Lord Wafflebum

That's fair. In ME3 I was almost forcibly entered into a homosexual relationship with Kaiden. I thought I was just being a good bro, but then it got weird. Really weird. I've felt permanently uncomfortable ever since then.

I know. I'm the cause of the derailment. Viva la romance! Also, every thread should be a romance thread.

Clearly you're unfamiliar with the D.E.N.N.I.S. method

I don't know about you Lephys, but I'm American and only deal with dichotomies. Everything boils down to Republican vs. Democrat. EVERYTHING. Having a third (or more) choice is a joke choice (Green Party).

You'd also be a madman to go aura-less. As a fan of lay on hands, I find it hard to justify taking it. Flames of devotion and aura-of-preference are the way to go. Coming from a Pally-lover (and lover in general- ladies) I also find myself tempted by the monk. I had a LOT of fun with the monk to the point where I may not play as a pally until much later (after cipher and maybe ranger). It the latest beta I've been relatively unimpressed by the paladin. They work well as off-tanks, but have been nerfed a bit much for my liking. My suggestion, Mr Steadfast, would also be to check out the monk just in case the paladin isn't up to snuff. There are also dialogue options that are tied to use instead of skills (honest, passionate, aggressive, etc) and you get a "reputation" for that usage. I've been using rational and honest for when I play Paladin (or monk) and it's been a good time for the small slice of the game I've used it for.

Those screenshots got me pregnant

The BSN is on fire regardless of what Bioware does. BSN is where you go when you want to be convinced a plague would be a really good thing for the human race. Additionally, Promancers are people too, folks.

And all I am asking is that you actually play Pillars of Eternity and see how the NPCs go. Give it a chance. Until we actually have something in that regard I do not understand the whole debate. I mean hundreds and hundreds of pages of posts debating the possibility the game may or may not need romance without actually having anything to talk about is strange to me. Again we do not even know what exactly Obsidian means by 'no romance' until we get our hands on it. Fair, and it may not. But I would hope that in future installments a more fleshed-out romance option is available. There's very much a chance I will be perfectly content with the companion interactions, as you said. The reason this debate continues, to me anyway, comes down to value. We promancers argue that romance options lead to a deeper companion and PC development, while the other camp argues that they're kinda stupid, tend to be juvenile, lend nothing good to the narrative, and are an unnecessary/jarring distraction. BruceVC and I are trying to get those people to appreciate our perspective. I can't speak for Bruce, but I'd agree on the point that no romances are better than badly written romances. My primary argument is that OE, arguably having the best writing talent of any other game developer, could create a romance mechanic that is mature and tasteful. I know they've said they're not comfortable doing it, but it seems silly to me they wouldn't push themselves to become even better writers and branch out.

@Stun I might add the promancer movement isn't saying that the game needs to have romance options in order to have a deep and meaning narrative. What we're arguing is having the option to romance creates an even deeper narrative opportunity. When talking about older games and characters, I'm always able to remember who I romanced before most anything else. It also tends to affect my gameplay. When a LI has an opinion about something that comes up, it can make me take a direction that I otherwise wouldn't have. Companion interaction is important to me in RPG's.

Also, I daresay I agree with Sensuki. Normally one wouldn't think of the Codex as good to go to for any kind of information, but there's a certain amount of unfiltered purity there. Their review of DA:I was really well done, I think. I was not at all expecting them to be fair with that game.

Even good science can be subjective, it's the nature of the beast. Have you ever tried to interpret an NMR printout? It's your subjective view based on experience and prior data collection. Since you're used a given metric, everyone should come to the same (correct) conclusion. I expect people who consider themselves professional reviewers have a metric-based system for fair scoring. I don't think that's unreasonable.

I got so excited watching that I peed my pants a little

I expect I'll ignore everyone's opinions anyway, as I've found that I have the best opinions on things. God forbid! How could I ever expect objective journalism??

Not lighting themselves on fire, lighting others on fire! Or objects! We all cope in different ways

Bester, I love you not only for all the modding you're already doing for the game, but also your ability to mock people into submission on the Codex. Well done!

Haha, I wasn't sure about Bruce for awhile because I hadn't seen him pop up in any of the other forums, but he did show up elsewhere and help me derail a thread to promance. I guess I shouldn't argue what Bruce considers a romance because I'm not confident on what his whole viewpoint is, but since he and I are trying to advocate for a more mature take on RPG romances (even the twisted versions that MCA comes up with) I'd wager Bruce's preference would be for a little bit more depth to that relationship.

Well other people sometimes act out of emotions or irrationality and do not have the full robotic control you do. AND some people light things on fire because it's the only way they can feel anything...

I think we can all agree that regardless of which of the two you think is best, their reviews will be of a higher quality than Gamespot or IGN. I used to really like GS, but it's getting to the point where AAA games = good, and everything else is mediocre (or worse). The reviews also vary vastly between their reviewers suggesting these sites don't work off the same metrics. Since you guys seem to have a high opinion of these youtube personalities I hope they'll be able to overcome some of the inevitable silliness that comes from the mainstream review sites.

We promancers are gentle people, and prefer to gently remind folk that romances indeed have their place in RPG's. Also, this myth about romances having to be juvenile needs to stop. Any narrative can be juvenile, regardless of topic.

Prostitutes pretending they're not disgusted by you and developing a plot line with a companion or NPC generally based on liking their life view, actions, etc. without the precondition of payment or anything else are two very different animals. BruceVC must be rolling over in his grave from the mere suggestion.

Huh, weird. Gotta love them internets.

Is an angry joe like a totalbiscuit? I don't follow youtube personalities. I presume from the conversation this is a significantly good thing? Is the demographic for these people that significant?

I wonder why bruce did not already chime in to celebrate? Apart from the fact that correlation is in fact not the same as causation regarding this violence debate, you probably shouldn't let your kids play a game where they can bang a prostitute anyway if bad words are a big deal in the first place... Bah, engaging in the "services" of a prostitute does not constitute a romance.

@nipsen How on earth could you possibly know the combat is boring? I thought you didn't have access to the beta anymore? I think the combat is just fine. I mean, it isn't anything to go crazy about, but I enjoy myself just fine. Did someone give you a beta key? Or are you basing your opinion on the beta that first came out that's completely different from what we have now?

I voted for option 1 because that's what Brandon said OE's preference was. Everybody's dealing with things now, Ted.