69 réponses à ce sujet

[Former_Fiend]

I've been one of the more vocal advocates for this concept that I'm aware of.

 

The primary reason is that I feel there is a certain drama and romantic tension in a relationship where the two parties aren't together all the time, and where they aren't on equal footing in terms of capabilities. One where your love interest knows that you're going into a life threatening situation and won't be there to watch your back, or who isn't a capable combatant in their own right. I think these are concepts that haven't been explored in a dragon age game and would like to see them tackled.

 

Aside from that, I agree with the opinion that it makes the world seem bigger. Say we have six love interests, three of either gender. If two of those are non-companions, in my opinion it makes the world feel bigger than if all six were companions, as in the latter scenario you're essentially saying that all of our opportunities for love come from a pool of nine people who we're traveling with all the time. Personally I've always looked for romance outside of the workplace and outside of my core group of friends; I don't like to spoil friendships or complicate working relationships; given that our companions are a mixture of our best friends and coworkers, essentially, having all the options come from that pool is somewhat off putting for me.

 

Also, I think it allows the developers more freedom when designing the party as they're no longer bound by the concern of making sure a certain quota(or at least not as large a quota) of our followers are love interest material. We could end up seeing a much bigger variety in companions under this system.

[Kantr]

Skyrim allows you to do this. Although I guess you don't really have companions in the sense of Dragon age.

 

Are you thinking just of romance or Marriage as well?

[Mistress9Nine]

I like non-companion romances because they have "extra room" to work with, as your significant other need not be a warrior and could just be a simple housewife or whatever. This allows for more diverse romances then the usual battle-buddies camaraderie that accompnied most BioWare romances up to date. Conflict culd arise from you being always away and adventuring or you could just have babies or anything cause your preggers wife doesn't have to fight (well this wouldn't work for female PCs but either way).

[AppealToReason]

I liked that in Origins I could mack on like 4 other girls. The elf in the human origin, the bar wench, the girl with the dumb little brother, and Isabella + main LI.

 

I even had a playthrough where I went through all the above+Zevran+Morrigan+Leliana

[Hanako Ikezawa]

I liked that in Origins I could mack on like 4 other girls. The elf in the human origin, the bar wench, the girl with the dumb little brother, and Isabella + main LI.

 

I even had a playthrough where I went through all the above+Zevran+Morrigan+Leliana

You're forgetting the female Dalish. 

[duckley]

Not really keen on npc romances.

[Nashiktal]

I like npc romances but so far they have all been sparse in content by nature of their roles in the game. ME3 npc romances were so barren compared to squadmates in both content, and looks* that it hurt.

So while I would like more romances outside of companions I'll only feel dissapointing if they feel sparse, and light on content. Fewer, more fleshed out romances is the way to go for me.

*(By looks I mean Samantha looks like she was practically built with the in game character creation tools, not completely unique like squadmates were. Same with Cortez and Kelly. Don't get me started on that uncanny valley Allers.)

[Former_Fiend]

I think the complaints against Sam and Steve as lacking in content has less to do with them being NPC's and more to do with them being late additions to the series. They're the only new romance options in ME3; every squadmate romance is built on two previous games worth of interaction.

 

So I don't think that comparison is entirely fair.

[Darth Krytie]

I think the complaints against Sam and Steve as lacking in content has less to do with them being NPC's and more to do with them being late additions to the series. They're the only new romance options in ME3; every squadmate romance is built on two previous games worth of interaction.

 

So I don't think that comparison is entirely fair.

 

Well, if you get them early enough, sure. It's a fair point. You only even get to confirm your romance with Sam/Steve after the Citadel II thing. And by then, you've basically already had a few sweet moments with Kaidan/Ashley, Garrus or Liara. The other thing is you didn't really get to say goodbye to them. You didn't get an in-person, last talk on Earth. And after the EC, you never got that final moment of saying I love you/goodbye to them when the Normandy picks them up. You also don't get the cute scene where they rescue you in the Citadel DLC or the two moments during the Leviathan DLC where you LI puts their hand on your shoulder or scolds you to never do that again. It's just little things like that that make the romance fuller with a squaddie than a NPC.

[KaiserShep]

I support NPC romances, but I admit that part of the intrigue is sapped out by the fact that companion LI's benefit more by being able to go with you just about everywhere, and can be interacted with everywhere, granting far better opportunities to see this character progress and contribute to the plot. Being bound to a home base pretty much guarantees that the NPC will get less face time with the PC. I like Traynor's romance content for the most part, but like DK says, some of the biggest opportunities for the romance content to shine may be well beyond the reach of this kind of character. And in the case of Dragon Age in general, the approval/friendship/rivalry dynamic adds a lot more to the equation. The NPC would have to be aware of your good or bad deeds secondhand, while the companion can witness it and react accordingly.

[Rusty Sandusky]

As long as they're pleasant companions

(I was just looking for an opportunity to link this)

[Dean_the_Young]

I greatly support the idea of non-companion romances, and the idea that a player character should be able to have a meaningful relationship (read: not just 'we'll bang, okay?' one night stands) with someone who isn't one of those world-conquering badasses that journey with the player character.

[KaiserShep]

I greatly support the idea of non-companion romances, and the idea that a player character should be able to have a meaningful relationship (read: not just 'we'll bang, okay?' one night stands) with someone who isn't one of those world-conquering badasses that journey with the player character.

 

By the Maker, it's someone not covered head to toe in someone else's blood. It's kismet.

[Dean_the_Young]

By the Maker, it's someone not covered head to toe in someone else's blood. It's kismet.

 

 

Heh. A lack of blood does wonders for your complexion.

 

(Not, mind you, that I play with blood splatter turned on. Slows down my PC.)

 

 

 

More seriously, I put a finger on another thing I like about non-companion romances: they're much more likely to get away from a personal squick factor of having an authority/leader figure sleeping in the squad. That is, on many grounds, bad juju, and a recipe for disaster. A leader sleeping with someone in their command is already a professional squick factor- sleeping within a fighting team is even worse. It's not a matter of it 'being against the rules', and thus being okay when you no longer have them or are bound by them: it's a matter of the rules existing because it is a seriously bad idea with a bad history of failure.

 

The only ME romances I ever was able to see without feeling very dirty afterwards were the non-companion ones. The DA setting wasn't quite as bad, but that was because in Origins my character's romancing in the group was a character flaw of immaturity, and in DA2 Hawke isn't a professional at all (and the romances were still troubling on a different level).

 

 

 

 

 

[In Exile]

The only ME romances I ever was able to see without feeling very dirty afterwards were the non-companion ones. The DA setting wasn't quite as bad, but that was because in Origins my character's romancing in the group was a character flaw of immaturity, and in DA2 Hawke isn't a professional at all (and the romances were still troubling on a different level).

 

The other thing with DA:O is that you're not really a fighting unit - you're a diplomatic corps that's really, really good at murder. The whole gameplan is for you to ask a bunch of people nicely to follow through on ancient legal obligations. That you get stuck murdering everything in your path is more the quid pro quo part of your negotiations that your actual job description (in contrast to ME). 

[Chari]

I'm all for it if it means 6 LIs instead of 4

[WildOrchid]

I'm all for NPC romances as long as they have enough content and are important to the story and they aren't in the game just for the sake of romance.

Though, the only bad thing is that you don't bring them with you on missions... :/

[Former_Fiend]

I'm all for NPC romances as long as they have enough content and are important to the story and they aren't in the game just for the sake of romance.

Though, the only bad thing is that you don't bring them with you on missions... :/

 

I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing. 

 

Being able to take a LI with you *is* a good thing, but not doing it isn't inherently bad. May well be the whole point.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing. 

 

Being able to take a LI with you *is* a good thing, but not doing it isn't inherently bad. May well be the whole point.

Yeah, having an anchor to come back to can be just as good as having someone at your back. 

[Abelas Forever!]

Romancing NPCs is a good idea because it enables romances to be more different naturally. I don't mind that NPC romances or companion romances aren't that important what comes to story and I don't mind that NPCs don't have the same amount of interaction with you. It could be nice of course but not necessary if the difference isn't too big. I guess the problem comparing to the companion romances is that the NPC should be available to you. But I guess there are many ways to accomplish that. Local bartender perhaps or maybe you could meet somebody during the quest and help him etc.

[daveliam]

I don't mind the idea of an NPC romance, to be honest.  The only hesitation that I have is, like others have said, the fact that there are going to be situations where you won't be able to get additional character development with your LI because they simply can't be with you for the majority of the gameplay.  It's not that they can't (or won't) do it well, it's just that there is certainly something to be said about having your LI in the party, so that you can hear his/her reactions to dialogue, banter, etc. 

 

Now, that being said, it all comes down to character and the writing, in my opinion.  I look at Kaidan and Cortez.  In that situation, Kaidan is the clear winner for me, but it's not because he's a squad member.  It's because his writing was superb.  If they had been the exact same characters, but swapped who was a squad member and who was an NPC, I would probably still prefer Kaidan because of who he is.  Cortez is fine, but Kaidan was better.  I could easily see myself choosing an NPC romance if I find the character more likeable and/or better written than the companion romance. 

[Abelas Forever!]

I don't mind the idea of an NPC romance, to be honest.  The only hesitation that I have is, like others have said, the fact that there are going to be situations where you won't be able to get additional character development with your LI because they simply can't be with you for the majority of the gameplay.  It's not that they can't (or won't) do it well, it's just that there is certainly something to be said about having your LI in the party, so that you can hear his/her reactions to dialogue, banter, etc.

That's true, but your LI could affect the banter even if he/her isn't there. For example your companions could tell rumours about what they have heard about you and your LI. Maybe your PC could interup them and say something about it or not. It's not the same as companion romance but anyway there are ways of making it work.

[Mockingword]

I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing. 

 

Being able to take a LI with you *is* a good thing, but not doing it isn't inherently bad. May well be the whole point.

It does pretty much mean inherently less content, unless Bioware goes extremely far out of their way to give extra content to the NPC romances.

[Former_Fiend]

It does pretty much mean inherently less content, unless Bioware goes extremely far out of their way to give extra content to the NPC romances.

 

Quality over quantity. 

 

To me, the best moments in the romances have always been back at the home base. You're losing a bit of party chatter, it's true, and that isn't a small loss, but it can be compensated with chatter back at the keep(I'm hoping the companions and npc's will do more than just stand in their respective rooms, waiting for us to come and talk.)

 

I've said this a few times, but I think there's a certain dramatic tension in a relationship where you're going into life threatening situations and your LI isn't there to have your back, or maybe wouldn't be able to. It's something that hasn't been explored yet, and I'd like to see that happen. Considering that "not taking them with you" is the whole point of that hypothetical storyline, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

[Wulfram]

It's not just taking the companions with you, it's all of the non-romance conversations and stuff you get with them.  You'd have to devote a lot more resources to a non-companion romance just to make it seem like more than "We'll bang, OK?"

 

Unless it's a really key NPC who gets a lot anyway, but there aren't many that get enough I dont think.  Aribeth, and TIM I guess