Regarding getting the guy from the inn to save at the end in Dragon's Dogma, it was funny the first time though when he just randomly popped up. Less funny on any later run through where you're angling for someone specific (before it was fixed).
In respect to romance being a major aspect of the human condition, this is why I'm pro-romance in games - provided the developers are interested in including it in a thoughtful and well realized way and it fits the scope of the game. Not every story needs to have romance (or even has the capacity for it within the narrative) though, and I think that extends to video game narratives.
IMO you could control for sexual orientation within character creation allowing you to pick your orientation (although I can't help but feel this may just create different concerns in players to the concerns now expressed). The developer would also have to think through what it means within the context of the game as well (how do people know? should a particularly unperceptive character still be able to try to flirt with you even if they don't match your pick (and how will the people who don't like the flirting opposite of the PC's orientation feel)? Is there a meaning in the greater world to this pick and this ability to perceive what this pick is?). There's also risks of having a particular orientation having less choice and therefore feeling unsatisfying if not done carefully (while debate exists on the quality/usefulness of BGII's romances, I think its fair to say the female PC is a poor choice when one is looking at the romance options without modding the game vs the male PC) and trying to avoid disparity might create vanilla, numbers based romance story arcs (2 for you, 2 for you, 2 for you...) or hiding companion reactivity behind the romance so the only really good npc is the one you romance.