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Romance and friendship?


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I however am hoping for deep, meaningful connections with characters that lead into romances.

 

And I am hoping for deep, meaningful connections with characters that lead into a variety of close relationships, with romances being only one possible outcome if it fits the characters. Bromances and camaraderie should be other possible outcomes, and they should be equally satisfying :)

 

(We have to keep supporting this view against the onslaught of "close relationship = romance" implications that some people make, you know. At least most of you aren't making the assumption that "romance = sex").

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I'm curious why when discussions of romance come up it is an unwritten assumption that only companion characters qualify. Why? Is there some compelling reason why, out of all the people in the world, the only ones you can be attracted to/are attracted to you are the ones you adventure with?

 

Why not have have possible romances/friendships with non-companions, even non-adventurers? Maybe depending on the character background you've chosen your character is already married and/or already has children. Imagine what a difference something like that could make to characterization!

 

Also, having the 'romance pool' include more than the 8 companions has the following benefits that may otherwise be difficult to implement:

-They can have more realistic preferences. (only likes dwarves/mages/natives of a certain region etc)

-Doesn't require as in-depth writing. If you aren't in a romance with them they probably wouldn't have much to do with your character anyway.

-Can have plot consequences without breaking a major plot or gimping the party. (poor Heather Poe...)

 

Note that I am NOT asking for a skyrim 'Oh, you're wearing a plot coupon? Let's get married!' That was embarassing...

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I guess that I just take video games less seriously than other people here. So, I think it would be funny if the game had awfully cheesy romance lines. Like: "Will you help me sheath my sword?"

 

Thats also a good option, as i said somewhere on this thread before, going for comic relief with this would also be a homage to Davin & Miria from FO2

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If someone is fapping to pixel art, it isn't a big deal.

 

If someone likes Mass Effect 3, it isn't a big deal.

 

If someone thinks Bioware is still awesome, it isn't a big deal.

Except I never cared about any of these. Just make a separate porn(dot)nexusmods(dot)com, Do not allow any nudity and porn in the other sites and it's done. As I said the problem is that almost every file on nexus will have a nude+ pic. And because sometimes the modders themselves use nude mods on their screens, even mods that have nothing to do with that will be flagged as adult. Or not and it's still going to have that imature nude H cup pic.

 

Ok, so no worries there, P:E isnt gonna be the kind of game that you can really show nudity and the worse it can happen to you is that there is gonna be written porn in a mod. On another note i find somewhat funny you being worried about nudity when P:E clearly is meant for a much more mature audience (sure we get stupid "BOOBIES" mods on the Nexus, but those are trash like many other mods).

 

Going into a place where raiders hit, and there being a nude dead woman; that's fine. A prostitute naked in the brothel? Absolutely fine. A sex scene in the witcher? I don't like how the show some things(and it is very much uncanny valley territory), though it is in a Dark Age setting, but again I'm ok with it. What I don't like are the really creepy uses of nudity etc by the nexus community, or the unnecessary use of it in certain files.

Edited by kenup
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I however am hoping for deep, meaningful connections with characters that lead into romances.

 

And I am hoping for deep, meaningful connections with characters that lead into a variety of close relationships, with romances being only one possible outcome if it fits the characters. Bromances and camaraderie should be other possible outcomes, and they should be equally satisfying :)

 

(We have to keep supporting this view against the onslaught of "close relationship = romance" implications that some people make, you know. At least most of you aren't making the assumption that "romance = sex").

 

Oh, I absolutely agree with you.

 

The reason I even felt the urge to comment in this thread though was the absolute intolerance for any other opinion than their own that some people held such as kenup and evdk (and their seemingly free reign to indirectly flame towards and make condescending remarks towards other people).

 

I want to be able to have meaningful relationships with characters, this means friendships in addition to romances. That's why I funded the kickstarter, the deep interaction with other characters. (READ: NOT DATING SIM).

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For some reason the majority of bisexual characters are rogues, while kights in shining armor are always straight. Coincidence?

 

Is our sample size really that big here? I can think of knight in shining armor characters that are not straight but we are limiting ourselves exclusively to romancable characters in cRPGs published by BW and Obsidian?

Edited by Brannart
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Oh, I absolutely agree with you.

 

The reason I even felt the urge to comment in this thread though was the absolute intolerance for any other opinion than their own that some people held such as kenup and evdk (and their seemingly free reign to indirectly flame towards and make condescending remarks towards other people).

 

I want to be able to have meaningful relationships with characters, this means friendships in addition to romances. That's why I funded the kickstarter, the deep interaction with other characters. (READ: NOT DATING SIM).

 

The problem is, the existence of romances usually means that the friendship path suffers; it either feels awkward or very short. It's no wonder that many people oppose romances if their existence means that the alternative content is going to be lacking.

 

Besides, some romance fans are either annoying, obsessive, or just pathetic, in a "junkie suffering withdrawal" kind of way. Most of them are found on the BSN, but there is the fear that they could come to these forums and bring their habits with them, if romances were confirmed to be implemented in the game.

 

Those are basically the two factors why I think romances are so violently opposed.

Edited by Lurky
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Going into a place where raiders hit, and there being a nude dead woman; that's fine. A prostitute naked in the brothel? Absolutely fine. A sex scene in the witcher? I don't like how the show some things(and it is very much uncanny valley territory), though it is in a Dark Age setting, but again I'm ok with it. What I don't like are the really creepy uses of nudity etc by the nexus community, or the unnecessary use of it in certain files.

 

Oh, i know what your talking about mate, the lots & lots of "body" mods that exist for Fallout 3/NV & TES games. P:E wont have a place for those from the get-go, since we are talking about a isometric game, "eye candy" isnt really gonna work. With that said, just please be careful next time, you came off sounding really bad with the whole "Nexus shouldnt be allowed!" or what not.

 

I am actually quite against using a Nexus-like site for modding, because belive or not, it takes away the charm of making a mod IMO, with TES & FO3 mods seems so generic that even great ideias get lost and dont get the support they deserve. I actually prefer something akin to what we currently have around Infinity Engine modding, more spread sites making content that cross with each other (example being the "modded NPCs bantering with each other" mod).

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Again, let us avoid the meta commentary. The number one cause of derails on these threads is people who feel compelled to discuss each other, whether directly or indirectly.

"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
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Because they are all here.

 

Just to clarify - is it bad or good, that fans of BG/BG2 are here?

No to experimentation!

No to fixing that is not broken!

No to changes for the sake of change!

Do not forget basis of Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment. Just put all your effort to story, fine-tuning and quality control.

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With what Bioware has become, i think it is a good thing (hey there are alot other sites BG fans dwell!, mostly the SHS site)

 

Oh that's good news, that people that liked Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 games and supported PE (used as reference by Obsidian, actually, as one of their basis for PE) are welcomed here. I'm relieved.

No to experimentation!

No to fixing that is not broken!

No to changes for the sake of change!

Do not forget basis of Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment. Just put all your effort to story, fine-tuning and quality control.

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Because they are all here.

 

Just to clarify - is it bad or good, that fans of BG/BG2 are here?

I'm pretty sure he means it as a good thing.

 

In fact one or two names here, ring a bell or two from the old(pre social) bioware forums.

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I have mentioned before I would like to see a romance option in the game.

 

HOWEVER, I'd much rather see a decent friendship/comaderie/bromance form up between characters rather than a straight up romance. One of the things I thought Dragon Age did well was the little relationship meter. I don't mean the fact I could see it, but the fact NPC's went from indifferent, to warm, to friendly, etc. The downside was getting them to be romancable was damn easy.

 

I think BG2 had a similar system, except the meter was completely hidden. Aside from Aerie, I also recall romances in that game being harder to initiate and KEEP. Would love to see that in PE if the devs have time.

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some sort of romance is a must, but they shouldnt overdo it....not like ME, where you had really lots and lots of options...

2 maybe 3 options...hmm sounds already to much, 2 options, should be fine me thinks

 

I agree but the problem becomes that everybody will want at least one option. That requires a ME type situation which I do not think Obsidian should be using time doing. But I guess if we have one male and one female character who were go for anybody that might work....maybe.

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Honestly the main thing that made me up my pledge was the confirmation of mod support. I support the idea of romance but am wary of the way they are implimented in pretty much every game to date. I am unwilling to give up on the idea entirely, so the ideal is that if I am unhappy with the outcome I can make that part of the game into something I like better.

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I'm curious why when discussions of romance come up it is an unwritten assumption that only companion characters qualify. Why? Is there some compelling reason why, out of all the people in the world, the only ones you can be attracted to/are attracted to you are the ones you adventure with?

 

Why not have have possible romances/friendships with non-companions, even non-adventurers? Maybe depending on the character background you've chosen your character is already married and/or already has children. Imagine what a difference something like that could make to characterization!

 

Also, having the 'romance pool' include more than the 8 companions has the following benefits that may otherwise be difficult to implement:

-They can have more realistic preferences. (only likes dwarves/mages/natives of a certain region etc)

-Doesn't require as in-depth writing. If you aren't in a romance with them they probably wouldn't have much to do with your character anyway.

-Can have plot consequences without breaking a major plot or gimping the party. (poor Heather Poe...)

 

Note that I am NOT asking for a skyrim 'Oh, you're wearing a plot coupon? Let's get married!' That was embarassing...

 

This is a very good point. I would love to see this sort of thing as well so long as the characters aren't all generic.

 

I say this because the only games that come to mind that allow you to romance anybody in the game with clearly set sexual prefences are the Fable games. In these games despite being a huge fan of romance in games I choose not to start a family the majority of the time. Mostly this is because everybody is the same and has nothing to set them apart from anybody else save their character model. I don't feel any sort of connection to whatever random shopkeeper or noble I see walking down the street as they're just a collection of pixels. As such I don't see any point in romanicing (if it can really be called that) them. Beyond that most story characters cannot be romanced - out of the whole world they're the only people immune to your advances which just seems odd to me. The end reasult being I tend to marry Lady Grey in fable 1, Zombie Grey in 2 and nobody in 3. I don't even like Lady Grey but at least there is something to her.

 

However their are plenty of other fleshed out characters in these sorts of games that are not companions. In the Baldurs Gate series, Fallout Series, and Planescape Torment their were dozens of very interesting characters where I would welcome the option to have started up some sort of relationship with them. So I feel that it would make perfect sense to be able to have NPCs outside your party to romance as well and might even help to break the mold of this companions only model romances have fallen into.

Edited by Pshaw
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K is for Kid, a guy or gal just like you. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up, since there's nothin' a kid can't do.

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some sort of romance is a must, but they shouldnt overdo it....not like ME, where you had really lots and lots of options...

2 maybe 3 options...hmm sounds already to much, 2 options, should be fine me thinks

 

I think its not much about the number of options but the quality of the dialogue, but if you meant "more options = less quality for each options" then i agree with you, i would prefer 2 really in-depth romance paths than eight ones that are just a "Hi->flirt->flirt more->kiss->sex->end" type of romance.

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One of the things I thought Dragon Age did well was the little relationship meter. I don't mean the fact I could see it, but the fact NPC's went from indifferent, to warm, to friendly, etc. The downside was getting them to be romancable was damn easy.

Influence/friendship/whatever meters don't work. By adding them, you make the player pick dialogue options not based on his/her opinions or feelings, but rather what he thinks the NPC wants to hear, to get a relationship boost and unlock new conversations or bonuses. It might be better if it's hidden, but still I'd rather not have such mechanics.

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[intelligence] I'm fighting the Good Fight with my posts.

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some sort of romance is a must, but they shouldnt overdo it....not like ME, where you had really lots and lots of options...

2 maybe 3 options...hmm sounds already to much, 2 options, should be fine me thinks

 

I think its not much about the number of options but the quality of the dialogue, but if you meant "more options = less quality for each options" then i agree with you, i would prefer 2 really in-depth romance paths than eight ones that are just a "Hi->flirt->flirt more->kiss->sex->end" type of romance.

 

yes i should have clarified a bit more....what you said is basicly what i was thinking....dont mind my lack of intelligence, had a hard day of work.

Edited by Ravnos Malkavian

Hermit of the Obsidian Order

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Well the reason i pledged was mainly because of Torment. Torment had really complex characters, and you had a LOT of dialogue with them.

I tried to get every single detail i could out of the companions,especially Morte, he's my favourite :)

Now you had some romance you could pursue, but it was a part of interacting with character, not bonus banter.

What i would like is to have a lot of interactions with all characters, and I suppose i'm fine with romance if it's written well.

 

Not sure why this is such a hot topic, but if it comes to that I really don't want this to turn into Dragon age. At one point i expected darkspawn to

try to get it on.

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I have mentioned before I would like to see a romance option in the game.

 

HOWEVER, I'd much rather see a decent friendship/comaderie/bromance form up between characters rather than a straight up romance. One of the things I thought Dragon Age did well was the little relationship meter. I don't mean the fact I could see it, but the fact NPC's went from indifferent, to warm, to friendly, etc. The downside was getting them to be romancable was damn easy.

 

I think BG2 had a similar system, except the meter was completely hidden. Aside from Aerie, I also recall romances in that game being harder to initiate and KEEP. Would love to see that in PE if the devs have time.

 

There is an actual Walkthrough on how to (keep the) romance with Viconia for BG2 and ToB, thats how challanging the thing is :p

 

As for the machanic, keeping it hidden is much better IMO, DA made it too "arcade" by adding the gifts and the relationship bar.

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