So, I’m working on a project. It’s still in its early stages thus I can change much of it. The problem is: your character while being 17 years old because of… reasons, should be 47. There’s another character who you’ll meet along the story and said character is a literal 30 years old. Our doubt came when we decided to make her a RO.
What should I do? Change the age of the MC? Or are you guys fine with it? Should I forsake the RO altogether?
On a side note: changing the age of the MC would be only by 3 years, max (this would also advance the age of all other characters within that age group). Changing the age of the other character is not an option, if anything I’m thinking of making her even older because of her role in the story.
I’d think there’d be too many problems associated with a 17 x 30 relationship. (What exactly you mean by “should be 64” could affect things, though… it’s hard to interpret what that means ) 20 x 30 would still be pushing it, but since it’s in adult territory, it wouldn’t be as big an issue. It’s also worth asking whether changing the MC’s age would mean sacrificing anything important in the story, or whether forsaking the RO idea would be a greater sacrifice. It’s a trade off.
???Okay…I assume either time shenanigans or…cryostasis accident? Is MC 17 years old (mentally, emotionally, etc) or do they just look like it?
Anyway, safest action would be to make them at least 20…maybe even 21, if it won’t change too much about the story…or to rethink that character’s status as RO.
Time shenanigans. Something happened when they were 17 and they still have all the traits of a 17 yo. Also I just realized I miscalculated, it should be 47 not 64, my bad.[quote=“Sammysam, post:3, topic:26100”]
Anyway, safest action would be to make them at least 20…maybe even 21, if it won’t change too much about the story…or to rethink that character’s status as RO.
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Yeah that’s what we thought about first, but if we advance the mc’s age then we have to increase the ages of everyone (most are important to the story) who should be around that age and the character we’re talking about would also get older, otherwise the gap in their age would be too small for their role. And he suggested just scrapping the RO altogether but I want who you choose to pursue to affect the story in more ways than some name changes here and there and some extra tidbits of dialogue. That’s why I decided to ask here first as the character I’m mentioning plays an important role so far.
I’m confused by what you mean by the character being 17 but should be 64? I’m assuming there’s like time travel shenanigans or cryostasis. Either way, I think the MC’s age should get bumped up, especially if there are other ROs who are supposed to be 18+, because of legal things. I’m not entirely sure but I’ve heard that Apple won’t even allow a game to be in their app store if there’s a romantic and/or sexual relationship between a minor and an adult. 20 would still be kinda squicky (mid-20s sounds safer but that’s just a personal thing) but it would probably still be okay for it to be in the game
My general rule of thumb is if a character is under 18 in either their mental (or I guess soul age? in some contexts) or their physical age, don’t have them get into romantic or sexual relationships with someone significantly older than them
That’s a very concerning age gap and I’d advise against it anyway, but also this makes me feel like the character should not be an RO. If their role in the story requires them to be significantly older than the MC, I’m guessing they need to be in some mentor or similar position of power, which as a general rule should set off alarm bells.
It sounds like the situation just doesn’t lend itself to romance in general
Time shenanigans. And that character’s age is completely tied in to the story, so for now I’m probably just going to remove the option to romance them because the age of the characters who belong to the same age group as your MC is important. Basically what caused the time shenanigans also caused something to happen elsewhere, said character is one of the first affected by what happened, then there’s a few years hiatus before the same things start happening to the people in MC’s age group. And since these characters’ ages are tied in to the story I can’t move them past 20, otherwise too much time would have passed for the inefficiency of the government to contain what’s happening be somewhat believable.
You said making the age higher will mess with the other characters, I kind of agree with the others, even just make it one year higher to 18 years. That way they’re a legal adult in most countries and do what they want relationship wise. I’m guessing they look 47 too? If that’s the case you’re going to get the reverse effect happening with the appearence for the NPC and other’s reactions to it, as well as the differences in the age related maturity stuff for the MC. Sure you want to go there? Sure there are couples out there on both ends of the spectrum and it could be written, but it’ll be work.
If your character is 20 and the other character is 33, that’s fine; it’s up to the player whether the age difference is a dealbreaker. That’s a difference of 13 years - the gap between my husband and I is actually larger, and we do just fine. I was an adult when we met, we had a lot of common mental interests, and I was emotionally mature.
Let’s see, 33 vs. 47-50… that’s 14-17 years’ difference, somewhat more significant, but again not impossible to overcome (that’s right around where we are.) I’d enjoy having an older RO for once, rather than the standard “we’re all in our late teens or mid-20s and one year apart, and differ only by gender and hair color.” Though of course, it helps if older characters are still outstandingly fit and attractive.
The being 17 thing? That’s the deal breaker. Whether physically or mentally, it’s crossing a line. For some reason, I also feel better about the character being 20 than 18; maybe it’s because 18 gives “barely legal” vibes and feels a bit predatory, while a 20-year-old has had a couple of years to grow away from the trope.
I agree, it has to be above 18 either 19 or 20 unless you are specifically doing the RO as a bit of a predatory thing, in which case I suppose it’s ok. If that’s not the intention then change the age, because otherwise people will project the predatory intent.
Yeah, it’s not supposed to be predatory or anything along those lines (just one of the many cons), when I thought about putting it in it would be started by the MC and the character would be completely against it only giving in near the very end of the game and if mc satisfied stat requirements related to how mature the older character saw them as (especially since you actually haven’t aged so you’re still 17).
I’ve decided to just remove them as an RO since the pros of having it are too few compared to the cons.
Mmm I honestly don’t have a problem with an age gap the way you’ve got it.
When I was 16,17 I had my first serious boyfriend. He was 8 years older than me, and I really have mostly fond memories of that time, and consider it a positive experience. When I was 18ish I fooled around with people in their 30s.
That’s all to say I’d happily play a good CS game that gave me a significantly older RO.
If by the other way you mean you’re the older one that’s not what I meant. Your character would still be 17 since you haven’t aged, 47 is the sum of the years you spent actually y’know, living and the 30 years you spent lost in time (or something, I haven’t really decided what exactly happened yet).
When you were supposed to still be 17 the older character in this stance wouldn’t have been born yet. But since what happened, happened you currently are 17 and she’s 30.
I’d probably never go for it unless I really liked the character, which I doubt, no offense. Though it’s be legal in my area, rule of thumb for me is about a five year difference at the max.
Personally I would go for it. It brings something new to same “formula” relationships that tend to be in games. Also I could see good character development com from both parties due to it as Well.
) 20 x 30 would still be pushing it, but since it’s in adult territory, it wouldn’t be as big an issue. It’s also worth asking whether changing the MC’s age would mean sacrificing anything important in the story, or whether forsaking the RO idea would be a greater sacrifice. It’s a trade off.
I was an adult when we met, we had a lot of common mental interests, and I was emotionally mature.