As @MIGSey says. Check out the FAQ section of the OP if you’re interested in participating in the final beta.
Understandably. It would of course be oh so easy to limit the gay character aspect to scenes of a private or intimate nature and to not have it impact anything else in any significant or meaningful way – as is perhaps the norm for these things.
I wanted to try something a little more… involved than that, given the game’s era and setting, but I accept that it’s a fine line to walk and guidance / feedback will be paramount to get it right (or to scrap the whole idea, with relative ease, if it doesn’t seem to be received too well).
Overall, that could be the end result – such as accepting that a less secretive approach is bound to have a negative impact on Underworld Respect as a whole. It’s not a glass ceiling, though, just a somewhat harder climb than it would otherwise be. Conversely, the advantages to help offset this would be more situational in nature (and some may therefore be missed / bypassed on a particular play-through, which may at times result in an overall negative impact). The aim is that this would balance out on those play-throughs where you manage to take advantage of all the positives from being less secretive, and so fully reap the rewards.
It’s fair point and I can definitely see how it could be taken that way, so again it will be something about which to keep a close eye on playtest feedback in those few situations where it applies.
I guess the main point is that it’s definitely not a case of just turning on the charm and being able to ‘convert’ anyone. There has to be a case of latent attraction – perhaps on a subconscious level – before there is even a remote possibility of success.
In essence, instead of simply defining every character as either straight, gay, or bi, I’ve also allowed for a gray area in some particular cases, because I feel this is also very much a part of our human nature. Things are not always so cut-and-dried in real life, either.
Yes, Persuasion will play a big part (because in the game this encompasses such as physical attractiveness, natural charm, and your ability to persuade by such as reason and simple logic) but other factors will also play a part, and mostly different ones for each individual. Above all, however, your own choices will be the overriding factor.