Chris, here are a few quick thoughts on your post about RPG romances.
1. Regarding "unrequited and/or doomed romances" -- I don't agree that they are more dramatic. I frankly think they are cliche, unless they are done very well and very thoughtfully. And I think that this is one of the main reasons why the NWN2 OC's romances have been criticized by the community. They never went anywhere, and persisted (to the extent that they did anything at all) in conveying that mood of "doomed unrequitedness" even after the scene on the walls near the end. Most players who enjoy roleplaying an RPG romance aren't looking for a doomed or unrequited experience. They're looking for one that is emotionally authentic, and conveys the sense of genuine partnership (including the lead-up to developing it) that is part and parcel of the human experience.
2. There's an awful lot of focus in your comments on things like how good the character is in combat, how skilled they are at their "profession," whether they are independent minded or subservient to the player, and so on. Most of this is not wrong, but I think it misses the point. All of that is discussion about how to create a likeable character, not discussion about how to write a romance.
3. Romance isn't something that just happens by itself if you have a set of attributes from some checklist, like "Effective companion: check," "Independent: check," "Witty: check," and so on. Romance is an action, and writing an authentic romance means having it develop as an outgrowth of an interaction dynamic between the two parties. This means that you have to include things like (optional) romance dialogues in which the characters don't just adventure together, but actively romance each other, where that word is being self-consciously used here as a verb.
4. Seeding the world "with people who remark on how attractive/intelligent/witty" the romance NPC is is dangerous unless you do it carefully. Otherwise, it's a good way to make the character into a "Mary Sue" who will turn players off rather than intrigue them as a romance prospect. And in a party-based RPG where there are multiple characters and romance prospects of both genders, it can backfire dramatically. An example of this from the NWN2 OC was Shandra. I didn't need anyone telling me why I should like her (I already did). But for a female player who is interested in admiration or romantic attention from the male companions, having them extolling Shandra's virtues instead of her own could be a huge turn-off. I know one female player who really hated Shandra for this, and consequently found the forced adventuring with her in Act 2 to be extremely unpleasant. Although I didn't experience that as a male player, I can hardly fault her for her response.
5. If you're mostly "not romantic types" at Obsidian and you're going to include romance plots in your work, then investing in hiring a writer who has some skill with them might not be a bad idea.
