If we want our characters in our stories to have real personalities, or make sense; then I think we should respect them having thoughts, feelings, misunderstandings… They will have their own angle on the subject. And if you say you want better RO’s that interest you, or characters that are there not just for the sake of the plot or MC, then I think this should’ve been inevitable. Although what we see is, that it is hardly done.
But if it’s done correctly, I think that is what tells a story apart from others, what makes it real, makes it immersive. William C. Martel has an interview on how to create dialogue and he talks a lot about individual angles and misunderstandings, and how it is what real life is and how that makes the dialogue more interesting.
And I think the same goes for our IF novels. Sometimes a character will make a move on you because thats how they are and how real life is, then if you like, push them aside: sometimes a character will shy away and you will think they are not interested and pull back, or push more; even sometimes you will misunderstand that character and your act of pushing more will intimidate them so they will get further away from you; and sometimes a character will show no effort and you’ll think to yourself am I pushing too hard on this.
I think if you want to give your reader the most immersive experience, you should stop hesitating about not giving them the reigns every time // or stop being too careful and start making other characters and events also matter. But obviously, always, and I can’t stress that enough, giving the MC the choice to do something about it. Whether it be rejecting two times to make it clear; or be able to reject first, then romance; or be not romance at all from the start. After all, this is INTERACTIVE fiction and the power of choice should always be with the reader.
biggest ninjamance i ever experienced was ashley in mass effect one,i was playing as a paragon and no idea when it happened but apparently we were madly in love because i wasnt playing as a dick
I am working on a story, and I could use a bit of advice. This story’s romance level is PG. I will mention up front that the player can turn off romantic options and that if they keep it on then the ROs will initiate based on their feelings (from animosity to interested in a relationship as well as other feelings) towards the other person based on how the story and choices have progressed.
Edit (added): It could be somewhat compared in a similar way to the movie, “Princess Diary 2,” though there are two ROs. One being like the guy who goes from antagonist to RO in that movie.
Do you think the heads up and option to turn off ROs at the beginning of the movie (with the ability to turn them on or off at anytime in the middle of the game) should be sufficient in covering a lot of basis? What do you think? Any other thoughts?
It’s very thoughtful of you to consider giving us, players, this choice. For that only you have my thanks.
Personally, I wouldn’t ever use the option to turn the romance off, even if the romance isn’t to my liking but I know there are people who would welcome this idea very much.
So I have been thinking about it. Since I am breaking my current book of many books, in the Rusheya Series that I am creating, into four parts (four apps) with the following titles as of right now: Become the Dragon Chief: Part 1 - The Tribe, Part 2 - War, Part 3 - Betrayal, and Part 4 - The Uprising. I realized since the romance build up will be a slow building friendship/fire between both ROs and the MC, then I don’t need to offer the option at the beginning; however, when the opportunity does occur for the first time, individually from each RO, then I will give the option to the reader to decline the romantic offer for good. Well, once for each RO, so the romantic offer could be on board for the other RO.
My advice is let the player initiate the romance or not via choice. I will never romance any character that tries to take initiative I am absolutely against that. So having a small triggering where the player can choose who initiate romance could implement a lot your number of players.
Anyway, whatever is your choice be sure to include in the game info the nature of romance and the fact player is not who initiated romance to avoid backlash
In The Lost Heir (2), there is one case I can think of. Bran/Brinn can kiss you (naked!) without your consent, and will get a bit hurt (and have a relationship drop) if you reject their advances, are of a compatible orientation and unattached. While I don’t mind assertive ROs, that situation gave me a very @poison_mara -esque reaction (albeit I only got the scene in question after having the game for some time).
On another topic entirely, I think that for me, a bigger issue is whether a character initiates romance, or whether the game pushes an RO. That is, whether a game specifically targets a particular love interest at you - which is of course kind of subjective in itself, but I think a lot of us can feel when the narrative “wants” us to get with a particular character. I’ve always considered that a design flaw.
totally agree with you, and one of my issues why I am so adamant about the whole thing.
In most games is a BIG red flag that the writer WANTS you to romance that character and is the focus.
What is for most of the players a big turning off and directly hatred against that character that looks like is shoehorned towards you wanted you or not.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that is a big turn off for most characters. I have rarely seen games that push you towards a RO, but something like TSSW, which I am still playing, would be amazing.
I really dislike it when NPC are completely passive and seem to have no emotions for MC unless you initiate it and keep going all the time. Sometimes I really makes me feel like I am harassing them
In my opinion, it’s great when npcs show interest on my character, and I really wish more games would do this
So far, tssw is the best on this department, and if more people made romance like that author, I would be a very happy person hehe.
Maybe something subtle could be a believable middleground, because I do sometimes feel like outside RO specified scenes there is no connection between characters at all. Perhaps if a player were the one to initiate it originally, then that character would take a step themselves to show affection down the line and have that give and take dynamic intermittently it could work.
I didn’t play that game because of romance I was told that characters pursue you and for me that is a big no. So I even don’t play the demo. I say that as okay and always is clearly advertising I see it as a positive impact on Cog and a way to attract new reviews, and public. Not everyone wants same in romances and whT can be creepy and a no for me is what many people wants.
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I’d like this to happen. Variety is good, and assertive ROs can be charming in their own way. But again, choices should be open to us players, be they “immersive” or “technical.”
On a technical level you can just do what u’ve suggested, present an option to turn off advances. On an immersive level, maybe present the players with choices that would rebuff those advances (in a variety of ways, preferably).
Only if you display interest, I hate when every character you meet you share some form of sexual tension with. It doesn’t feel realistic, like you have no control over what they like about you. Would be better if each character had preferences outside of sexual orientation. So far I have only seen your actions matter when you are the pursuer, but whenever a character is pursuing you it just because you are the main character. The traits you gave them are irrelevant.
Personally, I’d fall all over myself to throw money at your game. I know there are some people who don’t like the RO initiating anything, but there are also people (myself included) who want to play a game where the RO makes the first move. It would be a nice change from what we have now.
My opinion is that, if you do what you said–put in a warning and allow players to turn the romances off–then you’ve done enough to “protect” players who get triggered over any sort of advance from the ROs.
Furthermore, I’d like to point out that, since you’re saying that the ROs will only initiate things based on stats–and how the relationship with the MC is–then it’s not “the game” pushing a romance at the player, it’s things progressing in a natural way. It’s character-based, rather than plot-based. I’m assuming each RO would make a move at different times, since each would have a different personality. I’m all for this. And I’m sure others are as well. It might be a niche game, but it’s a niche that needs to be filled.
^^This! Most romances in games feel so unnatural and off because everything is so one-sided, with the MC being the one to push themselves on the RO. Worse, it results in ROs and NPCs all being the exact same–no matter how assertive a NPC is, if they are a romance option, they turn into a passive sub type who gets “chased”. It’s a huge turnoff.
Yep! TSSW did it better than any game I’ve seen so far. I’ve already played that game seven times.
I don’t understand why people want to be pursued and repeatedly hunted like hares. I really want to understand that to be better writer. But I am totally incapable of understanding that, for me that is creepy and even if is something natural in real life in games or literature I see it directly as stalking me. I wouldn’t write something like that and I see that as a flaw I have.
Having a RO express interest and make a move is not being “repeatedly hunted.” Do you consider it “repeatedly hunting” when you play a MC that is the aggressor? If you go by your logic, then that makes the LI your MC is after nothing more than prey, does it not?
The thing is, different people like different things. And, while I appreciate these romances in games where the MC has to always be the one to chase after the LI, it would be nice to have the LI be the one to show interest first. In games that claim to be centered on choices, we really don’t have the choice not to be the aggressor in relationships (especially with romances, but the same applies to friendships, many times).
While you see it as stalking if someone–be it in a game, literature, or real life–tries to make a move, that doesn’t mean that everyone does. I get it. You get triggered over any type of advance, and that’s fine. But please try to understand that other people may feel that it’s not cool to always be the one chasing after others because, especially in these games, most times it doesn’t feel mutual.
While that may be cool with you (and others who hate any sign of being pursued or wanted by others), others may not be comfortable with it. Furthermore, they might get triggered over feeling like they’re sexually harassing others. Or, they may just want to have a different experience from these games, where pretty much all of them have the MC as the aggressor in relationships.
Edited to add:
I suppose it can be argued that the “shy” flirting options make being pursued somewhat of an option, but sometimes bold MCs may want to not have to make the actual first move, either. And hell, if a MC is constantly throwing it out there, it’s obvious they want it, so it’d be nice to have the LI take the bait, so to speak.
