Unofficial P.E. Relationship/Romance Thread pt. 3

[Ogre]

Looked through all this and it seems like we have a mixed crowd with leanings towards romance. Here is what I've got to say. When i saw the kickstarter for this game, i ****ing geeked out. got really excited, showed my wife. Told her all about the Baldurs gates series, etc. When i was deployed she had played neverwinter nights, neverwitner nights 2, dragon age, when i got back mass effect, later on trying dragon age 2, mass effect 2 and 3. I was happy to share this with my wife, and she really liked the games because of the romances. I feel like they added alot to them, but were ignorable for people who thought it was weird, stupid, or just not worth their time.

 

The only reason I backed project eternity was because when you say "baldurs gate" i assume its going to be that rich, deep, and fufilling, complete with the romance. not some dating sim, not some hack and slash, not some hard core adventure sim. the whole package. I would not have thrown any cash towards the game if I saw this: http://www.gameranx....ct-eternity/��I really wish that had been made clear, early on because now i feel fleeced. I like games without romance too, but this particular thing, my wife and I were both sort of expecting it.

[BSoda]

Looked through all this and it seems like we have a mixed crowd with leanings towards romance. Here is what I've got to say. When i saw the kickstarter for this game, i ****ing geeked out. got really excited, showed my wife. Told her all about the Baldurs gates series, etc. When i was deployed she had played neverwinter nights, neverwitner nights 2, dragon age, when i got back mass effect, later on trying dragon age 2, mass effect 2 and 3. I was happy to share this with my wife, and she really liked the games because of the romances. I feel like they added alot to them, but were ignorable for people who thought it was weird, stupid, or just not worth their time.

 

The only reason I backed project eternity was because when you say "baldurs gate" i assume its going to be that rich, deep, and fufilling, complete with the romance. not some dating sim, not some hack and slash, not some hard core adventure sim. the whole package. I would not have thrown any cash towards the game if I saw this: http://www.gameranx....ct-eternity/��I really wish that had been made clear, early on because now i feel fleeced. I like games without romance too, but this particular thing, my wife and I were both sort of expecting it.

You shouldn't read too much into that interview. Chris Avellone is not the project leader nor is he the only writer for PE. He simply stated that he's bad at writing romances...so far this has no impact on the game itself.

Edited November 8, 2012 by BSoda

[jezz555]

Looked through all this and it seems like we have a mixed crowd with leanings towards romance. Here is what I've got to say. When i saw the kickstarter for this game, i ****ing geeked out. got really excited, showed my wife. Told her all about the Baldurs gates series, etc. When i was deployed she had played neverwinter nights, neverwitner nights 2, dragon age, when i got back mass effect, later on trying dragon age 2, mass effect 2 and 3. I was happy to share this with my wife, and she really liked the games because of the romances. I feel like they added alot to them, but were ignorable for people who thought it was weird, stupid, or just not worth their time.

 

The only reason I backed project eternity was because when you say "baldurs gate" i assume its going to be that rich, deep, and fufilling, complete with the romance. not some dating sim, not some hack and slash, not some hard core adventure sim. the whole package. I would not have thrown any cash towards the game if I saw this: http://www.gameranx....ct-eternity/��I really wish that had been made clear, early on because now i feel fleeced. I like games without romance too, but this particular thing, my wife and I were both sort of expecting it.

 

Pretty much my thoughts on the matter, not a dating sim, not a hack and slash, but a cRPG. I really know what you mean.

[Lurky]

You shouldn't read too much into that interview. Chris Avellone is not the project leader nor is he the only writer for PE. He simply stated that he's bad at writing romances...so far this has no impact on the game itself.

 

...Except for the fact that he didn't state that. He stated very plainly that he's not a fan of romances. He's said so on several other interviews before this one, at that.

 

Avellone might not be the project director, but he's still one of the leads of the project, which means that he'll have a strong influence in PE nonetheless. I wouldn't dismiss his opinion so quickly. Additionally, Josh Sawyer isn't too keen on CRPG romances either.

 

So, what we have is:

a) the project director's opinion on romances is that they have to be either done well or not done at all

b) the narrative lead says that he wants to try other things with the companions that aren't romances

c) the narrative lead says that he wouldn't implement romantic subplots in PE anyway, as he'd approach love from a different angle

Putting everything together, and considering their track record, I'd say that the leads have been pretty consistent in being uninterested (to put it mildly) in romances. The chances of them changing their minds are probably slim, too: they took a lot of heat for their stances regarding spellcasting or goal-based XP, but they stood their ground.

 

Maybe you could say that Ziets (who is not working on the highest-level narrative) could push for romances, maybe you could say that last minute changes about this could happen... but everything points to the opposite direction. All in all, I think that romances are probably off the table in PE. As with the rest of their design decisions, they have their reasons, they will try their best to implement them in a way that is fun to the player, and that's it. We backed the project because we trusted their vision, not because we wanted certain features, after all.

 

Honestly, I have no stake in this particular topic, and theoretical discussion of romances can be entertaining. But clinging to hope like that is likely setting yourselves for disappointment. Perhaps it would be wise to adjust your expectations to what you've seen until now, instead of what it could be

[Jymm]

All in all, I think that romances are probably off the table in PE. As with the rest of their design decisions, they have their reasons, they will try their best to implement them in a way that is fun to the player, and that's it. We backed the project because we trusted their vision, not because we wanted certain features, after all.

 

Honestly, I have no stake in this particular topic, and theoretical discussion of romances can be entertaining. But clinging to hope like that is likely setting yourselves for disappointment. Perhaps it would be wise to adjust your expectations to what you've seen until now, instead of what it could be

 

Enh, you could also look at all of Obsidian's past projects and see that they have consistently included this material for awhile. I'm not sure if PE being fan-funded raises or lowers the chances of them going this route. They don't have a publisher saying "our market research indicates 46% of RPG fans consider romance content to be 'very important' to their immersion." But they do have a 24 page and growing thread on the topic in their forum.

 

I would have to guess that if it comes about it will be because someone on the team has a good pitch for the specific NPC plotline or romance arc and they decide "yeah, lets do that". If nobody comes up with a good pitch then it won't get included. And personally I won't lose sleep over it either way.

[Ogre]

I really think the quickest way to get the core of the matter is really quite simple. Obsidian should send out a survey to all it's backers via email. The question is simple, the answer is Yes, or No. Extra options are unneeded, as yes or no forces you to think for a moment. Even if you dont care, do you care that other people are going to enjoy/ hate it? it will reflect in the answer. the rest of this is just me rambling, feel free to tl/dr.

 

If it ends up being yes, for the love of god no Me3 style "here is your extra ending with extra resentment, and some spit in the face". Why do I like the romacnes in the game? Because they can be charming, fun, etc. In a modern evironment where TV shows are either reality bull****, or cynical to the point of misery like breaking bad where i struggle to find a single character to like, or even a reason to keep watching it, videogames, glorious videogames offer a bit of change, joy even. I was looking at dev post where he talked about it all leading up to sex, and thats cool. whatever, it think it is an element of a relationship, and perhaps not something to be saved to the end as a "reward" or "win". agreed. it is assanine. At the end of the day though, screw it. Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen, and i doubt any one can change what is in motion now, but it may impact the next project kickstarter if such a thing happens. Hopefully with more detail on what can be expected, and what is is not to be expected. I think this whole 3 thread conversation could have been easily avoided.

[Tamerlane]

I really think the quickest way to get the core of the matter is really quite simple. Obsidian should send out a survey to all it's backers via email. The question is simple, the answer is Yes, or No. Extra options are unneeded, as yes or no forces you to think for a moment. Even if you dont care, do you care that other people are going to enjoy/ hate it? it will reflect in the answer. the rest of this is just me rambling, feel free to tl/dr.

Obsidian, please, for the love of Christ, do not do this.

[BasaltineBadger]

I really think the quickest way to get the core of the matter is really quite simple. Obsidian should send out a survey to all it's backers via email. The question is simple, the answer is Yes, or No. Extra options are unneeded, as yes or no forces you to think for a moment. Even if you dont care, do you care that other people are going to enjoy/ hate it? it will reflect in the answer. the rest of this is just me rambling, feel free to tl/dr.

 

The game should be made by Obsidian, not some random people.

[-Zin-]

S'not like anything we say here will have an effect.

 

Flippety flappety floo.

[Dawn_]

S'not like anything we say here will have an effect.

 

Flippety flappety floo.

 

Exactly. For all we know they might even decide to do a MMO out of PE

[Death Machine Miyagi]

I really think the quickest way to get the core of the matter is really quite simple. Obsidian should send out a survey to all it's backers via email. The question is simple, the answer is Yes, or No. Extra options are unneeded, as yes or no forces you to think for a moment. Even if you dont care, do you care that other people are going to enjoy/ hate it? it will reflect in the answer. the rest of this is just me rambling, feel free to tl/dr.

Obsidian, please, for the love of Christ, do not do this.

 

This. Most of us have pledged Obsidian money so they can do their thing without intrusion, whether from us or anyone else. They may sample views around the board to get a general idea of opinions and views, and shape the story they want to tell according to this, but great work is not done through opinion polls.

[Ogre]

without all the extra quotes, I have gotten a lot of polls and surveys from other kickstarters. I dont think this really is on topic to the thread though, please feel free to contribute though. Keeping in the vein of my own suggestion:

 

Inter party interaction: Some NPCs are more interactive with eachother then others. I really dont need it to be my character that is having the romance, but to see it happen from the sidelines is interesting. Going from hate, with a little guidance and encouragement to something better. Or Twisting it to hate is neat too. I would love to see life move around me. In the middle of combat one NPC trips another, provided they survive you might see fist fights, or brawls outside of combat that you can choose to ignore, or even try to resolve.

[Felithvian]

Most of you are clearly trying to solidify some sort of ill-conceived macho pattern from your real life.

 

Sex has nothing to do with manhood.

 

Give me the possibility to have a relationship/romance, but don't deny me the chance to reject it in a more chastistic/virtuous way.

[BasaltineBadger]

Most of you are clearly trying to solidify some sort of ill-conceived macho pattern from your real life.

 

I never got why people in this thread spent more time trying to demonize their enemies than talking about good/bad sides of romances.

 

Give me the possibility to have a relationship/romance, but don't deny me the chance to reject it in a more chastistic/virtuous way.

 

Nobody wanted to force romances on you.

[Dawn_]

Nobody wanted to force romances on you.

 

The bad side of this is that when you don't do the romance (even though you don't like them). You have the feeling you are missing a lot of content.

For example without doing the romance of Lelliana in DA:O. you were missing the encounter with her mentor , the fight and the good item she had.

 

So, you do feel kind of forced to do them in a way.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Dawn_

[Monte Carlo]

Nobody wanted to force romances on you.

 

The bad side of this is that when you don't do the romance (even though you don't like them). You have the feeling you are missing a lot of content.

For example without doing the romance of Lelliana in DA:O. you were missing the encounter with her mentor , the fight and the good item she had.

 

So, you do feel kind of forced to do them in a way.

 

But... but... romances aren't minigames with extra rewards right? Right???

 

Btw what was the screw-Leliana-and-get-a-gift item anyhoo? Was it any good?

[kenup]

For example without doing the romance of Lelliana in DA:O. you were missing the encounter with her mentor , the fight and the good item she had.

Actually, you can get her quest and meet that "mentor" of hers just fine without romance.

Edited November 10, 2012 by kenup

[BruceVC]

I really think the quickest way to get the core of the matter is really quite simple. Obsidian should send out a survey to all it's backers via email. The question is simple, the answer is Yes, or No. Extra options are unneeded, as yes or no forces you to think for a moment. Even if you dont care, do you care that other people are going to enjoy/ hate it? it will reflect in the answer. the rest of this is just me rambling, feel free to tl/dr.

 

 

 

This is good idea but we know already that the response would be a resounding yes as we saw from various polls. So that would create a dilemma, " what would all you anti-romance say and debate in your spare time"

 

And that would be unfortunate as I enjoy these Romance\Sex discussions

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

I never got why people in this thread spent more time trying to demonize their enemies than talking about good/bad sides of romances.

 

It is the internet. It is much easier to demonize your opponent than to have a respectful discussion about something.

[Tigranes]

Continue here:

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/62215-relationshipromance-thread-iv/