No, its (IMO) never wrong to author any character…for said character I know the type, I have heard the “You’re too pretty to be a lesbian” or “You just need the right man” or “I can fix you” Maybe the character you have in mind is different but those are RL examples of people that don’t take “no” as an answer
Of course is wrong!! YOU ARE FORCED ME TO READ AND HEARD A STALKER I WOULD DENOUNCE TO THE POLICE OR DIRECTLY KICK IN THE JEWELS UNTIL ONLY SEE ALL IN RED in real life. IT is annoying, it is unpleasant and certainly no one wrote to create pain and stress a romance.
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I am going to say yes.
I have personally no interest in dealing with the guy/gal who can’t take no for an answer. I have had trouble enough with that in real life. Also it feeds into a toxic stereotype about love we really have to stop telling.
The only way I could tolerate such a character is if they were a villain and not a romantic option for the MC at all.
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Just to play Devil’s advocate: is there any reason why they couldn’t be both? 
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No it would be fine if it fit the character, imo. It could be done either harmlessly (maybe the character is like that with everyone, not just the MC for example, or is doing it in a half-joking way), or the character is just a jerk. Either way, the MC should have the option to deal with that, depending on how they view it. An option to deal with it harshly would be cool too.
Edit: As long as it stays in the flirt/hitting on realm, and doesn’t go “rapey”. Unless that is a theme in the game’s plot or something.
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It depends like I feel like I in real life people realize they both like each other by subtle cues like body language or flirting. So like as long as the NPC isn’t super aggressive about it (unless being a flirt or being promiscuous is a defining NPC character trait). An example would be the NPC complementing/flirting w/you and then you have the option to like flirt back.
As long as you have the option to say no I don’t see any problems with any NPC starting a romance
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For me personally, yes. It just trigger me on a personal level. which I admit to being personal. But I also think it feeds into a popular, but harming stereotype of ‘No’ meaning ‘Yes’.
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Hmm, that could work.[quote=“UmbraLamia, post:11, topic:20496”]
I don’t think most people would mind if a no from the player means bloody no and boom. That’s it. No more advances from rejected.
[/quote]
Yeah, I was planning for you to be able to turn the NPC down (gently or otherwise) without too much rel loss. And I don’t like it either when a game doesn’t give you the option of saying ‘no’.
But what if the NPC you like best is also shy and/or oblivious 
then you’ll never get anywhere!
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I wouldn’t mind them proposing relations but trying to romance me just because we’ve had a good friendship going is not fine.
Personally I’ve always seen giving each character one and only one relationship meter is a problem when they have friendship AND romance.
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Yep, totally agree; it also seems to make the friendship path less important than the romance path, as if one is only good as buildup for the other. I’ve got meters for both but the romance one is hidden.
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I agree, it feels more real when there is a balance, with some characters making the first move and others who wait for the MC to initiate it.
On the flip side, I would also love to see games where one of the ROs is actually difficult to romance. Morrigan in DAO comes to mind, you have to walk a narrow path between treating her with contempt and compassion. Just being nice to her doesn’t work and often ends the romance, since she despises sentimentality and sees love as a weakness. If done well, a romance in this vein can be very rewarding to play through.
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What if, hypothetically, the friendship and romance meters both happen to be at the same point? What if I’m playing a friendly MC who likes to flirt just for the heck of it? In a situation like that, I think it’d actually be fitting for the (potential) RO to confront the MC and ask what their intent is. Are they seeking friendship alone, or something more? Much like we don’t like being stringed along in real life, I’m sure some ROs would have a similar reaction if the MC was playing hot potato with whether or not they’re being flirty.
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Aw man, I need more active RO’s in my life. I don’t mind pursuing, but like in real life, I prefer a mixture of both parties partaking in the romance dance (or something lmao) or someone just straight up asking me… because it feels nice, you know?
I think it should be find to be pursued, as long as you can get them to stop by talking to them about it. And if a character is more morally ambiguous, and talking isn’t enough, it should be made clear that this isn’t a good thing to do even if for whatever reason your protag is into it. Like Silas, for Choice of Robots I think? They’re a stalker, it’s made pretty clear, but you can still get with them.
But yeaaaah. That’s my two cents.
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Well, two shy people awkwardly dancing around the topic frustrating everyone around them to no end?
But, nah in that case a option fo shy MC to shyly approach the other NPC would work, too. Or the options to drop some awkward “subtle” hints…
However an oblivious MC could end in some frustration for the shy NPCs… same problem for oblivious NPC and shy MC…Love Confessions out of frustration maybe? (Just give the shy ones a blanket to hide under during the aftermath…)
It anyway is just that some variation would be nice instead having always the MC be the one to throw around cringeworthy pickup lines to initiate the romance.
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Good point … at the moment there’s different tiers on the romance path, so flirting would set you as ‘interested’ and that opens the way for a later scene where you would decide if you wanted to actually pursue a relationship (the next tier). But then ‘interested’ would still unlock mentions of the MC finding that NPC attractive, etc., so I’m not sure if would exactly fit a friendly flirty MC. I think the closest I have to that is that you can still flirt with Aden/Malina if you’re not interested in guys/girls, but they’ll assume you’re just being silly and it won’t set the romance meter.
A good mix, based on the individual character’s personalities. If the character’s rather shy, I’d expect the MC to have make the move, but if the character’s quite the charmer, it’d be nice to see them make the move too.
So, like most have said, I would have to say it depends on the personality. If an RO is a shy or generally quiet person, then it would make more sense that the MC might have to take the lead (though you could also have a really cute scene where the RO finally gets up the courage to confess). Likewise, if the RO is a confident, impatient, or otherwise kind of person then it would make much more sense for them to be the one to confess.
That being said, a good way to tell whether or not it’d be okay for that RO to confess would be tracking the interest of the MC. Say, if the MC flirts or shows interest than maybe that’s what spurs the RO into action. If the MC says yes, then yay, if the MC says no, then just cancel any future confession/romantic moments with that RO. (Like… a rejection boolean?)
Or, what you could do is always have the chance for the MC to confess, but if it gets past X-point in the story and the MC is still showing interest but the RO is the shy/quiet kind who wouldn’t normally confess, you could have some kind of… confession scene? Is that contradictory? Basically- they gain enough courage/get frustrated/whatever and confess. Then same ‘no means no’ rule can apply.
I don’t know, that’s my thoughts.
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One way around the friendly flirty MC problem, since flirting is not always an indicator of interest, might be to delay the mentions of the MC finding the RO attractive or not, and ask the player directly first (or instead). For example take a scene with the MC looking around to see what the others are doing. After the description, you can include choices like:
- I catch myself staring at [Character X], and look away before they glance up.
- [Character Y] beams at me, sending my heart pounding.
- Etc…
- Good, they’re doing their jobs. [Generic response for those who aren’t interested in a romance at all]
Then you know for sure who, if anyone, the MC is attracted to. (Not perfect though since this can potentially lock the MC into romancing only one character, at the exclusion of polyamory or jealousy scenes…)
Actually, didn’t A Study in Steampunk make use of something like this? It’s been a while since I played it but I’m pretty sure the game used a dream to determine who the romantic interest was, which resulted in the MC realizing he was in love.
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I guess that it should fit the RO’s character first.
But, if I had to pick one option, I’d much rather have the game telling me who the romances are, either directly or indirectly. Guns of Infinity makes an interesting thing, it gives you a table of choices to pick from when you meet a RO, so you can identify who is one and also pick the way your character feels about said RO.
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I agree with people saying that it depends on the personality of the character. I also agree that in the cases where the NPC makes the advances, it should stop if we refuse twice (max. 3 times). Otherwise we are practically being harassed and it’s NOT cute
To add something to the discussion, I would like to suggest more scenes from the RO’s POV. It’s rarely done but it’s something I really like because it lets us (players) know exactly why does that character find our MC attactive and it makes the relationship more believable. It doesn’t have to be long. Even a few lines of internal monologue are enough.
For example, let’s say there is a scene where someone is threatening our gang. If the MC stands proud and calls BS, later we can get a POV where the character admires our courage. Or, if our MC is diplomatic and solves things peacefully we can get them thinking “Heh, of course my dear (MC) will charm everybody.” Something like that.
I know this might be too much when there are tons of ROs but if there are just 2-3, I think it can be done without much problem.
As for stories with many ROs I like the system used in 7KPP where even if you want to date everyone in one playthrough, you will fail because every character has some preferences regarding your personality/abilities and it’s impossible to get ALL the stats high enough to activate ALL the romances at once. This way it manages to keep some realism because it doesn’t make much sense that someone whose reason to live is helping others will suddenly fall in love with a MC that is so obviously amoral and doesn’t give a shit about people.
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