I really hope that Larian brings back the agency to the other side of this argument too (with an option to choose, as I've already requested) and let us play how we were playing all these 6 months before Patch 7. It would be a fair treatment, not favoring only one Tav's RP instead of the other. Not all fans want to see their Tav being happy with such treatment, this reaction is completely valid, and this game is all about personal RPs and players having freedom in how they imagine their Tavs.
I agree. I worry that the feedback will get buried under when the thread got a bit off topic (though it was interesting conversation!), so I want to bring it back to this point. I just want things to be fair for all sides. It is interesting to me how everyone has a different interpretation of AA and I appreciate the different view points from both sides. I won't get into details on my interpretation, because I don't think it's that important to my feedback to Larian.
My main issues are that potentially triggering content in this route is not obvious to the player beforehand, and that players do not have the freedom to choose how they want their Tav/Durge to react. I think those two things are very serious, and I've seen the negative impact it had on myself. Larian cannot warn players of every possible trigger beforehand, but many people do see AA's added kisses as rough. I think player safety needs to be prioritized in this case. Fair warning, I am about to talk a bit more about intimate partner violence and SA but there is nothing graphic.
Intimate partner violence affects 12 million people a year. Since many people see AA's kisses as rough, in my opinion this is a common and foreseeable issue that really should be addressed somehow. Something in the text needs to make it clear that asking AA for a kiss can result in rough treatment BEFORE unsuspecting players click the button. And players need to have the autonomy to choose how their character looks in this scene. Especially in cases of sexual violence, one of the most potentially upsetting aspects to the victim is the sense that they have lost control and autonomy over their own body. That is how I feel when my character has no choice but to look happy about being treated roughly, and it is extremely upsetting to me. To the point that I started out writing this post perfectly fine and can now instantly feel sent back to a dark place when I express how I feel about this lack of autonomy. I can see how some players would have felt this way about the Patch 6 reactions, which is why I support the compromise of allowing the choice of both expressions for maximum player safety and role-play freedom.
