BruceVC

My dinner date went really well so we decided to go out clubbing, that was a good idea until I started drinking Absinthe shooters, bad idea. I ended up getting very sick and the toilet became my friend These things happen but the problem being it was my moms b-day the next day and she had planned a family gathering. They live 40 minutes drive one way and I genuinely didn't think it was wise for me to drive considering how poorly I felt. So my mom is understandably upset with me. I now need to redeem myself with her and my stepdad which I am going to do

I support this point

I'd swear you're wearing straw-colored glasses lenses or something. 8P All "you put niceness coins in until you get rewarded with sex" implementations are romance options, but all romance options are not "you put niceness coins in until you get rewarded with sex" implementations, to put it simply. Dragon Age - give Morrigan jewellery - she bangs you, sure, but you missed out how your sexual prowess also boosts her magical powaz. That's right, the player is rewarded for having sex with NPCs - it also makes them more powerful. Your argument is bunk, to put it mildly. You are nitpicking now Monte, you know what he means

Monte I've recorded every possible Romance interest and arc for every character in every Bioware game since BG2, what I find always gets me in the mood for Valentines day is to sit and watch them, it just sets the right positive tone. I can send them to you if you want?

Thanks Indira, that's a very nice thing to say Getting supportive comments from people you like just reinforces my view on life, you rock !!!

That's a good question, I suppose the fact its suppose to be a celebration of love? Personally I think its a little commercialised but I don't want to be dismissive for those Romantic types

I hope you are darn right! Wait another 3-4 days, so give it 7 days. You were very sick, I know that restless feeling when you haven't trained for a while. You feel like you should be doing something and you feel like you are going to get completely out of shape but you'll be fine. It won't take you long to get back into your normal regime

Sooooooooo,,,,what are all your plans for Valentines day? I imagine some you have romantic plans for your respective partners or maybe you doing some quality gaming with an Isabela lookalike or someone equivalent? I have dinner booked with someone I met recently but its very early days so we will see how it progresses

If I may offer you some advice, rather go to a doctor than rely on any medical advice you find on the Internet

Interesting and relevant post, I didn't know Ivan the Terrible was gay. In fact I didn't realize so many prominent and historical Russian people were gay. I wonder how the Russian homophobic propaganda machine reconciles this ?

Yes. That comparison makes the same point as mine did. And I'm not really concerned with arguing the semantics of what is and isn't romance options. So, even though lots of people would say "But that isn't romance," I prefer to simply take an objective look at what can and cannot be done with interpersonal relationships between characters in a story, and go from there. To put it simply, the problem with "romance options" in RPGs, typically, ISN'T that the player is allowed to make decisions that affect emotional attachment and personal relationships with other characters, but that the game completely isolates that as its own sort of minigame. I mean, take the following situation: You arrive in a town and are ushered off to baths and accommodations by rather flirty servants/staff (you and your whole party), and you keep saying "No no, we really must be on our way," and yet they keep insisting you partake of their hospitality. Hey, your characters like all these pleasantries, right? You've been traveling for 3 days, and haven't had a meal like they're offering you in weeks. And, why NOT just go have some fun with willing people who are offering, eh? So, you have the choice of urging everyone to leave, or taking them up on their offer to indulge a bit in food, wine, and company. Annnnnnd it turns out there's actually something horribly wrong there, and it was all an illusion, and now you're imprisoned and they're feeding off your souls (you know, the ole Siren/succubus/seduce-and-feed scenario). And design it such that your decisions actually affect how bad of a situation you find yourself in, or how the story of that town unfolds and/or how you get to handle the situation. Maybe if you urge everyone to stay and enjoy themselves, you fail to get everyone out alive? *shrug*. That situation's totally fine, right? That's just a story, that happens to involve sex/temptation. But, have something just as meaningful/reactive that involves emotions between your characters, and it's suddenly the devil. Now, there could just be a town where you can purely optionally go visit some brothels and stuff, for pretty much no reason except to go "huh huh huh" to yourself or laugh at the funny dialog, and THAT, in comparison to a scenario in which your interaction with the brothel actually affects the unfolding of the story, would be just as crap as the way romance options are usually implemented in games in comparison to how they COULD be implemented in games. Heck, Morrigan in DA:O... even if you're just mean to her the whole time, she comes to you with a proposal to have your baby, because she actually has some kind of agenda for your DNA or something that doesn't even have anything to do with emotional attachment or "romance". Heck, I think even if you "romance" her, she still has the same motivation for wanting to produce a child of yours, and it's not just "Yay, you people who like romance can feel rewarded by achieving child-bearing desires in the person you chose to make fall in love with you! You win the dating sim!" That's about the best point I can make for that. Ignoring, of course, the fact that I don't think anyone still has any idea what the hell the point of her having your child is in relation to the ongoing DA story. OR the fact that, in the expansion, she somehow, unexplainably has your baby even if you don't impregnate her. Which might be explainable... she is magic, ya know... *shrug*. But, the point is, the story uses a pretty romancey thing (sex, impregnation) in a way completely separate from relationship-building mechanics. Good post Lephys, my character would definitely fall for the whole "succubus please rest in the Inn" subterfuge

Choose your battles Nonek, you can't seriously be getting upset around the realism factor of character costumes in a fantasy RPG

That sort of child-like naivety is just adorable. Really? I watch interviews with politicians all the time and that guy has one of the worst perspectives around gay rights I have ever seen. I have seen worse, in Uganda they have just passed a law where they have criminalized homosexual acts. On CNN they interviewed the minister responsible for the legislation around this and during the interview they asked him " how can you pass a law that contradicts the human rights of people and what the African Charter for Human Rights stand for, especially considering the fact Uganda signed up to the AU charter" He responded calmly " he doesn't think gay people have any rights "

I, in contrast, am not. Yeah, the Orlesian fashion not related to the ****ty Felicia Day as Herself Mary Sue Bioware Fangasming Because Felicia Day is in Their Game character was pretty Elizabethan. Agx aren't you a big Cosplayer? What's your opinion on those DA costumes, I want the view of someone I consider an expert

I think Vivienne is smoking hot, I am looking forward to the Romance options around her

We don't know anything about Oby other than the fact he is playing a nationalistic caricature, so if anything the question is too serious for someone who has shown no real inclination to be a member of this community. Its a reasonable question and definitely not "off limits". I also want to understand how far right his social and political allegiances are

Maybe you shouldn't use a pirated version of the game ....... It happens to paid-for versions. For some reason, Origin installs DA:O that is not up to date and won't allow access to all the DLC you paid for. Babaganoosh is correct, patch 1.05 will fix it. Okay, that's interesting information. Thanks

I think those ladies are very pretty

That's an excellent question and one I want to know Oby's answer to

You saved me having to make a post, you have summarized my view 100 %, well done young grasshopper But now I know what Cultist looks like

That was funny, I think its fair to say the AI isn't perfect. But its not enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the game

FALSE. Unless of course you make romance an out-of-the-blue option after 5 dialogues without any buildup like BioWare. If you want romance you need to pay; * Writer for a full year (say, 10K) * Actual gameplay dev(s) to implent said writing (triggers, script, writing) (another 10K) * If aside from just the writing you want more (say, a quest)... add 30k minimal (for a short one) Total cost; 50k (and as stated, this is a low estimate). Feel free to pay OE that for the romances. I won't stop you... but I doubt you will. I would pledge towards a Romance fund, I promise you I would.

Alright, I gotta stop there, I don't know what's with people on the internet, but trying to justify adding romances in with Science! is just completely silly. It's like the Talimancers who tried to use Science! to find how what their waifu's sweat tasted like. Well we can't seem to get you guys to want Romance through the obvious reasons like deeper interaction with your party members and a more immersive RPG experience so you force us to turn to Science...yes Science will reveal the truth !!!!

Not at all, but I do have an issue with comments that are offensive and derogatory. I'm weird like that ....