I mean… that depends on the character. If they’re a total jerk, then no, I wouldn’t want to romance them.
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Would I on my first playthrough? No probably not but if it’s something you are personally passionate about and they aren’t your pet character that gets more attention than the rest then I’d definitely give the route a go. At the end of the day people are going to read your story based on the first few chapters so unless the sexuality part of it is really shoved in your face which may turn some away, you’ll still get the purchase if the plot is solid and the characters are interesting. What I’m saying is do what you want with your story it’s no one else’s and you’ll regret not covering everything you want to. Don’t pander to anyone, everyone can find a problem and yet they so often don’t offer a simple or easy to implement solution to said "problem. Sticks and stones and all that.
Best of luck with your story.
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I love your take, you’re totally right, we want complex characters. That’s why I didn’t wanted to change it in the first place, because when I’m writing, I usually feel like the characters grow by themselves and somehow do whatever they please lol
I feel this. I’m on the ace spectrum myself and somehow I still find this tricky. There’s a mentality regarding aces that is like “is either is black or white” and it lets out these nuances and complexities that are, in fact, very common. But when consuming media I try to take it like this: this x character is just one character and it doesn’t have to represent aaaaall aces lol (but maybe bc the representation is scarce, we become a tad more critical)
I know, right? I hate that too.
Waaa, (I love your work!!! I’ve played Noblesse Oblige, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and the mystery 
) I’m really moved by how supporting this whole forum is, I’m glad I joined.
Btw I’m finding tricky to respond to all of you, these are more answers than what I expected, I’ll try to take a look at all of your recommendations 
and I’ll pay heed to your advice 
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As someone who is ace themselves; as long as the character is interesting/compelling I’d romance them as their orientation isn’t the selling point (nor is their gender for that matter imho) but their characterization is.
I’d also encourage you to also decide if this character is sex positive, neutral/indifferent, or repulsed by it as a lack of sexual attraction is not the same as a lack of sexual desire/arousal. And honestly, I’d do this for all your characters regardless since being allosexual doesn’t automatically mean you’d feel positively about sex. Having nuances when it comes to this type of thing can matter a lot.
And finally, since this is my biggest pet peeve in regards to this topic and not really directed at you, asexuality does not equal aromanticism (and vice versa). People can be both (in fact I am both, I just like my fictional smut/romances lol); but adding an asexual route is not the same as having a purely platonic route (though tbf this type of addition has occurred less and less over the years).
This actually happens quite a bit in the fanfiction sphere (not the balking part but the other bit), lots of ace-spectrum authors writing some very kinky stuff over there xD.
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You’re right! Just like in real life, we’re all different. I really enjoy reading all these opinions as they bring new lights into topics I haven’t actually discussed with anyone but always thought as true, thank you!
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Nikola Tesla is an ace/aro romantic option in CoG: War of the Currents, and although I wrote his romance plot as a deep platonic friendship with subtle pining, it seemed to be a reader favourite. I think it’s absolutely possible to write a rewarding romance that makes readers reflect on the nature of their own desire!
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The first thing to ask yourself is: how does the character fit into the story- what is their role? Why are they asexual- more on their backstory and how they could possibly relate to your character? (Edit: I was not clear on this point) If you portray said character well, it will not be hard for players to romance this character. In a way that is still appropriately realistic. Different people have different preferences. It would be better if we could get a better look at what is going on. Sex and romance are related but separate things. I normally skip the sexual scenes, but wouldn’t shut the door on romantic scenes, for instance.
WTF? Would you ask why a gay character is gay? Asexual characters can and should exist because asexual people exist.
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I mean, people ask why that character or other is gay all the time. Though they usually say “genderlocked” and complain rather than ask, as though characters having defined sexuality is an act of war against the player. I imagine creating a romanceable asexual character would invite the same kind of discourse, assuming people came to like said character that is.
If that wasn’t clear by now, I don’t think much of this kind of feedback. But if you’re a real people-pleaser, really hate criticism or care for nothing but sales, you may wanna ask yourself whether you consider your reasons for making a character asexual good enough.
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Personally I like genderlocked ROs more, I dont know why tho.
In my experience they tend to have a more well-defined personality, but that really depends on how well the author is able to write characters to begin with. For example, in Fallen Hero the gender selectable ROs all have a very distinct base personality (and role in the story), which makes them just as loved as the gender locked ROs in the story.
But to get back to the topic at hand, and to what I think Rockman might have been trying to say:
The same as with a gender selectable RO, if you’re writing an asexual RO, please define them as a person/character first. As an RO their stance on sex and relationships will of course come up at some point, and can vary pretty widely even within the boundaries of being asexual, but that aspect is only a small part of who they are as a person. It’s their other characteristics that will draw us in first.
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Personally speaking…
If I have to date an asexual RO, I expect something to compensate the lack of physical intimacy; like better written romantic moments, more engaging personality, more emotinal intimacy or other examples I didn’t think of.
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Why should an asexual character have to compensate for anything? Can they not just exist and be a full, interesting character like anyone else because the author wants them to be?
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Because I think a relationship without physical intimacy as lacking.
Asexual characters have all the dignity an author is able to give them… but please, try to understand me when I say that a well written character is not equivalent to “I want to date this character”.
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A good amount of games don’t even necessarily have in depth sexual scenes. I do think it would make sense to offer supplementary ‘dating’ or ‘affection’ scenes for an asexual alternative to in depth sex scenes but when those aren’t on the table then I think the distinction would be pretty minimal outside of some flavour. [AKA when a game has fade-to-black anyway the difference is rather minimal in terms of experience, I think?]
Response to @Rinnegato :
Nobody is making anybody romance an RO 
. I don’t think an asexual romanceable character needs to be any more engaging than an allosexual character need be. If a character is not engaging then they are not engaging, ace or allo, and if they aren’t engaging then they probably aren’t a good romantic option to begin with.
Having sex isn’t the only way to show intimacy anyway, a lot of what I ascribe to deep signs of intimacy come down to communication, trust, and like… delicate touches? Like hugging from behind when cooking, or cuddling, or caressing one’s cheek or any other number of ways one shows affection/endearment. A lot of intimate touching isn’t really sexual in nature.
Also also there is a huge variety in types of asexual people so lets not assume an ace character need be sex-repulsed or sex-negative! [They could be interested in exploring it with a partner if they express interest, or could have a variety of comfort levels from being sex-positive to being even uncomfortable kissing but all of these are expressions that can fit within asexuality!]
Response to @Eiwynn :
Asexual people may engage in sexual intimacy with partners. Some asexual people do have sex because sexual desire differs from sexual attraction.
Thank you! Having a concise place to guide someone is nice. Honestly, I don’t think I have seen any examples in IF of sex positive ace characters. Are there any that come to mind for anyone?
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My issue with what you say @Rinnegato is:
Asexual people may engage in sexual intimacy with partners. Some asexual people do have sex because sexual desire differs from sexual attraction.
Perhaps this will help clarify:
Originally written in 2018, this was updated last month.
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Vivian from Stars Arisen?
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Thank you so much, you and @Phenrex and @Eiwynn. You get it.
I’ve got some good news for you: you don’t have to.
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Playing Royal Affairs, I often thought that I would have liked to romance Javi during the time when they were still figuring themself out. Not in order to get to smooch them or anything but to commiserate on all the stuff that can be really weird and strange about traditional courting behavior. “Kissing? Yeah, that’s nasty, let’s never do it again.” high-five each other Stuff like that.
That’s not meant as a criticism of Javi, obviously, I enjoyed them a great deal. I also understand why this sort of thing would be difficult to realize in a choice game. Which player wants to be told by their ace RO that there won’t be a repeat performance of whatever type of affection the ace RO didn’t enjoy? Similarly, while experimenting, I know that player-me would always be acutely focused on the danger of pushing my ace RO’s boundaries too much, even if they are generally open about their feelings and preferences.
Still, to me, curiosity is something I see too rarely in ace characters. Not necessarily the curiosity to engage in any romantic and/or sexual acts themselves but the curiosity to find out how stuff works for other people. For example, a thing I’ve seen quite often: Ace people with an interest in reading and writing romance (often involving explicit sex). Ace people quite happily researching kink in order to incorporate it in their stories. An interest in the queer community, its history and politics. Safely exploring scenarios that many of us aces would find uncomfortable in real life.
Another thing: A long time ago, I was of the opinion that we needed way more sex-repulsed aces and that the many fictional sex-favorable aces I saw (mostly in fan fiction) “ruined” asexuality for the ace people in real life for whom sexual intercourse is simply not on the table. To my credit, I think that was during a time when it felt like an outright crime to be openly ace in some online circles, so I felt very territorial about the few happy places I was still able to find. Anyway. Since then, I obviously changed my mind re: the fictional portrayal of sex-favorable aces because I’m glad that they are a part of our community.
These days, however, I see way too many people happily conflate asexuality with the desire to never, ever, under any circumstance have sex, and that’s simply. not. it. Don’t gatekeep asexuality, especially if you’re not even one of us. We haven’t stood through thick and thin together as a community for years to shut our sex-favorable or sex-neutral brothers, sisters, and niblings out. That’s why I will always happily advocate for the option to engage in sexual relationships for ace MCs or for the inclusion of ace ROs who feel neutral or positive about sex with the MC. In my opinion, those are needed, just like sex-repulsed characters, to broaden the understanding of asexuality. (Sorry for the rant!)
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If the game places importance on the sexual attraction and romance is written with that in mind then, personally, I wouldn’t be very interested in romancing an asexual character. Otherwise, I don’t see why would that matter.