Originally Posted by Zenith
Originally Posted by EMar
Originally Posted by Cawyden
Originally Posted by Ixal
The difference is that Astarion was always planned as a companion/origin.
Halsin was only made into one after a lot of demand. So his story was never set up for deeper interaction past act 2 and instead of rewriting him and larger parts of the story Larian just focused on the aspect demanded most. The thirsting.

In this case they could have just written him as fling - casual sex for Tav no feelings required/included. But they didn't. Even if you only want him for casual sex he will still tell you about his stirring heart and you will still get romantic dialog with him. They wanted him to be both - romance and fling but right now those who want a fling get romantic dialog from him and those who want a romance get dialog with him that fits better to a fling.

+1
Exactly, they can't have both at the same time. There needs to be two different routes to take here, one where he's just a fling and one where he's a proper romance/partner. And the dialogue/actions provided needs to match the choice made.
If Larian for some reason just want Halsin to be a fling, all that romantic stuff that feels like love needs to be removed, because keeping it in makes Halsin seem manipulative.


No. The vast majority don't want a fling. I know some people in these forums pine for the asinine idea of replacing him for Kagha or Helia, but he's a very popular pick as a male love interest because he's a male archdruid, we don't need a second female druid when there's Jaheira, and the writing for companions already tilts heavily in favor of the female companions in terms of content and support. He's also the single male love interest without previous emotional and relationship baggage, and he's stereotypically manly and rugged which many people who prefer men would like as a love interest.

And let's not forget that straight women and gay men have the right to exist as Larian players, right now we have the same number of options. Halsin's profile is tremendously attractive for romance (tall, strong, kind, sweet, tough, with a manly voice...) he is our fuck bear, and I doubt that most people would want him for an adventure because of those characteristics.

Larian fix us our bear, we deserve it and we've already waited a long time