I wanted to respond to this:
wsandista wrote...
Cortez would respond to females advances with interest if he was bi. he doesn't do that in the game. His personality would be no different but his actions would be. If they were interested, they simply wouldn't be the same character as they are now, because they would perform different actions.
Using that argument, wouldn't the ability to harden characters in DA:O be a "change" of the companion that would subsequently allow for him/her to perform different actions?
The ability for a character to be hardened is something written into the character - that he/she can be influenced by the PC's actions and/or dialogue. The personality of the character is intrinsically the same, the
core persona is there, but the views and attitude have shifted somewhat.
I can't say for certain if any of the characters were written as "bisexual" - as in the writers said to themselves "this character would declare his/herself to be bisexual." What they were written as was "romanceable" - meaning they will respond to the actions/dialogue of a Hawke that flirts with them. They react to the PC and are essentially willing to pursue a romance with him/her (provided that further actions/dialogue from the PC occur - flirt options are still used, gifts are given, quests and conversations take place, etc). This doesn't necessarily mean a fluid sexuality/sexual identity. It's merely a matter of that aspect of identity not being openly declared, not being obvious in any sort of statement from the companion. There is no "I am not interested in men/women."
A few characters discuss their past loves, but the events of their past do not necessarily dictate who the character is now, how he/she perceives his/herself and what he/she may want from their beloved in return.
You have asked before "do the LIs have a say?" - if they were to have such a say, is it certain that they would each declare a particular identity? Would they define themselves in a certain manner? We can guess, we can make assumptions, but can we really, truly know? To be able to say that a character would, without a doubt, respond a certain way may be metagaming right there, because if we are to treat them like complex individuals (as they seem very much to be written as), then how can we
truly account for every attitude or thought? How can pin down how the heart works for one individual, and what may move him/her? It's very possible that each character has the ability, and the desire, to respond to
who Hawke is - not the gender alone, but the sum total of a refugee from Fereldan made into a Champion of Kirkwall. Sometimes the heart works that way - sometimes it defies convention, or all of its previous history. Sometimes love, even as written in fiction to reflect our mortal familiarity, works in unpredictable ways.
The writers would be in a better position to state how any character would react/answer questions regarding how they feel, or who they want to be with - the companions are their creations. We are left to assess who the companions are by taking an active role in getting to know them, each playthrough, via our PC. Because we can pursue different dialogue options, we may not always hear the whole of what they have to say - that doesn't make them any less viable of characters because we may not know or learn something. They remain complex characters, unique in their view of their own world.
It's about perspective. I personally don't walk into the game, either with metaknowledge or by just focusing on a playthrough thinking "Oh, he/she responds to the flirting of my PC, therefore he/she is straight/gay/bi." I approach having my PC romance a character as "who is it that I think would best suit my PC, who is it that I think is all sorts of awesome and would be someone that I want to know more about, who I think would make for an interesting romance." There isn't the conscious "well, he/she seems gay/straight/bi, therefore I don't want to engage that character, and because he/she is gay/straight/bi, that character should act in x manner."
To paraphrase @Nyoka from several pages back, the ability to romance a LI regardless of PC gender is about being able to link your PC with the character you find most awesome and intriguing. The characters do not lose anything, or become different creatures, based on this accessibility - they remain who they are at their core. Their sexuality/sexual identity is simply not the sole aspect that defines them. And while dialogue responses may change, those responses still take direct influence from the PC, just as persuasion/coercion and hardening worked in DA:O. The PC has always been influencial, in some degree, on how the companions, LI or not, are going to react/respond. And that is something that is actually indicative of RL - we can be influenced or inspired from friends, family, people on the street on all manner of topics or subjects - from the type of music we enjoy, to books we may read, to how we may view social or political issues. Conversation, and the elements of respect and trust, do much to make small shifts in how we may think or feel about certain things. I would argue that the same can be said for the heart.
Modifié par whykikyouwhy, 12 juin 2012 - 01:26 .
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only consider getting into FemShep's pants.
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