CptData wrote...
Just a few words before I start with my maybe lengthy posting:
My little DLC idea is a bit related to the [NEW SURVEY!!] ME3 Romance-Related DLC: Petition for Improvements, Side Missions, & More Content
Although I support this petition, I don't fully like the idea of a generic romance DLC. It's simply not possible to cover ALL romances and improve them all without running into budget issues. Every romance may need up to 2000 - 3000 lines of new dialogue - with Liara, Kaidan, Ashley, Jacob, Miranda, Thane, Jack, Garrus, Tali, Cortez, Traynor, Allers, Kelly PLUS Vega and other new LIs you can -really- easily have MORE lines than Mass Effect 1 had!
That's pretty much impossible to put into one DLC that shouldn't cost more than 10 - 20 Dollars.
Therefore I rather split up the Romance DLC into smaller ones. Those smaller DLCs can have "shared content", some basic features all romances need, like being able to invite your LI to the cabin, but every DLC also should have some special stuff dedicated to the displayed LIs.
I think it does make sense to split up the generic Romance DLC into following parts:
- "Team Dextro DLC"
Dealing with Garrus and Tali, improving both romances, adding special missions to them.
- "Virmire Survivor DLC"
For Kaidan and Ashley. Also with special missions.
- "Old new love DLC"
For Jack, Jacob, Miranda and Thane. It's most likely the biggest DLC since there is most stuff needed to be added.
- "New love DLC"
Dealing with Cortez, Traynor, Allers and adding Vega as LI for fem!Shep. Plus missions.
- "Love Broker DLC"
For Liara. We know it's going to happen 
That way, you can pick the DLC with your favorite LI - or get the full bunch.
ALL DLCs should come with missions designed for the LIs. Those missions should be always playable and add some War Assets as well, however, they should feel entirely different if you play them with an active LI than they would if you do them without a LI.
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Okay. The title says "Virmire Survivor Edition", means, from now on I'll focus on the "Virmire Survivor DLC" only. Whatever you have in your mind for the other DLCs - I won't go into details. It's all about the VS. So if you don't like the VS, you might stop reading here and don't spam the thread with "I hate Ashley" and "Kaidan is boring" posts.
Don't flame, don't troll, that's it. Thank you.
-- Issues with the original VS romances in Mass Effect 3 --
Think we VS-fans sometimes ask that question: "why should a fresh guy romance Kaidan or Ashley in ME3 without knowing anything of them?"
Most character build up for the VS was done in ME1, but in ME3, those characters are given as they are. It's difficult to hook up with Kaidan and it's nearly impossible to do with Ashley, since she doesn't feature any traits that make people liking her.
In fact, as an Ashley fan I say, I would -NEVER- romance Ashley in the third game if I wouldn't know how she was in ME1.
And that's the big reason why I'm writing this post. The VS simply doesn't come with enough content to attract new players in ME3. Most of the VS fans did romance Ash or Kaidan in ME1 and - regardless if they moved on with a new LI in ME2 or not - continued the romance in ME3. But we had a base to work with while new guys simply don't understand why people love Ashley or why others are fallen for Kaidan.
Over the course of ME3 the VS is taken out for a third of the game so especially new guys may miss any content for Kaidan and Ashley. Missing the VS here results in either death in the Coup OR refusal when trying to recruit the VS for the crew again.
In a way it's difficult (for Ash nearly impossible) to romance the VS without importing a Shepard that had a romance with the VS.
So in most cases, new guys never romance the VS. That is a big issue that needs to be dealt with, if Bioware ever plans to give us a romance DLC dedicated to the VS.
-- Basic Features for the DLC --
In case you're not interested in VS romance content you still may read the following section since the "Basic Features" should be part of any given romance DLC. I just put some ideas together I'd like to see done in such DLC.
--> Mission dedicated to the LI
The big reason to buy any romance DLC - even if you never romanced that particular LI.
The mission should be available, regardless if the LI is your active romance or not - and even if she or he died before, the mission should be issued at a certain point of the game.
Said mission should play different in case
a) you bring your romanced LI the mission was made for
you bring a non-romanced LI for that mission
c) you don't bring that LI at all, either 'cause ignored the request / the LI died before.
--> Friendly Banter / Romantic Banter
Remember Garrus? That guy had a lot of banter on board. This feature simply should add more banter to the LIs - in two variants: "friendly" and "romantic". Friendly banter is used if you didn't romance the character, romantic banter is for an active romance only.
You know, I hate that "Hello Shepard" line ... it's like "Can't it wait? I'm in the middle of some calibrations."
--> Call the LI to Shepard's cabin
A feature introduced in ME2 should return. However, it shouldn't end with a snuggling scene only but with a randomly picked scene showing the LI and Shepard doing ... yeah, romantic stuff. Like stargazing. Having a dinner. Playing chess. Holding hands ... you name it.
Said feature gets overridden if you allow your LI to permanently move in.
--> Allow your LI to permanently move in to Shepard's cabin
What it says. That feature shouldn't be available until very late of the game, maybe right after the Thessia mission. It also should be only possible after you did the LI's special mission.
The only purpose of this feature is to give you a scene where Shepard and the LI discuss that idea. Once you invited the LI to live with Shepard in said cabin, other crewmembers will recognize that situation and the LI will be in your cabin sometimes (the LI still will move sometimes to another location).
-- Special Features for the VS Romance DLC --
That's the part where I'll try to give some details on special features / content fitting to Ashley and Kaidan. So if you're not interested in that stuff, simply skip here. It's also the last paragraph.
Let's do it:
--> Fresh guys content
Remember the issues I mentioned at the beginning? Ashley and Kaidan lack content to get in touch with their characters. I think that should be changed in the DLC, so new guys understand why we love the VS that much.
Basically, it's adding some content like this:
- once the VS is healed on the Citadel, s/he should be found in another place of the station. Here you can talk to the VS and learn more about the past. Ashley is talking about her belief, poems and such, Kaidan is talking about his past, difficulties as being a L2 biotic and sich.
- whenever you dock at the Citadel, the VS will leave it and hang around on different places - again for talk.
You also get that content, if you romanced Kaidan / Ashley in ME1, but it's discussing different topics or go down into deeper details than the "fresh guys content". So if you want to learn more about the VS, better import their romances!
Basically, the "Fresh guys" content is fluff, so any new player has a chance to get in touch with the characters.
--> Post-Coup dialogue
Kaidan has one, Ashley has none. I think both should have a quite long talk dealing with the Coup and the past of the two lovers (or friends). I really miss such dialogue.
--> Mission for Ashley & Kaidan
That mission should be tied to the Horizon mission they had in ME2. I want to know why they had been there, the purpose of that job, the results. Maybe it should uncover some connections between the VS and Cerberus.
Also I can think of two separate missions - one for Kaidan, one for Ashley, but you can bring the Ash to Kaidan's mission and vice versa. In case you do that, the VS will remember the other one and it's kind of a memorial mission with an entirely different outcome.
--> Reward for staying faithful
Simple. A special scene you won't get if non-loyal / fresh romanced and an altered romantic climax scene should be rewarding enough. The "special scene" should be a really romantic, maybe comforting non-sexual scene somewhere after the Quarian/Geth-War and before the romantic climax scene.
Maybe that scene can deal with the feelings of the VS when Shepard was dead for two long years ...
That's it for now. If I get any new ideas / input, I'll add them here too.
Thanks for reading.
and always have him on my squad.. But I do think that by not taking them to said mission shouldn't have an impact large enough to terminate the romance, as it might not sit well with other players (remember the reaction that Horizon generates? My suggestion is that we best avoid simmiliar situation here 
..)
Retour en haut
I approvee!
