Sexually explicit content

[Sad Panda]

In the recent Red Bull article, it was mentioned that one advantage of PoE being crowd-funded is that there's no pressure for Obsidian to make the game family friendly in order to appeal to as big a chunk of the market as possible, and the article went on to confirm sex will not be treated as any kind of a taboo. One has to wonder, though, will the devs be really pushing the envelope in this regard, or settle for the safer (and perhaps for them as well more comfortable) path of acknowledging sexuality, but stopping short of calling things by their real names or providing graphic depictions?

 

This “high road” of what you might call softcore sexuality wouldn't exactly be anything new to the world of cRPGs -- the Dragon Age series for example hasn't shied away from such matters, even if Bioware does still resort to euphemisms and fully clothed sex scenes. The Witcher has already established that gamers are mature enough to handle this kind of content, I feel it'd be a missed opportunity for Obsidian to not go all out now that they don't have no answer to anyone but the backers.

 

That being said, I'm not suggesting sex and filthy language should be oozing from every crevice of the game, especially since I do recognise that a lot of people are uncomfortable with such. Still, I feel that unless lore is provided for why the people inhabiting the world of PoE are particularly prudish, these things should at least from time to time emerge to the surface, and be there for the player to more fully submerge in should they choose. I'm sure I don't need to go into why it's silly how extremely graphic depictions of death and torture are A-OK, but erects **** are a no-no.

 

So, discuss! And do try to keep it civil, pretty please, as I fear the choice of topic alone is already causing many a mod to hover their cursors above the lock button. >_>

[Nonek]

I have to admit my favourite obscenity of recent years has to be: Your mother sucks Dwarf male chicken. Personally i'd prefer a modicum of honest vulgarity and obscenity in appropriate places rather than the Bioware staple of tee hee, I said a rude word or made a childish allusion to bodily functions. Seems too twee and cutesy, there may be diabetics playing.

 

Edit: I thought Torment handled adult subjects in an appropriate manner, though I still wonder what Morte actually did?

Edited June 16, 2014 by Nonek

[NWN_babaYaga]

I dont care about pixel boo*s and i think most of the time "sexual roleplaying" is seriously silly and maked me facepalm more then it gives me the impression on playing a RPG. Honestly i think most romances are for teenys who had no sex or an ordinary relationship and being a man with some broken relationships behind me i just cant stand this pre-scripted way of "yes in the end you can theoretically f*** me" . The only sexual content i think is cool or funny are the silly c64 sex games because they are so honest about sex it cant get any better. And with the japan games i have seen recently.... something is wrong over there if that is for children or teens. So no... i dont need some pixels that look like boo*s or highly offensive language that is just dirty talk in reality.

[Nonek]

Oh I like some fine obscenity, some times good vulgarity can be almost poetic in its delivery and inventiveness. Of course in the polite society of Poe one wouldn't expect to hear such things, but belowstairs and in the wider world I believe it would be unnatural to not encounter it.

 

Of course as a sane and reasonable gentleman I am against romance in any shape or form, but I think that hardly needs stating.

[Death Machine Miyagi]

I'm not a prude and I'm not bothered by sexually explicit content, but I can't say the prospect of it fills me with a lot of enthusiasm either. Its too easy for it to be done poorly or done excessively, which ends up being the very opposite of 'mature', and I have no interest in such stuff being played for fanservice. 

 

By all means, if nudity or a sex scene is legitimately done to advance the plot or better establish a character, then go for it. But if anyone thinks that just because it can be there it should be there, then I'm going to have to disagree. Strongly.

[Blarghagh]

Just because they're able to not shy away from it doesn't mean there will be a lot of it, which is good because Game of Thrones is freaking ridiculous with it's sexposition scenes.

[Gromnir]

lets be honest. game developers is not the most mature folks. is not a bad thing for a guy making games to be in touch with his inner fifteen-year old, but these guys may not always be best judge o' what kinda sexual content makes a game better.

 

 

brothels. is odd that for a time, brothels became a major hurdle for developers o' d&d games. true story: a hasbro exec sees his kid playing a d&d crpg with an included brothel and next thing you know, brothels is verboten. so what. really. not a big deal. sure, the ps:t brothel were intriguing on multiple levels, but am having a hard time recalling another game made significant better by a brothel.... and for a particular developer now at obsidian to get his shorts in a twist over the brothel ban were striking us as childish. got his offensive gay pirate in, but cried about brothel ban? *snort* 

 

am assuming that most/all sex content in the game is gonna need be implied, 'cause animating such stuff with the engine obsidian has is gonna result in something ludicrous. so, sure, feel free to work in rape and sex slaves where is appropriate. homosexuality? sure. why not? however, we would be a bit concerned that 'cause developers is sudden free to do what they will, they will act a bit like a california college kid who just turned twenty one. celebrate your freedom from tyranny by making an arse of self and ending up with your head in a toilet. if you want a brothel in poe, make it have value to game beyond proof that you can add such. if you has homosexuality, does it with meaning rather than silly/offensive gay pirates. 

 

"pushing the envelope" is, in and of itself, pointless. test limit because you can is pretty much the definition o' immaturity. so, from our pov we would say it is ok to add sex content when and where it makes game better, not just to test limits and push envelope.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Amentep]

If there is sex...real time with pause or turn based?

[Death Machine Miyagi]

Just because they're able to not shy away from it doesn't mean there will be a lot of it, which is good because Game of Thrones is freaking ridiculous with it's sexposition scenes.

 

I'm pretty sure Game of Thrones legitimately has a sex and nudity quota they feel obligated to meet, no matter how little sense it makes or how little it advances the plot. Its why they feel enormous plot points and major scenes can be excised without fanfare but they absolutely must make room for a gratuitous five minute scene in the brothel.

 

Suffice to say, really hoping Obsidian is taking notes on what not to do based on GoT.

[anameforobsidian]

I don't think the Witcher and mature should be mentioned in the same sentence.  

 

That said, I am somewhat conflicted about sex in PE.  It can add to verisimilitude if done sparingly and well, but it can also lead to Mary Sueish characters or stupid exploitation.  And people on forums get weird about it.  Add it if it adds to atmosphere or narrative, don't if it doesn't.

[IndiraLightfoot]

"I don't go for this kind of thing."

 

[Bryy]

I think they just mean that they have the freedom to do what they want, nothing more. Sex and romance and foul words are a part of life, and censors make it very hard to tell a natural story if you have a bunch of stuff you can't say on TV.

 

Also:

I don't think the Witcher and mature should be mentioned in the same sentence.  

[Infinitron]

Uh, exactly what sort of sex scenes are you expecting to see in an isometric game

Edited June 16, 2014 by Infinitron

[Gfted1]

So theres no "romance", just "sex"?

 

That's awesome. I shall now plan on "sexing" every possible female.

 

But wait! Is there homosexual "sex" also? Imagine the outcry if it isn't!

[aluminiumtrioxid]

As long as the game doesn't feature armless, mouthless ghost monks cursed with burning desire they can't ever satisfy due to the aforementioned armless-mouthless business going on*, it's gonna be fine. Alas, trying to be cool and dark and mature has led many a soul astray.

 

 

*that's totally a thing in a certain tabletop RPG which isn't FATAL (and prides itself on its handling of mature subject matter maturely, because mature mature mature). Also, bonus points for said monks begging for onlookers to **** them, which I don't really know how they do having no mouth and being incapable of using sign language (again, no hands either).

Edited June 16, 2014 by aluminiumtrioxid

[Bryy]

Uh, exactly what sort of sex scenes are you expecting to see in an isometric game

This, too.

[Darji]

I don't think the Witcher and mature should be mentioned in the same sentence.  

 

That said, I am somewhat conflicted about sex in PE.  It can add to verisimilitude if done sparingly and well, but it can also lead to Mary Sueish characters or stupid exploitation.  And people on forums get weird about it.  Add it if it adds to atmosphere or narrative, don't if it doesn't.

Why not? The sex scenes in the Witcher 2 were excellent. Bioware's scenes are just bad just like many other games dd it not well but Witcher 2 did an excellent job with their scenes. 

 

As for this game. If there is romance there should be sex. I do not expect animations but maybe talking or hinting at it during their dialogues.  Baldur's Gate for example did a pretty good job in this regard and all their romance stuff was mostly very very good. 

[Blarghagh]

I think it's been confirmed there are no romances.

[Darji]

I think it's been confirmed there are no romances.

Then there should be honestly no sex scenes. But sexually explicit content can be way more than that so will we see. 

[Bryy]

The **** are already pixelated!

[Gromnir]

 

 

 

Uh, exactly what sort of sex scenes are you expecting to see in an isometric game

This, too.

 

we observed above that, "most/all sex content in the game is gonna need be implied, 'cause animating such stuff with the engine obsidian has is gonna result in something ludicrous." however, after some consideration, we will admit that cut-scene slideshows could be quite graphic in nature. this occurred to us when we were recollecting the gay pirate from toee. is our recollection that your marriage to bertram (sp?) were immortalized via an endgame slide/image. if obsidian is feeling a desire to be a bit graphic, they can utilize one or more static slide images. sorta like r/x rated comic images. not need to save such stuff for endgame neither.

 

...

 

is kinda disturbing to admit, but we thinks such an approach would result in content far more appealing (and possibly more titillating) than the awkwardly animated love-scenes from recent crpgs. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

ps please note that Gromir is NOT recommending that obsidian should draw up slides for their graphic sexual content. am simply noting that it is possible to include graphic sex scenes in a game with poe engine limitations.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Gromnir

[Gfted1]

I think PE should determine sexual prowess based on stats. Have a high Dex? Then you can pull off certain awkward positions. High Stam? Makes you last long time. High Str? You can handle a fatty. High Might? You make big boom. I cant come up with anything for Int and Wis.

 

Oooooh, maybe they can make it into a minigame!

[Darji]

I think PE should determine sexual prowess based on stats. Have a high Dex? Then you can pull off certain awkward positions. High Stam? Makes you last long time. High Str? You can handle a fatty. High Might? You make big boom. I cant come up with anything for Int and Wis.

 

Oooooh, maybe they can make it into a minigame!

That is how dungeon master do it in D&D campaign. In terms of performance and if she gets pregnant or not^^

[NWN_babaYaga]

one of the only "features" so to say that sex has in a brothel or elsewhere... is to get some nasty deseases and or be relaxed and get some more regeneration points. Thats the only thing i can imagine where you can make use of sex in terms of gameplay. Otherwise it´s just yes ok... nice ride now be gone...

 

I used deseases in a nwn mod this way and it was a 85 % chance that you might notice it some days later somewhere already right into adventuring! Because i think that you should not only use the positive aspect of it and if you use it then add some "danger" to it..  can be fun

Edited June 16, 2014 by NWN_babaYaga

[Death Machine Miyagi]

I think PE should determine sexual prowess based on stats. Have a high Dex? Then you can pull off certain awkward positions. High Stam? Makes you last long time. High Str? You can handle a fatty. High Might? You make big boom. I cant come up with anything for Int and Wis.

 

Oooooh, maybe they can make it into a minigame!

 

There is precedent from our humble developers. A high endurance trait accompanied by ample sexually experience and/or the Kama Sutra Master perk in Fallout 2 led to considerably more satisfied sexual partners. It also led to a better audition for the porn studio in New Reno. 

 

Here is the formula for porn star success from the Fallout wiki:

 

 if you have Kama Sutra Master

 if you have Sex Appeal

 if you are Sexpert

 

Yeah. Suffice to say, as much as I enjoyed Fallout 2, there are parts of that game I wouldn't be all that eager to see revisited in Obsidian's future games. 

Edited June 16, 2014 by Death Machine Miyagi