Fear

Please be careful, my fellow alien invader. You are compromising our mission to try and blend perfectly into this crazy community of primitive deranged simians that inhabit this dying dirt ball of a planet. Don't give up yet though, you can still manage to learn their strange mannerisms and mating rituals and help pave the way for our glorious harvest! I believe in you. Oh right, no one else is supposed to know about this yet. Please disregard. We're normal humans who understand perfectly how the world works. *Tentacle Wave*

Books, films, and games to some extent are mostly vicarious entertainment to me. They allow me to experience something I otherwise could NOT. That's the main reason why I am not overly partial to romances in my content. It seems redundant in a way. (At the same time I see how others are fond of them of course.) Though even so I like to write romantic stories in my pastime and I have made a point of the emotional factor and the developing relationship to be a focal point of the narrative rather than plain cliffnotes, and give them months or even years to spark, flower and blossom before thriving - or withering and dying. Love on first sight is quite implausible in my experience, at least when you look at how long it takes for those relationships to break up again; and gets real old real fast. (Congrats to those who did manage to make it work, of course.) Yet how many games, be they deep story-driven RPGs or casual action flicks, take place over the course of several years (ingame time of course)? Most of those romances I see are developed over the course of less than three dates.. and you know what is being said if you give in before the third one. And then you get a meaningless one-night-stand. Well done to me would mean that they have some relevance to the overall story arc. Though what most here want seems to be as aptly described just that - a minigame. Inter-human relationships deserve better than that. At least in a 'perfect' world. Some even suggested to have them entirely detached from the actual plot as in Mass Effect when the story (what little there was) would constantly grind to a halt so you can muck around with your potential love interests on the ship. Or not. It's your choice! (But no consequences.) And after everything is over? No further mention. Doesn't that help to make them seem even more vapid and empty. Especially if you switch partners in the sequels without anyone even caring to comment on that. An anti-example might be Vampire - The Masquerade REDEMPTION. Yeah, nobody remembers that one, do they? It wasn't great, it could have done a lot better, but at the core of it, it is a story about love that seems doomed from the start, yet endures hardships, countless centuries, and in effect even death itself. Every action is motivated by it. So if you're having these kinds of events/activities, make them.. hard to get.. realistic. Why not even platonic, for a change? Meaningful. Lasting. Until you aren't ready to put up with that.. you.. well.. I don't know. But even that was probably brought forth in previous ramblings that I can't read due to my ADD, so how about closure if we just all agree that Christopher Walken is awesome?

Lich girl, that's a start, but I also want to see the ghost of a nubile teenage boy for a companion, as well as a homosexual zombie. All romance-able of course! Nothing less.

Finally someone is speaking my language. Anyone else in favor of this, or just the two of us?

I wholeheartedly recommend the "Harvest Moon" series too for 'Pick your own relationship partner' games. They're really cutesy and fun! :D Emotions, love, and family ties are great, I just personally never found them mixing so well with the whole Kill-the-dragons-and-save-the-world 'serious RPG' stick. I mean, they do, but as a focal point, they can fall kind of flat next to the fate of the entire world/universe/etc... Flirty lines here and there is the most I throw in whenever I'm finding myself as part of an adventuring party. Imply something, make fellow companions feel good about themselves, and then focus on what is at the pointy end of the blade. Mass Effect felt forced and awkward to me, every time. Avoiding it was not as simple as I hoped it would be though. Even if it were a toggle-able option does not change the fact that the options have to be provided, and that means time and resources spent on content that most of the target audience may not even care for primarily, skimming on other content that has also a rightful place in the project AND would be for everyone. Furthermore there is a reason why rape is not touched even with a ten-feet-pole by most. If one knows to be unable to treat it with the required seriousness and gravity that it deserves you risk downplaying the heinous act of physical and psychological violence that it is; at best, and portraying it as a desirable if not heroic act at the very worst. While I thankfully was spared the first-hand personal experience with it so far I still feel strongly about the topic and it resonates deeply within me and I find it disturbing on a very personal level.