Let me "friend-zone" companions.

[Sir Sparhawk]

Loving the game so far and still making my way through act one and I like that you can romance any companion regardless of race, class or anything else. What I don't like is that they all seem to want that romance and that there is no way to be just friends. I'm playing a relatively good character so my choices and interactions are generally building positive approval with them, so I have several wanting to be more than friends.

I'm currently pursuing the Shadowheart romance line while trying to dodge the more flirty responses to the rest of my party, Karlach is especially bad for this as all that pent up frustration means she is constantly just going on about how much she wants to jump me and I'm hoping that I can get her into a romance with Wyll as they had some chemistry early on and I think it would be a good story to see play out.

Outside of just being mean or deliberately saying things to upset them there seems to be no way end possible romances with them yet, What I'd really like is the option to tell them I just want to be friends and nothing more. This is how Bioware did it in some of there best games like DA:O and the ME trilogy, you could either choose to be the instigator or when they instigated it you could choose to say you just want it to be platonic and nothing more ending the romance but keeping the approval.

Over all I'm loving my time back in Faerûn and this is just a small gripe but it is bothersome and I just wish I could friend-zone a few of them. As I said I'm still progressing through act one, nearly finished now and will be ready for act two soon, so I don't know if it is something that will come up later and if it is I feel they can move that forward as after spending so much time with them you can have a good idea already who you want to pursue and who you want to go with in future playthroughs.

[Cheese Cat]

You can friendzone astarion as far as i know!!! Not sure about the other characters, but likely the same!

[Lord Adorable]

I've had no problem friendozining any of my companions. Dunno what you're doing but I told them "No". Not been flirted with since.

[Sir Sparhawk]

Originally posted by Lord Adorable:

I've had no problem friendozining any of my companions. Dunno what you're doing but I told them "No". Not been flirted with since.

Maybe I missed the option or it is behind an option I didn't think to take, all I really see is either mean or flirty responses where i'm looking for a nicer way to reject people

[SoloQ]

The dialogue choices are there dear.

Originally posted by Sir Sparhawk:

Originally posted by Lord Adorable:

I've had no problem friendozining any of my companions. Dunno what you're doing but I told them "No". Not been flirted with since.

Maybe I missed the option or it is behind an option I didn't think to take, all I really see is either mean or flirty responses where i'm looking for a nicer way to reject people

Maybe your ability to socialize isn't up to par. Especially if you think all of the responses are "flirty or mean."

[Zerostalgia]

Here
I friend zoned Gale by saying I wasn't interested in him politely in a previous scene.
If you don't many people who are homophobic have been triggered by the option to kiss him coming up in this scene, but it cannot appear for me.
https://youtu.be/8zlGVPhQnZY

[Zerostalgia]

Originally posted by Sir Sparhawk:

Originally posted by Lord Adorable:

I've had no problem friendozining any of my companions. Dunno what you're doing but I told them "No". Not been flirted with since.

Maybe I missed the option or it is behind an option I didn't think to take, all I really see is either mean or flirty responses where i'm looking for a nicer way to reject people

So sometimes the options are flirty yes, neutral "what do you mean you like me?" and mean.
If you pick the neutral there is a very clear "I'm flattered but I don't see you that way." when the companion explains they mean romantically. When you pick that option they act a little bashful but say something along the lines of, "consider it dropped, I'm glad we can be friends."

[BimboGooch]

You can friend zone, you just have to wait till they actually ask you out. You can do it with at least gale and that rouge dude. Its pretty clear options like "Absolutely not", "Im not into you like that", or even "id rather ♥♥♥♥ a goblin" Theres blunt options, then theres down right insulting versions. After you choose gale will say something like "alright Ill nip this budding romance, hopefully we dont have to end our friendship though", and the rouge dude will pretty much be like "ok" but if you go to talk to him about it or something he will say "youve lost your chance". Im like 20 hours on my save, so im not far enough to have wyll really flirt yet, and I know I saw options for shadowheart as well.
Id assume every other character is like this.

idk why people think you cant just friend zone people lmao. Theyve clearly not played too much yet. Or just choose the less "rude" options, which lead them on lmao. Which just like in real life if you lead people on theyll still try to date you, and if you bluntly tell them youre not into them, they should generally stop.

[Diabolical Taco]

Normally this kind of stuff doesn't bug me, but I had some dialogue with Gale where he wanted to show that I could use magic. I'm a rogue, so I thought, wth, I'm intrigued. So I went through some choices where I'm assuming he just wants to share what he loves about The Weave with a friend. But then, he gets ridiculously close and he smiles in this "I want you" sort of way, and the next choice I had, I peaced out.

So I can see what ppl are talking about with the getting hit on thing. I had no clue that's where this interaction was going, and I found it a little immersion breaking. For those saying "just don't say yes," that's a bit reductive. In other games like ME or DA, the dialogue options were pretty obvious if you were romantically inclined, but the writers are far more sneaky in BG3 putting you in that situation that, quite frankly, was a little off-putting. I suppose one could interpret this as though you, as the player, are being hit on, and the intent is to throw you off your game just like real life, but if that's the case, it's not always translating well UNLESS the intent was to make you uncomfortable.

It doesn't bug me THAT much, but as a writer myself, I'm always looking at technique. There needs to be a hint of romantic interaction, otherwise, you get the backlash you're seeing now as it's creating a general atmosphere of discomfort among some of the playerbase.

Edit: at the very least, not every character needs to be a potential romantic partner.

[VampXGamer]

Originally posted by Lord Adorable:

I've had no problem friendozining any of my companions. Dunno what you're doing but I told them "No". Not been flirted with since.

Well seems alot of people are 'doing it wrong' then, I mean Kotaku even had a whole article about this problem.

[Alt]

Originally posted by Diabolical Taco:

Normally this kind of stuff doesn't bug me, but I had some dialogue with Gale where he wanted to show that I could use magic. I'm a rogue, so I thought, wth, I'm intrigued. So I went through some choices where I'm assuming he just wants to share what he loves about The Weave with a friend. But then, he gets ridiculously close and he smiles in this "I want you" sort of way, and the next choice I had, I peaced out.

So I can see what ppl are talking about with the getting hit on thing. I had no clue that's where this interaction was going, and I found it a little immersion breaking. For those saying "just don't say yes," that's a bit reductive. In other games like ME or DA, the dialogue options were pretty obvious if you were romantically inclined, but the writers are far more sneaky in BG3 putting you in that situation that, quite frankly, was a little off-putting. I suppose one could interpret this as though you, as the player, are being hit on, and the intent is to throw you off your game just like real life, but if that's the case, it's not always translating well UNLESS the intent was to make you uncomfortable.

It doesn't bug me THAT much, but as a writer myself, I'm always looking at technique. There needs to be a hint of romantic interaction, otherwise, you get the backlash you're seeing now as it's creating a general atmosphere of discomfort among some of the playerbase.

In other games they were too obvious. Romance there felt gamey, if you know what i mean. And romances often ended with the sex scene and after that, nothing. No content. Like you collected a pokemon. Here companions feel like actual people with their wants and needs. Your romance here doesnt end with just a sex scene and saying "i love you". I personally dont understand how people can be so dense. Often times game hints you that this scene has a romantic context.(for example in the scene with Gales magic weave narrator hints you about "romantic mood" in the air, before even Gale acts, your response to that is just politely ending scene) If player missed that then i hits him more obvious. And third time companion himself/herself asks player if they are romantically inclined. There are sure exceptions like Astarion and Laezel, who just out right invite you to have sex with them. But that in their character, they just want to have some fun after stressful day.

[Diabolical Taco]

Originally posted by Alt:

Originally posted by Diabolical Taco:

Normally this kind of stuff doesn't bug me, but I had some dialogue with Gale where he wanted to show that I could use magic. I'm a rogue, so I thought, wth, I'm intrigued. So I went through some choices where I'm assuming he just wants to share what he loves about The Weave with a friend. But then, he gets ridiculously close and he smiles in this "I want you" sort of way, and the next choice I had, I peaced out.

So I can see what ppl are talking about with the getting hit on thing. I had no clue that's where this interaction was going, and I found it a little immersion breaking. For those saying "just don't say yes," that's a bit reductive. In other games like ME or DA, the dialogue options were pretty obvious if you were romantically inclined, but the writers are far more sneaky in BG3 putting you in that situation that, quite frankly, was a little off-putting. I suppose one could interpret this as though you, as the player, are being hit on, and the intent is to throw you off your game just like real life, but if that's the case, it's not always translating well UNLESS the intent was to make you uncomfortable.

It doesn't bug me THAT much, but as a writer myself, I'm always looking at technique. There needs to be a hint of romantic interaction, otherwise, you get the backlash you're seeing now as it's creating a general atmosphere of discomfort among some of the playerbase.

In other games they were too obvious. Romance there felt gamey, if you know what i mean. And romances often ended with the sex scene and after that, nothing. No content. Like you collected a pokemon. Here companions feel like actual people with their wants and needs. Your romance here doesnt end with just a sex scene and saying "i love you". I personally dont understand how people can be so dense. Often times game hints you that this scene has a romantic context.(for example in the scene with Gales magic weave narrator hints you about "romantic mood" in the air, before even Gale acts, your response to that is just politely ending scene) If player missed that then i hits him more obvious. And third time companion himself/herself asks player if they are romantically inclined. There are sure exceptions like Astarion and Laezel, who just out right invite you to have sex with them. But that in their character, they just want to have some fun after stressful day.

I get that, and I see where you're coming from with it feeling gamey in ME and DA. Usually the romantic plot just sort of ends there, which I did have a problem with. However, and I know others have said this too, the fact your companions initiate it instead of the player is ultimately what likely has that crowd upset. It's an interesting experiment Larian has done just by shifting who initiates romantic interaction at all, and I applaud them for trying something different, but I also understand why others are turned off by it. Depending on individual personality, the interaction itself is unwanted unless player initiated. It's an attempt at a greater degree of interactivity by making companions active instead of reactive.

I think some people are going overboard with the hate for it, but I understand measured criticism on the subject. We could also lump it in with "they did something different," and some folks really, really don't like change. It doesn't even matter what the subject is about.

[PowerElite]

Imagine they left if you did that?

*Gale hitting on you for the 3rd time*: Oh yeah? Fine. See how you do without me!