[Merged] Gods save us another romance thread

[Monte Carlo]

Yes, I get the impression that in the Obsidian offices, Romances are as popular as a ****-flavoured lollipop (apologies to the movie Dodgeball).

[Gorth]

Yes, I get the impression that in the Obsidian offices, Romances are as popular as a ****-flavoured lollipop (apologies to the movie Dodgeball).

I have faith in their hatred of romances. Whatever it's going to be, I doubt it will be traditional or dull.

[NerdBoner]

BG2 style, no more, no less...not EVERYONE has to be romanceable, perhaps one male, one female and that'll be that. The rest can be handled by modders

 

/shrug

 

 

edit: I do want player friendship though and npc banter, that is a MUST...otherwise whats the point of joinable npc's?

Edited September 23, 2012 by NerdBoner

[Merin]

edit: I do want player friendship though and npc banter, that is a MUST...otherwise whats the point of joinable npc's?

 

Story/side quest hooks. That's their main purpose from a developers POV.

[Callimachus]

I'd also cite DA 2 as an example of a game where other content was sacrificed due to limited resources and a romances-first outlook.

 

And you base that assertion on...?

[ravenshrike]

Wait, I signed up to the Obsidian board to talk about Project Eternity. How'd I end up at Bioware?

Looking at NWN2, had Neeshka's storyline not been cut they would have had a quite good romance triangle going between the male PC, Neeshka, and the crazy stalker elf bitch. So saying that Obsidian can't do decent romances is crap. For that matter, HotU's weren't bad either. So again, the idea that Obsidian is incapable of romances is unwarranted. That being said, they never branded that as a core competency

 

As for romances in PE, I'd make it one of the last stretch goals. Not a primary consideration by any means, but quite nice just the same especially since IRL small groups of people who can be sexually attracted to one another that go through stressful events tend to form relationships between some members of the group.

[TrashMan]

Looking at NWN2, had Neeshka's storyline not been cut they would have had a quite good romance triangle going between the male PC, Neeshka, and the crazy stalker elf bitch.

 

Wh? I don't remeeber any such character in WNW2...

[Auxilius]

if you didn't see this:

 

 

Nick K: “Romances, are you planning on developing them in Project: Eternity as well?”

Feargus Urquhart: “Romances take a lot of effort, and I don’t want to be cagey on romances at all. We don’t want to make them a stretch goal, it’s just a question of if we feel comfortable with the funding. We have to do them right. Some people were giving us flak about, you know, the goal to get to the first companion, class, race, and things like that. They weren’t completely wrong in their criticism, but we don’t have nefarious reasons behind it. If it’s a pretty in depth companion Chris Avellone, who is a pretty quick writer, is looking at 2 or 3 months just for writing it up.”

 

**** romances!

I wrote a message yesterday where I thought romances didn't take more than a week to be done. Looks like I was horribly wrong.

2 or 3 months for one character? Man, it's waaaaay longer than expected. Well, I won't look like a fool anymore at least.

 

Trashman: He's talking about Elanee, the elf who watched the PC grow up and still fell in love despite that.

Elanee is getting a lot of flak for that, some of it unfair. I'm not a fan of love shows but I've still seen this trope countless times. It's still creepy and stalkerish though.

 

And Obsidian didn't develop HotU. Bioware was behind this and up to this day, I still think it's their best game. I'm not sure I would still think that if I replayed it today though.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Auxilius

[ravenshrike]

Oh yeah, that Red Lucy romance, wow. What depth and feeling!

 

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Fetch!

PC: Ok.

RL: Ok, I sleep with you now.

I dunno, That's eerily similar to a bunch of relationships I've seen. Admittedly the fetching is generally not animal parts, but still.

 

Looking at NWN2, had Neeshka's storyline not been cut they would have had a quite good romance triangle going between the male PC, Neeshka, and the crazy stalker elf bitch.

 

Wh? I don't remeeber any such character in WNW2...

Um, if you go back and look at her actions and dialogue, it's pretty damn clear that Elanee is a crazy stalker elf bitch. Maybe not quite the level of that lady astronaut who drove cross-country in a diaper, but pretty damn close.

[TwinkieGorilla]

Feargus Urquhart: “Romances take a lot of effort, and I don’t want to be cagey on romances at all. We don’t want to make them a stretch goal, it’s just a question of if we feel comfortable with the funding. We have to do them right. Some people were giving us flak about, you know, the goal to get to the first companion, class, race, and things like that. They weren’t completely wrong in their criticism, but we don’t have nefarious reasons behind it. If it’s a pretty in depth companion Chris Avellone, who is a pretty quick writer, is looking at 2 or 3 months just for writing it up.”

 

Ruh-roh!

 

Well there you have it, folks. /enddiscussion

[TrashMan]

Trashman: He's talking about Elanee, the elf who watched the PC grow up and still fell in love despite that.

Elanee is getting a lot of flak for that, some of it unfair. I'm not a fan of love shows but I've still seen this trope countless times. It's still creepy and stalkerish though.

 

I know who he was talking about. My replay was exactly mean to indicate that i'ts really not creepy. And callign her crazy stalker bitch? A bit overly emotional, no?

 

Really.. some people seem to live just so they can hate.

To them there is no shades of grey, no different interpretations, no patience...I guess if a mother watches her child sleep it's CREEPY. If you lover watches you lovingly it's CREEPY.

Edited September 23, 2012 by TrashMan

[lord of flies]

Alright, great, romances confirmed to be in it and the Obs team is clearly going to put in the time and effort. Now everybody can go home and we can all wait to play another great Obsidian game, in the vein of MotB or Alpha Protocol.

[Merin]

Watching form afar used to be romantic... then, around the late 90's, it became "stalkerish."

 

Clearly there's need for protecting people from real stalkers... but in the realm of fiction, I think it's a bit much to jump on a common trope and call it creepy.

[TwinkieGorilla]

Alright, great, romances confirmed to be in it and the Obs team is clearly going to put in the time and effort.

 

You're not wearing the glasses, are you?

[evdk]

Alright, great, romances confirmed to be in it and the Obs team is clearly going to put in the time and effort. Now everybody can go home and we can all wait to play another great Obsidian game, in the vein of MotB or Alpha Protocol.

They are planning on releasing in 2014 so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Edited September 23, 2012 by evdk

[Malcador]

Feargus Urquhart: “Romances take a lot of effort, and I don’t want to be cagey on romances at all. We don’t want to make them a stretch goal, it’s just a question of if we feel comfortable with the funding. We have to do them right. Some people were giving us flak about, you know, the goal to get to the first companion, class, race, and things like that. They weren’t completely wrong in their criticism, but we don’t have nefarious reasons behind it. If it’s a pretty in depth companion Chris Avellone, who is a pretty quick writer, is looking at 2 or 3 months just for writing it up.”

 

Ruh-roh!

 

Well there you have it, folks. /enddiscussion

 

I am shocked by this statement.

[mya79]

For my opinon if will be maybe romance same NWN2 or BDG 2 I am will be happy and it will be no romance, it's not a problem I have before play rpg games with no romance (The drakensang, divine divinity).

 

Just I don't wand the romance same Dragon age2, fable or Skyrim this romance is very bad and just for fanbase !

[Grimlorn]

I didn't even think it took 2-3 months to write a character and that's quick. I definitely don't want them wasting any time on romance, especially if they're not fans of romance and don't want it themselves. Appeasing the romance crowd would make them justified in romance needing to be a part of RPGs, that you can't have a great RPG without one these days.

[TwinkieGorilla]

By what statement, Malc? It's obvious he's basically (carefully) saying "*IF* we did romances we'd have to do it right, which would take sufficient time and money, so I wouldn't hold your breath."

[Malcador]

Well not shocked at all, was being sarcastic. Unlike most apparently, I have some faith in their crafting ability - well writing at least

[molarBear]

gods indeed saved us from romances!

we'll maybe have one romance thingy going on and if it does, it will probably be like in PS:T (annah and the nameless one)

[Lurky]

Nick K: “Romances, are you planning on developing them in Project: Eternity as well?”

Feargus Urquhart: “Romances take a lot of effort, and I don’t want to be cagey on romances at all. We don’t want to make them a stretch goal, it’s just a question of if we feel comfortable with the funding. We have to do them right. Some people were giving us flak about, you know, the goal to get to the first companion, class, race, and things like that. They weren’t completely wrong in their criticism, but we don’t have nefarious reasons behind it. If it’s a pretty in depth companion Chris Avellone, who is a pretty quick writer, is looking at 2 or 3 months just for writing it up.”

 

What this statement tells me is that they're pretty neutral and noncommital on the topic. Not particularly interested in adding them, but no wholesale rejection of the concept. I am okay with this.

 

What this statement tells me is that we're not going to get confirmation until they're comfortable with the funding. As in, when they're sure of how much exact funding they'll get, so that they can budget properly. Considering this, I'm not sure that we'll get confirmation before the Kickstarter ends, and considering how controversial this is, I don't know how they will break the news to us (if they do break the news to us, and don't simply say "watch for yourselves"). I am okay with this.

 

What this statement tells me is that they'll do what they want. They know some people like (or need) romances. They know some people don't really care. They probably already know that some people don't want them. And since there is no clear consensus on this, they'll choose whatever they want, because no matter what they do they'll piss off some group. I am okay with this.

 

Overall, I don't see any reason to worry about what Obsidian will do. To me, it sounds like what many of us were saying: either do them right, or don't do them at all.

[dlux]

I see that the same 5 or 6 romance haters are still whining and have still not been able to figure out how to ignore a feature in the game. ^^

 

I will make an official poll after the kickstarter is finished... and only those with kickstarter badges will be allowed to vote. :D

Edited September 23, 2012 by dlux

[Monte Carlo]

I see that the same 5 or 6 romance haters are still whining. ^^

 

I will make an official poll after the kickstarter is finished... and only those wuth kickstarter badges will be allowed to vote. :D

 

Denial ain't a river in Egypt, baby. Ain't you read Ferg's half-hearted comments about romances?

[Malcador]

I see that the same 5 or 6 romance haters are still whining and have still not been able to figure out how to ignore a feature in the game. ^^

 

I will make an official poll after the kickstarter is finished... and only those with kickstarter badges will be allowed to vote. :D

 

Who the hell made you official anything ? Heh, had a feeling you'd end up with this, next is "well I donated more than you"