How do people just randomly find a 4 year old thread.
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Itâs incredible that the poll remains open, honestly. Might get a resurgence of votes.
I kind of like the idea of an RO who will reject you though ngl.
But it has to be for a good reason, and I would prefer if that reason is my fuck up rather than a thing that happens no matter what.
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If âROâ always rejects you no matter what then they are not really a romance option since there is no romance with them. If it happens because of RO not being attracted to certain personality then it is important that said dislike is communicated earlier through interactions between characters. If my stoic MC gets rejected for no reason other than âyouâre stoicâ at the end of the story with no prior indication of it then thatâs just bad writing.
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Agreed!
Clear communication of an ROâs discomfort or lack of connection is important for the choice to feel organic rather than just forced. If the RO has just as much chemistry with a Stoic MC as with a Charismatic one, then what is the point to claiming they are attracted to one personality and not the other?
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sees thread title
sees poll results
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I want ROs to be able to reject me. I like ROs who feel like actual people, and that includes having interests and values and lives apart from me. It should be more difficult or impossible to build a relationship with someone who has deeply incompatible needs, beliefs, or priorities.
I also really want to normalize the idea in society that there are people you just canât have, and itâs not the end of the world.
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It depends on how itâs written. I do not want a fake-out âROâ that always rejects MC. However, I would not be opposed to the RO turning MC down because the MC isnât their type (and going for someone who is). The Lost Heir trilogy did it surprisingly well: a few of the ROs had types (T and J in particular) and would turn you down if you werenât their typeâif you were charming enough they would like you regardless. The non-chosen ROs also would pair off with other characters after the Heirâs romance was locked in (or the Heir didnât romance anyone). However there was a fairly recent controversy about this particular bit of the Lost Heir trilogy.
So regarding the original question, my answer is: it depends on execution and either way youâll get criticism from both sides of the argument on whether ROs should be able to reject MC and/or get with other characters if not chosen.
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I mean, âI wouldnât mindâ has over half the votes, so your Ignis path is safe. 
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Iâm kind of fascinated because of the difference in results between this poll and the discussions in this thread.
In my experience, love interests dating each other can be fairly controversial. But a very large swathe of players really hate love interests specifically rejecting the MC for another character.
I quite like both as a player for the reason that I like MCs not being the centre of the universe, but I admit that if I was really invested in a romance interest and they turned me down for someone else for reasons I didnât understand, Iâd feel a bit miffed.
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I quite like it too, I have a plan for two of the ROs if the Immortal doesnât have many romance points with them after a certain point and no amount of chiding will talk me out of my own stubborn mind for it.
I think there should be more of it, itâs very grounding to me as a player to see the ROs act like people capable of being independent of the player and to develop on their own. It only can feel affronting when it is like you are tearing apart something that you have no place in (which is why I would feel weird about it if there is no poly route with two people who get together if you are not romancing either of them)
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Or it isnât, because as the first comments suggested the way this poll is phrased mightâve affected the results 
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Iâm just echoing others in the thread but I donât mind a RO rejecting the mc. The romantic options having preferences is both realistic and might encourage multiple playthroughs with very different mcs/different actions.
Advertising a character as a RO when theyâre not will obviously disappoint people. If you want two or more characters to be exclusive then donât say that theyâre ROs. Having flirting options for a non-romancable character is fine but I think the reveal that theyâre not a RO should come before the reader is too invested.
Thatâs just my personal opinion and everyone should write what they want in the end!
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Man, I remember as a younger lass playing the first Dragon Age, thinking I had Alistair all sewn up. I was a young noblewoman, did a lot for the realm, had super high relationship score. I was mentally already picking out the drapes in the throne room. Then he hit me with âbut youâre not exactly Queen materialâ and GOLLY, was that an upset. Like maybe I dealt with the traitor incorrectly or something? Completely blindsided me. Never got over getting dumped by a goofus.
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The only reason I can think of was you kept Loghain alive which he definitely not ok with.
Personally, having ROs reject my MC is good for replay ability and realistic but can be frustrating because not all replay CoG/HG especially if theyâre quite long.
In the end, it will be authorâs decision at the end.
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I think giving a warning can be nice, part of why I vote for visual indicators in IF. At the very least it is very nice as an option, so players know if they are cutting off a romance with a choice.
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Personally, no matter how ârealisticâ it can be, I donât read IFs to feel rejected and be abandoned for another. Especially if MC didnât do anything to deserve it. And when they are advertised as a romantic option? Why⌠would anyone do that? To me it would feel like trying to hurt the reader for no reason. So yeah, big no for me, I would stop playing the game, feel like shit and stay veeeery far away from that author in the future.
Also, how is it âmore realistic because you canât have everybodyâ if that character is a romantic option? Just⌠donât make them a RO? Like why are you trying to intentionally upset the reader knowing many of them will love that RO? Just to wave them in their faces and then be like âSIKE! You thought! Now watch while they dump you and date this other character in front of your saladâ. Wow, congrats on⌠making me feel like shit? I sure would like to revisit this book and feel awful again! 10/10 experience!
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Mustâve been.
And I have to say that while it super sucked at the time, it did sadistically get me to replay the game with guides open to crush any opposition and do everything âcorrectly.â And I voraciously devoured every subsequent game.
I canât guarantee that current audiences will respond the same way, though. And thereâs more of an outlet now for the angst and pain than there was in the early aughts, so I expect the âouchâ will have more apparent effect than when we were just crying in our rooms, listening to REM.
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I mean, is it part of the story? Why would I be mad that an RO is an actual developed character with some agency instead of a faceless, genderless robot that adheres to the playerâs fantasies?
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For a lot of people, IF is a raw form of escapism, and so to feel the raw reality of rejection feels particularly unsettling because they donât anticipate it.
I am not in this camp myself, and I do not fully understand it, but I do recognize some people do not want to worry about such things while playing. A character can be grounded while also being a character that will accept the MC more or less whatever they do (Ash from Vendetta, who will have a crush on the MC, comes to mind. They will accept the MC no matter what path they take. Other ROs will reject an MC who takes some paths of the game)
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But if itâs part of the story, then whatâs the problem? You have to remember the fiction part of interactive fiction.
Now, Iâm not saying authors must follow some imaginary, arbitrary rule. But if said rejection is because the author wants it, or because its part of the story, then thereâs not much to debate here.
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