3 réponses à ce sujet

[MerAnne]

 

I originally posted this thread in a different part of the forum. It's sparked quite the conversation. I'd like to get the opinion of people in this group:

 

Worried About Having my Romance Options Limited

 

I’ll admit, reading the recent comments by David Gaider about romance in the upcoming DAI game has made me a bit worried. While nothing concrete has been said I’m really hoping, as a gay man, that my romance options have not again been narrowed down to abstaining or choosing a character simply because they’re the only other gay male. That’s what DAO was for me. I found it very frustrating that I couldn’t even express my interest in Alistair, even if it would have been just for him to turn me down. I would have been fine with that; it would have been a realistic way to show sexuality, rather than just making him 100% off limits to male characters. I was not interested in Zevran and since he was the only gay male option I simply abstained.  

 

Then there was DA2, I don’t know if calling the romance mechanics an improvement is accurate, but it certainly presented more choices of which I was very appreciative. I had expected Anders to be the only option for a gay male, and he was certainly the more overt of the two, actively coming on to your character and mentioning a previous relationship with a man (if you were a male PC), but I was pleasantly surprised at Fenris being a option as well! I was wary that the male character I wanted would not be available to me, but thankfully that turned out not to be the case. Still, I couldn’t reconcile the oddity of everyone being openly bisexual; it just struck me as unrealistic.  I kept waiting for a conversation regarding his sexuality that never came. So, while I appreciated the options, it certainly could have been executed in a more realistic way.

 

I don’t want options taken away from me in DAI (I must admit that is largely due to the fact that I have been waiting to romance Cullen as a male PC since he was first introduced in DAO), and while I don’t want the “everyone is inexplicably bisexual mode” either, I’d prefer that over pining over a character I cannot have. Since this forum is for suggestions, here is mine:

 

In an older Bioware game called Jade Empire, you could romance Sky as either a male or female PC, but what set it apart was how different the romance was for male PCs. He is seemingly a heterosexual man, having lost his wife and daughter, and if you’re playing a female character he will openly flirt with you and show interest. As a male PC, he shows no romantic interest unless you completely rebuff the two female LI’s, at which point he will “approach you with his suspicions,” where you can admit to being interested in him. It makes him uncomfortable and he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore until he’s had time to think. He is hesitant and unsure about beginning a relationship with you if you are a male PC, but eventually he falls for you. On the other hand, as a female he is very easy to romance.

 

I really find this to be a great alternative to either making everyone openly bisexual or restricting options. It shows a plausible way for the PC to romance whichever LI they want while still taking gender and sexuality into account. The character actually falls for the PC because of who they are, maybe in some cases despite their predisposition, and they still take gender and their own sexuality into account. I don’t know why this hasn’t been done again in any of the DA games (or ME in that case), but I really thought it worked very well. Anyone else have an opinion?

 

 

I'm quoting Rowe's whole post from the other thread because it brings up a number of valid points.  But first a bit of background....

 

I am working on a series of mods for DAO.  The first added dwarf companions and I could "head canon" with House and Caste following same gender parent that all of the Dwarf Companions (5) were playersexual with the theory that marriages are often arranged so looking for  love with a same sex partner wouldn't be unusual.  (still working on dialogue and cutscenes so the romance options are planned, not implemented, at this point)

 

Then I started working on the Human Companions and the logic I used for the Dwarf Companions just doesn't work.  The player is able to select the gender of the added Companions (3 fighters, 2 mages) so between the vanilla game and mods, there should be multiple potential love interests.  

 

So (FINALLY) I get to the question:

What is the general feeling?  Should all of the new Companions be playersexual or just some of them?  I like Rowe's reference to Jade Empire and the romance with Sky, but I don't want to do get into this level of detail for all of the Companions.  One in particular is my reaction to Zevran telling a male Grey Warden that he prefers women.  That just annoyed me - and I don't play male GWs.  I was going to have one of the female Companions - a Noble- say that she prefers women (or if the male version is selected, he prefers men).  Would it be acceptable to have some be 'playersexual' and some romancable specific to a gender?

 

I go back and forth on what I want to do with this Companion.  On the one hand, the concept of turning down advances from the male GW  amuses me. But I could allow her to be 'talked into' a romance from the standpoint that both individuals are the only remaining heirs to their titles and are going to need to marry at some point to produce their heirs.

 

So all playersexual?  Or just make sure that there are options for most players?

[Urdnot Amenark]

I honestly love playersexual and hate it at the same time. As was mentioned, it's inexplicably unrealistic if you're able to romance every character regardless of sex or gender identity in a game that's primarily story-driven. Of course, at the same time, I think with a company like Bioware which has made some strides in diversity (although they kinda screwed up with DAO) that it's not unrealistic to think that some of them could be possible. I liked ME3's romances - except for the horrible plotdevice that was Cortez' widow status - in that they finally gave us characters who were exclusively homosexual/lesbian in addition to the tradition they're known for. And they weren't caricatures! Big plus.

It's inevitable that there will be players let down by not being able to romance some people, etc., but I think it's important to remember it's still Bioware's story being told. Having the opportunity to choose is probably what we can appreciate most.

[MerAnne]

Thank you for responding Urdnot.

 

Here is what I decided (after too much time spent thinking about it while commuting to/from work )

1)  I'm not going to make changes to the Dwarf Companions since they are, in effect, player sexual. 

2) For the Human Companions, they will be a mixture of gay/lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual.  If someone will potentially DIE if they don't get to have a physical relationship with a specific Companion, then I can deal with that when it happens.  I feel like there are enough romance options (for humans), that I don't need to try to use 'playersexual'.

[karushna5]

For me? I prefer "set" sexualities, the truth is, all bi OR 2 straight, 2 bi, 2 gay there are the same options, and some people will not be pleased, but they have said before if they were all bi, then they would only ever make 4 as there is no incentive for more.

 

Really it comes down to will Cullen not be romanceable (which nearly happened since he was extra) but Dorian is now Bi/ or is he straight and Dorian is gay. That won't always be the lineup, but the truth is it doesn't necessarily mean characters banned to us will be available if they were Bi. In this case? Yes I would get cassandra THIS time, but that is coincedence and will change with each line up of characters. Whether we like the characters available to us has nothing to do with All Bi or "set" sexualities.

 

The question is which is better?

Varric straight

Anders Bi (and mentions his lover to both genders, since ambiguity will no longer be "needed")

Fenris Gay

OR

Anders Bi

Fenris Bi

 

You get the same number of options and don't get Varric, and sometimes you will get the one you want and sometimes you won't. Many straight guys wanted Sera, many straight women wanted Dorian. Whose available may change, but what kind of options are offered is what we are asking not who gets who.

 

The question is, if we are to get 2 options is it better to have 1 just to us and 1 we share or the same 2 options?