The Official Romance Thread

[Valmy]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/08/19/sex-romance-and-dragon-age-inquisitions-improved-relationships

 

Guys it looks like Bioware will be implementing many of  the Romance suggestions we have discussed and also have acknowledged past issues, like the " I'm giving you a present, lets have sex"

 

This is good news

 

That is not implementing anything, that is removing something they introduced.  Their early romances had no such issues.  So...yeah!  Back to 2008 we go.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Valmy

[Darkpriest]

I was following both this game and Divinity Original Sin.  Then I learned that PoE didn’t have romance and I stopped following it.  (Well also learned the game had guns which I just despise in the fantasy CRPG).  DOS said they did have romance, then I bought into the Beta when it went on sale, then just before the game came out they said the game didn’t have romance.  And technically it doesn’t.  All you get is a few lines of dialog if your two PC’s liked each other enough.  (Still a great game though)

 

Yeah I was disappointed to say the least.  Heck even the proposed harlot turns out not being what you think she is.  I thought we’d at least get a ‘fade to black’ scene like the old FO games or KotOR.  But no.

 

So while waiting on the next patch for DOS (it’s supposed to add some new companions) I thought I’d check this game again, and I see it’s still in the same position as it was before.  Basically they’re letting us gripe, but are not going to do anything about it.  Bottom line it just sounds like no one wants to put the effort into writing a romance these days other than BioWare.  What really seems odd in this case is that this is a game that is at least partially fan funded, yet the fans don’t get what they want.  Personally I like having the deeper relationships with companions as it just ties the whole game together better.  Seriously just makes me want to play BG2 all over again.

 

Fans got what they wanted.. IIRC majority did not want romance (there was a vote, right?), even more so, when you would have to sacrifice other parts of the experience for it.

[Lillyhime]

I backed this game at day 2 of its kick starter and then read any of the emails they sent out, but never joined the forums or took part in the polls cause I didn't know they even had polls.. So I'm really sad I wasn't able to vote on this. :/

[Bryy]

Heck even the proposed harlot turns out not being what you think she is.  I thought we’d at least get a ‘fade to black’ scene like the old FO games or KotOR.  But no.

Oh my God.

 

Sex is not romance.

[NWN_babaYaga]

soon my little jedi you will see the full power of the dark side of the romancers...

[Lephys]

Fans got what they wanted.. IIRC majority did not want romance (there was a vote, right?), even more so, when you would have to sacrifice other parts of the experience for it.

Well, that and, it's not like the Kickstarter campaign was "give us a bunch of money, then we'll figure out what kind of game to make, from scratch! 8D!"

 

They pitched an existing design, and it didn't say anything about romance. It's unfortunate, but every single instance of "I backed expecting this, but I didn't get it!" amounts to "too bad. You should've asked more questions before you backed." It's not mean, it's just fact.

[Bryy]

soon my little jedi you will see the full power of the dark side of the romancers...

I've seen my fair share. I used to go on the BSN.

[prodigydancer]

I was following both this game and Divinity Original Sin.  Then I learned that PoE didn’t have romance and I stopped following it.

 

*inserts a facepalm pic here*

 

I close my eyes and I can almost visualize a guy telling a story like that at some kind of Anonymous Romancers meeting. If I could draw I'd now have an idea for a comic strip.

Edited August 21, 2014 by prodigydancer

[Lephys]

"I needed a fix, BAD! Turns out the bag was filled with powdered sugar! Drat!"

[LeBurns]

 

Heck even the proposed harlot turns out not being what you think she is.  I thought we’d at least get a ‘fade to black’ scene like the old FO games or KotOR.  But no.

Oh my God.

 

Sex is not romance.

 

I never said it was, but whatever.

 

I hadn't put any money into PoE so no harm to me.  Besides by the time this comes out I'll probably I'll be knee deep into DA:I.  I just miss the old romances in BG2 and KotOR and thought they would make the effort to put those back in CRPG's.

[BruceVC]

 

I was following both this game and Divinity Original Sin.  Then I learned that PoE didn’t have romance and I stopped following it.  (Well also learned the game had guns which I just despise in the fantasy CRPG).  DOS said they did have romance, then I bought into the Beta when it went on sale, then just before the game came out they said the game didn’t have romance.  And technically it doesn’t.  All you get is a few lines of dialog if your two PC’s liked each other enough.  (Still a great game though)

 

Yeah I was disappointed to say the least.  Heck even the proposed harlot turns out not being what you think she is.  I thought we’d at least get a ‘fade to black’ scene like the old FO games or KotOR.  But no.

 

So while waiting on the next patch for DOS (it’s supposed to add some new companions) I thought I’d check this game again, and I see it’s still in the same position as it was before.  Basically they’re letting us gripe, but are not going to do anything about it.  Bottom line it just sounds like no one wants to put the effort into writing a romance these days other than BioWare.  What really seems odd in this case is that this is a game that is at least partially fan funded, yet the fans don’t get what they want.  Personally I like having the deeper relationships with companions as it just ties the whole game together better.  Seriously just makes me want to play BG2 all over again.

 

Fans got what they wanted.. IIRC majority did not want romance (there was a vote, right?), even more so, when you would have to sacrifice other parts of the experience for it.

 

 

A correction there, there have been numerous polls done and the vast majority of fans want some form of Romance. But the decision to include Romance wasn't a decision the fans made, Obsidian decided this. And end of the day its  there prerogative to decide what components  they can effectively implement in PoE. If they say " we wouldn't be able to do this feature properly " then I would rather they leave it out as it will just draw unnecessary criticism to the overall project

[709zzy]

 

I was following both this game and Divinity Original Sin.  Then I learned that PoE didn’t have romance and I stopped following it.  (Well also learned the game had guns which I just despise in the fantasy CRPG).  DOS said they did have romance, then I bought into the Beta when it went on sale, then just before the game came out they said the game didn’t have romance.  And technically it doesn’t.  All you get is a few lines of dialog if your two PC’s liked each other enough.  (Still a great game though)

 

Yeah I was disappointed to say the least.  Heck even the proposed harlot turns out not being what you think she is.  I thought we’d at least get a ‘fade to black’ scene like the old FO games or KotOR.  But no.

 

So while waiting on the next patch for DOS (it’s supposed to add some new companions) I thought I’d check this game again, and I see it’s still in the same position as it was before.  Basically they’re letting us gripe, but are not going to do anything about it.  Bottom line it just sounds like no one wants to put the effort into writing a romance these days other than BioWare.  What really seems odd in this case is that this is a game that is at least partially fan funded, yet the fans don’t get what they want.  Personally I like having the deeper relationships with companions as it just ties the whole game together better.  Seriously just makes me want to play BG2 all over again.

 

Fans got what they wanted.. IIRC majority did not want romance (there was a vote, right?), even more so, when you would have to sacrifice other parts of the experience for it.

 

The poll made no sense. Instead of giving choices of wanting romance or not wanting romance, it presented 9 options of not wanting romance to different degrees and 9 options of "maybe / don't care" phrased in 9 different ways and 1 option of wanting romance. Obviously the way the poll was made ensured the result to favor "no romance".

 

But no matter what the developers choose to have in their game, it makes no difference to me. I registered an account and was planning to buy this game after checking out the beta responses. Seeing the community here though,I won't be buying the game after all. You guys can have fun with your perfect little gem of a game untainted by bad excuse of "video game romance writings". I will be replaying my $5 dollars budget RPGmaker game filled with the best love story I have ever experienced in any medium while waiting for the 1 man studio's next game A Bird Story to come out.

[BruceVC]

 

 

I was following both this game and Divinity Original Sin.  Then I learned that PoE didn’t have romance and I stopped following it.  (Well also learned the game had guns which I just despise in the fantasy CRPG).  DOS said they did have romance, then I bought into the Beta when it went on sale, then just before the game came out they said the game didn’t have romance.  And technically it doesn’t.  All you get is a few lines of dialog if your two PC’s liked each other enough.  (Still a great game though)

 

Yeah I was disappointed to say the least.  Heck even the proposed harlot turns out not being what you think she is.  I thought we’d at least get a ‘fade to black’ scene like the old FO games or KotOR.  But no.

 

So while waiting on the next patch for DOS (it’s supposed to add some new companions) I thought I’d check this game again, and I see it’s still in the same position as it was before.  Basically they’re letting us gripe, but are not going to do anything about it.  Bottom line it just sounds like no one wants to put the effort into writing a romance these days other than BioWare.  What really seems odd in this case is that this is a game that is at least partially fan funded, yet the fans don’t get what they want.  Personally I like having the deeper relationships with companions as it just ties the whole game together better.  Seriously just makes me want to play BG2 all over again.

 

Fans got what they wanted.. IIRC majority did not want romance (there was a vote, right?), even more so, when you would have to sacrifice other parts of the experience for it.

 

The poll made no sense. Instead of giving choices of wanting romance or not wanting romance, it presented 9 options of not wanting romance to different degrees and 9 options of "maybe / don't care" phrased in 9 different ways and 1 option of wanting romance. Obviously the way the poll was made ensured the result to favor "no romance".

 

But no matter what the developers choose to have in their game, it makes no difference to me. I registered an account and was planning to buy this game after checking out the beta responses. Seeing the community here though,I won't be buying the game after all. You guys can have fun with your perfect little gem of a game untainted by bad excuse of "video game romance writings". I will be replaying my $5 dollars budget RPGmaker game filled with the best love story I have ever experienced in any medium while waiting for the 1 man studio's next game A Bird Story to come out.

 

 

No, don't  leave 

 

There are lots of people who like Romance, they just aren't as vociferous as the people who are opposed to them on these forums. Most people on this thread want some form of Romance. They just don't want your standard " Bioware, give me a present to have sex " Romance implementation. We want more realistic and meaningful Romance

[Valmy]

 

But no matter what the developers choose to have in their game, it makes no difference to me. I registered an account and was planning to buy this game after checking out the beta responses. Seeing the community here though,I won't be buying the game after all. You guys can have fun with your perfect little gem of a game untainted by bad excuse of "video game romance writings". I will be replaying my $5 dollars budget RPGmaker game filled with the best love story I have ever experienced in any medium while waiting for the 1 man studio's next game A Bird Story to come out.

 

 

Hey wait a second!  The anti-mancers are not our entire community.  Don't leave!

Edited August 22, 2014 by Valmy

[prodigydancer]

I registered an account and was planning to buy this game after checking out the beta responses. Seeing the community here though,I won't be buying the game after all. You guys can have fun with your perfect little gem of a game untainted by bad excuse of "video game romance writings".

 

Don't let the door hit you...

 

I'm mostly insensitive to trolling but 1-post accounts who go straight to badmouthing the entire community always freak me out. On any forum. What the hell makes you people think you have a right to do that?

Edited August 22, 2014 by prodigydancer

[PieSnatcher]

Meh, if your that I into romances this game wouldn't be your cup of tea in any case.

If you want a rich, playable story filled with fantastic adventure and reminiscent of the great RPGs of yesteryear, then I'd hope you'd support the developers for it rather than be bitter about a large part of the community not sharing your taste for romances. Despite being a designated promancer this pretty much is my perfect little gem of a game, as far as I can tell.

[Amentep]

The poll made no sense. Instead of giving choices of wanting romance or not wanting romance, it presented 9 options of not wanting romance to different degrees and 9 options of "maybe / don't care" phrased in 9 different ways and 1 option of wanting romance. Obviously the way the poll was made ensured the result to favor "no romance".

Statically speaking, AIUI, the scenario described would actually favor romance winning as all people wanting to vote for romance would only need to make one choice, while those not wanting romance (or not wanting some form of romance) would have to choose between 18 options.

[LeBurns]

Just spent the last hour reading all the romance dialog from BG2 (of course I have a copy of it).  SO worth the effort BW made to put that into the game.  Seems we just get combat/loot games now with some lame story added to give us a reason to do it.

[Ulquiorra]

I can't see a game that shows, human being withoud some kind of romance "hits" so im not compleatly sure that in PE we will not see any some sort of romace-pelated content (some sort of flirt for example), so i think that in the end we will see some "romance" possibilitys for PE2.

 

But i personaly think that "romance in games" need to go difrent direction. Biowere romances were... a little awkward, but obsidian NwN2 romance with Elanee takes the cake, so don't say that "biowere" is worst, becose obsidian show that not only biowere can make "awkward romances".

 

But why romances shoud be put in the first place ? Why putt them at all ?

 

In my opinion becouse adding romances, not only add addictional content, but also add more "roleplay-ability", people are diffrent. Some people like deep emotional romances, some people like sex-friend relations, some are homosexual, some are asexual, some are just "Grinding" not roleplaying games. Grinding is good for adventure-like games, action games or mmos, but not complex roleplaying games.

 

Some gamers can say "Oi, you are playing game, for gods sake, not real life", but then comes an issu, if we are playing role-playing game (game where you try to play "role" of some sort of character) then having possibility of having romance (in some way) may be significant if some one creates a chcaracter that in players view whoud be interested in this type of inferactions.

 

For exaple of nwn2, pale master (some sort of bad necro mage) whoud reather kill some one an make him his servant then "romanceing" someone. But Bard or Rogue whoud mostly no contraindications agins casual sex or any some sort of "noncommittal romances", bard goeing intu a tawern whoud be in many ways mostly interested in social interactions.

 

Other example, you create two types of paladins, one that is "celibate" and anti-social, secound that have recpect and is chivalrous for women. First will not have any deep relations, secound oppisite.

 

 

Then how romances shoud work in RPG games ?

 

This is the biggest question here. In general i think that most games have taken some sort of strange "influence mechanics" for any type of relations. For example you say to some female char "that you agree" boom you have +2 influence, you say you don't agree or have difrent opinion .. boom -2 Influence. Takeing this type of logic, only good guys that are buying flowers, and are in general very "gentle" and "caring" whoud have hottest chicks, from life we know that is not always like thing work

 

In my opinion, romances shoud be done not so "opinion"/"Dialog" related, and be more "story" related. If story gives possibility of having romance, it is beter to add 1 romance per gender (so in canconical point of view 2) that can develop in may possible ways, not related to some sort of "mechanical influence" but on a dialog and "decision" we take in our game.

 

For example, if you have elanee in a party, and you decide to kill a wolf, then you gain "-4" influence, but when shes not you will take no negative influence and you can romance her like nothing happend. Other issu is what some sort of story line and freedom of decisions we will have.

 

For example if you are playing a game in with you coud be a advenchurer, noble lord or somethig else and you have a big freedom not only in "character custumization" but also a freedom in what way story will progress then this is not a question "will romances be good" but "how to add them" becouse for example noble lord whoud like possibly to have some sort of wife or mistress to make a heir of his "little empire" etc etc.

 

But if we will only have only 1 possible way how story will progress then question is not "how to add romances" but "are romances fitting a story".

 

Im for romances but only if ther are not "mechanical influencial agree or not agree" addons but story related content that is influenced by a story and influences story on it's own. Having romance, or not having shoud be "HEAVY" story related if it is deep emotional relationship, becouse having/not having some sort of "love" relationship shoud open or close some decision and directions in whith way story can progress. For example having romance with some female companion, shoud close possibilty to marry for political/ money reasions, some rich noble woman that coud be are ally.

 

Only becouse of that i hope obsidian will not add "romance side-quests/ mechanical agree or not agree daiting sim elements" becouse i hope they will show in Pillars of Eternity 2 how romances shoud be done, and they create another way of adding romances i rpgs just as they did in BG2.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Ulquiorra

[ArkhanTheBlack]

I guess I'm a bit late to the party since I just found out that the romances were discarded. Well, considering that I backed the title mostly because I believed the lies about getting an experience like BG2, I'm not particularly amused. There was a lot of cool stuff in BG/BG2 like the talking sword, Minsk and his hamster, the Beholder, etc. but the thing that made it really special were mostly the romances since they touched me on an emotional level.

 

I don't need a PoE just to get another run of the mill Kill & Loot game with a bit more text and a slightly more complex set of rules. I can get those by the dozens and in AAA quality. PoE was supposed to give me freedom and a more personal and emotional experience than Diablo & Co. They wouldn't have to be perfect, I have a very good 'imagination'. The game won't be perfect anyway, or does anyone really believe that the given text will always fit to every race & class combination?! I certainly don't.

 

I understand that the writers don't like to write romances. They are *embarrassing*, the whole stuff about *feelings* and even worse, the great evil that even surpasses Lovecraft's Great Old Ones by miles, the forbidden word that starts with 's' and ends with 'x' and has three letters. Writing about *that* is almost heresy on satanic level of course for the typical RPG writer. It's so much easier to write about the great evil that threatens the land, pathetic speeches, a few amusing jokes here and there while letting the player create huge piles of dead corpses in the name of some mysterious 'greater good' nobody really gives a damn about because there's no personal connection to it.

 

Sure, it will certainly a nice, amusing hack & slay game, but I really hope they will NEVER, EVER again claim that this will be an experience comparable to Baldur's Gate, because it most certainly won't. I wasn't particular thrilled with Bioware's latest titles, but compared to the disappointments Obsidian brought me with NWN2, DS3 and now this, they are still angels. I will never support Obsidian again.

[Sylvanpyxie]

It's so much easier to write about the great evil that threatens the land, pathetic speeches

Actually, Obsidian hate writing "great evil" plot lines.

 

Can't imagine they're too fond of the speeches either.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Sylvanpyxie

[LeBurns]

I guess I'm a bit late to the party since I just found out that the romances were discarded. Well, considering that I backed the title mostly because I believed the lies about getting an experience like BG2, I'm not particularly amused. There was a lot of cool stuff in BG/BG2 like the talking sword, Minsk and his hamster, the Beholder, etc. but the thing that made it really special were mostly the romances since they touched me on an emotional level.

 

I don't need a PoE just to get another run of the mill Kill & Loot game with a bit more text and a slightly more complex set of rules. I can get those by the dozens and in AAA quality. PoE was supposed to give me freedom and a more personal and emotional experience than Diablo & Co. They wouldn't have to be perfect, I have a very good 'imagination'. The game won't be perfect anyway, or does anyone really believe that the given text will always fit to every race & class combination?! I certainly don't.

 

I understand that the writers don't like to write romances. They are *embarrassing*, the whole stuff about *feelings* and even worse, the great evil that even surpasses Lovecraft's Great Old Ones by miles, the forbidden word that starts with 's' and ends with 'x' and has three letters. Writing about *that* is almost heresy on satanic level of course for the typical RPG writer. It's so much easier to write about the great evil that threatens the land, pathetic speeches, a few amusing jokes here and there while letting the player create huge piles of dead corpses in the name of some mysterious 'greater good' nobody really gives a damn about because there's no personal connection to it.

 

Sure, it will certainly a nice, amusing hack & slay game, but I really hope they will NEVER, EVER again claim that this will be an experience comparable to Baldur's Gate, because it most certainly won't. I wasn't particular thrilled with Bioware's latest titles, but compared to the disappointments Obsidian brought me with NWN2, DS3 and now this, they are still angels. I will never support Obsidian again.

 

Wow.  Wish I had wrote that.  I'll only add ... nothing.

[Leferd]

Yay! Hack n Slash and ph47 l007 for teh w1n! No more of all this talky talky nonsense!

 

Dark Lord is goin' down!

 

http://youtu.be/6PQ6335puOc

 

That's what I'm talking about.

[prodigydancer]

I guess I'm a bit late to the party since I just found out that the romances were discarded.

 

...

 

Sure, it will certainly a nice, amusing hack & slay game, but I really hope they will NEVER, EVER again claim that this will be an experience comparable to Baldur's Gate, because it most certainly won't.

First, romances were not "discarded". They were never promised in the first place. Next time you might want to read before you sign, so to speak.

 

Second, you should realize that your opinion on what qualifies as a comparable experience is just your opinion and nothing more.

 

---

 

At this point my biggest disappointment with PoE is that Obsidian didn't put an announcement on KS and the forums in huge bold red letters. Something like: "There won't be any romances in Pillars of Eternity. BSN is that way."

 

I don't want to sound obnoxious but this thread is nothing but 17 pages of incessant whining, whimpering and subtle (or not so subtle) hostility. OK, we get your point: any CRPG that doesn't feature romances is a mindless Diablo clone and an affront to your feelings and therefore it must forever burn in the deepest pits of hell. We get your point but - for better or worse - Obsidian has already made a decision and it certainly seems to be final. So maybe we all should politely agree to disagree and give this thread a much needed rest.

Edited August 26, 2014 by prodigydancer

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Yeah, I fully agree, it would have been very nice of them to write it in their Kickstarter campaign. Since they mentioned Baldur's Gate almost half a dozen times in it, it might have been an important detail since those were an essential part of what gave Baldur's Gate its depth. But I think we all know why they didn't do it, don't we?

 

I've also backed other RPG's on Kickstarter that don't have romances and I'm fine with that. But those at least didn't mention Baldur's Gate as their great inspiration in almost every second sentence. I can live without romances but I don't like to get lied to even if it's not a direct one. They are certainly clever. They didn't go into details so they were completely free to throw every feature out that made those games so special.

 

I wonder why they didn't write NWN2 in their Kickstarter campaign. Maybe because it wasn't that great?! Instead they mentioned other games they didn't made themselves. Oh yeah, some of the people were apparently part of it. But I wonder if they were involved in the important parts since I didn't see a lot of those 'qualities' in NWN2, Alpha Protocol or one of their other flops. Yeah I know Chris Avellone was one the top guys. Well, 'was', just like Peter Molyneux once 'was' a great game designer. I've already seen Obsidian's 'depth' in their previous titles, so I don't expect all to much. It was just a glimmer of hope to revive the old era anyway. I should have known that Obsidian doesn't have what it takes for that.

 

Anyway, they were clever and tricked a lot of old BG fans who like romances into supporting them. They got the money and should be happy with that, let's leave it at that. I won't give them an opportunity to trick me again.

Edited August 26, 2014 by ArkhanTheBlack