Why are most of the romance options in high school?

[Evil Masses]

This game is made by an adult and I would think it's made for adults to play, too, but for whatever reason there are very few actual adult options. The real ages are never mentioned as some kind of way to get around this but by paying attention you can learn that most of the romance options are still in high school. I chose to romance Harvey since he's one of the few that are actually adults, but he's pretty boring and I kind of lost interest after he opened up to me about his love of airplanes and how he kept treating me like a patient. Not trying to say there's anything wrong with liking airplanes, but he wasn't very personable and I expected more from an actual romance. I felt zero chemistry for a character I was supposed to be romancing and I really don't get what's so desirable about him.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by Giblets:

i dunno, i know plenty of people in their 30s that aren't dissimilar to most of theses.
Plus your character is suppose to be fairly young anyway.. that's the canon story. i'm 38 but i'm happy to accept my characters is 26 lol.

I only thing that bothers me is still doing a flower dance and egg hunt... lol

Well, it's not to say that adults can't be immature or lacking in some areas, but as long as they're confirmed adults it shouldn't really matter.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by ChrillBill:

Originally posted by CissexualTransgendersexual:

Teenagers often smoke regardless of if it's okay for them to do it. I'm not sure if that would directly prove one way or another.

Yeah, that's true. But not in the open unless they have reached the age of where it is allowed for them to do so. Many countries are super strict when it comes to this.

Well, remember, this is a game, the rules might be a little more loose than real life. These things aren't exactly stated in-game.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by Nakos:

Originally posted by tamtitam:

I don't know about stardewvalley being a game made for adults... But there are definitely a lot of adults playing it, so a few more grown up romance options would be nice.

More adult options would indeed be nice.

While all of the romance options are supposed to be "adults", and have all probably finished high school, many of them do seem fairly immature to me, and I certainly wouldn't mind if the "mature" palette was expanded.

Yes, exactly. Harvey is fine and he seems mature he just needs a bit more oomph to his personality to make the bonding experience a bit more exciting.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by corriganbrian51:

Thanks OP for pointing this out! I'm in my mid 60's. I find it offensive that no wrinklies are available for sweet sweet, coffin chasing romance. I'm with you, but I think you set the age bar far, far too young. I demand that Steam remove this title until all potential dating options are remade to be a reasonable age, say over 50 years old... After all, won't someone think of the grandparents?

That's not what I meant but I'm sorry if I offended you. I can tell you're being sarcastic but all I meant is that being able to romance confirmed adults with interesting personalities would make me - and clearly others - a bit more happy. More options is what we're after.

Although your sarcasm aside, asking for an older character or two probably wouldn't be unreasonable. It's open for all ages, right?

[Dex]

The expanded mod adds in a couple new romances. Most are young, but one lady, Claire is obviously a middle aged woman and is a much more interesting choice instead of the 20-somethings.

[ChrillBill]

Originally posted by CissexualTransgendersexual:

Originally posted by ChrillBill:

Yeah, that's true. But not in the open unless they have reached the age of where it is allowed for them to do so. Many countries are super strict when it comes to this.

Well, remember, this is a game, the rules might be a little more loose than real life. These things aren't exactly stated in-game.

The point was that Sebastian is not in high school and him smoking openly is not entirely proof of that I agree. But it is a clear indication if you combine this with his situation and his plans which he reveals during his heart events which I am guessing you haven't even explored? Otherwise I have no idea why you keep insisting that he is in high school o.o I mean if it is your feeling that he is, fine. But neither him or Maru is in high school.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by Gecko:

The expanded mod adds in a couple new romances. Most are young, but one lady, Claire is obviously a middle aged woman and is a much more interesting choice instead of the 20-somethings.

That's an option, I guess, probably easier than expecting the devs to make new characters this far into the games existence.

[ChrillBill]

Originally posted by Gecko:

The expanded mod adds in a couple new romances. Most are young, but one lady, Claire is obviously a middle aged woman and is a much more interesting choice instead of the 20-somethings.

I would like to second this. The expanded mod also makes it so that you can romance some of the vanilla characters that you can't normally romance, Like the Wizard for example. There are also some other nice custom NPC mods which adds unique, and more mature characters.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by ChrillBill:

Originally posted by CissexualTransgendersexual:

Well, remember, this is a game, the rules might be a little more loose than real life. These things aren't exactly stated in-game.

The point was that Sebastian is not in high school and him smoking openly is not entirely proof of that I agree. But it is a clear indication if you combine this with his situation and his plans which he reveals during his heart events which I am guessing you haven't even explored? Otherwise I have no idea why you keep insisting that he is in high school o.o I mean if it is your feeling that he is, fine. But neither him or Maru is in high school.

Admittedly I haven't talked to Sebastian much since whenever I tried he was locked away in his room. I did talk to Maru, though, and not much about her revealed that she wasn't a teenager to me since a lot of aspects of her could easily be explained by her being an overachieving highschooler. The fact that they both live with their parents to me is a point against them over if they're teens or young adults. When I see Sebastian's appearance, too, it gives me highschool emo vibes. Other than that you're right, if he's said anything that could reveal he's not a teenager than I wouldn't have seen it yet. I intend on befriending the entire town but he's a difficult one to get to for me.

[ChrillBill]

Originally posted by CissexualTransgendersexual:

Originally posted by ChrillBill:

The point was that Sebastian is not in high school and him smoking openly is not entirely proof of that I agree. But it is a clear indication if you combine this with his situation and his plans which he reveals during his heart events which I am guessing you haven't even explored? Otherwise I have no idea why you keep insisting that he is in high school o.o I mean if it is your feeling that he is, fine. But neither him or Maru is in high school.

Admittedly I haven't talked to Sebastian much since whenever I tried he was locked away in his room. I did talk to Maru, though, and not much about her revealed that she wasn't a teenager to me since a lot of aspects of her could easily be explained by her being an overachieving highschooler. The fact that they both live with their parents to me is a point against them over if they're teens or young adults. When I see Sebastian's appearance, too, it gives me highschool emo vibes. Other than that you're right, if he's said anything that could reveal he's not a teenager than I wouldn't have seen it yet. I intend on befriending the entire town but he's a difficult one to get to for me.

Yeah well, I can def understand that the first impression might be that he is in high school. But I think it becomes very clear that he is not once you explore his story. Same can be said for pretty much all of the bachelors/bachelorettes. Some of them are just a bit stuck up before you have cracked their shell. And about them living at home. Not sure if you saw my earlier post. But that is not something that is considered strange today. Many countries are suffering from severe housing shortage. Plus in some cultures it is also very common that children remain living at home even after reaching their young adulthood. I guess it depends on where you come from, what possibilites you had and so on.

[Evil Masses]

Originally posted by ChrillBill:

Originally posted by CissexualTransgendersexual:

Admittedly I haven't talked to Sebastian much since whenever I tried he was locked away in his room. I did talk to Maru, though, and not much about her revealed that she wasn't a teenager to me since a lot of aspects of her could easily be explained by her being an overachieving highschooler. The fact that they both live with their parents to me is a point against them over if they're teens or young adults. When I see Sebastian's appearance, too, it gives me highschool emo vibes. Other than that you're right, if he's said anything that could reveal he's not a teenager than I wouldn't have seen it yet. I intend on befriending the entire town but he's a difficult one to get to for me.

Yeah well, I can def understand that the first impression might be that he is in high school. But I think it becomes very clear that he is not once you explore his story. Same can be said for pretty much all of the bachelors/bachelorettes. Some of them are just a bit stuck up before you have cracked their shell. And about them living at home. Not sure if you saw my earlier post. But that is not something that is considered strange today. Many countries are suffering from severe housing shortage. Plus in some cultures it is also very common that children remain living at home even after reaching their young adulthood. I guess it depends on where you come from, what possibilites you had and so on.

Yeah I guess you're right. The only way to find out is to actually befriend him and finish his story. It felt super weird having to skulk outside his room just to wait for him to leave or for it to unlock so I could talk to him so I just didn't bother. I'm not sure what his schedule is but he rarely seems to leave.

I heard that Shane ends up being sweeter once you get to know him, so I figured for a second playthrough I might see what he's like. Thinking about what I would expect from a mature character I realized I kind of just want someone who is similar to Harvey but is more personable, other than, you know, what all has already been said about the age aspect.

[ChrillBill]

Originally posted by CissexualTransgendersexual:

Yeah I guess you're right. The only way to find out is to actually befriend him and finish his story. It felt super weird having to skulk outside his room just to wait for him to leave or for it to unlock so I could talk to him so I just didn't bother. I'm not sure what his schedule is but he rarely seems to leave.

I heard that Shane ends up being sweeter once you get to know him, so I figured for a second playthrough I might see what he's like. Thinking about what I would expect from a mature character I realized I kind of just want someone who is similar to Harvey but is more personable, other than, you know, what all has already been said about the age aspect.

If you want you can use the wiki to find out more about his and pretty much everyones schedule: NPCs and schedule[stardewvalleywiki.com].
Just click on the character that interests you and look at the schedule tab.

Shane has in my opinion one of the most interesting stories or perhaps journeys would be more accurate. Many likes to paint him as scum, but I think that comes from a place of ignorance. He is not scum deep down. He is actually quite loving and very kind. I would love more adult like characters myself with some depth to their background and personality. I think if you were to add new characters, that would be a cruical part. And it doesn't have to be something "naughty" like some people seems to think. There are so many subjects that falls into the mature (more adult like) category if you just take the time to reflect and think.

[Freya]

Try this out if you want to marry the older Non- marriagable npcs. I married Kent. Just remember to back up your save file before editting just in case you accidentally mess it up. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2415126439

[tevrarain]

Originally posted by Gecko:

The expanded mod adds in a couple new romances. Most are young, but one lady, Claire is obviously a middle aged woman and is a much more interesting choice instead of the 20-somethings.

Just in case people look into expanded for an older bachelorette, its Olivia that's middle aged with her adult son in the house, Claire is early-mid twenties based on what I've seen of her story so far.

[Nightmare Eyes]

So yeah, unmodded, you have one option per gender if you want someone old enough qualify as a fully fledged adult.

Harvey is easily 30-45 years old because you don't sit around your house playing with planes and thinking about being lonely, while also pulling a physician's salary, if you're 30 years old. That kind of loneliness, at that age, would translate to being a bar hopping womanizer. Not a sad model plane ganking, leftover eating basset hound. That's a middle aged bachelor if I ever saw one.

I suppose I'd also put Elliot in the over 30 category, but I find him sort of insufferable (Sorry!) and just talks nonstop about himself. So I personally find him a poor candidate for that reason alone. Shane may also fall into this age range, but I'm not sure.

Leah is guaranteed to be in her late 20s/early 30s, as her level of personal gravity and the sheer length of her adult history are long enough to suggest this. She describes a rich personal history that appears to go back a number of years. And I can only assume this followed her journey through art school, or a communications, or even physics degree, or whatever she did before she decided to do this.

If you're looking for other older NPCs to date, I suggest modding. There are some sweet mods. My dream is to marry Marlon, for example, but there are mods that let you marry the wizard, linus, even (you're doomed but whatever) Pierre.

Edit: Consider also installing the Stardew Valley Expanded or Ridgeside Village mods. These introduce a whole host of new NPCs, many of whom are a lot more age and racially diverse. If Pelican Town ain't got no talent for you. Idk, i married the doctor.