How mad would you be if an RO rejects you in favor of another character?

  • I would be livid. Especially if there is no way to actually romance them.
  • I wouldnā€™t mind. I think itā€™d be more realistic because you canā€™t have everybody.
  • I wouldnā€™t care too much. I donā€™t really get that invested in ROā€™s.
  • Yes, Iā€™d rather my RO be killed off or just unromancable if I canā€™t have them.
  • No, but I would hate the character who stole my RO away from me (and possibly the author).

0 voters

2 Likes

Could you maybe redo the poll to not be as judgy and, well, pushing ā€œrightā€ answers in our face?

38 Likes

I didnā€™t vote because the options presented donā€™t reflect how I feel (Edit: got same vibes as @MeltingPenguins) as well asā€¦ donā€™t make a ton of sense. The question is not a yes or no question.

To put simply how I feel: A character that you canā€™t romance is not a romance option.

102 Likes

Stronghold did something like this, and it rather worked.

I have it on my game that you can play matchmaker for some characters, amongst them two possible ROs. Even after starting to romance them, you can have a heart-to-heart with them about their feelings and help make ends meet.

So it is possible. Itā€™s just more complex than what it seems to be about here

1 Like

Okayyyyyy, itā€™s 4am :disappointed:
I still donā€™t see what I missed tho.

@MeltingPenguins Iā€™m unfamiliar with the characters of your work and also with Stronghold, so Iā€™d have to ask for context in the form of if you donā€™t have to play matchmaker and can simply have a relationship with one of the ROs yourself, and also if that would lead to your romance with the character seeming inferior to the romance that character could have with the other character.

Iā€™ve no feelings about being able to pair up other characters with each other, I think thatā€™s fine and Iā€™m sure can be done. (I also think being able to mess up a romance is alright, depending) My statement was more based on the vague title which (just personally) gave the impression of a character being advertised as an RO/romanceable but is actually completely unromanceable no matter what, which would not be a romance option. Though I realize I could have interpreted incorrectly.

19 Likes

If the ro in question was listed as an option available then yea iā€™d be pretty salty if it turned out ā€œpsyche, you canā€™t actually romance them in gameā€

I tend to avoid flirt options if the character iā€™m with isnā€™t an ro but the option is still there just for story reasons. soo other then thatā€¦ No big feelings on it, Iā€™ll just avoid them lol wouldnā€™t effect me or how i play any.

unless theyā€™re a really good character in which case iā€™ll sob quietly in a corner

20 Likes

Lemme try:

Youā€™re playing an IF game. A character you like becomes romantically involved with a rival, locking them off permanently from you.

How would you feel, from 1 (strongly negative) to 5 (strongly positive)?

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

0 voters

2 Likes

Was the character advertised as a RO? If they werenā€™t I wouldnā€™t really care, but if they were and then theyā€™re like ā€œnope, never mindā€ I would be pretty annoyed especially if I was invested in that character and looking forward to romancing them.

47 Likes

I think it is logical and more realistic if the ROs have their own prefered trait ā€¦ the RO could be an option but depend on the MCā€™s personality and action to determine whether this RO will choose us instead of the other way around ā€¦ :slight_smile:

Sometimes, i feel it is strange when we are entitle to angry when noticing our RO with another person, but never think that perhaps an RO is angry when we are romancing another ROā€¦

This is all fair equilibrium, nothing to feel salty at all :wink:

8 Likes

I would imagine it could work as a kinda ā€œfail stateā€, i.e. if you donā€™t have enough relationship points with them then they choose someone else over you (I kinda have something like this with two of the ROs getting together, although you have to show pretty much no interest in either of them for it to happen).

But (as everyone else has said), presenting a character as an RO and then giving the player no way to actually romance them (whether by killing them off, turning them evil, or just having them leave you for someone else) is something Iā€™d see as a betrayal, not by the RO, but by the story and author for presenting them in such a way, and I probably would avoid the authorā€™s works in the future. (I should note that I wouldnā€™t call myself ā€œangryā€, but I certainly wouldnā€™t be happy about it.)

44 Likes

I voted for being not fine with it, because to me the option seemed that a person, shown as RO canā€™t be romanced, and since I am lucky with that kind of thing, normally this person is the only one interesting for me^^.
If it is just a fail option I would not care.

As a example I might state Dragon Age 2, where none of the male ROs were something I liked, Anders seemed ok, but the end was nothing I could like^^. The only (for me) interesting male character was Varric, and he was not romancable^^

1 Like

Yes. Theyā€™d be listed as an option. The author in question would be meaning for their players to experience the scene.

If a char is listed as an option, you can be sure, that there are some players who try to romance them. So you can get players to play with the game, but Iā€™m pretty sure, that after realizing that no matter what they do they canā€™t succeed many of them would feel cheated. Cause in fact the author lied to them, nobody likes being lied in the face.

If it is just hard to get those characters everything would be ok. IĀ“d like to have some games where personal traits or believes matter to a RO. What I donā€™t like is liking based on agreeing with a character. So ā€œI donā€™t like you because you are in for money and would sacrifice my main goal world peace for thatā€, would be ok with me, where ā€œI donā€™t like you becaus you agreed with me only 9 from 10 timesā€ is ā€¦ meh.

27 Likes

I guess one can look at the Way Walkers as an example, which is admittedly my only experience. In the first game, you are introduced to a character by Jun (note Iā€™m only focusing on this character, not Jun, even though they themselves fall under this category) that, based on dialogue choices, they are obviously meant to be together and yet, suggests you can romance them in the future. In the second game, you have the opportunity to take them to a dance, assuming you have a good relationship with Jun. Despite that, end of the day, they care for Jun and your MC accepts this and allows them to go after Jun. Even though youā€™d probably be disappointed, for that particular scene, it worked like a hitch, in my opinion. So I give credit to @WayWalkerLeigh where itā€™s due there.

5 Likes

Mad? No. Sad? Yes. But then again itā€™s a game and the characters are only code. Iā€™d just move on and continue with the game.

Personally, Iā€™ve never encountered a non-romanceable RO situation before in COGs or HGs - some only have harder-to-romance ROs, and thatā€™s that.

With that said, Iā€™ll try to put my opinions into perspective: I feel it depends on the context in which this RO gets locked off. Iā€™ll try to illustrate with an example. (Before that, Iā€™d like to emphasise again that Iā€™ve not actually encountered such an issue before in a game - itā€™s just something Iā€™m trying to use to illustrate my point.)

So, letā€™s just say at the start of the game, itā€™s said that X is a potential RO. This is who I plan to romance.

If the route goes like ā€œwoops surprise! You canā€™t actually romance X at all!ā€ - then Iā€™d be disappointed and upset because X was falsely advertised as an RO.

Now, if the route goes like: X rejects me along the lines of ā€œsorry but I donā€™t think itā€™ll work, as youā€™re too headstrong/ quiet/ stoic/ etc.ā€, and perhaps end up with someone else who displays that ā€˜idealā€™ trait, then thatā€™s something Iā€™m completely fine with.

21 Likes

In Stronghold there are character ā€˜pairsā€™ that you can either marry (one or both of) or theyā€™ll hook up with each other if you choose someone else or no one (iirc)

In my case itā€™s youā€™ll learn about the potential roā€™s past a bit, and in some cases it becomes clear that they have feelings for each other as well as for you. if you then like you can help them with whatā€™s standing between them and hook them up, or at least help them clear the table between them

poll results

How you set up the poll can have an impact on the results (and presumably the discussion that follows). The original showed a majority preference for ā€œI donā€™t careā€ while the one lower down showed a pretty clearly negative reaction rather than neutral.

2 Likes

I think that the issue is that the situation is unclear.

I mean there is a difference between:

1: A false RO that was never romanceable (like Aveline in DA2) but which adds to the plot and fun anyway.
2: A RO that can pick another person if you donā€™t have enough ā€˜romance pointsā€™.
3: A RO that was falsely advertised as an RO just to get the numbers up.

All these different situations will have different reactions, and honestly I am not sure what the question was about. My first answer (okay with it) assumed 1 or 2.

44 Likes