well not everyone has to date someone . some character can focus on their career , their faith…their skill…more missions…their guild…their country…study…or whatever they fancy .
some character maybe turned down by the MC , doesn’t mean they go ‘Oh woe is meh! now who is gonna warm up my blanket!?’ and hook up with the 1st idiot they can find lol . Some of them will be turned down and continue on their path . After all they are grown up peoples .
Oh~! So less like a “Noah’s Ark, everybody pair up” and more like a “Where are they now?” situation. Okay, I feel you.
Also, yeah, it’d be so weird if the MC had to deal with no-longer-RO having like…rebound relationships out their butt. They’d be making decisions based on their own personality, past, present, and the inevitable future.
Totally agree that we should be able to form relationships just as deep without romance. Good characters should have their own opinions, choices and aspirations, and the MC’s interactions with them in these realms should be just as important, if not more, than whether or not we flirt with and kiss them.
(And less characters whose whole identity is based on their role as a RO please. /Dodges brick/)
As for extra writing; anyone here familiar with Sem from WWU? He was originally written to be a friend, but none of the friendship scenes look out of place in the romanced path.
Speaking of female friendships, I was oddly really touched by Morrigan from DAO.
A fan in general of the companion quests system.
throw a goat
They say it’s for…uh…prosperity? 
Damn. Now I need a Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker-inspired CoG. 
This reminds me of something I found pretty cool in a visual novel called Queen At Arms. The MC, born female, pretends to be a male soldier. In the course of the game, the MC can romance several characters. One of those love interests, however, only remains interested if the MC self-identifies as a trans guy, otherwise, it’s “only” friendship. For me, this was an unexpected but realistic twist that I found really neat.
I’ve been in a similar spot regarding ace stuff, but I feel that it must be a lot harder for aros/aroaces who barely have any representation. Good for you that you still enjoy playing.
That’s awesome. I’ve noticed that books like Wayhaven Chronicles: Book One (which is specifically romance-focused) had better friendship options than some of the earlier COGs I’ve read, at least in its initial book so far. And I went into it just because I adore vampires (a VERY unhelpful interest of mine, if you’ve ever tried to find any non-romantic/sexual vampire content). I love the idea of getting a similar amount of content just without the romantic bits. That’s honestly just what I’m looking for, personally.
And yeah, relationship drama doesn’t tend to crop up in stories much, and that’s an inevitable part of any bond. Fallen Hero: Rebirth gave a nice little chunk of drama for my liking with my MC’s friendships, it was great.
Have you played VtM:B?
Example: I genuinely don’t care if Wayhaven Chronicles is going to be 90% romance-focused, people will pry that insanely creepy mad scientist vampire antagonist whatever-his-name-I-forgot from my cold, undead hands. He was amazingly written and I loved how oblivious my MC was for the whole game.
Nope, but I know vague things about it from reviews on YouTube. I remember that you can pick clans and one clan has to skulk around in the sewers and eat rats. (I wouldn’t be that clan, it’s no fun if you’re anything but a charismatic immortal jerkwad.)
You can totally be a charismatic immortal jerkwad if you want. Actually, there are quite a few of them in-game.
Niceee~ They’re the best. Also, for anyone who wants some: casual vampire jokes.
https://rhysgraves.tumblr.com/post/170172092770/skysinger-musings-thanks-for-the-scarf
Glad other people like my Matchmaking thoughts, yes! agree with you CJW about the biggest strength of CYOA also being a big weakness potentially. But I think part of that is about giving fans what they want because a lot of people do want the MC to be centered of everyone’s lives, it’s wish fulfilment! And I get that, even if it’s not really why I play. I rarely play my characters as “me” though. I actually prefer main characters who have more of a defined background such as the one in Fallen Hero, or Study in Steampunk, while you can still customize them to some effect. But, blank slate can be fun too!
And in Dragon Age 2 two of your companions do hook up if you don’t romance them, though it’s not exactly … romantic, more of casual sex. But I think it makes sense for them, same with the companions who get together in DA: Inquisition.
My main objection is really to characters who don’t seem to have any life, goals or anything except that which revolves around the MC. And that seems to happen more often with love interests.
Yep I agree. I’m not a fan of having to get romantically involved with everyone just to get closer to them/their back story etc. There are some characters I just want to be good friends with, a comrade in arms or even a frienemie depending on the story. I’m all for options other that only ro’s as well that give you better depth of story with the other characters.