BioWare - Building a Better Romance

Romance doesn't work that well mechanically because they have to voice act every line. That leaves little room for iteration and makes the whole "romance" a few conversations of a dialog tree for one or another result. Bioware should do story-board vignettes like Obsidian is doing for Pillars except dedicated to romance interactions. That would at least put some role-playing and interesting scenarios back into it.

I never could figure out why people even bother to try and equate games to real life, just doesn't make sense.

I just enjoy games for games and real life for real life. If a game has a romance I full and completely enjoy it for what it is - a romance in a game. I don't judge it by what it is not - a romance in real life.

For the same reason I don't judge companions, dialogue, fighting, or anything else for that matter in a game to real life.

It is rather amusing how people get so ramped up over romance and companion relationships in general. Its a game, games have variety, I see no reason to limit something in a game just because it can't compete with a real life comparison.

The main reason I don't like Bioware romances is that I find them degrading for video/computer games and attract a stigma to the audience that they are basement dwelling perverts.

That's porn Scraw. You are confused. Bioware games form such a small percentage of games market that accusing them of stigmatising anybody is just preposterous.
Besides, you can always order a t shirt which says "I play Bioware games but I don't do romances" and you will be accepted in the best of circles.

JDR13 said:

How many previews of BG2 were there prior to its release that focused on romance? How many interviews where romance was the topic?

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I think in the end in comes down to boobs and ass.
Hasn't the broad public discussion come up as soon as Bioware included explicit nude sex cutscenes it its games?

As stated Baldur's Gate or Jade Empire had romances as well… I can't remember discussions about them.

I think it started with the media generating buzz about these sex cutscenes then, because in previews you could prominently report about the romances with their cutscenes, which somehow seem to be the "goal" of these romances. That's something everybody understands plus it contains boobs and ass. People like this. When you have a less explicit presentation of romances like in BG or Jade Empire, you can't report so prominently because you don't have such an explicit goal. So instead you would need to write about building up the romances by dialogs. That's quite boring to read.
And when Bioware and EA have noticed that they could generate buzz with this stuff (together with same sex romances) their PR of course picked this up. And Yes, for sure they can influence what is asked in interviews or what guys focus on in their previews.

In the mini interview that is linked in another newsbit, a CDProjekt level designer says that the

key thing is […] not to sell your game with sex

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I think that's exactly what Bioware is doing. That doesn't make its romances good or bad. It just makes theit PR bad (imho) and generates buzz and discussions.