When I was younger, I used to play a mod for Civilization IV called Fall from Heaven 2, and one of the civilizations, which were divided by D&D-style moral alignment was the Balseraph. I didn’t used to question the viability of a society ruled by insane slavering illusionist clowns, but your question got me thinking about how unrealistic some fictional evil societies are. Like, someone has to plant the wheat, oversee the economic transactions and agreements, collect the taxes, weave the clothes. Not that such a society wouldn’t be interesting to write about, and I intend to explore this idea in the future, but it has to make sense.
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Could it be seen as simply another form of character development for writing to come easier? I got very used to the fact I usually have to romance a character for them to open their heart and interesting insides, so for me writing them in romance is like… well, writing vivisection?
Sex scenes are a bummer, though. Fade to black is easy enough, but I fear that I will miss out on additional characterisation by skipping it both as a writer and a player.
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That’s what necromancy is for.
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I honestly don’t like tying character development to romance.
The idea that the only way to get to really know or be close to someone is to date them (or sleep with them) doesn’t really reflect reality, and it isn’t really a healthy attitude to have, in my opinion (it’s part of the reason marriages so often end up emotionally codependent to an unhealthy degree). I try to write my romances as if they were one option out of multiple when it comes to engaging with a character and their arc.
Quite frankly, my characters usually develop by themselves with or without the player’s intervention. The question comes down to how they develop and how they end up.
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This sounds like the (okay, an) answer to me. Like, emphasis on the “how” of how a romanced character develops a little differently compared to a non-romanced version of themself. But if you already find the subject draining maybe that won’t be the right approach. If you find a way to make it more enjoyable for yourself, I’d be interested in knowing what it ends up being.
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I feel like romance opens up a character completely, like a friend wouldn’t tell or show you as much as an RO would.
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I disagree. I personally have friends who I’ve known for literally most of my life, and there are things they know about me which almost nobody else does. I suspect the reverse is also true.
True, there are things you tell a spouse or a lover which you’d never tell a close friend - but there are also things you’d tell a close friend which you’d never tell a spouse or lover.
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This is the key, I think. It’s more or less what I’ve tried to do with AToH. You’re not gonna need to romance a character to know what makes them tick or ‘be part’ of their side plots. What the romance means is seeing a ‘different’ side of the general arc the character is going through.
Of course, jury is still out on how well that’ll be received. Tying the exploration of a character’s emotional unavailability to her romance hasn’t been my most popular decision…
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That isn’t necessarily true. Some people might work that way, sure. Some people might be just the opposite, especially in a new relationship, wanting to show themselves to a love interest in the best light but laying their soul bare for their friends. Some people might not make much of a distinction; I’ve never thought of friendship as a lesser order of human connection. If anything, to me (as a demi), romantic love feels like friendship consciously raised to a higher degree.
And perhaps more pragmatically, people who play asexual and/or aromantic characters should not automatically have a lesser experience.
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This is pretty much why I specifically sought out at least one or two ace playtesters to make sure I got the balance right.
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I agree that romance doesn’t have to be the be-all-and-end-all kind of deep interaction in a game, and although I do love writing romance and tend to romance characters I like rather than befriend them, I like befriending them too - especially if you get to see a different side to them that way than if you’re in a romance. I remember being excited to befriend Lissa in Their Majesties’ Pleasure while romancing other people as there’s not always space to do that in romance-focused games.
This is interesting! I definitely enjoy writing characters acting outside of the player’s input (especially if it can cause friction or difficulties for the PC). I do also find it interesting writing characters being responsive to the PC, and thinking about the inner lives of NPCs who (reluctantly or eagerly) do what the PC wants.
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Would you mind if I asked a question about this, actually?
As more and more of these games are made, I feel that (to some extent) genres will become even more of a mainstay outside of general premise. Romance especially becomes more and more popular in the IF space and I think games made specifically to explore romance have been popping up like crazy. So I do wonder if those inherently have a lesser experience if that’s the author’s primary goal and what most of the game is centered around or is it neutral because that’s what the story set out to be to begin with? It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
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Romance isnt necessary but it adds flavor to the characters you create.
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@vera this comparison made me laugh in delight like an evil witch queen from 90s children media. YES. Honestly, writing romance and horror are really quite similar skills, in my opinion, with special attention to details and efforts made to describe the mundane in strange, outre ways. Romance spins the dial more towards character work, while horror spins more towards setting, atmosphere, and plot. When Gray’s Anatomy was published, people were scandalized by the illustrations of the corpses demurely showing off their organs, calling it erotic and coquettish.
Re: being asexual, playing romance games, befriending & romancing, Friendship and romance are different nuances and labels for emotional and physical intimacy/closeness shared among one or more persons. Popular media likes to glorify a committed romantic relationship between a man and woman, but life’s a lot larger than that. In reality, one relationship type is not necessarily more important or “better” than the other. For games, I really dislike when I have to romance someone to get their full story, or a character never develops unless romanced. I’m never going to shut up about Boyfriend Dungeon partly because it gives options to romance AND/OR befriend the NPCs. If you dislike all the humans, befriend the cat. Later in the game there’s a wedding, and my character took the cat as their friend-date. Amazing stuff. 
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Though I’ve not gotten to the point of writing romances in my own WIP, it’s not exactly something I’m looking forward to.
I know who all my characters are as people but until recently I’ve never really envisioned any of them in a romantic light. Partly because that’s not a priority and partly because traditionally there’s only one (complete) romance per playthrough in most titles. So I created my characters with the idea of them being the MC’s comrades, superiors, subordinates, friends, rivals, etc. Romance will add an additional layer of complexity on top of all that but it should by no means be what defines them.
Personally I really don’t have much if any experience in IRL romance outside of what I have heard from friends or seen in other media, so I’ve got that working against me too. I’ve consumed enough media that I have an idea about how a “good” romance route should go, but then there’s the question of how I am going to actually implement that.
Still going to do my best to accommodate people with different tastes. One of the ROs in my WIP is going to be asexual, for example. I’ve got other characters who, while I would not classify them as ROs, may form casual relationships with the MC.
On some level it kind of feels like people just expect romance from any game that they play. Romance often goes on to take up a lot of the discourse surrounding any game. It does feel like if I don’t put romance in my WIP or if I don’t write romance well then that’s going to be a serious blow to interest and reception.
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I don’t expect a romance game to allow me to play an aromantic character, no. I don’t expect an erotica game to allow me to play as asexual, any more than I expect Choice of Robots to let me play a Luddite, Sabres of Infinity to let me be a pacifist, or The Ghost and the Golem to let me be Christian, and I don’t feel that accepting any of those limitations makes for a lesser experience.
(It should be pointed out that reasonable limitations are not necessarily essential limitations. The Heart’s Choice line is a romance imprint, but there are games that explicitly allow you to play as aro-ace and build strong friendships with the other characters instead of romancing them. There are games in which romance is mandatory and sexy scenes are a major selling point, but if you don’t want to read a sex scene you can read a scene of romance or friendship that’s crafted with every bit as much emotion and care as the spicier ones.)
What I don’t think is fair is for a game that isn’t a romance game not to have options to build satisfying relationships with other characters that aren’t romantic, or for a romance game to give my character the option not to have sex with their love interest without giving them something else to do together.
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I am announcing The In memoriam snippet day on 15th day to honour Eiwynn .
About 100 words (can be more) inspired on her public words. She loved the snippet day and was focus on continue the tradition each month. I want that we all carry-on her legacy together.
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Mmm. Definitely in agreement with you there! Thanks for answering 
it’s something I’ve seen popping up more likely, stories locked for/behind romance specifically, which I think is an interesting way to do it. Still not all that common in CS games though.
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I love writing romance. It’s my thing. BUT I also really like the freedom IF allows to write different levels of friendship and romance. There are many different forms of intimacy, from sharing vulnerable moments in quiet or conversation to explicit scenes. I like writing all of those options for each of the ROs, so if a player wants to just join a crew of misfits and enjoy the camaraderie, that’s as much of a fulfilling path as a soul-deep romance.
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This is how I feel about combat scenes. Turncoat Chronicle was mainly a talking game, so I managed to get away with only having a handful of combat scenes in the last chapter, but I was enormously nervous and did buckets of prep work before I felt ready to sit down and get them on paper.
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