This is hard because I have mixed feelings about this. I like gender-locked ROs as well as Non gender-locked ROs. I don’t really have a definite answer for this, but your game is about having the MC go through many “lives” and the next life will be predetermined depending on the MC’s previous choices in the previous life right? If it is part of the game mechanics then I think it would be wonderfully confusing if the MC is the wrong gender and they want to romance an NPC, but they can’t. It would be interesting to see the frustrations and struggles that the MC will have in dealing with that situation.
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I consider that a case of wanting to have the cake on top of eating it.
I don’t see it as immersion-breaking, and at risk of being direct - We don’t have that option in real life to go “oh dear, let me just switch my gender” in any sense or form in order to convince someone else to fall in love with us.
Basically, whether people who play the game identify as male, female, “non-binary”, “gender-fluid” and whatever other tumblr term is the latest of trends, and have hetero, homo, bi, trans, whatever number of sexual attractions have been invented by this evening… will not necessarily mean that everyone in a particular world will have that viewpoint or experience.
As such, even in worlds of high or low fantasy, of high or low sci-fi, or of whatever creative experience is out there, I firmly expect people and characters (outside of the MC) to have grounded roles within that world. And those roles tend to be heterosexual roles, or even gay/bi roles in general, as a matter of survival. In fact, I’d argue that unless we were in a world that was relatively safe for civilisation to prosper in, that the ratio of non-heterosexual roles would be smaller the more dangerous society becomes, although there is leeway in that anyway.
But I digress, and I don’t mean for this to become a debate in sexuality or gender or whatever. The reality is, for me anyway, that if I’m encountering people who are so fluid in their attraction to me, regardless of the gender, then that would be more immersion breaking than having someone that perhaps, I would fall for but who would outright reject me, maybe even feel awkward about me to the point they would ruin our friendship - Particularly, for example if I (M) attempt to do something with my best mate (also M), or reverse the situation so I (M) reject the interests of a girl, if I so choose to be gay. That’s life, that’s realistic.
On the other hand, I’m all for that fluidity to exist in a fantastic world if it can be so justified that I can get with it. For example, I love that there appears to be zero issues about homosexuality and such in a sci-fi world like Mass Effect, partially because, advancement, but also partially because, alien-sex becomes the new taboo in a sense - In that world, I can understand there being more time for such ideas to take ground, especially with multiple alien cultures that may very well challenge conventional views.
The problem with these worlds though, is actually getting the reader to ‘buy in’ to the actual world itself, something that will be default limit its very audience as you’re catering to a more open minded kind of reader, unfortunately, that sort of reader is not quite as abundant as we’d like to see.
(Does that answer the question…? - TL:DR I’m all for gender-locked romances, as I think having all NPCs being open for everyone pretty unrealistic unless the world/lore actually justifies it.)
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I always think of romance as separate from the story-it’s just there for people to enjoy. Also, the fact that I can easily avoid this by changing gender is still valid, because changing it to one of the options available will allow me to RO whoever I want.
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I’m all for gender-locked romances. We can’t really expect for everyone to be bi, can we?
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The way I see it this is a matter of whether you want your work to be more of a game or a story.
Something being more realistic, within the context of a game, does not necessarily make it more fun. Given how rarely gender matters in these games it can feel like an arbitrary restriction.
Having said that I’m not exactly against gender-locked romances either. There’s certainly something shallow about having characters switch genders and not be any different and/or basically being MC-sexual. It creates a weird, Mary Sue-like tone for the narrative when your NPC’s seem to be made around your MC.
Still, you should probably consider that every restriction you make on players will probably frustrate/make it less fun for someone. Just have a good reason for restricting players to certain choices. Making things more frustrating for your audience shouldn’t be done lightly.
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Our opinions on the subject seem to match up a lot. Especially when it comes to the “have a cake and eat it too” mentality. I saw this a lot when people with male characters were complaining about not getting to romance a lesbian character, whose sexuality was explicitly stated very early into the game. In games like the one I plan to make, where part of the theme is that life isn’t always fair and sometimes there are things you can’t change, I feel like it’s pretty important to the story.
Still, as I keep on planning the game, I find myself making this part “easier” by having a few lives where sex is not determined by choices (instead you’re stuck with what I’ve written that life to be) and every love interest is attracted to that sex.
(I asked the original question only because my audience’s opinion matters a lot when making my own game)
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Just make it a setting you can switch on and off. It’s fairly simple if your already making genders predetermined by something
the truth is, that some people will like it and some people won’t and some people won’t care.but you should write whatever makes you happy. cuz if you don’t enjoy it, you prob won’t end up finishing anything. Good luck =]
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