Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin Romance, Expectations and Obligatory Poly

Wow, up to 79 pages! I wonder if Larian are aware of the issues/commentary around Halsin? I did't care for him much - just did his quest and needed him for Moonrise...and then he was kidnapped by you know who. And that was that.

That definitely makes sense, and sorry I didn't quite understand! i can see your perspective for sure.

We also hope Larian are aware. There are many feedback messages on Discord too.

"Team Shadowheart" hopes for this too, as we are essentialy tied to Halsin anyways.

Who's that?

Eh, majority of those who pointed SH/Halsin interaction problems/inconsistncies. It was just a funny name someone came up with, whatever.

I think it was me, when I said some time ago that "team Halsin should join team Shadowheart so devs could notice issues with these two characters" or something like that. It's not only people who talk about problems but also just people who romance/like Shadowheart. Same with Halsin.

The more I think the more I want to know why in the first place Halsin became a candidate for embodiment of non standard relationships. People who wanted him as companion and love interest saw him as another standard option, I'm sure, so it kind of feels like dev team shot themselves in the foot with these experiments.
Maybe there were explanations somewhere, if so, please point me to the right direction.

if you only listen to what the majority of the feedback wants, then almost all relationships would be mononormative and heteronormative, because that is simply what the majority of the population's preferences look like. That's not a very good way to go about it if you want inclusiveness and representation. So I am thankful that they are making some decisions that go against the norms. In this case, I think it needed a lot more polish and more baking time, but that's my personal opinion, other people think it's great.

It does seem odd to me after his characterization in Act 1 and 2. IMO, it seems like Shadowheart would be a better candidate given what we know of the activities among the Shar trainees. Or even Wyll, who could use some spice in his character.

In terms of representation, it's unfortunate that he doesn't become an option until Act 3.

I agree, it needs much more time, attention and maybe even carefulness to make good representation.

Well, considering that Halsin is tied up with the main story of Act 2, I can understand that it would be not the right place and time to start the actual romance. However, a start point with more flirting could be added after saving Thaniel and Oliver and intimate scene remains in Act 3.
People say Shadowheart is not a good candidate if you take into account what we have in the game right now (that's why people dislike Halsin hitting on her and her sudden acceptance of it). If she was written differently from the very beginning, then maybe. I'd say Lae'zel fits better for such role, but it's just my opinion.

This, plus also, it's DND canon that wood elves are not monogamous by default. If it makes sense for ANYONE to be poly, it's the wood elf.

Aren't Githyanki poly too ?

People keep saying that Astarion isn't a good fit because he's traumatized. Yet Shadowheart being tricked into torturing her own parents for like 30 years isn't traumatizing? Plus all the other stuff she's had to endure. Neither of them are a good fit I don't think.

I agree that Lae'zel would have made a better choice though because she definitely shows interest in being quite open early on. So it wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if she were into poly or open relationships.

Well, people say it is not canon. Here:

Yes, both Astarion and Shadowheart do not really fit for poly relationships, as it was said in their threads too. Shadowheart was chosen, I guess, because she and Halsin share the same writer. Astarion is, in some way, a fan service character (remember Only Fangs video?) who is expected to be very sexually opened (I would call it that way), very seducive until you realise why he acts like this.

I think for SH it is not only that same writer, but also she was expected to be the msot popular romance option(Well she is actually lmao). I still belive that Laezel would fit much better than SH for example. SH with all her character development and talk(family,farm, kids etc.) doesn't really fit. As were said before, you could randomly skip all those encounters like Halsin/Drows while romancing here and you would never get even a thought that she might be open to this kind of stuff.

I would never attribute a lifestyle choice to a race or subrace. Besides, Halsin is non-monogamous and relationship averse, not polyamorous.

I am poly, and it's actually saddening for people to think that poly entails not seeing the value in relationships, when it is so much the opposite.

And Githyanki are also said to be non-monogamous, yet they choose something different for Lae'zel. I think the game is far too limited in their approaches.

Halsin's romance is the most limiting of all the romances, which really doesn't embrace the polyamorous mentality and values.

Is it not more than just a matter of them not simply being fit for poly relationships (casual sex is more accurate here I think), but is actually very problematic for them to be used as such, given their trauma? They're both being taken advantage of and it makes me so uncomfortable.

I think the time and money that was spent on the drow/orgy scenes would have been better spent on making Halsin an actual companion with a story line in act 3. More people would have benefitted from this overall. And the romantic sex scenes we get with the companions were plenty enough for erotic content in the game, and were more meaningful. Larian obviously had a limited amount of time, but surely they could have come up with something better (and less problematic) like that tree in act 3 someone mentioned before. This would have made Halsin more likeable too.

Feels like we’re going round in circles again, and hearing the same voices saying the same things which I was very clear we should try to avoid. Especially if we’ve already pushed the limit in other threads.

I am just giving one user who has spammed the forum with over 200 messages all on broadly the same topic in less than a month some time off. Anyone else tempted to keep repeating points they’ve made before should take heed. There are at least a couple of other users who aren’t far behind and perhaps should consider rationing themselves for their own benefit as well as that of others here.

It should be patently obvious that this topic has the potential to impact on very personal parts of people’s real lives, and that some people are being made very uncomfortable by some of the discussion here. We’re all entitled to share our opinions as long as we do our best to avoid causing offence and stick to forum rules, but please show other people the basic consideration of not keeping repeating points we should all be aware are potentially upsetting and personal for some.