Is anyone else disappointed about the poly romances?

[[USER NAME]]

In my very first playthrough I romanced both Halsin and Astarion, but it felt like the only thing that really indicated the fact that there was a poly romance was the initial conversation of "hey would you be comfortable with this? :)" and the brothel scene

I wasn't expecting much but I did hope that at the end, Halsin would've been involved in the conversation about where my Tav and Astarion's relationship was going to go.

Idk it's just weird to me that they included the chance to be poly, but it never really felt like an actual relationship between the three characters :(

Edited to add: I'm aware of who is poly and who isn't, this post was just to bring up how I felt as though poly relationships in the game feel as though the second partner in the relationship doesn't actually matter since the game doesn't seem to treat it like a poly relationship and treats it more like "this character is cool if Tav sleeps with other people". I feel as though Astarion's personal storyline while in a romance with him especially had some great potential poly content (like having an actual discussion with him and the third about where relationship boundaries lie)

[floridianslip]

have you tried being normal?

[Larry]

Halsin doesn't give two ♥♥♥♥♥ either way. He's just a poorly written insert for the sake of pandering to "open mindedness" in terms of sexual orientation. He's a bisexual polyamorist.

Some characters do care while others don't. For one Gale cares however Shadowheart doesn't care as indicative to when you kick boots with Mizora and Shadowheart catches you. If you come clean she says it's no problem and she's down with it only that she wished you asked her first. Shadowheart will also engage with you and the Drow twins(It's a Drow trick, not an actual sexual interaction apparently), you can also have a threesome with Shadowheart and the female twin but the game bugs out(At least it did for me) and starts to loop where the female twin says she's down for it but she'd rather they do a couples thing.

Also, Astarion will engage if you force him to but you'll cut off any romance path with him if you force him to engage with yourself and the twins.

Haven't a clue about Halsin and other cross character romances though. I'd say Lae'zel would be against it but ♥♥♥♥ knows what box they ticked with no regard for character or personality just to fit it in.

[Dank Sidious]

Originally posted by Larry:

Halsin doesn't give two ♥♥♥♥♥ either way. He's just a poorly written insert for the sake of pandering to "open mindedness" in terms of sexual orientation. He's a bisexual polyamorist.

Some characters do care while others don't. For one Gale cares however Shadowheart doesn't care as indicative to when you kick boots with Mizora and Shadowheart catches you. If you come clean she says it's no problem and she's down with it only that she wished you asked her first. Shadowheart will also engage with you and the Drow twins(It's a Drow trick, not an actual sexual interaction apparently), you can also have a threesome with Shadowheart and the female twin but the game bugs out(At least it did for me) and starts to loop where the female twin says she's down for it but she'd rather they do a couples thing.

Also, Astarion will engage if you force him to but you'll cut off any romance path with him if you force him to engage with yourself and the twins.

Haven't a clue about Halsin and other cross character romances though. I'd say Lae'zel would be against it but ♥♥♥♥ knows what box they ticked with no regard for character or personality just to fit it in.

Shadowheart cares. She's just a pushover.

[Larry]

Originally posted by Dank Sidious:

Originally posted by Larry:

Halsin doesn't give two ♥♥♥♥♥ either way. He's just a poorly written insert for the sake of pandering to "open mindedness" in terms of sexual orientation. He's a bisexual polyamorist.

Some characters do care while others don't. For one Gale cares however Shadowheart doesn't care as indicative to when you kick boots with Mizora and Shadowheart catches you. If you come clean she says it's no problem and she's down with it only that she wished you asked her first. Shadowheart will also engage with you and the Drow twins(It's a Drow trick, not an actual sexual interaction apparently), you can also have a threesome with Shadowheart and the female twin but the game bugs out(At least it did for me) and starts to loop where the female twin says she's down for it but she'd rather they do a couples thing.

Also, Astarion will engage if you force him to but you'll cut off any romance path with him if you force him to engage with yourself and the twins.

Haven't a clue about Halsin and other cross character romances though. I'd say Lae'zel would be against it but ♥♥♥♥ knows what box they ticked with no regard for character or personality just to fit it in.

Shadowheart cares. She's just a pushover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89QAmmZ0d0Q

Nah she's all G for it. lol

[Raistlin]

OMG...another thread on this same old topic

[Eve]

Originally posted by Larry:

Also, Astarion will engage if you force him to but you'll cut off any romance path with him if you force him to engage with yourself and the twins.

How can you even force him? for me, if he isn't ready to do it yet, he'll nicely say no. You can't force him. After you do his quest and you guys still stayed together, he's actually excited to do it.

[Dank Sidious]

Originally posted by Larry:

Originally posted by Dank Sidious:

Shadowheart cares. She's just a pushover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89QAmmZ0d0Q

Nah she's all G for it. lol

I mean sure but those are Drow she can't resist them herself, but when Commander Tav bangs Mizora Shadowheart is only kind of OK with it.

[Hawke]

At least it was mentioned as an option and explained. Also, it was the only companion romance that did not bug out in my playthrough (the rest didn't trigger at all).

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Hoping for some DP?

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by chino moreno enjoyer:

have you tried being normal?

Normal doesn't exist.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by Larry:

Halsin doesn't give two ♥♥♥♥♥ either way. He's just a poorly written insert for the sake of pandering to "open mindedness" in terms of sexual orientation. He's a bisexual polyamorist.

Some characters do care while others don't. For one Gale cares however Shadowheart doesn't care as indicative to when you kick boots with Mizora and Shadowheart catches you. If you come clean she says it's no problem and she's down with it only that she wished you asked her first. Shadowheart will also engage with you and the Drow twins(It's a Drow trick, not an actual sexual interaction apparently), you can also have a threesome with Shadowheart and the female twin but the game bugs out(At least it did for me) and starts to loop where the female twin says she's down for it but she'd rather they do a couples thing.

Also, Astarion will engage if you force him to but you'll cut off any romance path with him if you force him to engage with yourself and the twins.

Haven't a clue about Halsin and other cross character romances though. I'd say Lae'zel would be against it but ♥♥♥♥ knows what box they ticked with no regard for character or personality just to fit it in.

You sound like a very angry individual.

Y u mad bros?

[Estevan Valladares]

Shadowheart do care. If you do something with any other character while being with her she will get b-chee about. Even if it is an accidental dialogue choice in after sight, like telling either Karlach or Minthara something that remotely seems to be flirty.

But I disagree Halsin might be characterized as "poorly inserted for carefree pansexual". Every character is poorly inserted into a romance arc for the sake of having one.
Unlike Mass Effect the romances have no bearing on the story, just add or remove specific parts of it.

You will still have most of Karlach quests if not romancing her, or any other character, even those not present. As if you kill Laezel, keep her and never get her with you, or romance her, all the story quests not specifically related to her or romancing her will still be there.
So much for choices matter.

However I dont blame THAT on the devs. I blame the overall poor code of game on them. And the lazy wrinting on the writters, but the fact of not having implications too much in the story by choices I blame in the playerbase.

Most people would whine to the high heavens should you had to make hard choices and get deprived from content "you" think it is "rightfully yours" for having paid. Meaning, people will b-chee a lot if they cant have their every character to have their cake and eat it, since the cake was paid no matter what. It is not like you will have people playing your game if they were required to really have 100 hours of content (which is a stupid measure of content from the get go) meaning you can only get 50 hours of content in a character no matter how skillfully you play the game.

When people talk about wanting choices to matter, they want "cut short choices", meaning, your choices might or might not chop the story by a predictable measure.

And also people dont want to go off of their path to have a content they thing they "own". Meaning, the game MUST be made in a way for example content must be enjoyed either you getting the "hetero way" or the "gay way".

God forbid a game imply that a certain content that is not related to the romance itself be reserved to those only engaging with a gay romance arc. Or a certain character is annoying and distasteful the a certain group, the game could not possibly tie chunks of content to that character that has nothing to do with the relationship with that character.

So you leave games with no choice but to make the pseudo free will and bogus choice consequences that grant that circumstance will never happen.

It is like making an MMO in which a class is ACTUALLY designed to specifically kill another, without anything you can do about it. It would be wonderful, but you simply cant do it and expect to sell the game enough.

[靐]

Had Shadowheart (well obviously ofc). No problems having 2v2 with some drows, no problems romancing Mizora (you even have a cutscene with her after THAT). Also sort of a romance with some wood elven gurl during act 3. Also I guess you can "romance" succubus, but haven't tried yet. idk why I mentioned all of that lol.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by Larry:

I'd say Lae'zel would be against it but ♥♥♥♥ knows what box they ticked with no regard for character or personality just to fit it in.

Lae'zel is very much against it.

At first Lae'zel just sees you as a casual sex partner. But when she wakes you up in the night to fight you, that's when she admits she really has feelings for you. After that point, she insists on "no sharing", either of her or of you.

[[USER NAME]]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Loveless:

Hoping for some DP?

no, I was hoping for a healthy example of a poly relationship to be in the mainstream

Originally posted by chino moreno enjoyer:

have you tried being normal?

Have you tried not being an ass?

Originally posted by Raistlin:

OMG...another thread on this same old topic

didn't realize this was such a common topic. Maybe that should say something about how the poly romances could have been better