Chaos Hammer wrote...
Am I the only one who doesn't understand Bioware's new "romance's are annoying and suckish" stance? There are a few interviews where Gaider says something to effect of "We don't want to put that much effort into something that is ultimately optional."
This is an RPG isn't the majority of the game "optional"? And being a Bioware RPG isn't it about choice? I'm not saying romances are absolutely needed, or that it makes or breaks the game.... just seems like an odd choice considering they made sex into one of the bigger decisions in the game (DR and OGB).
So I briefly touched on some parts of this, and I did say I'd respond so here goes! :happy:
In many ways, a lot of the game IS optional. I don't know if I could say if the "majority" of the game is or not. DAO requires you to do quite a bit as part of the crit path, and if DA2 requires you to get money to proceed, how much of the "optional" content is optional? (waxing philosophical)
Having said that, because a lot of the game is optional, it means that there's a division on where to spend all of our time. Romances have dependencies on writing (and VO, which is related), Cinematic Design/Animation. By spending more time on romances, means that we'd have to spend less time on other things. Sometimes the dependencies are not super easy to realize either.
For example, we want to do more interesting crafting, and if aspects of that involve creating new animations for some weapons, or writing descriptions in some way, that comes with an opportunity cost. So it's trying to find the right balance that allows those features to be interesting. Those that love both are probably happy regardless, but those that love only one or the other will not see as much gain in something else.
As for Gaider's snark, I suspect on some level the topic comes up disproportionately. There's probably also some level of spillover, because while someone may love Romances, I know (SPEAKING FOR MYSELF TIME HERE) it can feel disconcerting when I get the impression (whether it's there or just in my head) that someone will, for example, see Frostbite's Morrigan and conclude "If she looked like that in DAO I wouldn't have romanced her."
Again, elaborating on this being a perspective for myself, the disconcertion comes from my own personal disconnect. I don't feel romances are
necessary although given I like the characters in our games, I'd probably say that I like them well enough. I know that people will take the announcement of party members and immediately start speculating, which in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I do see a lot of "Can't be a romance, not hot enough" type of things which makes me feel.... "confused" (for complete lack of a better term... sorry).
Now, my reaction isn't entirely fair. I definitely feel this way more now that I work at BioWare, and it's because I know a LOT more about the characters than you guys do, and I definitely have my favourites (favourites both in terms of physical attractiveness, as well as character). So it's kind of a bummer to see a character that I like, think is interesting, and is also attractive, get dismissed as simply being ugly and not worth romancing. And I'm not actually the writer of said character!
Like I said though, this isn't really the fairest thing for me. It's more a reflection of me being human and having those faults. It can be a challenge, and sometimes fingers start typing and while that's not good, the judgment of "don't hit submit" may not come in time. I have definitely written up some responses and I was just like "I am a bit angry... I should cool off" and I deleted them. But sometimes that filter doesn't function properly.
Hopefully that helps a bit, even if it's my perspective and not David's (I can't speak for him, obviously). BioWare continues to write romances, and on some level that gives the implication that we don't really hate it. I know I don't, and in fact literally read up on them earlier this week durin a lunch.
Cheers.
Allan
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