Player sexual companion

[Yosharian]

I am pretty sure, knowing Mr. Sawyer's sharp and tricky mind, that things won't be easy with romance at all.

 

At this point, straight males seem to be in disadvantage, just compare the pools

 

Xoti - most attractive to average player, she is human, but may be "I-belong-to-God" type, she is also a zealot, maybe to the point of religious fanatism.

Pallegina - second in rate, but she is godlike, and extremely difficult to get along with, with very complicated set of views. 

Maia is... khmm... of certain constitution... (hell, she is huge). 

 

Guys begging to add pale elf to companions list prove that the pool is not covering all types of preferences.

Fanatic, half-bird and a giant... oh yes.

 

And the girl's pool seems to be way better. Girls get

 

calm macho man,

intellectual sensitive boy,

exotic local shark boy

badass pirate guy

 

This is how commercial boysbands are usually formed - one archetype for each possible fangirl. Even if I am wrong and some female players will say "I also don't see MY option", still the diversity seems to be greater.

 

But. I am against Bioware's "we'll all bang ok" style and for my first run I am ok with no romance at all.

 

In PoE1 I was charmed by Sagani, I really respected her and was driven to help her with her quest, but it felt ok that she had a pack of kids, a husband and so it is respect only. I was happy when she became a cool elder and reunited with her huge family. No such archetype in the sequel, so I better focus on the storyline

 

> At this point, straight males seem to be in disadvantage, just compare the pools

 

You don't know anything about what the romances will actually be.  This is just supposition.

 

> Xoti - most attractive to average player, she is human, but may be "I-belong-to-God" type, she is also a zealot, maybe to the point of religious fanatism.

 

'Player'?  She's not a 'player'.  She's a companion.

 

> may be "I-belong-to-God" type, she is also a zealot, maybe to the point of religious fanatism.

 

She may be X, Y or Z.  But you don't know.

 

Also, attractiveness is entirely customizable.  The only thing that represents the character in this sense is the portrait, which can be modified.  There is even a set of portraits going around which slightly modify the NPCs to make them more appealing aesthetically.  So your argument is kind of silly.  You could replace Xoti's picture with anything, here, with 120 seconds of clicking this is now Xoti's portrait:

 

 

Hmm, suddenly your 'average looks' argument seems very silly doesn't it.

 

If this was, for example, a Bioware game like Dragon Age: Inquisition, you'd have an argument, because the 3D models in those games can't be replaced or modified if a player finds them aesthetically unappealing.  But this ain't that.

 

> Pallegina - second in rate, but she is godlike, and extremely difficult to get along with, with very complicated set of views. 

 

That sounds like a very interesting romance to me.  One of my all-time favourite romances in videogaming is Viconia from BG2, who is an absolute hell-hound to deal with, but is also a fascinating character.

 

> Maia is... khmm... of certain constitution... (hell, she is huge). 

 

Since your comment here is solely on Maia's looks (which aren't even that bad, good god), it can be safely ignored (see above portrait comments).

 

> Guys begging to add pale elf to companions list prove that the pool is not covering all types of preferences.

 

Wait, what?  I haven't seen a single 'guy' 'begging' for a pale elf companion.

 

> still the diversity seems to be greater.

 

Only 'better' based on your subjective opinion, and there's only one more romance option objectively speaking (assuming that all the ones you mentioned are actually romanceable, which we don't even know for sure), hardly a crime against humanity.  What, you gonna break down and cry because the girls have ONE more romance option than you?  DA:I was way worse in this regard.  In BG2 the options for girls were incredibly worse, so I think I can deal with ONE (****ing ONE?) less option, considering there are three, and this isn't even a romance-focused game like Bioware's usual fare.

 

I would be the first to complain if I thought there was some ****ed up agenda at work here (*coughDA:Icough*) but you're just making a big deal out of a bunch of opinionated suppositions.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Yosharian

[Katarack21]

Hell I was just glad that in DAII there was somebody to be friends with who hated Templars as much as I do.

[Valmy]

Hell I was just glad that in DAII there was somebody to be friends with who hated Templars as much as I do.

 

That's nice.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Valmy

[jf8350143]

I feel like romancing Maia in my first play through(if she can be romanced). I'd argue that when it comes to romance, being straight male was never a disadvantage in almost any game, not even in Bioware games.

 

Straight male tends to  have the best looking lady as romance interest and almost always has more potential love interest comparing to others. Which is understandable since most of the players is straight male.

 

Seriously, most of the time the game was writing with the mindset of having a straight male as protagonist, even when you can choose your gender.

Edited March 25, 2018 by jf8350143

[neotemplar]

If you change a portrait, you won't change a 3d model, which is set in stone and is even more detailed than in PoE1. It is not BG with a bunch of colored sprites. Most of the time you see your party on the map in good 3d, and things like Maia's size or Xoti's overall "latina" type will be there. Setting pale elf portrait to a char, who obviously has black hair and brown skin is strange and only breaks the immersion.

 

My view of companions at this point is not based on supposition, all this facts have been stated by devs. Xoti will be religious, and it will cause conflicts inside the party, and it was stated by Sawyer multiple times, etc.

 

There was a huge movement to add Ydwin as a companion, there is a huge thread here and it was even a goal for $5M kickstarter goal. The main motivation of people asking to add her was interest in such type of female character, not just a strange urge to have one more companion.

 

About Xoti, a human girl, being statistically more attractive to a human male (average player) - it is basic psychology. People feel more attracted towards people, not aliens or strange creatures. We may go for exotic, but are still programmed to get attracted to our kind. This works even on the level of human races, when in most cases a partner is usually found among the same race. 

[Wormerine]

And the girl's pool seems to be way better. Girls get

 

calm macho man,

intellectual sensitive boy,

exotic local shark boy

badass pirate guy

I found this statement interesting, and not only because I am confused why you would describe Eder as macho, but because in all those male cases you focused more on character traits, rather than thier physical appearance:

 

Eder - calm, macho? - not blond chubby

Aloth - intellectual, sensitive, not slim, dark haired

sharkboy-whatever-his-name-is - exotic local - well, could be both ways. ****ing a fish seems to be in fashion (jk. Need to see Shape of Water)

badass pirate - not short, furry.

 

On the other hand:

 

At this point, straight males seem to be in disadvantage, just compare the pools

 

Xoti - most attractive to average player, she is human, but may be "I-belong-to-God" type, she is also a zealot, maybe to the point of religious fanatism.

Pallegina - second in rate, but she is godlike, and extremely difficult to get along with, with very complicated set of views. 

Maia is... khmm... of certain constitution... (hell, she is huge). 

 

Guys begging to add pale elf to companions list prove that the pool is not covering all types of preferences.

Fanatic, half-bird and a giant... oh yes.

Xoti - best because she is the most attractive, her personal views are a minus

Pallegina - still kinda hot, but with bird features, personal views are a minus

Maia - not conventionally attractive enough.

 

Good companion - pale elf. Good companion - Yidwin, because her original concept art was HOT!

 

So maybe it is not really a case of poor romance choice <of course we don't know who and to what extend is romancable> but double standards for what makes male and female romance worthwhile. 

[neotemplar]

Yes, I agree that my view is not completely clear of 2x standards or stereotypical thinking, well that is just my view on the picture, it can be pretty distorted. The topic is about personal thoughts, not cold analytics

 

Ydwin interests me only due to her scientific background mixed with rogue-cipher way of life, that was a very interesting preset to develop a cool character. Her appearance is maybe the worst.

 

I am sure there will be a mod, the question is - will it have quality. It is hard to match pro-writers of Obsidian level.

 

About male companions - easy, I am not able to evaluate their physical attractiveness, as I am not into males, so I focus more on their archetypes. 

 

As for ladies I also pay great attention to their personality, except only for Maia  - we know nothing about her except she is Kana's sister, so they may share some common features, she is a noob captain, and she is an agent of Rauatai trade company. But that is about job, not about her personality. She may be Kana in skirt, or may be completely opposite.

 

As I mentioned, feeling no interest in given set of female companions will only lead to more focus on the plot of the the game, relationships are cool bonus content, but not necessary at all. Besides, my default rogue-cipher is more interested in whores, and my secondary paladin-chanter is all about good deeds and duty. My RP style will not require romance at all.

[jf8350143]

Yes, I agree that my view is not completely clear of 2x standards or stereotypical thinking, well that is just my view on the picture, it can be pretty distorted. The topic is about personal thoughts, not cold analytics

 

Ydwin interests me only due to her scientific background mixed with rogue-cipher way of life, that was a very interesting preset to develop a cool character. Her appearance is maybe the worst.

 

I am sure there will be a mod, the question is - will it have quality. It is hard to match pro-writers of Obsidian level.

 

About male companions - easy, I am not able to evaluate their physical attractiveness, as I am not into males, so I focus more on their archetypes. 

 

As for ladies I also pay great attention to their personality, except only for Maia  - we know nothing about her except she is Kana's sister, so they may share some common features, she is a noob captain, and she is an agent of Rauatai trade company. But that is about job, not about her personality. She may be Kana in skirt, or may be completely opposite.

 

As I mentioned, feeling no interest in given set of female companions will only lead to more focus on the plot of the the game, relationships are cool bonus content, but not necessary at all. Besides, my default rogue-cipher is more interested in whores, and my secondary paladin-chanter is all about good deeds and duty. My RP style will not require romance at all.

And those "2x standards or stereotypical thinking" is exactly why the SJW has the power to ruin games in the first place, because when they starts to pointing fingers, they actually have something to back them up.

 

"About male companions - easy, I am not able to evaluate their physical attractiveness, as I am not into males, so I focus more on their archetypes. "  is also not very convincing, we can tell whether a same sex person is attractive or not, even we don't feel sexually attracted to them. 

 

Seriously, I have nothing against good looking characters showing up in the game, but stop judging a book by it's cover. You know nothing about those companions, what the developers says is way too vague to come into any conclusion. It's like those people who praise Witcher 3 to no end because the females is fxxking hot, when they even didn't play the game in the first place..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[neotemplar]

You are mixing aestetics and sexual (romantic) impulse, and they are pretty unconnected.

 

If certain gender is not sexually attracting to you, which is the root of any romance feelings, you are not able to rate people of this gender by their attractiveness. 

It is like saying that a deaf person is able to make top 10 songs of all times rating, or a colourblind is able to pick best colour for a car.

 

Aestetic feelings may be, and often are, asexual. David's statue is a masterpiece because it is well done, with extreme knowledge of propotions that comfort the human eye. At the same time people like Celentano or Statham are adored by many women (and some men), while they are not so good in terms of pure aestetics and in most cases won't be picked up by sculptors as a prototype.

 

I am not interested in SJW, I am interested in getting good content in a product I pay for. Good for me, not good for the society or some social movements.

 

So in the topic "Player sexual companion" I state that I don't see a sexual companion for me so far. Based on info we are able to get so far. And I will be happy for those who do, for their game experience will be better. I, personally, am a bit upset about fem companions.

[playerone]

So much Bioware hate

Because Bioware I take for granted that there will be several romance options when romance is an option at all. I'm sure it is done to have an option for a few different tastes and play-throughs. I don't think it's designed to be a free for all. I can't say the games prevent it but I think some NPCs take it very badly and leave. That seems like a setup that accommodates a lot of people.

 

I feel like there is usually one character who is very attractive and nice/naughty/smart/tough enough to appeal to many players and then other romancable characters that lean more into particular types. I don't know how it goes if you are romancing male characters. I hope players haven't been shortchanged...so to speak.

 

Regarding, shall we say Mr. grey areas, whether the player is dominant or not I'd be extremely surprised if there was anything more than heavy innuendo.  

[neotemplar]

No, no, Bioware is a great and legendary studio and their part in developing relationship systems in gaming is enormous.

They just had some degrading in latest titles, and freedom has turned into dating sim, sometimes with forcing the player to go into close relations without fully understanding it. My personal hate is only to nowadays Bioware+EA.

 

Under EA they were forced to make best selling product, keep every possible gamer group satisfied.

I really prey OBS will never fall into this. They are one of the last bastions standing.

 

Only latest Bioware products turned their relationships systems into a meme, at certain time they were revolutioners.

[Juodas Varnas]

As far as i understand there's barely anyone responsible for the good old Bioware titles left in the studio.

[MortyTheGobbo]

So much Bioware hate

Because Bioware I take for granted that there will be several romance options when romance is an option at all. I'm sure it is done to have an option for a few different tastes and play-throughs. I don't think it's designed to be a free for all. I can't say the games prevent it but I think some NPCs take it very badly and leave. That seems like a setup that accommodates a lot of people.

 

I feel like there is usually one character who is very attractive and nice/naughty/smart/tough enough to appeal to many players and then other romancable characters that lean more into particular types. I don't know how it goes if you are romancing male characters. I hope players haven't been shortchanged...so to speak.

 

Regarding, shall we say Mr. grey areas, whether the player is dominant or not I'd be extremely surprised if there was anything more than heavy innuendo.

 

For some reason, "BW games are dating sims" has become a meme. I'm honestly not sure why, since romance has been there since the first KOTOR. All that's changed is the number of options and flirt dialogue choices being clearly marked. If anything, it became less obligatory afterwards, since you won't make someone deeply in love with you just by being nice to them. My first DA:I playthrough was completely romance-free and that was fine.

Edited March 25, 2018 by MortyTheGobbo

[VincentNZ]

Nah, Dragon Age Origins and ME2+3 was all about the bonking. I do not know about the successors to DAO or Andromeda, but there it was all about Morrigan. Although I will give him that this was a well-written romance with an interesting character.

 

ME 1 had few options because of the small number of companions relative to M2 and M3. For the successors it is all about romantic freedom, if that freedom means picking the hottest male/female from a flipchart. The romance thing really was priorised over deep characters and interaction with them. I mean by the third game you exactly knew what to choose if you wanted to screw. And as far as consequences go, I do not really know if companions would actually leave, but their loyalty certainly did not change.

 

At a certain point they just swapped emotional immersion through characters (Aerie, Morrigan and the like) with drawing you in by a cinematic portrayal and rather cheap tricks to get the ultimate reward: Sex.

[playerone]

Making it clear what you are going for is a very good idea. For example, the dragon in Dragaon's Dogma can leap to a possibly awkward conclusion about who you care about most if you've been friendly to a merchant. Excellent game but maintain your reserve.

 

I do mean Classic Bioware if you will. I didn't play DAI or Andromeda. I had the impression they are tied to the net and that doesn't interest me. Romance free can be good. Maybe a little too quiet in a couple of ways. And I find it easy to drift away from games if my character doesn't have that. I don't really care how it ends.

 

 

For some reason, "BW games are dating sims" has become a meme. I'm honestly not sure why, since romance has been there since the first KOTOR. All that's changed is the number of options and flirt dialogue choices being clearly marked. If anything, it became less obligatory afterwards, since you won't make someone deeply in love with you just by being nice to them. My first DA:I playthrough was completely romance-free and that was fine.

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by playerone

[Valmy]

So much Bioware hate

 

Bioware was destroyed by EA. I look upon them with more pity than hate, even if their doom was self-inflicted.

 

In any case a full line-up of Bioware romances strikes me as a huge resource hog and a potential public relations and political source of controversy, even if I did usually enjoy them. Bioware itself shows that to be the case. In any case my character is married so I will not personally be partaking. I just hope this aspect does not become as large a deal as it did with the Bioware titles.

[Valmy]

 

 

For some reason, "BW games are dating sims" has become a meme. I'm honestly not sure why, since romance has been there since the first KOTOR. All that's changed is the number of options and flirt dialogue choices being clearly marked. If anything, it became less obligatory afterwards, since you won't make someone deeply in love with you just by being nice to them. My first DA:I playthrough was completely romance-free and that was fine.

 

 

Only by suicide could one avoid the romances in ME2.

[playerone]

My character was just with Liara , who has a very complex personality and story, so I can't really speak to the other ME romances. I think I did have a thing with Miranda, who had an interesting story but I liked much less. Liara and I were on a break. It's a long story.

 

I enjoy a complex relationship story but I have nothing against people who have...simpler tastes. I also don't have a bad thing to say about players who just want a very deep character versus one that is smoking hot or players who'd kind of like one that's both please.

 

 

Nah, Dragon Age Origins and ME2+3 was all about the bonking. I do not know about the successors to DAO or Andromeda, but there it was all about Morrigan. Although I will give him that this was a well-written romance with an interesting character.

 

ME 1 had few options because of the small number of companions relative to M2 and M3. For the successors it is all about romantic freedom, if that freedom means picking the hottest male/female from a flipchart. The romance thing really was priorised over deep characters and interaction with them. I mean by the third game you exactly knew what to choose if you wanted to screw. And as far as consequences go, I do not really know if companions would actually leave, but their loyalty certainly did not change.

 

At a certain point they just swapped emotional immersion through characters (Aerie, Morrigan and the like) with drawing you in by a cinematic portrayal and rather cheap tricks to get the ultimate reward: Sex.

[neotemplar]

Golden age BW

KotOR

Companion - Juhani (catlike lady).

 

a) introduced in a time of personal crysis, initially shown as enemy, need to fight her, she will kill you without doubt. Still, if you drop your hatred you may save her, but it takes some will effort and jedi roleplaying. You get a lot of info on her before you meet her.

b) has flaws, and serious - she latently leans to dark side and if unattended will move to it completely. injured her jedi teacher, went raging instantly, very unstable psyche

с) she can be influenced in both ways, making her sith or jedi with really meaningful consequences

d) is really hard to open, not scripted to wait untill you show interest and then instantly open her soul, mind, pants.

 

Core motivation to interact - an urge to save a troubled soul, empathy to her. You behave like Luke, refusing to hate Vader, because hatred only destroys. Or you play like Palpatine, playing her like a doll and destroying her and her life.

Appearance - average, no sexual traits openly shown, also half-cat (catonoid? Lesbian, but all of the "change" part is open to any protagonist, for males she will become a friend.

 

The reward is her changes inflicted by your actions, not a cutscene of banging.

 

Late BW.

Andromeda, but ME2-ME3 also fits here

 

Kora Harper (blonde biotic commando)

 

a) introduced like furniture, as a part of your crew, you have no idea who the hell she is

b) no flaws. yes, she is pissed that your father chose you as his successor, when she has been training her whole life and is second-in-command officially, but she drops it after one dialogue

с) she will not change, your actions are insignificant. Yes, you can make her talk about hard days of biotic training, that's all.

d) she is scripted to respond at once if you pick "heart" sector in dialogue

 

Core motivation to interact - sex cutscene. It would be cool if she despised you and your motivation was to stabilise climate in your whole group, prove yourself and earn her respect. Remember troll specops lady from Shadowrun Dragonfall who was pissed by your career jump and blamed you of letting her beloved commander die? And being german KSK she couldn't make herself say anything warm?

Appearance - "I am designed as a sex partner for straight male protagonist. I am a soldier of special forces, killing machine, but I have model body and behave like I work in office".

 

The ultimate thing about relationships is that they mean "people become related", bonded, and influence each other. Bioware lost it, Obsidian still has it.

[MortyTheGobbo]

 

 

 

For some reason, "BW games are dating sims" has become a meme. I'm honestly not sure why, since romance has been there since the first KOTOR. All that's changed is the number of options and flirt dialogue choices being clearly marked. If anything, it became less obligatory afterwards, since you won't make someone deeply in love with you just by being nice to them. My first DA:I playthrough was completely romance-free and that was fine.

 

 

Only by suicide could one avoid the romances in ME2.

 

 

That's funny, because I had never pursued a romance in ME2 until a recent playthrough. And once I did, it was 5-10 minutes of content at most. All I had to do was avoid the dialogue options that indicated a romantic interest. I felt much more pushed towards a romance when I played KOTOR as a male character. KOTOR 2 even assumes that a Light Side Revan did fall in love with Bastila or Carth, something later games would never do.

 

One can like or dislike romances in BioWare games at any point in their career, but they're always avoidable and they've become more so with years. Hating them so much gives them weight and gravity they don't merit. And frankly speaks much more about your own perspective than anything the games do.

Edited March 25, 2018 by MortyTheGobbo

[Valmy]

 

That's funny, because I had never pursued a romance in ME2 until a recent playthrough. And once I did, it was 5-10 minutes of content at most. All I had to do was avoid the dialogue options that indicated a romantic interest. I felt much more pushed towards a romance when I played KOTOR as a male character. KOTOR 2 even assumes that a Light Side Revan did fall in love with Bastila or Carth, something later games would never do.

 

One can like or dislike romances in BioWare games at any point in their career, but they're always avoidable and they've become more so with years. Hating them so much gives them weight and gravity they don't merit. And frankly speaks much more about your own perspective than anything the games do.

 

 

Well congrats on your dialog-fu I could never figure out how to avoid having somebody in the ME2 crew think I was romancing them when I wasn't. Jack was the worst. And there was no way to tell what dialog options were of romance interest in that game. There was no heart dialog and it was very difficult to tell what exactly you were going to say or what tone you were going to say it in just based on the dialog option.

 

In any case that was a joke. I like Bioware. I like their romances. You don't need to rush to their defense. But this isn't about them. This about Obsidian's games...like KOTOR 2. I cannot believe you would imply KOTOR 2 was not  an Obsidian game on Obsidian's own boards. Come on man, they get enough disrespect as it is. I regularly see games like PS:T being called a 'Bioware Game'.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Valmy

[neotemplar]

I confirm     

As a commander of a military starship, carrying lethal weaponry, I became aware of Jack's instability. As there is no way in the game to send somebody to a competent specialist (and as she is not a crew member to be ordered to brace herself and do the job), I felt it was my duty to cheer her up. We had a long talk, in which she cried and thanked me. After some time I came to her to check the dynamic. Suddenly we "banged, okay".

 

After this episode my Shepard signed himself to English courses at Citadel School of Linguistics 

[MortyTheGobbo]

 

 

That's funny, because I had never pursued a romance in ME2 until a recent playthrough. And once I did, it was 5-10 minutes of content at most. All I had to do was avoid the dialogue options that indicated a romantic interest. I felt much more pushed towards a romance when I played KOTOR as a male character. KOTOR 2 even assumes that a Light Side Revan did fall in love with Bastila or Carth, something later games would never do.

 

One can like or dislike romances in BioWare games at any point in their career, but they're always avoidable and they've become more so with years. Hating them so much gives them weight and gravity they don't merit. And frankly speaks much more about your own perspective than anything the games do.

 

 

Well congrats on your dialog-fu I could never figure out how to avoid having somebody in the ME2 crew think I was romancing them when I wasn't. Jack was the worst. And there was no way to tell what dialog options were of romance interest in that game. There was no heart dialog and it was very difficult to tell what exactly you were going to say or what tone you were going to say it in just based on the dialog option.

 

In any case that was a joke. I like Bioware. I like their romances. You don't need to rush to their defense. But this isn't about them. This about Obsidian's games...like KOTOR 2. I cannot believe you would imply KOTOR 2 was not  an Obsidian game on Obsidian's own boards. Come on man, they get enough disrespect as it is. I regularly see games like PS:T being called a 'Bioware Game'.

 

 

I do remember Jack thinking my Shep wanted to bang her, once. I told her he wasn't and that was that. That's why I liked the heart icons from DA2, DA:I and ME:A, though. As metagamey as they are, they let us avoid this exact situation.

 

Anyway, fair enough. It was a knee-jerk reaction on my part to the befuddling level of hostility some people do display. Though I doubt Deadfire's romances are going to look like KOTOR 2's... those were all tragic and/or dysfunctional in some fashion.

Edited March 25, 2018 by MortyTheGobbo

[VincentNZ]

 

My character was just with Liara , who has a very complex personality and story, so I can't really speak to the other ME romances. I think I did have a thing with Miranda, who had an interesting story but I liked much less. Liara and I were on a break. It's a long story.

 

I enjoy a complex relationship story but I have nothing against people who have...simpler tastes. I also don't have a bad thing to say about players who just want a very deep character versus one that is smoking hot or players who'd kind of like one that's both please.

 

 

Nah, Dragon Age Origins and ME2+3 was all about the bonking. I do not know about the successors to DAO or Andromeda, but there it was all about Morrigan. Although I will give him that this was a well-written romance with an interesting character.

 

ME 1 had few options because of the small number of companions relative to M2 and M3. For the successors it is all about romantic freedom, if that freedom means picking the hottest male/female from a flipchart. The romance thing really was priorised over deep characters and interaction with them. I mean by the third game you exactly knew what to choose if you wanted to screw. And as far as consequences go, I do not really know if companions would actually leave, but their loyalty certainly did not change.

 

At a certain point they just swapped emotional immersion through characters (Aerie, Morrigan and the like) with drawing you in by a cinematic portrayal and rather cheap tricks to get the ultimate reward: Sex.

 

I immediately went for Tali'Zorah in ME2 because she was obviously a reboot of Aerie from BG2. Just as you can find similarities with many other ME companions. The stories of the characters are deep, that is true, but the interaction with them is not. It all boils down to picking the flirt dialogue option. The emotional immersion, that PoE and BG achieved with textboxes, is here staged with cinematic shots, similar to a movie. Here the game really tells you what to think.

[Yosharian]

I feel like romancing Maia in my first play through(if she can be romanced). I'd argue that when it comes to romance, being straight male was never a disadvantage in almost any game, not even in Bioware games.

 

Straight male tends to  have the best looking lady as romance interest and almost always has more potential love interest comparing to others. Which is understandable since most of the players is straight male.

 

Seriously, most of the time the game was writing with the mindset of having a straight male as protagonist, even when you can choose your gender.

 

> not even in Bioware games

 

> Straight male tends to  have the best looking lady as romance interest and almost always has more potential love interest comparing to others.

 

>  most of the time the game was writing with the mindset of having a straight male as protagonist

 

Clearly you haven't played any of the recent Bioware games.

 

I'd definitely agree that this is the case for the Baldur's Gate series, though.

 

If you change a portrait, you won't change a 3d model, which is set in stone and is even more detailed than in PoE1. It is not BG with a bunch of colored sprites. Most of the time you see your party on the map in good 3d, and things like Maia's size or Xoti's overall "latina" type will be there. Setting pale elf portrait to a char, who obviously has black hair and brown skin is strange and only breaks the immersion.

 

My view of companions at this point is not based on supposition, all this facts have been stated by devs. Xoti will be religious, and it will cause conflicts inside the party, and it was stated by Sawyer multiple times, etc.

 

There was a huge movement to add Ydwin as a companion, there is a huge thread here and it was even a goal for $5M kickstarter goal. The main motivation of people asking to add her was interest in such type of female character, not just a strange urge to have one more companion.

 

About Xoti, a human girl, being statistically more attractive to a human male (average player) - it is basic psychology. People feel more attracted towards people, not aliens or strange creatures. We may go for exotic, but are still programmed to get attracted to our kind. This works even on the level of human races, when in most cases a partner is usually found among the same race. 

 

> If you change a portrait, you won't change a 3d model, which is set in stone and is even more detailed than in PoE1

 

That's true but for the majority of the characters this won't make a huge difference.  You can pick a portrait that's reasonably similar to the character's in-game model.  Maia is an exception since she is green-skinned race, but there are some Aumaua portraits on the net and you could also look for Half-Orc portraits, they might fit.  As for Xoti, are you seriously telling me you can't find a decent-looking latina portrait if you look online?

 

Hell, this is another area where girls have it worse because it's much easier to find very attractive female portraits online than it is to find male ones.

 

> Setting pale elf portrait to a char, who obviously has black hair and brown skin is strange and only breaks the immersion.

 

Congrats, you spotted the problem with a portrait I grabbed off my hard drive in a matter of seconds.  It was merely an example.

 

> The main motivation of people asking to add her was interest in such type of female character

 

What's your point?  This doesn't seem relevant at all the discussion.  We're discussing how character aesthetics affects your enjoyment of the game, and I'm pointing out that with a very small amount of work you can customize your NPCs quite a lot.

 

> About Xoti, a human girl, being statistically more attractive to a human male (average player) - it is basic psychology. People feel more attracted towards people, not aliens or strange creatures. We may go for exotic, but are still programmed to get attracted to our kind. This works even on the level of human races, when in most cases a partner is usually found among the same race. 

 

I agree with this, maybe you were responding to someone else?  Not quite sure I see the relevance here.