Project Eternity: What type of romance do you want?

A well written romance, whatever the type, hell yes. Even if it's a romance between our hero and a sheep. :)

A generic romance added just to be in the game so that the game description has one more line, absolutely not. Leave such crap to EA and Ubisoft.

Basically, I'd rather see well written any other relation between ingame characters than a poorly written romance.
 
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The romances in RPGs are ridiculous, stupid, and <insert other negative adjectives as needed>.

My daughter and I still laugh about BG2. We were playing a network game and her character was the lead. There we were literally in hell battling demons when the Anomen romance kicks in with something like "Here is a flower I just found for you...". Yay! A flower from hell. How touching.
 
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Perhaps they should just stick in a nymphomaniac companion who gets turned on by battle ;) "Ooh! Fighting makes me randy as hell. Let's get it on meat shield" :D
 
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In all likelihood, Obsidian will likely include some token relationship quest trees to appease backers who, for whatever reason, like to play their part in a pixelated romance novel with awkward dialogue.
So you don´t have much confidence in Avellone´s, Sawyer´s or Ziets´ writing capabilities, I take it? ;)
As I see it, serving character depth via developing relationships is pretty much the best way to go about it in a party based game with talkative companions and even more so in a game that holds reactivity in high regard. I mean, maybe besides some token info dump convos, whenever player is allowed to stir dialogues in different directions, treat companions differently or simply isn´t a strictly passive element, there´s a form of relationship going on. Unlocking the circle of Zerthimon in PS:T was a form of developing a relationship with Dak´kon in my book, for example.
And while there´s a myriad of possible relationship forms, I don´t see why romantic element should be excluded from the bunch. Obsidian dudes did some great work on companion relationships in PS:T, KotOR2 and Mask of the Betrayer, all three contained romantic elements and it didn´t make any of them worse, quite the opposite.
The sorta platonic romantic subcurrent added a good deal of depth to PS:T´s Fall-From-Grace, for example.
Given what writers are on board for PE, I don´t see why you´d expect any kind of "relationship quest trees" delivered via "awkward dialogue".

As a side note, romantic elements played quite significant roles in both Witcher games
and I don´t think it in any way diminished the quality of either. The choice between two gals in TW1 was interesting and so were the possible contexts player could put the relationship with Triss in in TW2. In both games these elements added to the depth of player character himself and even to the plot itself (at least in the case of TW2).

My daughter and I still laugh about BG2. We were playing a network game and her character was the lead. There we were literally in hell battling demons when the Anomen romance kicks in with something like "Here is a flower I just found for you…". Yay! A flower from hell. How touching.
I´ve not experienced the following scenario myself, but I think that nothing quite compares to having your party buffed to the teeth and just about to enter the Throne of Bhaal to end it once and for all, when suddenly Aerie decides to give a birth (which then leads to fighting Melissan and co. with a child in your inventory) :).
 
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I think romances can add a lot of depth into game if they are done right. For instance what I dislike Bioware's latest approach is that some of their romances are so predictable. You usually know from the begining which party members can be seduced and which cannot. Its almost like romanceable party member are wearing "fuck me now" t-shirt :) And pushing the correct buttons isn't very difficult. Subtlety can not even be mentioned in the same sentence. And bioware is making it even easier for people to romance their favourite companion. Maybe there should be difficulty levels for dialogs as well? :p The heart icon in da2's dialog wheel for example felt so insulting that I almost stopped playing.

I basicly wish that romancing a companion or some other npc ( why does it always have to be a companion?) wasn't so straightforward or taken for granted. For example romances shouldn't always succeed. So make romances more unpredictable. And if and when you deciced to form a romance with someone, such action could have consequences, both positive and negative.

Perhaps they should just stick in a nymphomaniac companion who gets turned on by battle ;) "Ooh! Fighting makes me randy as hell. Let's get it on meat shield" :D

Great idea, hopefully obsdian is taking notes :biggrin:
 
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Thats another good question. Why is the "end goal" of most game romances the sexy times. I've met plenty of girls for which sex was more of an ice breaker than a later goal. You want "realism", then give me some easy companions. Better yet, make them not at all interested in pursuing an actual relationship!
 
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I never understood why people hated the witcher 1 cards…I thought it was a fun concept. Why does everything has to be deadly serious :)
 
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I never understood why people hated the witcher 1 cards…I thought it was a fun concept. Why does everything has to be deadly serious :)

That's the million dollar question isn't? Someone is always offended or hates something you like. Were all guilty of this.
 
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It's all silly to me. At least the Witcher distilled it down to the most basic of the most base - cartoon pornography. :p ;)

I kind of respect them for keeping it simple. ;)
 
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Military groups that face real combat together will always form couples. When you know that tomorrow you may die, relationships become very important. You will tell your comrades in arms things you will not tell even your closest family relation or best friend. By the same token sexual and romantic relations are extremely common. I think it is only logical to have these relations in a game setting where combat is a common occurence. It still doesn't change the fact that in this particular case, I don't think they have the time to do it right given the timeframe and resources. I have two twenty-something cousins, both female, that play Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Fallout, and Skyrim almost exclusively because of the relationships. It can be a powerful lure.
 
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I've had more crap romances than good ones in my RPGs. They are very easy to write badly. Remember Elanee in NWN2? Ugh. So I'd vote against.
 
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Well I actually thought DA:O did a fairly good job of it. Better than most at least. Morrigan was a LOT of work. ;) Mass Effect and Liara was a massive facepalm for me… Skyrim (and Fallout 3), I didn't even bother, afraid it would ruin the vibe. Bethesda is about the worst at this drivel. :/
 
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It'd be better without any romance at all, but if it has to be, at least I hope it could be totally optional.
 
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How is Bethesda the worst when it doesn't even exist in most of their games?

I'm fine with hooking up in a game as long as it's fairly simple. I strongly dislike the Bioware routine of having to go back and forth with someone over hours of game time to get them to acknowledge me.
 
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