As I said previously, I'd prefer clearly defined preferences for the comps. I understand why a team may go this route though, having seen the backlash from both design choices. Someone will want to romance one of them, and find out that they're not set up for that particular character, and raise hell about it, throwing out all kinds of accusations. I've seen it.
Defined comps would be my preference too and it would avoid one part of what I've complained about but I also understand the decision. Or at least I think I do. I mean, couldn't players choose sexuality in the character creation? How hard would that be to program? I wouldn't have a clue.
I remember playing Cyberpunk and there was a male character who invited me, in this case a male pc, to the top of a water tower or some such. Now, before I go further, I want to point out that my brother had completed the game by that time and he told me that there'd come a moment when a character was revealed, unexpectedly, to be gay.
So, this npc (River? Can't be arsed to google it, heh) and I are sharing a bottle of whiskey and chatting about life and whatnot. Then, out of the blue, the game asks me if I want to lean in for a kiss. I thought, 'Eh? I wasn't getting any vibes from the npc - oooh, this must be the moment my brother was talking about'. I reloaded after making a save doing the 'canon roleplay' and chose the option to see how it plays out but he momentarily freaks out and is not interested. It's all chill though and it works out fine. Now, several thoughts popped into my head.
1: Cool, he actually has his own personality, he's not just there to indulge me. I thought the same thing later on when I tried to romance a female character but she turned out to be a lesbian.
2: It was funny how my brother, presumably unused to the notion of romance-able npc's not being solely for player gratification, assumed he was gay automatically because the option was (seemingly) there.
3: I wondered how many player's enjoyment may have been spoiled because their romance never happened and how worthwhile it was to have the option, just for them to get turned down anyway.
I'm guessing that's the kind of thing you've seen people 'raising hell' about...ah, the life of game developer. Doesn't seem easy when it comes to these kind of design decisions but, like I said, would selecting this stuff at character creation really be that tough?
