Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General romance in game - a doubt???

Yeah I know, it was amazing wasn't it, a lengthy civil discussion about game romance without people resorting to inflammatory hyperbole and ad hominem.

I share concerns about romance in cRPGs that I voiced in my first post ITT, but hopefully I did so in a respectful and constructive manner, while also displaying that I can find merit in both sides of the fence so to speak, since people insist on putting up fences.

Unless you have the power to charm ...

Pretty sure some romance mods could be made. I am curious just how deep the editor is and to what extent it will be possible to define behaviors according to time/events and other variables.

It's more than just an editor it's the very tool Larian used to create the game....what it can do is....well...everything Larian did in creating the game and then some things they haven't done. You can do anything and everything with it.

But the romance is not something that should be a mod. It was something that was specifically promised and advertised constantly since the game was first introduced.

Right, but I have some special romances and individuals in mind in addition to whatever Larian might serve up.
Specifically I will need to be able to add and control new traits/stats based on interaction with environment, other characters, items and simply doing stuff. Will need to implement a few new skills and also import new 3d models.

Preferably it will also be possible to design entirely new environments with new textures and objects.

If we truly have all the options available to use, that they did while making the game - and no crippling - that would be awesome. They're not going to release the game version they use while demonstrating the game, for example. So I am cautiously optimistic that's the only thing limited.

Well they did say this is the tool they are using to make the game and in the latest stream they also said we can load the main game in it and change things so it seems legit so far, especially if you see what they've done with it during this last stream. I don't think they're lying.

Good god, this thread is already seven pages long and still no response from the devs? I'm beginning to think that contradictions in their statements mean that romance in the game shares the same history of several reiterations as leveling up system. Like, maybe they were planned at the beginning, but later removed or changed into some other system.
Still, I see that romance feature is in high demand here as well, as it is sort of expected now from any western rpg, big thanks to BioWare . So it would be a shame if this demand is not met in D:OS. No comments from devs is kinda baffling, though . This is not a crazy BioWare forum, devs, there won't be any angry screams about cancelling preorders or other such nonsense if you say there are no romances in the game. And to anyone who might do this I can only say this - not playing such a fun game like D:OS just because there are no romances is the silliest reason you could possibly name, get over yourself.

Especially after that nice image from Edvin

I would rather say that Larians are in the middle of a final stretch right now and have no time to thoroughly read 7 pages

No need to read it all, original post says it all. But I get what you're saying, they're too busy now. I've read that there's gonna be another stream on 26th, maybe someone here should ask the devs about romances again and more thoroughly.

I wouldn't mind if there was no romance if they didn't very specifically promise there would be romance and didn't go miles out of their way to ensure the very title of the game and every piece of artwork related to the game didn't specifically and extremely strongly imply romance. After all that to release the game without any romance options in it would be a huge deal because it's no just another feature but something they managed to present as something of a central theme of the game. It's fine to say "there are no romances" but after promising it so many times and implying it at every chance they had it's not an option anymore to turn around and say "we're not doing it" without any explanation and it's not even something that could be excused anymore. Sure there shouldn't be any major drama or cancelled preorders or cries for refunds but it would sure put a very sour note over the entire game release and experience.

Or maybe they want people to go into the game without certain expectations. Or maybe they are planning to respond but haven't found the time to do so yet. Or maybe they have wanted to think about how to explain the plot and mechanics without spoilers or angering either the romance fans or haters. Or maybe they haven't actually checked this particular thread? etc etc

FWIW I just watched the spoiler free version of the stream that someone made - personally it seemed like Swen just doesn't consider what's in this game to be a 'romance' as he understands it is commonly perceived. It seems clear there is some 'romantic' type content otherwise he wouldn't have done the ahhhh (thinking pause) or qualified his statement with 'not really'. To me this is perfectly consistent with all previously known information and I wouldn't be concerned. His reply does not indicate to me that anything has changed since those updates or press articles, though of course this still leaves us at square one of some people wanting confirmation.

/speculation

I disagree insofar as the artwork does not imply romance to me (if romance is taken to mean a sexual relationship); neither does the game's title. I fail to see how it was promoted as a central theme of the game. I agree it would not be good to remove the feature of 'being able to end up as lovers' without a good explanation, as that would be dishonest and misleading after previous statements. However, as I've said I doubt this is actually the case as Swen's stream statement is not necessarily contradictory to known information.



* Edit to add that I certainly wouldn't define romance in terms of a sexual relationship and that indeed, the definition (as definitions are wont to do) or conception of romance is further confusing the issue here.

Quite a while ago I remember asking a question in some thread about the title and its connection to the main characters - whether it implied similarities to the "original sin" story in our common perception of it from the Bible. And they said is it's not the case. So the title doesn't promote any romances between main characters, but something else. The artwork is mildly suggestive, sure, but only mildly.

I don't define romance as sex either nor did I ever say the game must contain sex but everything about the title and every piece of artwork most definitely implies romance. Do I really need to say all this crap again? The pictures, the hand holding is an absolute signal, even the bloody coloring of the box art which makes the female's lips flash red on an otherwise black and white background, the biblical story of original sin they are deliberately deliberately hinting at in more ways than I can count. You can "disagree" all you bloody want but it changes as much as me "disagreeing" that the bloody sky is blue. Let me post this yet again:

Doesn't matter what they say, they most certainly invited association deliberately and in every way they could. Just look at the bloody picture I posted above, posted by Larian themselves. They sure have a trend of contradicting themselves but they most definitely created the association and in a very deliberate manner.

The title, as I've mentioned before, doesn't imply romance, not between main chars anyway. As for the artwork and main page feature list - how old are they? Feature list, I think, was made at the time when main chars had their old backgrounds. Now they have completely new ones and can even be of the same gender. Same gender "original sin" doesn't quite fit into common perception, no?

That picture can just be an unrelated artwork card. I've seen artwork of other games characters dressing up a Christmas pine tree. Doesn't mean it actually happens somewhere in the game.

Doesn't matter what they intend with the story because they very much intend to sell the perception of the game at the very least having a romance option. You have to be blind and stupid to not see the very deliberate connections they are making with western culture. And if you really want to talk about older artwork for original sin, the female used to wear A LOT less clothes, with some more boobage showing(which is all fine with me) but it was due to massive player complaints they finally put some clothes on her. If you are seriously trying to argue they weren't intending to sell the idea of sex/romance you are fooling yourself.

Once again, for the billionth freaking time: it doesn't matter what they intend to put in the game, they are very deliberately creating certain perceptions and cultural associations....that creates expectations and while nobody expects apples to play a major role in the game the stage is most definitely set for romances to be expected.