Yikes, I'd forgotten about that. Never had a male PC but I can definitely see it. I was more of a Bishop girl myself. *dreamy sigh*
Yeah, a romance with a woman centuries older than you that has stalked you since you were a little boy. To make it worse, we got her instead of Neeshka, who was damn amazing. I'm sure the ladies were just as pleased when they got Casavir instead of Bishop.
Yeah, a romance with a woman centuries older than you that has stalked you since you were a little boy. To make it worse, we got her instead of Neeshka, who was damn amazing. I'm sure the ladies were just as pleased when they got Casavir instead of Bishop.
The Casavir v. Bishop thing is really a matter of taste. Some really like the paladin archetype, while others go for the bad boy with a troubled past. If you can somehow combine them to get characters like Cullen (essentially a paladin with a troubled past) then you are pretty golden for a good chunk of women, and some men too.
The Casavir v. Bishop thing is really a matter of taste. Some really like the paladin archetype, while others go for the bad boy with a troubled past. If you can somehow combine them to get characters like Cullen (essentially a paladin with a troubled past) then you are pretty golden for a good chunk of women, and some men too.
I wanted to romance Sand 
.
Casavir was about as interesting as watching paint dry, and while I used a mod to romance Bishop, I didn't find him that engaging either. At least Mask of the Betrayer had Gannayev. He was OK. Still bitter that Safiya wasn't a bi option, though.
I wanted to romance Sand
Casavir was about as interesting as watching paint dry, and while I used a mod to romance Bishop, I didn't find him that engaging either. At least Mask of the Betrayer had Gannayev. He was OK. Still bitter that Safiya wasn't a bi option, though.
First, I like both ladies. I don't think you can go wrong romancing either one.
Still, I would have liked my male Inquisitor Trevallyan to have the option to romance Sera.
Tell you what: I'll trade you Sera for Cassandra 
Tell you what: I'll trade you Sera for Cassandra
Bisexual woman here and Sera is my favorite female romance! You can't have her! 
Bishop was a terrifically written character. Faced with the tough task of writing evil they managed to make him follow his alignment without him being RAWR! kill all!
NWN2 had some good moments and good characters but the ending just stunk. The expansion though well intentioned with a potentially clever dynamic also failed badly for me in it's execution for me. You could end up being in a near hopeless situation which just lead to awful frustration.
Bishop was a terrifically written character. Faced with the tough task of writing evil they managed to make him follow his alignment without him being RAWR! kill all!
NWN2 had some good moments and good characters but the ending just stunk. The expansion though well intentioned with a potentially clever dynamic also failed badly for me in it's execution for me. You could end up being in a near hopeless situation which just lead to awful frustration.
The Bishop equivalent of a blood mage would make an excellent companion in DA4, he was certainly sane CE done right. I always play D&D games evil, so it was nice to have an evil friend/second-in-command. Same reason I love Dorn in BGEE or Jack in ME.
Zeveran and Jack were both pretty good CE companions, at least until their redemption quests.
The Bishop equivalent of a blood mage would make an excellent companion in DA4, he was certainly sane CE done right. I always play D&D games evil, so it was nice to have an evil friend/second-in-command. Same reason I love Dorn in BGEE or Jack in ME.
Some times I feel most would want that. Cassandra seems to appeal lesbian woman far more then Sera, while Sera herself, is more approachable and feminine in her looks, wich the straight guys will obviously like more. Obviously, I'm not saying this goes for everyone.
I just wonder how many people romance Cassandra for genuine interest compared to those who only romance her because of a lack of better options.
For me personally, their looks aren't a big deal, but I like Cassandra's personality much, much more than Sera's. Sera is possibly my least favourite companion in all Bioware games, while Cass is pretty high up. I'm not sure I'd call Sera more approachable though; she can be quite hard to get along with.
Yikes, I'd forgotten about that. Never had a male PC but I can definitely see it. I was more of a Bishop girl myself. *dreamy sigh*
I wished we could romance Kaelyn the Dove myself
For me personally, their looks aren't a big deal, but I like Cassandra's personality much, much more than Sera's. Sera is possible my least favourite companion in all Bioware games, while Cass is pretty high up. I'm not sure I'd call Sera more approachable though; she can be quite hard to get along with.
Like I said, it's subjective. Look wise I think Cassandra is average, but my biggest is issue with her is religious. She is very dedicated and dutyful, good for her, too bad those dedications are for groups and beliefs I despise. No functional romance would ever come from that, I'm afraid. And don't get me wrong, I also dislike Sera a lot, but when I said approachable, I mean strictly romance wise. Not every guy likes cheesy stuff like poetry and having a romance like in a novel (I certanly don't). Sera is more straighfoward in that regard, apart from the juvenile pranks.
The juxtaposition between the new beautiful high fantasy world and the sudden "realistic" characters of both genders was kind of a weird aesthetic, especially looking back at the darker first two games with beautiful people everywhere.
Loved Josie, but her romance obviously seemed to be targeted at women role-playing male characters.
BTW, anyone who complains about Cassandra's age must have never experienced the creep factor of Elanee and a male PC in Neverwinter Nights 2.
I meant to comment on this earlier, but I think it's funny that you think Josie's romance was targeting women role playing male characters when she's available for female characters. Not that I'm laughing at you, it's just surprising. I haven't actually met any women who romanced Josie with a male character while I know a lot of women who have done Josie/Femquisitor. Seems to me most women who play as a male Inquisitor go for Dorian or Cass. 'm not saying that my experience mirrors the larger player base (I'm sure some women rping men did romance her!) and know that you said she was targeted for that not that it was successful, but I would have never considered that so the word "obviously" threw me off haha.
Personally, I feel like her romance is less targeted towards any particular group, but reflects her personality and position. The only romance I'd really argue had an obvious target in terms of it being written to appeal to a certain segment of players (beyond gender/sexuality) is Cullen, but that's more in terms of fan reaction to that character and feedback from female players about the kind of romances they want, not a general demographic targeting.
I meant to comment on this earlier, but I think it's funny that you think Josie's romance was targeting women role playing male characters when she's available for female characters.
I've seen this idea that Josie's romance was made for 'women playing men' a few times on this website. I have no idea how anyone is coming to this conclusion. First it always seems like more people romance her with a female over male (based on various polls I've seen at least). Sure, women like her and her romance but they tend to be gay/bi and romance her with a woman. I can't say I've seen many straight women talking about playing her romance with a guy.
I've seen this idea that Josie's romance was made for 'women playing men' a few times on this website. I have no idea how anyone is coming to this conclusion. First it always seems like more people romance her with a female over male (based on various polls I've seen at least). Sure, women like her and her romance but they tend to be gay/bi and romance her with a woman. I can't say I've seen many straight women talking about playing her romance with a guy.
I am a straight woman and I plan to romance her with a guy. Eventually. Because I usually try all Bioware romance options.
That said, I already romanced Cass twice, with mage Trevelyan and Rogue Lavellan. So cute and funny!
ps (edit) to the topic. I am not sure my opinion is something OP wants to hear since I am not a male, but Cass' age was not a problem for my Inquisitors at all. I think her romance is very well done. Both my Inquisitors who romanced her were a bit younger, but it was not a big deal from my point of view. She is so adorable it really doesn't matter.
I don't know why I was surprised by that . Whenever we can check a poll of people here against the tastes of the fanbase in general, we're different.
It is interesting how that happens.
Oh wait, that's Josephine? I've only seen the tiny version of this on the Xbox Achievement list, so I thought the blonde elf was Sera and the figure on the left was the Inquisitor (from that angle Josephine's hair looks like the default female hair). Huh.
I can see where you think that, but no it's Josephine leaning on the Inquisitor. You can tell by the blue and gold outfit and the golden ornamentation on Josephine. That is the end of the scene at the end of the romance quest
(I may or may not have this image as the background of my Xbox 
)
Could it be that more people actually played the Cassandra romance, so they didn't have to go looking for a separate video for it? I know that I watch the videos of the romances that I didn't do, or options I didn't take, just so I don't miss content. But that's just me.
That is quite possible, which is why I didn't point to the view count as evidence until asked. I just pointed to these videos because it shows that Josephine has more screentime involving romance than Cassandra.
Some times I feel most would want that. Cassandra seems to appeal lesbian woman far more then Sera, while Sera herself, is more approachable and feminine in her looks, wich the straight guys will obviously like more. Obviously, I'm not saying this goes for everyone.
I just wonder how many people romance Cassandra for genuine interest compared to those who only romance her because of a lack of better options.
I am a straight woman, but not averse to romancing a woman in these games if I like her enough. Cassandra and Dorian are the only ones I have any interest in romancing in DAI. If I make a guy, I'm going to romance Dorian. For that reason I would like Cassandra to have been a f/f romance option, but it wasn't to be. In fact, Cassandra is my favorite female follower in all of DAI. I'm not one of those players that tries everything just to try it, I do have to actually be interested in the character in some capacity in order to go forward.
I've seen this idea that Josie's romance was made for 'women playing men' a few times on this website. I have no idea how anyone is coming to this conclusion. First it always seems like more people romance her with a female over male (based on various polls I've seen at least). Sure, women like her and her romance but they tend to be gay/bi and romance her with a woman. I can't say I've seen many straight women talking about playing her romance with a guy.
I find this assertion annoying -- not you, the idea you're referencing -- and think it is a disservice to straight men. There are plenty of straight guys who like romance and mushy stuff, just look at all of the romances, love poems, love songs, etc. that have been written by straight men throughout history.
However, I will say that I think the only downside to the Josephine and Cassandra selection for men is that both of their romances are heavy on the romance, so I don't think there is a decent variety in that sense. Sure, Cassandra and Josephine are totally different in terms of personality and appearance, but I think the flavor of the romance is somewhat similar. If you look at the difference between Leliana and Morrigan, or Isabela and Merrill, I think there was a stronger sense of variety.
They deliberately kept the Inquisitor's age vague, between 20 and 40. If you headcanon that your Inquisitor is a little older, then they're around the same age and thus no problem.
However, I will say that I think the only downside to the Josephine and Cassandra selection for men is that both of their romances are heavy on the romance, so I don't think there is a decent variety in that sense.
I also think it's reasonable to complain that both of them are Andrastian humans. At least female PCs who want to romance dudes have access to Solas and Iron Bull. Lesbian PCs are half way into the same boat, with Josephine and the least elfy elf in Thedas.
(I mean, male PCs also have access to Iron Bull, but we're talking about the options for straight dude player characters here.)
I am a straight woman, but not averse to romancing a woman in these games if I like her enough. Cassandra and Dorian are the only ones I have any interest in romancing in DAI. If I make a guy, I'm going to romance Dorian. For that reason I would like Cassandra to have been a f/f romance option, but it wasn't to be. In fact, Cassandra is my favorite female follower in all of DAI. I'm not one of those players that tries everything just to try it, I do have to actually be interested in the character in some capacity in order to go forward.
I find this assertion annoying -- not you, the idea you're referencing -- and think it is a disservice to straight men. There are plenty of straight guys who like romance and mushy stuff, just look at all of the romances, love poems, love songs, etc. that have been written by straight men throughout history.
However, I will say that I think the only downside to the Josephine and Cassandra selection for men is that both of their romances are heavy on the romance, so I don't think there is a decent variety in that sense. Sure, Cassandra and Josephine are totally different in terms of personality and appearance, but I think the flavor of the romance is somewhat similar. If you look at the difference between Leliana and Morrigan, or Isabela and Merrill, I think there was a stronger sense of variety.
I agree with all of this.
I was surprised that flavor/variety thing hasn't been a larger complaint. I mean I know some people have brought it up directly or hinted at it when trying to discuss the romance options, but generally people seem to frame it as one character being weaker, when I think they're both done very well but could definitely see how people who only prefer to romance women playing as male characters would want more variety in the way the romance is told.
True, but most female players I knew wished Bishop was an LI. There was even quite a lot of forum headcanon that there must have been something going on between him and the Shard Bearer.
*sigh*
I thought I'd catch up on this thread after a few days...that was a bad decision. The facepalming, dear lord the facepalming.
Also, I've learnt that being a woman over 29 now makes me irrelevant, so there's that.
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