as fun? Make your voice heard in the comments!