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@KeraTerra I think integrating romance into gameplay like that would be awesome. There's a game called Wildermyth, it's very different in how it works from BG3 but it's still a type of RPG, and the relationships between characters are pretty important. Characters do get bonuses in battle depending not just on romance but on whatever relationships they have. Characters in a romance get bonuses when attacked creatures that have done damage to their partner, friends get a bonus when they attack the same monster and even rivals get a bonus; increased critical hit chance when they're around one another to represent them trying to one-up each other. I don't know if that sort of thing can work in D&D but something like that would go a long way towards adding depth and meaning to relationships, and providing a mechanical insentive to explore various types of relationship.

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Originally Posted by Languid Lizard
There was something similar to what you suggest in XCom 2. Squad members who went on missions together, and had compatible personalities, gradually increased their bonding, until a threshold was met and they "Bonded". This enabled additional perks, like an extra move through teamwork. Over time, the level of the bond could be increased, to unlock further, enhanced perks. If a bondmate was injured severly or died, it had a chance to trigger a reaction in the other member, including "going berserk"! It was an enjoyable part of the game.
[...]

Fallout 4 did this sort of thing too, though it's been long enough that I don't quite recall the exact details...


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TIL: this forum has a lot of people who simply hate romance in their gaming.

I, for one, am glad for the excursion: looks to he done masterfully, that scene with the cavorting hands was hot even...hard to achieve in a game.

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Masturbatory romance novella trash.

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I don't think it's so simple to just set an on & off switch and romance is gone. I wouldn't mind it of course, I can ignore any optional part that I want to ignore, just these are deeply intertwined in the game. Auto-skip "sex" scene vids if there's any, that's likely possible.

Also I'm sure that many, many things would lead to a very different (maybe more enjoyable) experience if all these and more could be just "turned on or off":
- boring parts on & off, same with
- parts involving math or puzzles
- gay, straight or whatever orientations and so on (need a wiki to list them all)
- suggestions to steal or betray
- burning witches, hurting baby goblins or drinking alcohol
- rolling dice
and many more smile

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Originally Posted by LoneSky
I don't think it's so simple to just set an on & off switch and romance is gone. I wouldn't mind it of course, I can ignore any optional part that I want to ignore, just these are deeply intertwined in the game. Auto-skip "sex" scene vids if there's any, that's likely possible.

Also I'm sure that many, many things would lead to a very different (maybe more enjoyable) experience if all these and more could be just "turned on or off":
- boring parts on & off, same with
- parts involving math or puzzles
- gay, straight or whatever orientations and so on (need a wiki to list them all)
- suggestions to steal or betray
- burning witches, hurting baby goblins or drinking alcohol
- rolling dice
and many more smile


I like this idea a lot and wonder whether something like this suggestion was raised early on in production of the game. At the start of the game, the player could, as you suggest, use sliders or toggles to indicate which sort of experiences they do and don't wish to encounter. For example, gore, nudity, females, etc. I suppose it might be possible to download only those components of the game which are compliant with your filters. The game might also support multi-player gaming by connecting you only with players of similar preference. When it came time to creating new modules, funding could be allocated in proportion to the preferences of the gaming community.

The film industry could follow a similar methodology when filming and releasing movies online or on DVD. In the case of films, a large number of scenes would have to be filmed several times. Sometimes, this might not be practicable, so there would be limitations.

It would be valuable for the developers to do this. Netflix already harvest data from viewers' preferences to determine which shows get the go-ahead for production, what the storylines will be, even who the actors are.

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... You want a toggle to disable women in your games?

😐

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Originally Posted by Warlocke
... You want a toggle to disable women in your games?

😐


Yes, at the end of the day, I think that would be quite a popular feature. Remember, you could also toggle to have only females. (The menu could be: "Do you want women? Yes and No, No, or Yes please.) So, all or nothing or somewhere in between. Equally, you could have another toggle for nudity.

Some care would be needed in designing the toggles though. For instance, many people consider women to be female humans. Some people might be ok with smoking hot, nudy she-elves, but not wish to see any women.

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wow

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Originally Posted by qhristoff
wow


Yeeeeah ...

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Interesting that you mentioned "orientation options" but didn't actually touch on them in your post. It sorta sounds like you've played somes games where there wasn't a distinct man/woman dynamic present and things were open-ended, and you were made uncomfortable by it. So as opposed to stepping on anyone's toes by directly stating that, you'd either like to see the romance options removed completely, or make them entirely heterosexual. And then you're protecting your stance by slapping a disclaimer on your statement saying that it's a personal opinion and not meant to be offensive, when it low-key sorta is at its core.

I'm not trying to be confrontational. I just don't understand how you're perfectly content with playing a game that that dabbles in the occult, spellcasting, demons, and planes that resemble hell, all of which are warned against and contradict the beliefs of many faiths, but two people of the same sex flirting is where you would be so disturbed that you'd call for a toggle unless all of the relationships were strictly and bluntly heterosexual.

That would be like if I made a post insinuating that I would like to see nothing but same-sex relationships or no relationship option at all because the inclusion of straight relationships would bother me.

Sweetheart, if I can manage to get over the entire "male hero saving the damsel in distress" dynamic that's been prevalent in practically everything and has been forced since the early 80's that was never a choice, I think you'll be just fine politely declining the PG-13 rated advances of video game characters that won't force you to interact with them in a sexual manner if you just choose the option that's the equivalent of "no thank you."


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Originally Posted by Ivory Samoan
TIL: this forum has a lot of people who simply hate romance in their gaming.

I, for one, am glad for the excursion: looks to he done masterfully, that scene with the cavorting hands was hot even...hard to achieve in a game.


Wouldn't say I hate romance so much as I hate the culture surrounding it for games.

Also don't think having new mechanics added for the sake of love interests is a good idea, responding to an earlier sentiment. Something simpler like a +1 to WIS saves within 30 ft of your lover or something seems much less formative. If you make romance required for optimization, though, I may grow to hate this game.

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Originally Posted by Annyliese
[quote=Ivory Samoan]Also don't think having new mechanics added for the sake of love interests is a good idea, responding to an earlier sentiment. Something simpler like a +1 to WIS saves within 30 ft of your lover or something seems much less formative. If you make romance required for optimization, though, I may grow to hate this game.


I'm right there with you. I like to eventually min-max my playthroughs, but it would absolutely kill replayability for me if there was any sort of buffs or any garbage like that associated with romance. It's cringey enough as it is, don't force me to participate in it for power gains.

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A toggle system sounds good actually. (Interested / not interested).

I recall in the Mass Effect series wanting to get to know the characters better and so I talked with them. I remember having to reload several times because I was suddenly forced into a romance unawares.

Ashley in ME1 was coming on full speed ahead for one, and there were others. you could easily cut yourself off from dialogs with other NPCs.


Dragon Age was another game I remember getting into some "uncomfortable" dialogs with players as well..."Hey watch where your pointing that sword!".

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Originally Posted by Van'tal
A toggle system sounds good actually. (Interested / not interested).

I recall in the Mass Effect series wanting to get to know the characters better and so I talked with them. I remember having to reload several times because I was suddenly forced into a romance unawares.

Ashley in ME1 was coming on full speed ahead for one, and there were others. you could easily cut yourself off from dialogs with other NPCs.


Dragon Age was another game I remember getting into some "uncomfortable" dialogs with players as well..."Hey watch where your pointing that sword!".


It would be quite good fun to toggle it the other way too, so that the only NPC's and Characters you could encounter would those who were "up for it", "if you played your cards right". What confidence one would have, striding through the game, all the time knowing that you were able to get off with any humanoid or creature you met! You could sleep your way to the top!

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Originally Posted by Languid Lizard
Originally Posted by Van'tal
A toggle system sounds good actually. (Interested / not interested).

I recall in the Mass Effect series wanting to get to know the characters better and so I talked with them. I remember having to reload several times because I was suddenly forced into a romance unawares.

Ashley in ME1 was coming on full speed ahead for one, and there were others. you could easily cut yourself off from dialogs with other NPCs.


Dragon Age was another game I remember getting into some "uncomfortable" dialogs with players as well..."Hey watch where your pointing that sword!".


It would be quite good fun to toggle it the other way too, so that the only NPC's and Characters you could encounter would those who were "up for it", "if you played your cards right". What confidence one would have, striding through the game, all the time knowing that you were able to get off with any humanoid or creature you met! You could sleep your way to the top!


That does not sound like a D&D I would ever want to play, let alone buy. I'm not excited about the levels of romance they are hinting at with those porn drawings but as long as its in no way, shape, or form pushed on me and as long as the game doesn't direct me to those kinds of scenarios, i'll do my best to ignore it. It's not something I want to see, so if I am forced to see any of it, at all, then rest assured I'll be asking for my money back. I want to play D&D, not a fantasy romance game with optional exploration and combat.

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I think @kanisatha take mirrored my own. This is best update so far. People are focusing on the story boards but I was happy to see that the romance and sex was put into the context of relationships.

Sure I'm all for a toggle -- I actually toggled gore off on BG2 -- but I won't use on for the romances. I'm surprised that they story boards are getting the attention they are. I found the "crushing the skull to get the pet" scene much more disturbing than the virtual pastie over a nipple scene.

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I think that the definition of "romance" varies depending on the ages.


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Originally Posted by Tzelanit
Interesting that you mentioned "orientation options" but didn't actually touch on them in your post. It sorta sounds like you've played somes games where there wasn't a distinct man/woman dynamic present and things were open-ended, and you were made uncomfortable by it. So as opposed to stepping on anyone's toes by directly stating that, you'd either like to see the romance options removed completely, or make them entirely heterosexual. And then you're protecting your stance by slapping a disclaimer on your statement saying that it's a personal opinion and not meant to be offensive, when it low-key sorta is at its core.

I'm not trying to be confrontational. I just don't understand how you're perfectly content with playing a game that that dabbles in the occult, spellcasting, demons, and planes that resemble hell, all of which are warned against and contradict the beliefs of many faiths, but two people of the same sex flirting is where you would be so disturbed that you'd call for a toggle unless all of the relationships were strictly and bluntly heterosexual.

That would be like if I made a post insinuating that I would like to see nothing but same-sex relationships or no relationship option at all because the inclusion of straight relationships would bother me.

Sweetheart, if I can manage to get over the entire "male hero saving the damsel in distress" dynamic that's been prevalent in practically everything and has been forced since the early 80's that was never a choice, I think you'll be just fine politely declining the PG-13 rated advances of video game characters that won't force you to interact with them in a sexual manner if you just choose the option that's the equivalent of "no thank you."

Great post: this deserves some golden pantaloons.

100% with you regarding the imagery/themes on show that, IMO, should be far more disconcerting to Christians.

Planes that resemble Hell and the general dark vibe of the Illithid spawn in your head scares me a lot more than 2 guys/girls having a relationship.

Originally Posted by Van'tal
A toggle system sounds good actually. (Interested / not interested).

I recall in the Mass Effect series wanting to get to know the characters better and so I talked with them. I remember having to reload several times because I was suddenly forced into a romance unawares.

Ashley in ME1 was coming on full speed ahead for one, and there were others. you could easily cut yourself off from dialogs with other NPCs.


Dragon Age was another game I remember getting into some "uncomfortable" dialogs with players as well..."Hey watch where your pointing that sword!".


Anders got a little pushy for my liking: pest level is not good no matter what the sexual orientation.

Last edited by IndySandbagTrick; 27/09/20 11:25 AM.

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Originally Posted by IndySandbagTrick
Anders got a little pushy for my liking: pest level is not good no matter what the sexual orientation.

In Anders' case it was nothing to do with sexual orientation, nor even relationships, and everything to do with the fact that he was a git. I used to be quite outspoken about his personality transplant between Oranges (well okay, Awakening) and DA2 but having recently replayed Awakening I can now see the basis of his personality hadn't actually changed. Anyway, I digress; the point was it was more down to him being an obnoxious character (IMHO ofc) than the game's attempt to railroad the PC's sexuality (which would've been "trying to make me straight" in my case, though I don't recall hearing that particular complaint, curiously).


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