and don’t forget the priiiiize.
Not just experience with harassement. But there are games that call it romance, but it’s harassement in a way.
When it’s badly written, and your only way out is to be a jerk…come on.
DA2!!! oh wait…that’s what I did lol shame , shame lol
Maybe this could be solved by having a rejection vs. firm rejection variable? A character (who is the type to try again after being rejected) could be very firmly rejected by the player (off the top of my head, giving reasons such as incompatible orientation, personal distaste, etc.) and never come after the player again or be rejected in a not-very-firm manner and try to ask out the player character again afterwards.
I’m employing that system in the game I’m currently working on, so that players won’t be immediately locked out once they reject a character. I’ve also had the opposite experience of characters confessing too soon, rejecting them, and later wanting to try their romance path and discovering that I was locked out because of that.
DA2 you actually had to press the big flashing heart icon, there were two mild flirts (one from Anders, one from Isabella) unpromted, but that was it. It’s the game where bioware started saying - press the heart for romance.
IIRC, because there was a lot of complaints about getting ninjamance’d in DA:O.
I think the issue with the DA:O characters in question is that the options to confirm or deny the romance weren’t crystal clear, tbh. It was clear enough to me but I’d understand if some people misunderstood that.
We all have different life experiences. The argument that we should not do something because some readers have had different experience with it is flawed. If that were true, then why bother releasing games where you can’t choose gender or sexual orientation? All World Pro Wrestling is gay and A Player’s Heart is lesbian only. Dreamfall doesn’t even have humans in it (?).
Once again, I’m only talking about a situation where you have build enough relationship with a character that they i.e. send you a text message or ask you out on a date without you having to do all the work towards that relationship. If this isn’t healthy in a relationship, then I don’t know what is. Be a control freak? We’re talking about Heart’s Choice games where romance should be the core of the game.
Bad writing is NOT an excuse to exclude well thought out, interesting and extensive romance in a series of games literally revolving around the topic (HC).
And bugs. Lelliana had a bug where she would in one conversation gossip about your romance with another character and then in the literal next one would scream at you about how you were lying and cheating on her.
Heart Choice a literally romance games. Or at least they claim to be. (They are not all successfull). I would say that by playing you are by default consenting to some romance. But in both the heart choice games I played I didn’t have a problem with the NPC not approaching me. Rather it was the problem of the NPC confessing even when they shouldn’t.
Everything you said here, I agree with. And hopefully topics like this will make the writes think twice before making obvious mistakes like this in the future. Having said that, it’s difficult to write a good branching story on its own so I understand the issue. But it’s not an excuse not to do it, in my honest opinion 
nobody said it was a bad idea, or a ‘‘I don’t want it’’ . It’s a nice concept, when done well.
We just said, that it’s DONE . Outta there, there are games that do it. Some even have the romance initiate the Smoochies. But it is done in a way, that is mostly harassement-shoved-onto you-with no way out .
But yeah, one romance or two who can respect buandarie, respect your first ‘‘No’’ if you are not interested . And do it in a way they don’t make you barf with unwanted Flirting. It can be a wonderful refreshing take on romances .
Alas, most of us have mostly experience with the Bad ones lol
Don’t take this as us saying ‘‘Hell no! I don’t want to see it’’ . I personally wouldn’t care for it, because of the dudebro and my own personal choice of , I rather initiate it. Since in a story, you rarely know who you will like from the get go. You can like someone, then mid game they do something horrible or say something stupid…and there goes any liking I may have.
But it’s a nice concept . I like the ‘‘Send a quick email’’ one more . 
Ah, ok. Since I only played the highest ranking games from CoG and HG, I suppose I haven’t played those. Definitely played PC games where romance is shoved in your throat and I hated it with all my heart 
Yeah, it is not that I dislike you ideas.
It is more those kind of ideas which sounds good, but then you get to them and there is a hundred millions problem which you didn’t realize until you started writing. 
It is not that the writers are lazy, it is just that this is difficult.
Like sticking the romance that initiate the flirting, only to someone who is a)Roguish b) Sassy c) has corny pick up lines 
And the cringe become reality! lol
I do honestly think the concept is worth thinking about, maybe even try it (I can’t code to save my life, so don’t look at meh!) . I also think any type of personality can initiate the romance (like shy, stoice…etc). And if someone could pull it off, it would be an amazing take on the usual personality we see used in different stories .
I am really really extreme in my dislike of NPCs trying to do something. Because 99% it was done terribly done. I am a take initiative person I am not submissive.
So even in rl, I am 99% taken the initiative and first step. Then Otomes when romance take initiative he end being or a control maniac or a psycho or something similar.
In those clonic jewels freemium Guy gal take initiative is mostly a toxic dominant relationship I don’t really care. It is not a relationship i am interested on play.
Not everyone wants the same in romances. That it is what makes them so complex. I am not interested in being a submissive mass of blushing.
However, other people doesn’t want. take the initiative at all, others want a medium balanced thing.
And take them all in same game is difficult as hell.
Fine. I have different wishes though.
OK. I’m not submissive either. Not sure why you’re bringing this up here. I wasn’t talking about submission or dominance in a relationship.
Yes, 100% agree.
OK. Yes, I got that.
It doesn’t have to be one game suited for ALL. This is why we have so many games and why, for example, I won’t play some of them. But I’m not about to take the pleasure away from others, because of what I (don’t) like.
Maybe it’s because I grew up reading objectively terrible romance novels (the kind about scottish dudes kidnapping and force-marrying rebellious maidens and then falling in love), but I think having NPCs take the initiative, even developing feelings independant of what the player chooses, is something CoG is seriously lacking in.
A lot of my issues with the Heart’s Choice games so far have been about a lack of tension. Romance routes feel cookie-cutter, you choose to flirt (sometimes right after meeting an NPC), they respond, on and on, then suddenly love.
Romance lives off of tension. The will-they-or-won’t-they. And a lot of well-liked romances include head-butting between the characters and a whole mess of feelings for that very reason. So I’d love it if there were more characters who are maybe just into MC even if the player hasn’t done any flirting. Hell, they can even be persistent - up to a certain point.
I don’t even mind if they are inappropriate about it, so long as the player gets the option to shut it the hell down.
What matters, I think, is to not railroad the MC’s feelings on the matter. NPC characters should be allowed to act according to their personality (a shy character won’t make the first move, a bold and overconfident playboy type definitely will flirt as much as they want, the villain may get inappropriately touchy or creepy about it depending on who they are), but the writer should never assume to know how the player/MC feels about it.
I like that writers try to pay attention to how their players may feel, but sometimes I really wish they wouldn’t be quite as hesitant/careful.
…mostly because I STILL have a weakness for bodice-ripper type stories. Give me tension, give me smut, give me all the guilty pleasures.
What if the RO started flirting with you only after you had already demonstrated a romantic interest in them? That way any flirting done by them towards you, is the result of you conveying to them the fact that you’re romantically or sexually attracted to them. @E_RedMark perhaps you can benefit from this idea as well ? as it could potentially allow you to only be approached by the women you’ve already flirted with in the story and could hopefully allow you to not have to deal with the awkwardness of unwanted attention from guys.
Yes, the RO’s demonstrate their interest in the player but only in a reactionary way that is triggered by the persistence of the MC. While this is a great way to ensure that the player has complete control over their fictional love life, I personally feel that it makes the character’s less life-like or believable because it’s just another thing that the NPC’S can’t do by themselves or don’t have permission to do for the sake of letting the player have more control of the world/story.
If the npc is trying to make me do something is automatically not a npc i want to romance. I don’t say is bad, I only say I won’t romance him her they in a million of years. I don’t want a npc trying to limiting my choices and making me uncomfortable
Lol that goes against the idea of wanting to lead.
It’s like I want to drive a car, right? well, you bring the car around and I’m on the passenger seat.
But I want to drive. And you say ‘‘We are driving, aren’t we? look the car is moving’’ .
I want to drive, that mean hand over the wheel.
But I understand what you mean. As long as there is a way out, I think it could work. Because you can pick a flirt say by mistake and then it flagged ‘‘Initiated’’ and you changed your mind, or you started flirting with someone else. As long as those options are there, I do think it can work .
The ‘Unwanted attention from guys’ come mostly from poor writing. Often those romances, don’t have a friendship path. Like in ME1 with Kaidan. You as a female, are just chatting him up in a freindly manner. But all his dialogue (save for one) lead you to a romance with him. Then he sit there and talk to me about ‘‘Sign’’ and ‘‘you are into that…’’ with Liara 
mostly akward .
How would
Text message: Hey, I really enjoyed last evening. I hope we can do it again some time?
Respond: Yes/ No thanks.
limit your choice?
the reply is a bit too…curt?.
Because you can enjoy doing say outing again, but as friend. The reply suggest you just get rolled into romance or ditch and run away
Please, people focus on the posting topic and not engage in posts battles and negative impact posting. Something you don’t like flagged it.