'R's make you more dark and gritty + secret!

Because most bio-fans expect every bioware game to be a dating/romance simulator. And Gaider enjoys writing virtual romances. That's why. If you've ever been on the bioboards (I don't advise it though) you'll see the longest threads are about romance. They end up having 30+ pages. Then it gets locked down and another monster-to-be thread about romance is opened.

Originally Posted by Thoth
Why does there have to be romance in video games anyway? They'll never be written correctly and they'll never get personal enough. BG2 romances was the most forgettable part of the game to me. They were annoying, awkward, and waaay out of place most of the time.

Who wants this in the games they play? Was there some poll taken?

Well, mods that put MORE romance in BG2 are among the most popular out there. That suggests to me that a significant part of the public does want them.

I agree with you, though, for the most part, although not quite so categorically. There are a few video game romances that I thought were pretty well written. Planescape: Torment's romances were rather compelling IMO. Safiya in Mask of the Betrayer wasn't half bad. And the one in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was downright beautiful.

Originally Posted by Tan
Who's Tam? It's Tan, Dgaider, Tan.
I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings (well, not very sorry) by suggesting you write stereotyped characters. Obviously, cornered like a little virtual animal, you had to defend yourself saying I'm making things up. Can you deny the truth of what I said about the class specialisations, Loghain, those 4 being romance options and the spectacular achievement called "hopeless romantic"? You can't. Because you'd be a liar. So instead you said something banal and vague like "I'd be careful to listen bla bla", like you usually do.

Wow, I see you're making good use of that degree in obnoxious you got, there.

Well, good luck with that.

Well, PST and BG2 didn't have bad romances and actually were pretty cool but in most games romances are bad and sometimes even stupid and horrible (Mass Effect for example). I'd better not have them. I don't need them for sure. Well, as far as they are optional I don't care much though.

Originally Posted by Dgaider
Wow, I see you're making good use of that degree in obnoxious you got, there.

Well, good luck with that.

Ah, I see you've leveled up your boldness since you've taken care of your baldness. Was it hair transplantation or a wig?

I enjoy when you're stalking me on the forum - less time for you to write cardboard cut-out 2D stereotyped characters.

Tam, you really care too much about this. A normal person could decide that they are not interested in the game and never look at it again…

Korplen, I'm genuinely interested in this game as I'm not a normal person.

Why can't this thread just die out?

It's too powerful.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
Well, mods that put MORE romance in BG2 are among the most popular out there. That suggests to me that a significant part of the public does want them.

I agree with you, though, for the most part, although not quite so categorically. There are a few video game romances that I thought were pretty well written. Planescape: Torment's romances were rather compelling IMO. Safiya in Mask of the Betrayer wasn't half bad. And the one in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was downright beautiful.

I never really thought of PST as having romance in it, though I suppose it sort of does. Though it doesn't fall into this newish trend that romance = inevitable sex: the ultimate expression of love according to 13 year old boys everywhere. The romance with Annah is never really fulfilled and Fall From Grace frustrates the player wonderfully with her little flirts that can never mean anything since any sort of romance with her would lead to literal damnation.

I never played the other games… Perhaps I should sometime.

Originally Posted by Thoth
I never really thought of PST as having romance in it, though I suppose it sort of does. Though it doesn't fall into this newish trend that romance = inevitable sex: the ultimate expression of love according to 13 year old boys everywhere. The romance with Annah is never really fulfilled and Fall From Grace frustrates the player wonderfully with her little flirts that can never mean anything since any sort of romance with her would lead to literal damnation.

Not to mention Deionarra and even Ravel. The game was just chock-full of romance.

I never played the other games… Perhaps I should sometime.

If you like the style. I liked PoP: The Sands of Time, but never bothered with the sequels; according to the reviews and comments, the series took a turn that I didn't care for.

Assuming there even is a gay romance. At this stage with the lack of information about the characters. You could imagine all of the male characters as conforming to some gay stereotype.

Oghren the Dwarf - Hairy bearded guy dressed in leather that hangs out in biker bars.
Alistair - young easy going bi-curious frat boy
Sten - dominant muscley gym junkie

So I think you need to wait for the full game until you can make an accurate judgement.

I predict that romances will come more and more into the foreground … as a means to attract more and more female players to RPGs … which have so far been a bation of male roles … Imho.

I can't say how much it'll succeed, but to me, the optimization towards this group of customers as well (imagine a team would get just a fration of the worldwide SIMs players as their customers ! Just from an economical viewpoint !) would be just a way to get even more money in - to lower the risks of development costs and get more revenues.

The more revenues, the lesser the risks.

Also I think DA:O is meant to be a big game with a lot of party member dialogue. Which suggests there is a focus on group dynamics and the feel of being part of an adventuring party. And that generally might involve more things like friendships, loyalty, conflict , disagreement and romance.

Even in action games like Far Cry or Call of Duty. Sometimes they try to get you to develop a emotional connection with the NPCs. Supposedly even in GTA4 you can form a romantic relationship which affects how the game ends.

I think this is the first time Bioware have used an influence system rather than an alignment meter. Hopefully it will make the NPCs more reactive to what you do. Rather than mindlessly go along with everything or only react to your alignment meter. Also whether Bioware can improve on the way Obsidian implemented it.

Originally Posted by SeanM
Assuming there even is a gay romance. At this stage with the lack of information about the characters. You could imagine all of the male characters as conforming to some gay stereotype.

The thing that bothers me is they refuse to officially confirm or deny there are gay romances. It's always "no comment" and it's 2 months till release. Of course, romances for male and female heterosexuals have been revealed a long time ago.

But.. with gay romances it's different. Do they fear it'll damage the reputation of their little precious game and screw the very sophisticated marketing campaign full of blood, sex and violence if they announce there's a gay romance in it?

With that being said, among other things, I assume you understand why would someone have a problem with the way bioware is handling things.

Oghren the Dwarf - Hairy bearded guy dressed in leather that hangs out in biker bars.
Alistair - young easy going bi-curious frat boy
Sten - dominant muscley gym junkie

Assuming these are common stereotypes at all.. I wouldn't mind romancing a masculine frat boy. And Alistair is handsome.
The prevalent stereotype is that gays are very fruity and oh very sensitive girls' best friends, thus I don't see a stereotype that involves a degree of masculinity to be that damaging.

If there is a gay romance, I think it is actually better for Bioware not to reveal it. If players can discover and experience it for themselves, then it may feel more natural and uncontrived.

I felt the same way about them doing a E3 presentation on the sex scene. It is inevitably going to sensationise it and create controversy. And spoil actually experiencing it within the game.
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Generally Bioware have not revealed much information about the personality of any of the characters. Usually it is objective facts like Leliani comes from Orlais or Alistair used to be a Templar. Rather than trying to convey what their personality is like.

I am guessing they feel it is a subjective thing. People will experience interacting with the character, their actions and their dialogue. And then form their own unique impression. (Which may be completely different from the writer's intention.)
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At this stage there seems to be very little information on Zevran. It is hard to know for sure whether he is flamboyantly effeminate. I think you just have to wait and hope for the best.

He's just peeing on the Rug because he had his opinion Rebuked and his feelings were heaRt. tan's so sensitive.

Heh, someone brought the 'r' to the top again .

When I read through the arguments for lots of 'r's in the names, I missed the obvious one: In English, the 'r' is voiced, which means it sounds relatively soft and has half-vowel qualities. This makes names sound pleasant. For a similar reason, the consonants 'z' and 'v' are also popular in English fantasy names. Just imagine names with lots of consonants like 'p', 'k' or 't'. Not pleasant.

Unfortunately, this quality doesn't always carry over well to other languages. :'R's and 'z's sound very hard in some other languages.

Interesting necro.

Behold.
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexper…ords/frequency