Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Adult content in BG3

Um. I guess I'll try to answer some of the questions you had. There were a lot, so if I miss something...

1. Romance can lead to sex, but sex does not mean romance. What I mean is that people can just have sex that is meaningless. There are levels of sexual intimacy. It is, as one person I think said, like cooking. Cheap, meaningless sex is like someone making something quick and easy in the microwave. It may taste good but it is nothing compared to what you could have if you take the time and effort to really make it right in the oven. Romance = taking actions that entice and delight your partner. It is about playing and teasing and sharing and enjoying one another's company outside of a single physical act. Sure, romance also quite often includes that single physical act, but that single physical act is not the sum total of the romantic experience. Sex = the single, physical act and the culmination of physical intimacy. Sex is sharing everything you have with another. It is bonding with another physically. Afterwards, you feel connected to them and a new sense of deep and personal closeness. So it is powerful, but it is not the sum total of romance.

2. That is why I said that two people can share very tender moments without having sex. In the game, they could have scenes with you and someone you are courting spending time alone together just enjoying one another's company. You know, actually building a relationship with the person.

3. Now, one misconception everyone seems to have is that I am NOT saying that this is the ONLY way that it should be done for all romance options in the game. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. Each romance should be different and have variety and flavor. That's part of my point. Right now, it is everyone on Celebration Night wanting to suddenly share a moment with you after we'd been traveling together for like a week or more without ANY indication that ANYONE even remotely liked my MC. In fact, almost all the characters seem to have nothing but disdain for the MC the entire time. Gale and Wyl seem friendly enough, but I wasn't getting any romance vibes from them, and Shadowheart is constantly, "Mind your own business and stop prying." That's not exactly an indication that she wants to share an intimate moment with me. So one point I was making is that if Larian is going to do romance at all in the game it should be varied. One night during your travels, Astarion makes his move. Actually, if you played your cards right and let him bite you, that would have made a more perfect time for him to want to do something with you. Maybe not that same night, but maybe a following night within a day or so. After the Githyanki scene, that would be more appropriate for Lae'zel since she would be feeling more in need of some comfort after her kin tried to kill her. She may not admit that she needs comfort, but it would make more sense to me especially if you trusted her to speak and handle it and then you backed her up. Again, it DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXACTLY LIKE I'M DESCRIBING IT HERE. These are just examples, so please people, stop acting like I'm trying to force Larian to do exactly what I am suggesting. So Lae'zel could still approach you and want to jump your bones, but maybe different timing from others, and maybe she approaches you while you are off alone by the river just trying to clear your head, or maybe she wakes you up while you were sleeping and throws herself at you, or SOMEthing besides, "Hi Lae'zel. How are you tonight here at Celebration Night." "I am impressed by your ability to kill goblin leaders. I want to ravage you." "Wha??? Where did that come from? Well, sorry Lae'zel, but you know Astarion and Shadowheart and Gale and Wyl all want the same thing tonight, so...hmmm... can I pencil you in maybe tomorrow? So many lovers, so little time."

4. As for how intimacy can be played out in a game and story elements incorporated in without a sex scene, this has been done in other games since the dawn of video games. Most games have not had sex scenes and yet still display character personalities, vulnerabilities, etc. without needing a sex scene. You mentioned Minthara. I am at a disadvantage here because I've never played out the Minthara sex scene. However, based on what you have said, I would say that they could still do what you are describing without a sex scene. She's getting all spicy with the MC, trying to dominate the MC, but the MC shoves her up against a wall and gets all rough with her, or he/she pins her down and is aggressive. Some momentary dialogue or whatever. More aggressive behavior on the part of both. Distance shot of the two embracing and vanishing behind some bushes. Fade to black. I don't know. Like I said, I've never played it out so I don't know what you are talking about. Either way, you don't NEED sex to tell such a story.

5. As for more dialogues between party members, you mentioned something about why can't we have both. I'm not sure what you meant. I was basically saying that if there were more dialogue scenes with party members, more banter, more friendship and shared moments, the fact that some of the characters want to sleep with you wouldn't seem so out of place. So I'm not sure what you meant. I was just saying that they need to make it so characters connect more as a whole.

6. I suggested players triggering romance because frankly I don't want every character in the party to be hitting on my MC. I am personally not into the whole homosexual thing, so when Wyl hits on my guy MC, it is a bit uncomfortable for me. I don't like it. I'm a heterosexual, and I'd prefer to not have Wyl or Gale hitting on my male character. Likewise, if I'm playing a female character, I don't want Lae'zel or Shadowheart asking to do things with her. It is just not my cup of tea. I can imagine that I'm not alone with this both from a heterosexual and homosexual perspective. Besides this, some have even expressed their distaste for certain characters like Lae'zel, thinking she's ugly and repulsive. Therefore, let the player choose who they want to romance. That way, they don't have to be approached and solicited by someone they don't want to have relations with. Likewise, if a player doesn't even WANT a romance in the game, they won't have anything triggered at all because they are not triggering any romance. As Blackheifer said, they just like to go around butchering enemies. Who cares about freaking romance? Some players are like that, so why have romance even triggered at all for them. If they don't want it, they don't need to trigger it. Now, that said, if I've triggered a romance encounter in any way, such as a single flirt with a character in particular, THEN they could approach my MC and hit on them, but it should be first initiated by the player.

7. And this goes along with the last thing you asked. Why don't I want Wyl hitting on me? Because in my mind, Wyl and I were becoming close friends, like brothers. It was really weird for me when he suddenly wanted to bunk with me. I was thinking we were going to share a drink and some laughs at the party, and he blindsided me with "Bunk with me." It was just not something that fit. It was weird and out of place. Maybe it wouldn't have felt so weird if I literally had not been solicited by Shadowheart, Astarion and Lae'zel right beforehand. I mean, I was literally thinking, "What? Come on! You too? I mean, seriously. I thought we were bros, and I thought at least YOU wouldn't be trying to sleep with me. The only person who hasn't asked me to sleep with him is Gale." I wanted an option, actually, to just throw back some drinks and joke and enjoy bro moments with Gale and Wyl as opposed to a sexual encounter scenario.

And that's the main point I'm trying to make. There is literally no relationship building at all really. It is just "we're all traveling together" and then Bam! Everyone wants intimacy with you. No one wants to just enjoy the party with you and joke around and laugh and have a good time in any other way but sex or whatever. Variety! That's what I'm calling for. Variety! Let's have some characters just want to party with you and have a good time WITHOUT sex. Maybe Astarion wants to or maybe Lae'zel, but not EVERYONE.

Anyway. Hope that answered your questions. Like I said, I no longer really care about this topic. I'm only responding because you asked me to. Like Blackheifer, I am really only playing BG3 for the story and combat.