Before I start I want to disclaim: I don't really care for sexual scenes in games in general (I find them rather cringe-worthy). Owlcat's Pathfinder romance is pretty much exactly where I would draw the golden line, but DoS2 also did a great job considering what they went for, however written/voiced interaction is about as far as I am comfortable with without feeling that it is too much and simply immersion-breaking.
As mentioned before in another thread, regarding sexual scenes in general I hope for a toggle option (primarily for Streamers cause... Well, free commercial for Larian) - but of course I would also be able to simply... Well, tolerate the sexual scenes as I know it is an adult game and as such, contains adult content.
So, to the actual topic. I believe that Larian would be treading on dangerous ground if they start putting racial restrictions for the reasons that you've mentioned. While I personally wouldn't bat an eye as I am used to the standard "This NPC is fine with A, B and C" and "This NPC is fine with A, C and D" - I am very well aware of that there are parts of the audience that would find it distasteful to put restrictions when we are talking about adults and would prefer the full freedom of player sexuality (something that Larian has already gone for and probably won't back away from now)... And, since Larian has already gone for the player-sexual path, then putting up restrictions would be treading away from the very principle. Now, I am going to be very skeptical and assume that the primary concern is not dwarves but halflings, as dwarves have been a established fantasy character across many fantasy universes and I have *never* heard anyone draw the conclusion that there would be any problems between the romance of Tauriel and Kili (The Hobbit movies) or any similar dwarven x non-dwarven relationships.
My primary comment would be that this is really the definition of a "non-issue" as no matter how twisted some people might be - Tav is an adult, whenever they are a halfing, dwarf, elf or tiefling, Tav is ALWAYS an adult. If someone feels the need to twist Tav into a child for pedophilia reason (do note that the BG3 Halflings do not have a body resembling a child's body in any way except for height), then that is not on Larian in any way and these individuals would hardly be affected in any way of halflings being romancable or not. Besides, gaming companies should not assume that their audience are criminals - in fact, doing so would be quite offensive.
Also, if things would turn out the way you fear and people would start running around with "BG3 is fine with sexual content including children cause halflings!" then I would do what I would have done if someone said the same thing, but regarding dwarves/hobbits, and simply roll my eyes at them. That argument is nothing short of stupid and desperate, and those kinds of people will ALWAYS find something to complain about no matter what so there is no use trying to please them.
Finally - imo, the argument in itself (halflings are short = could be kids) is to me as weird as telling people that have a very short spouse (dwarfism or not) that they are pedophiles because of their spouse's height. It is simply distasteful and factually incorrect. Very short individuals, dwarfism or no, are very real and they deserve to be treated like adults regardless of their height. Now IF there would actually be romancable characters that ACTED like children (regardless of which DnD race they'd belong to), THEN I'd have some major concerns (something along the lines of Ember in PF: WotR) - but alas, I don't really see the issue as long as the only concern is the height of the characters. Tav is an adult and acts like an adult - no matter which race the player chooses.
Last edited by Dez; 25/12/21 03:30 PM.
