DA: The Awakening - Interview @ Bitmob

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Bitmob has talked to Fernado Melo about DA: Awakening. This has resulted in an interview titled "No Time for Romance: A Dragon Age Awakenings Interview." The title reflects that there will be no romances in the expansion. Here's Fernando's thoughs on this: Bitmob: The sexual relationships in Origins were another polarizing feature -- are those going to make a return in Awakening?
FM: They will not. It'll be interesting to see peoples' reactions to it, because it was by far one of the things they enjoyed. I think there was a real risk, though, of us trying to add romances in [that] would've felt tacked on. The story doesn't lend itself to it; when you play through it, you'll realize the pacing is very different from Origins, there's a real impetus to just get on and solve the problems at hand. The characters that you're playing with all have strong enough backgrounds that you would need to really invest a lot of time to turn those characters around into something that was romanceable.

Time will tell; I think that we'll definitely get called out on it, but I think it was one of things that was the right decision to make, rather than trying to shoehorn something in. We'll just have to keep evaluating it based on content-to-content. Some cases where it makes sense we'll absolutely do it, and where it doesn't, we won't.
More information.
 
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Well, insofar as I don't think that romances should be an expected feature in RPGs, I approve of this. Forcing them into a storyline that isn't really conducive to romance would not be helpful, and I'm glad that Bioware have shunned the populist route and left them out.
 
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Does this mean it's going to be just another full on Action RPG? I hope not!!
 
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Action-RPGs are a "populist route" in my opinion.
 
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Action-RPGs are a "populist route" in my opinion.

I'm not really seeing how removing romance aspect makes the game more of an action rpg. IMO the romance stuff, while sometimes amusing, has little to do with the game's rpgnesss. In many ways, its almost a side minigame that has little to do with the narrative or have any meaningful affect on story or gameplay. I enjoy it somewhat but it seems to have become a bit of a crutch for them. All's I'm saying is that IMO, the games qualities as an rpg and/or its status on the rpg continuum aren't really affected by inclusion or exclusion of the romance mechanic.

Edit: I guess that it could potentially have some modest affect on the king selection portion of the narrative in some limited cases. Nevertheless, I stand by my original assertion for the most part. Doesn't seem that central to the gameplay and more of side game.
 
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No, it doesn't seem so, does it? On the other hand, relationships and romances in games and expansions have been a Bioware Trademark(tm) all the way back to 1996 or 1998 or at least since BG2 was released more than 10 years go. Why abandon them now? The reason seems to be that player character now is a Grey Warden Commander and as such (he or she) doesn't have time for romace?
 
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The reason seems to be that player character now is a Grey Warden Commander and as such (he or she) doesn't have time for romace?
We'll just have to wait and see..
 
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Does this mean it's going to be just another full on Action RPG? I hope not!!

I doubt it, he clearly states that Dragon Age is meant to be more traditional and story heavy than Mass Effect.
 
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So is an RPG only about stats and character development? Doesn't having a romance in a game provide another avenue to role play out a story in a game?

While I don't mind not having romance ins DA:A I totally fail to see how romance fails to add anything to an RPG. It lets you role play as much as a good/evil axis, reputation, making story choices, etc. It is all part of playing a role in a game.
 
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The romance thing is getting a bit old to me. I don't mind the option being there, but I don't find it necessary for every Bioware game to have it.
 
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While I do not think romance option is nesseccery, it does add the flavour if its done well. And I just think its plain weird that all of sudden the NPC you've romanced simply disappear or does not continue romance with you in the expansion. I mean, if you've romanced Alistair or Morrigan, theres an excuse. Morrigan left and Alistair is too busy being a king just like you are too busy being a Grey Warden commander. But what about Lelianna and Zevran? Where did they go?!
 
I think David Gaider, the Leads Writer for Dragon Age, has said that there will be a few cameos of your comrades (from the OC) in the expansion. And your romances will be recognized in small and big ways. Ogren will apparently be the returning character. According to Victor Wachter, the threat is about this:

Victor Wachter wrote:

Why are there no romances in Awakening?
The story is primarily about the threats to Amaranthine, which if left unchecked could threaten Ferelden and more. The new companions were designed to be tightly integrated into that story. To make them romanceable characters we’d have designed them quite differently and would’ve changed several of the plots. We didn’t want to just tack on romance options. Short version – not all stories need to have a love interest.

I can sort of understand this. I still find it odd, however, that Bioware's trademark, the romances between characters, is gone from the expansion. For every 9 hack and slash or sword and shield game out there, there is 1 game that stands out.
Usually this is a Bioware game.
 
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I don't think they are against the idea of romances.

Awakening had a much shorter development, so they may not have time to write them well.

Also there is five new characters. They may not want to alter their personalities to make them suitable for a romance role.
 
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Romance is boring , special abilities acquired by interaction are good but flirting is given in a very childish way - i would love to see some swearing in battles or some kinky comments in taverns / brothels instead of NPCs in love singing.
 
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I don't care one way or the other - either do it well (in which case it often works out okay), or don't do it at all. It's certainly not a determining factor for me.
 
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