When Dragon Age: Origins announced it would have same-sex LI's, I'd already been planning to buy it. I've been a BioWare fan since before they started adding options for queer gamers, so no surprise there. Still, it was a really welcome surprise, and it jacked up my expectations a hell of a lot. I figured hey, save the world and get the guy, awesome. Instead I got f****** Zevran, who pretty much pissed me off on every conceivable level. I forced myself to play his romance arc in the hopes it would get better, which was a mistake, because by the time I finished DA;O the first time I was so sick of him, and DA:O by association, I put the game aside and didn't pick it up again for six months, which is pretty rare for me. I don't want to say it totally ruined my first playthrough, but it was in the neighborhood, to the point that I selfishly wished it hadn't had queer options at all for awhile.
... But hey, it happens. I got over it. A lot of people liked him. It's not like he was poorly written or anything, he just wasn't to my taste. Sure, it would've been nice to have options, but that's how it goes sometimes. Better luck next time, right?
DA2 comes out. I made sure it had queer options again (Multiple ones! Holy s***!) and then immediately went into media blackout, because I didn't want to see any spoilers or know what was coming. And then I played the game, and hey! Varric! Varric's sweet, he's grounded, he's charming, he's a bit on the beefy side cause yeah, that's where my tastes run, he's pretty much perfect! He's not romanceable. Well, okay. Instead you get Fenris and Anders, who are both angsty, melodramatic, and clearly need some kind of therapy. Plus Anders is incredibly overbearing in his romance arc, and Fenris is another Scrawny Bisexual Elf Boi (okay, lanky, still). I've been digging up queer fantasy for the last fifteen years - I'm sick as hell of skinny bisexual elves. Also vampires, but that's less relevant.
... But okay. Hell, it's not like I hate either one of them, so after Zevran things are looking up. I play both of their romance arcs, I enjoy them. They're not the kind of thing I go for, but they're well-written and I can deal with it. Better luck next time.
DAI. I start out with the media-blackout mindset, but end up tossing that because, well, *points up*. So I get to know the cast. Blackwall! Blackwall's tough, honorable, principled, grizzled, beefy with a huge beard... yeah, there's no way in hell this is happening. But hey, Varric's back! And he's really popular, and his new character design makes him look great. And holy s***, eight options out of ten? Now those are great odds! Maybe? Maybe? Maybe?
... Ha ha no. Ignoring Leliana and Cole (who were nixed early, and who had really good reasons for being off-limits) it now looks like the only two non-romanceable members of the team are the two I like. And to add insult to injury, it now looks like the last male LI announced is going to be yet another Scrawny Bisexual Elf Boi. Nothing against Solas' fanbase - I'm legitimately happy for you guys - but come on.
I don't mind games where the options don't really speak to me personally, that's how life goes sometimes. But at this point there hasn't been a queer guy in the series that really caught my interest, and based on the archetypes that keep getting trotted out, I'm increasingly convinced I'm never going to see one. There's a certain point where "better luck next time" starts to seem like kind of a joke, and I'm pretty rapidly reaching that point.
So yeah. That's why I'm feeling bitter today.