8 réponses à ce sujet

[Kaiser Shepard]

With almost the entirety of DAII taking place in Kirkwall, it's a shame there weren't any opportunities to start a romance with non-party members in the game. I'm not proposing to make every random NPC romancable, of course, but there are several high-profile ones whose roles in the story equal - or even surpass - those of Hawke's companions. A few simple examples of how romances with NPC's, particularly those of other factions, could work and provide addition interaction with their respective factions:

The most obvious one would be everyone's favorite Templar, Cullen, who as we know has a thing for female Amells. This romance would probably begin as a 'rivalmance', given how most players start off as pro-mage/anti-templar. Aside from him providing a much needed source of Templar sympathy early on, he'd also be perfect for referencing a possible (Female) Mage Warden and informing Hawke of his/her sibling's progress in the Circle/Order during Act II. A possible 'benefit' of pursuing a romance with him would be him softening up a little around Act II, making his character development more gradual. As a gameplay benefit, he could be involved with the Act II finale, fighting alongside Meredith and the other Templars.

For the men amongst us, the ever-plotting Petrice would have been a worthy conquest. She'd be an interesting, almost Morrigan-esque romance as she's using you to further her own plans, although she'd be sorry while doing it. Possible story benefits could be being able to prevent her from killing Saemus and/or keeping the qunari from killing her even if you haven't sided with her. Speaking of him, Saemus himself would be an interesting LI as well; Petrice killing him would make her betrayal even more personal.

Just some examples of how these could have been implemented. Given how the available romancables don't automatically stay in your house/camp/starship anyway and the main story takes place in one city, I don't see why this couldn't work. The difference, from a development perspective, would be about the same as a companion gaining the ability to be romanced: just add a couple of new lines to these characters and the ability to prevent them betraying the player character at some point, nothing the guys at BioWare can't handle.

If someone at BioWare actually reads this, it would be great if you could implement this kind of romance in future games using the same gameplay structure as Dragon Age II. Also, if this concept was actually pitched somewhere during development, I'd appreciate it to hear how you planned to implement it and why it was dropped.

Modifié par Kaiser Shepard, 04 avril 2011 - 01:34 .

[Plaintiff]

Petrice? Yeurgh. As one of the 'men', I can safely say the only stabbing she'll be getting from me is the literal, with-a-sword kind. Morrigan was abrasive, but it's an insult to comapre her to that toxic, twisted ****. But I'm a raging homosexual, so not the sort of man you had in mind.

Although I hated Cullen in Origins, I was very much softened towards his character by the end of 2. The possibility of persuading him to switch teams (hurr hurr) is definitely intriguing to me.

Really, anything to heighten the personal stakes of a given quest would be a good thing. I love Dragon Age 2 as is, but I do think what you've described would definitely make for a more immersive, more powerful storytelling experience.

Modifié par Plaintiff, 04 avril 2011 - 01:40 .

[Cutlass Jack]

As much as I loved DA2, I thought the same thing. One of the greatest advantages of being in a set location like Kirkwall the entire game is that you could have a non-companion romance.

Though I probably would have replaced someone like Bran with a romancable person. It would have made charging the Vicount's palace at the end of Act II much more personal if you were dating the Vicount's plucky Assistant who really kept the city running.

Cullen would also be a great choice for the reasons you said. Patrice and Saemus probably not without changing the story overall.

And on a not entirely related sidenote, I was sad I could never go on that dinner date with Lady Elegant and her Husband.

But yes. A missed opportunity we are unlikely to get another chance at.

[Knightly_BW]

I am totally agree with Non companion romances. Even tho' it will require a good concept to bring it fully in game, an ongoing crush/flirting with dialog would be enough for saving resources. (I know that elven chick but she turns you down so fast )

Tho' I am disagree with examples, Petrice probably taken vows so her fruit is forbidden.
Seamus had a thing for Qunari (at least that is what I take from Winters' talk about him and Qunari).

My candidates would be
Potion Lady (heh married or not, none can resist Hawkexuality... well except Aveline),
Idunna... If she can play with my mind I can play with her.... nevermind I think you get the point.
Keran... Half naked guy with possible demon possession... I wouldn't mind probing him to find demons inside.
etc.

[Anarcala]

Romancing Seamus would have led to some fascinating plot twists. How would the whole Qunari affair played out had you been more inclined to listen to the Arishok? Or avenge Seamus for that matter. Mmmmm yeah I like this idea!

[Plaintiff]

Keran! Now there's a possibility. Although if he was going to have a larger role, I would've liked him as a companion. An actual templar in the ranks would make for awesome in-party bickering.

[silver-crescent]

I agree. It would be interesting.

On the male side you have Bran, Cullen or Seamus.

I can't really think of any female characters that would work though - all the ones you meet are either party members, family, too old, villains or very minor characters.

[Icy Magebane]

It sounds good, sure, but all of this would take resources that they obviously did not have. That said, I was kind of expecting a couple non-party member romance options, but I guess I shouldn't have... or something. There were rumors about this before release, but all we got was an overpriced brothel with no substance, Zevran, and some other male elf at the aforementioned brothel. So not only are all the outside LI's hollow flings, they are ALL elven men! Whaaaa??? I thought mostly guys played these games... Yeah yeah, I know a couple women were at that brothel, but still... all elves, and 90% gay male elves. Not what I expected. Not that there's anything wrong with gay elves mind you...

Anyway... yeah, I would have liked some outside romance. I don't even understand why protagonists only seem interested in their team. Those people tend to be prone to... you know, dying in combat so... not sure if that's the best place to look for romance. That and the fact that it compromises the mission.

Whatever... they should have done more but they didn't. Nothing we can do about that.

Modifié par Icy Magebane, 04 avril 2011 - 01:54 .

[Knightly_BW]

silver-crescent wrote...

I agree. It would be interesting.

On the male side you have Bran, Cullen or Seamus.

I can't really think of any female characters that would work though - all the ones you meet are either party members, family, too old, villains or very minor characters.

They need to tailor NPCs for that.

For that matter, Macha (Keran's sister) can make an interesting choice.

Let's entertain this idea a bit;
For romance to start you need to make Keran cast out of templar order.
You will get a letter from Macha later on about their money problems
Hawke decides to visit their house and invites her to work in his estate/ offer him a work in his mine
Romance....

It doesn't have to be fully developed romance. If you think how much you get from Romance options in game, after a little talk you can bed with Keran/Macha then have a little talk with them each year. At last fight she/he will run to you before reaching Gallows kiss/emotional dialogue and Varric tells you wander off with Macha/Keran in the end.

Is this a romance? For me... pretty much.