In my case, I keep making characters with clear preferences and agency. And then if people love and crave them enough, I relent a bit. My asexual character I meant to be a non-RO is now an option, as long as you are willing to work with them on the meaning of “relationship” - which turned out more interesting.
My werewolf “love interest”, your childhood friend you had a crush on, was originally written as “non-player sexual.” A lesbian or a gay man if you’re straight, straight if you’re gay. Because whatever your fantasies, you can’t always get what you want, even if you’re attracted to and get along with someone.
Player feedback convinced me it was too cruel. The werewolf twins are now romanceable, and I introduced different issues,
Well I am at home here so I will drop in what I think.
Being pansexual I dont really mind about mc-sexual characters because I understand its just more convenient but I will admit that I like characters with defined sexualities. I think it give them life and make them more believable because being refused is an unfortunate but real part of life and when a game isnt a power fantasy I dont mind being reminded that not everyone like the same stuff and can actualy make for some great roleplay!
What I really like though is when the characters really are believable. I noticed sometimes gay characters feel like they were made to be gay instead of it being a part of themselve and that is something that alway bothered me a bit. I couldnt relate to certain queer characters in the world of fiction because of how obvious their sexuality was.
I remember the trapper character in tin star. I know tin star characters are MC-sexual but while this character was the opposite of what I like in males, them being queer in my playtrough felt right. I was surprised by how fun the romance was and this is the kind of characters I really like seing as queer because of how anti-stereotypical it is without being a surprise. Being a solitary mountain man it felt logic for the character that it was a possibility for him to be queer without it being obvious. And like I said, I know he is MC-sexual but its the character archetype that I want to mention.
I think I just feel like I saw enough beautiful, shaped and perfect queer characters and I want to see more diversity.
Edit: Also, unrelated to queer characters but there is a thing I would like to mention. I dont expect the whole forum to understand and I wouldnt push my opinion on peoples but I am polyamorous wich mean I can feel an equal love toward multiple peoples.
I would completely understand characters refusing to romance my character after my MC telling them but it would be nice if at some point its something that would be possible to be in some titles.
On either side of the debate I find one thing to stand out. More often than not its too easy to romance characters. Most romances are a bit of a struggle and without it they seems too easy and a little forced, gay relationships in RL tend to be a bit different due to the scrutiny of others which gives the whole thing a very different feel.
Perhaps the ‘thrill’ or different public attitude is too radical for our minds to wrap around so when a normally straight NPC has an orientation switch the situation itself feels off without being stared at awkwardly or making note of how wonderfully taboo it is. You can’t say that it’s not a little further to throw some mud in the face of societal Norms.
So perhaps it’s more scenery and backdrop that make these MC sexual characters feel odd as opposed to the same sex relationship itself not being represented properly. Guess I’ll have to test my theory in my game might be fun:)
I actually liked Choice of the Pirate for actually allowing and displaying a healthy portrayal of polyamory. That was good fun. I can’t say I can think of any other ChoiceScript games that allow it off the top of my head. I know there’s a lot of games that feature love triangles, but not in that way. They tend to focus on the drama of having to pick one or the other.
How did people find the gay romances in Unnatural? The romances are on my to do list of refining in the updates. So if you have any issues or requests now is probably the best time. (keep it a summary here but please post in more detail in the unnatural topic)
How about this for collaboration, if you, @Lithophene, and I can figure out a believable way to make that NPC stay alive by MC’s action, I will patch it in after Part 1 goes live.
Actually, that was another thing I was thinking about for my (still in planning stages) second story, but with a twist that all three characters would have to be the same gender (obviously ).
Well, one thing I was wondering about was whether you could just rename the dead character, turning them into a never-before-seen (and never-again-seen) character. After all, the (actual) Safe Haven thread proved that most readers (aside from myself and @Lithophene: i.e. the gay ones) didn’t even know he had appeared before. So it wouldn’t really change their experience of the game, but it would vastly improve ours. (And then you could have him – that is, the surviving gay original – reappear as an RO in Part 2, but honestly, simply giving him the potential to have survived would make a lot of difference.)
I am not gay however I role play with all type of characters. Some bi some trans some ace some directly psycho with no empathy. I played the teen gay and I don’t like it. It is felt so soap drama type of guy. I almost skip all his small part. For me is not beliable. I hope that he wont be forced into my throat like some Cogs. That Like Choice of romance. Where De vega or Mendoza almost raped me in their attempts of romance me. I WANT LOVE YOOOU. NOPE . LET ME BANG YOU NO NO GO AWAY… I AM THE ONLY GAY CHOICE LEFT… NO GO TO YOUR ROOM. The scene is so annoying that I HAVE TO SAY NO TEN TIMES IN A ROW. GAME WANTED ME ROMANCE SO BAD THAT FELT LIKE A OBLIGATION. Force romances because your character is X is lame. I could be gay but want be free or not like any options.
Anyway If tommy returns i only asking to not being forced on him and his story i don’t care about.
Mara, I didn’t think you cared about any of the ZE:SH characters (aside from the nephew) .
I do agree, however, that there shouldn’t only be a single option for gay players (which is, admittedly, the strength of MC-sexuality), and that such characters (or indeed any romances) shouldn’t be forced upon the player (although, admittedly, I can imagine that playing an asexual character in a game titled “Affairs of the Court: Choice of Romance” is probably not going to end well).
Well you could be surprised. It seem interesting to navigate a relucant character forced in something they have no interest in. It become more of a story of how you escaped.
And here I was thinking we were trying to be discrete about who we were talking about. Anyways, I don’t think you have to worry about him being forced onto anyone. If he’s currently non-essential enough to have met a grizzly fate, I can assure you that the option to try and save him would be completely optional much like saving Dante and helping Lopez are. They’re fully optional events and characters. Anyways, @JimD, I’ll PM you what ideas I’ve got later on in the evening once I’m finally done with classes for today. I may or may not have put some thought into this before.
This is certainly interesting… I admit that everyone is bi in Awoken mostly for convenience and because I was originally only going to have 3 ROs, who might become unavailable if you took certain paths. Then of course I got too attached to new characters and added them in too I guess I could be able to give fixed orientations now there’s more options, though in my head Aden, Malina and Vin at least are genuinely bi and not playersexual. (Don’t worry @Lithophene, if I changed Cren I’d make him gay )
I was also wondering about polyamorous options, but none of the combinations of characters seem to work for it.
I joined this CoG community in no small part due to the ability to play as homosexual characters being one of the main pulls of CoG and Hosted Games, which makes them stand out amongst other games (and bless this supportive community ), so I feel a strange compulsion to play a homosexual character whenever it is possible just because I can!
On the topic of ROs with set preferences, I slightly prefer MC-sexual because:
I enjoy it as a kind of wish-fulfillment to be loved by everyone.
If romanced ROs doesn’t mention the gender of previous lovers, or show attraction to a specific gender, then I can headcanon them as Bi or Gay if I want.
Lessens the burden of writers and coders.
However, what is most important to me in ROs (and other characters) are that they have a role in the story that are much more than being somebody your MC can get with. Oh, and
I am fine with ROs that stays by the MCs side as if they are glued together by superglue, but I really appreciate ROs that can separate themselves voluntarily from the MC and get job done all by themselves. For example an RO who is a strategist will NOT accompany a front-line general MC because their job is to make plans behind the front lines, and using their guile and intellect to help the MC. Also, some ROs may be non-combatants.
My idea will require the player to choose an action which triggers hidden content to save the NPC. If the MC is busy, misses the call, or disregards the call for help, NPC is gone. Unless the MC’s name is Marajade or its likeness in which case the NPC immediately moves in, wrecks the house, eats all food, and sits on the floor crying.
Don’t called it NPC when you and I knows her name is Emma. No , but I am tired of videogames or books when try so hard shoehorned you a character. Try to not romance anyone in a Bioware game. Characters would die to jumping over you and making you choose something barely bangeable.
They tend to focus on the drama of having to pick one or the other.
Anyways, I don’t think you have to worry about him being forced onto anyone. If he’s currently non-essential enough to have met a grizzly fate, I can assure you that the option to try and save him would be completely optional much like saving Dante and helping Lopez are. They’re fully optional events and characters. Anyways, 
I guess I could be able to give fixed orientations now there’s more options, though in my head Aden, Malina and Vin at least are genuinely bi and not playersexual. (Don’t worry 
)
I love me that big ol’ lumberjack.
), so I feel a strange compulsion to play a homosexual character whenever it is possible just because I can! 
No , but I am tired of videogames or books when try so hard shoehorned you a character. Try to not romance anyone in a Bioware game. Characters would die to jumping over you and making you choose something barely bangeable.