Originally Posted by Rotsen
I can't say I'm surprised that this topic is still being disused. Who knew that injecting out of character writing into a story would lead to people not liking it? Not, me wink

But I won't get into it since I'm pretty sure that I've made my stance clear as to what I think about Halsin and his unwanted involvement with Astarion/Shadowheart.

I just want to point something out that I find rather funny. Certain (lets say, more lively) parts of Halsins fanbase have been bringing up LORE as defense for his behavior and a counter argument for him not being a candidate for a mono option.

But no one ever has the issue with respecting the LORE, when it comes to Halsin looking like a steroid abuser and having body hair (both things LORE inaccurate concerning elves)

(not to mention the lore butchering surrounding the Illithids or turning Shars cult into a sex cult where they and I quote 'sleep in dormitories so they can have orgies' but hey, respect the LORE right? lol)

100% agree, if the lore bending works in their favor, people will never complain but if others want something differing to their opinion (read as: obsession) then they will slap you with a lore book.

Originally Posted by autistichalsin
You can tell Halsin you're monogamous and don't share his nature. It's just that it doesn't result in him changing his entire personality for the player. It instead results in both of them realizing they are fundamentally incompatible people and the relationship progressing no further. Which is how it should work. Halsin is polyamorous and does not want a monogamous relationship. The player in this case is monogamous and does not want a polyamorous relationship. There is no point in progressing further.

As Tarlonniel and Icelyn said, you can be in a relationship with Halsin as a monogamous Tav, he even practices the relationship on a monogamous level. We never see him dating others and whenever he has sex with others, the Tav is always around and Tav' has to agree.
So, Halsin and the Tav are fundamentally compatible (be it just because of lazy writing) and in the end his personality changed a lot - contrary to his belief in act 2 - as he settles down, so why would it be impossible for him to live in a monoship?

Originally Posted by Tharrow
Yeah, that's true. Good point. The current way they handle things shows emotional maturity from both parties.

The solution for those excited about exploring his storyline is to RP a character who is up for ENM and shares his nature. Like how the solution for those excited about exploring the storylines of the monogamous characters is to RP a character who does monogamy.

It's gross how so many people in this thread are once again describing the polyamorous character being polyamorous as a sex-crazed marketing scheme by Larian and not, as many polyam people and people who practice ENM have joyfully claimed him, representation. Can we get a mod in this thread like in the last one keeping those statements from overwhelming the discussion once more like they did in the previous, closed thread?

First of all, I don't think there is a reason to get a mod in here, no one is insulting anyone because of their sexual orientation or anything.
Maybe you got it wrong, it was never about talking bad about polyamory, it's just that it's something less people are familiar with and that - in a game that is mostly player driven - it feels weird that the only thing that's really forced is Halsins polyamory. As for the marketing scheme: I'm still sure Larian decided to depict Halsin like this when they decided to go for the famous Astarion x bear scene on last PFH. If anything, then it's not the fans who are to blame for how Halsin is perceived but Larian for portraying polyamory in such a bad way. After full release, there were more than enough posts about how bad the representation felt for people who are actually polyamorous, so yeah, something didn't go as planned.

Don't get me wrong, if the depiction of Halsin would be that of someone who really shows his polyamory, like you see him dating others, maybe even catch him having sex with others and so on, then I wouldn't even mind asking for a rewrite as that would be way too much to work on.
In this case, they just added some voiced lines and that's it, nothing more than that.
No one asks for it to be removed, it's about adding something (not limited to Halsin, please add poly options to other companions) so it's sad to see that people are against that. Larian should keep his polymance, maybe even extend it but should do the same for solomance.
To be honest: If someone would ask about adding poly to another character, I feel like less people would be against that, as it's just an additional path you can take in your game while others can stick to the mono path on their own game.
I feel like this is more a matter of representation rather than game choices.

As a monogamous woman who likes Halsin and who sees how Halsin is in a somewhat monoship with the Tav, it's sad that he wants the Tav to be poly and that he refuses to call it a real relationship. I think it's the same for polyamorous people who want to romance someone like Gale who isn't into that or for asexual people, who want a romance without sex yet lots of companions are trying to jump you as soon as possible.
It's great that Larian decided that gender should not be an issue in romances but they should've also added more kinds of relationship to every single companion.

As for the RP:
Not sure about you, but personally whenever I play a game with a self created character, I play the same character with (kind of) the same background (a bit changed to fit the world the game takes place in) and usually the games let the player decide most things when it comes to romances. Of course, playing a female character does mean not being able to romance a female companion in some games (which is fine for me) but I never felt forced to play a different character just to be able to say "The rules a guy forces on me are fitting my character better now".

If you want to answer to any of my posts with just hate, please just don't answer at all.

If you want just to white knight everything and can't accept opinions, please don't even answer me.

Thank you!