Saibh wrote...
obnoxiousgas wrote...
That'd actually be pretty interesting, especially if the wrong response to your 'rival' could result in the LI breaking it off with you. On the other hand, it really would need to be handled maturely; I'm not hugely interested in normally mature NPCs reverting to the mental age of twelve in order to create ~drama~.
Also, I think that a threesome should be an acceptable solution to at least one of the conflicts. I'm only partly joking.
Everyone, everyone (maybe not exactly everyone, but most of everyone) hated it with Haer'Dalis and Aerie. There is no way to handle it that doesn't feel like you're being cheated. And, like I said earlier, it makes the guy/girl come off as a piece of filth for sitting back and enjoying this duking out.
Besides, this is a game, and I expect my fantasy love interest to love me. Not, "Oooh, you called your rival a skank, no more relationship for you!"
And that, of course, is why while the idea is interesting in theory, it probably wouldn't work in practice. We are the player, ergo we demand a certain degree of special treatment and would feel cheated if we weren't given this, which is of course reasonable (particularly in RPG games like this where there tends to be even more wish fulfillment than in others, as well as considerably more investment). Even though it could prove to be better or more realistic (or not, your mileage may vary) storytelling, it's not particularly satisfying to have your love interest leave your character for another.
As I said above, though, if it was present I'd need for it to be handled reasonably. Putting in mindless high school drama (not that this is necessarily a bad thing, just time and place, y'know?

) is silly and makes the characters instantly more dislikeable. If such a conflict were to take place, I'd need the characters involved to have reasonable motivations for it and not have it just be shoved in for the sake of it while the object of your affections sits back and enjoys the show. Because seriously, if that happened, they wouldn't be characters worth your time.