Overreaction to romance

[Shane]

Have people never played a rpg with a romance system before, you do things your companions like and help them out and approval go up meaning they will like you and want to be with you which is why everyone is flirting with you. Just say you are not interested and they leave you alone people are crying so much about it ridiculous.

[jimmybackman1]

usually you actually have to show some interest in them to get any romance scenes of any kind, choose a flirty option here & there kind of thing, in this one it feels more like a anime harem game where everyone is falling all over you. :)

[michael199310]

Originally posted by Shane:

Have people never played a rpg with a romance system before, you do things your companions like and help them out and approval go up meaning they will like you and want to be with you which is why everyone is flirting with you. Just say you are not interested and they leave you alone people are crying so much about it ridiculous.

The problem is not with romance, but with how easy it is to do it. In most games I played with romance options, you actually needed to do a lot of stuff, build the relationship quite a bit before doing any kind of advances. Here, you can go to bed within like 2 or 3 dialogue lines.

I also don't want everyone jumping to my bed just because I said a single nice thing.

[Dewit]

Soneone on reddit made a great point about this:

"I feel like some people just aren't used to the idea of casual sex in games. Generally sex is treated as the reward at the end of a long emotional and time investment. Baldur's Gate 3 takes a more realistic approach where not everyone treats it as something special.

I'm currently reaching the end of Act 1, having done everything on the surface and approaching Grymforge in the Underdark and my experience so far has been this:

Shadowheart: shared a bit of her past, we kissed once (she's my romance interest so I put a lot of work to get here)

Astarion: propositioned me at the party once, shot him down

Gale: flirted with me at the party, we settled on being friends

Lae'zel: also propositioned me, told her no

Wyll: zero romantic interaction

Karlach: told me she would want me if she could touch me, turned her down

Halsin: zero romantic interaction

These all make sense to me (with one exception) for each character. Wyll and Halsin aren't showing interest because I haven't. Astarion and Lae'zel want something physical with no emotional involvement because to them sex is an act of pleasure, not intimacy and so anyone who matches their preference will do. Karlach is a sociable person who has been alone and unable to touch anyone for years and so now craves intimacy with someone else. Shadowheart is slow to trust and either lacks or cannot remember any previous relationship experience so she wants to take it slow. Gale is the only one I find a little odd - he seems quick to jump ship for someone still so fixated on Mystra.

The tl;dr here is that the companions aren't really a bunch of horndogs: Larian have just created a varied cast with differing circumstances and views on sex and intimacy who approach relationships in a realistic and grounded way that befits those views and circumstances. They've diverged from the industry norm by not having sex be the grail at the end of your quest and people aren't used to it."

[[Kartell]Captain Data]

Originally posted by Shane:

Have people never played a rpg with a romance system before, you do things your companions like and help them out and approval go up meaning they will like you and want to be with you which is why everyone is flirting with you. Just say you are not interested and they leave you alone people are crying so much about it ridiculous.

Wrote an answer the other thread:

In Mass Effect or similar games it's the player that actively has to pursue a certain character to earn his / her affection via dialogue choices. For instance, if you want Liara, you actively need to encourage her in dialogue choices. Same for Kaidan and Ashley, Miranda, Jacob, Garrus, Tali etc. Not all characters are available (Traynor is lesbian for instance, so no joy for male!Shepard) and some are simply not interested at all (Joker, EDI).

In BG3 however it feels as if all characters seem to have the hawts for the PC simply for doing the "right thing" now and there in their eyes. Simply by not killing someone will raise approval for nearly anyone except Lae'Zel. Being brash and direct will make Lae'Zel happy and Shadowheart disapprove, while others are quite okay with whatever you do. Unless you do something truely heinous, it's next to impossible to kill your chances with someone, so in the end, you may even have enough approval with ALL of the characters and ALL want to share their bed with you.

I think there are simply tons of dialogues missing where you actually learn more about the characters. I rather would have a slow build up with the character I want to pursue (for instance, Shadowheart). They might throw in a ONS with Lae'Zel (because it will raise troop morale and good morale means more killing and that's totally in line with her view on things) that, if accepted, may make things more difficult with Shadowheart. But you can clean the air by more dialogue - that's character development as well as story telling!

Actually, I'd do the other way around: Lae'Zel may be an ONS at beginning and considers it an "efficient way to raise morale" but in the end she may be a monogamous lover because "no bond is stronger than between lovers and we'll fight for each other until we're dead". Still fits her character as it involves warrior codex and lots of killing. In such case, Shadowheart of Karlach may be "distractions" for your PC that may want you to draw your attention from Lae'Zel.

Right now, romances appear out of thin air. "You were nice to me, let's be a couple and celebrate it with magical tricks" ;-)

[Ashling]

Originally posted by Dewit:

ShadowHeart: shared a bit of her past, we kissed once (she's my romance interest so I put a lot of work to get here)

Astarion: propositioned me at the party once, shot him down

Gale: flirted with me at the party, we settled on being friends

Lae'zel: also propositioned me, told her no

Wyll: zero romantic interaction

Karlach: told me she would want me if she could touch me, turned her down

Halsin: zero romantic interaction

Here’s mine because it’s different:

Shadowheart: told me to go find Gale because he was interested in me.

Astarion: said I wasn’t his type

Gale: we pretend kissed (who I was trying to actively romance)

Lae’zel: she was the oddest one for me, but essentially said “we could’ve been a thing but I don’t like you” very aggressive.

Wyll: I could’ve offered to dance with him, decided to just be friends.

Karlach: killed when first meeting her

Halsin: see above

[ProestUnicorn]

Romances are okay, but the problem is how they sneak up on You sometimes as a male. Wyll has some serious prompts like dancing with him to start the relationship, so it is easy to avoid, but Gale and Astarion sneak up on You for sure, one is simping for a goddess, and innocent magic lesson proposition turns into groping.. Astarion is the same.

[EricHVela]

I've never played a tabletop game with explicit romance in it. I've yet to see a tabletop session with explicit romance in it. I don't care for explicit romance in my D&D.

That stated: So far, I'm still able to play BG3 (a video game, not a tabletop game) without any romance (and my character doesn't have to be a ***** to accomplish it, unlike some other video games).

So, Larian has allowed me to have my video game D&D experience as I've chosen.

[ACS36]

The system doesn't work the way you think it does op. You can in fact romance any of the companions without them liking you.

Approval rating doesn't matter much if at all when it comes to romancing in the game. What matters is the dialogue options you're choosing that lead down the romance path. You can have mid or low approval rating and still romance successfully if you choose the right options.

[The Hungry Werewolf]

This is the same case as those hyper insecure straight people. There a gay in your neighborhood? Hide your kids! They'll turn gay! Literally how this feels. And there's a lot of these types online, mostly people who just can't help themselves. They're a loud minority though, believe it or not. They'll make countless alt accounts to say it's not the case, but it is, and someone making 50 alts to tell you 50 times it's not the case won't hide it. Optional content is somehow bad because they can't put 1 and 1 together and not go for the obviously flitry options that give them romance. Or in most cases, they don't even own the game, or do, but don't play it (they have it just so they can be like "haha I do own it") and they're only parrotting other troll "opinions" just so they can feel better about themselves and have a giggle.

[Eric]

Originally posted by Shane:

Have people never played a rpg with a romance system before, you do things your companions like and help them out and approval go up meaning they will like you and want to be with you which is why everyone is flirting with you. Just say you are not interested and they leave you alone people are crying so much about it ridiculous.

You mean people dont like that what you call "ROMANCE" basically involves a button saying "wanna bang" on every fkn NPC? Yea, how weird.

[zpc]

Originally posted by Dewit:

The tl;dr here is that the companions aren't really a bunch of horndogs: Larian have just created a varied cast with differing circumstances and views on sex and intimacy who approach relationships in a realistic and grounded way that befits those views and circumstances. They've diverged from the industry norm by not having sex be the grail at the end of your quest and people aren't used to it."

^ This. We can close this discussion now and turn back to the game

[Twyt]

Originally posted by michael199310:

Originally posted by Shane:

Have people never played a rpg with a romance system before, you do things your companions like and help them out and approval go up meaning they will like you and want to be with you which is why everyone is flirting with you. Just say you are not interested and they leave you alone people are crying so much about it ridiculous.

The problem is not with romance, but with how easy it is to do it. In most games I played with romance options, you actually needed to do a lot of stuff, build the relationship quite a bit before doing any kind of advances. Here, you can go to bed within like 2 or 3 dialogue lines.

I also don't want everyone jumping to my bed just because I said a single nice thing.

Yall saying this so much, but give a single example of a recent (like 10-15 years recent) RPG where romance actually requires work. Was it Skyrim with an amulet of mara and one line of dialogue? Was it mass effect 1 where all 3 options are romancing you by default? Dragon Age where there is a fcn heart to romance options and there is no way to fail other than being the wrong gender? What are you talking about? Games that included romance content NEVER made it hard or hidden, because it's a huge selling point for a lot of people.

[EricHVela]

Saint's Row IV had a hilarious romance system. One click, and wacky off-screen sex. XD

[Twelves]

These dudes around here are too macho to withstand the gay ray

[Eric]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

Saint's Row IV had a hilarious romance system. One click, and wacky off-screen sex. XD

So identical to BG3 essentialy?