Game News Bioware responds to same sex relationships in DA

[MicoSelva]

As I don't really care about romances, I would really like to see all that writing effort put into creating more interaction between various party members. It was nicely done in BG2 and somewhat in DAO, but ME and especially ME2 are lacking a lot.
It's especially visible in ME2, where You supposedly create a badass crew, but all the individuals didn't actually come off as a team. Their only interaction was with Shepard.
ME1 at least had the elevator conversations, which admittedly sucked, but were another element that was removed altogether instead of being improved in the sequel.

 

[Azrael the cat]

As I don't really care about romances, I would really like to see all that writing effort put into creating more interaction between various party members. It was nicely done in BG2 and somewhat in DAO, but ME and especially ME2 are lacking a lot.
It's especially visible in ME2, where You supposedly create a badass crew, but all the individuals didn't actually come off as a team. Their only interaction was with Shepard.
ME1 at least had the elevator conversations, which admittedly sucked, but were another element that was removed altogether instead of being improved in the sequel.

It's a side-effect of the elimination of the isometric extended (6-man or thereabouts) party. Games where you both have an extended party, and the view allows that party to be on screen at once, would have intraparty banter - it just follows naturally from that setup, so it was an obvious feature for companies like Bioware to implement. In games like PS:T the obvious next step was to have actual plot-related and characterisation dialogue occur between party members.

For me, that used to give the feeling that this bunch of characters were a team rather than hirelings. You don't HAVE to include that stuff, but if you are going to go down the 'story-driven' path - which Bioware is explicitly aiming to do - then it's an important part of character development. Characters are usually developed by their relationships - after all, you can't see their thoughts and they don't HAVE any thoughts, they exist only to the extent that they interact with others. If their only interaction is with the main character (in a party-based game), then they're never going to feel like more than side-hirelings. It even weakens the already-poor romances - having a character blurt out their backstory and cut to a sex-scene is just plain weird when the rest of the time she/he is a silent hireling.

 

[Freelance Henchman]

ME1 at least had the elevator conversations, which admittedly sucked, but were another element that was removed altogether instead of being improved in the sequel.

In ME2 there were some very rare points in the game where companions would have a short conversation, for example there's a trigger in the Citadel where Garrus and Tali joke about standing around in elevators a lot if you have them with you. From time to time during conversations the companions will interject with a little banter, but it's very rare as well.

 

[Volourn]

"When everyone already tells them that they have good C&C, they have no motivation at all to actually make real branching storylines - because profit is everything they aim for, they don't care about creating a masterpiece with lasting appeal, and branching storylines and C&C isn't what they like doing most anyway - they much prefer linear or at least semi-linear DRAMATIC stories with romances and EPIC cutscenes and CINEMATIC storytelling. "

If BIO had that attitude, npcs would have stayed at the level of BG1 since they were praised for them big time yet they improved them big time.

P.S. ME2 and DA npcs interact a lot amongst themselves.

 

[Phelot]

My male character needs another man who understands the emotional strain that comes with being hardcore and picking the extreme dialogue options. Masculinity can include men holding each other even if it results in sex.

 

[Gromnir]

this is one case in which we thinks dave is being serious disingenuous. the biowarians have noted in the past that romances is not resource-lite; has been an excuse for why more bio game characters is not romancable. so, now romances is suddenly only trivial resource dependent?

furthermore, could resources utilized to implement same-sex romances be devoted elsewhere? sure. denigrating such an axiomatic conclusion as "a vague notion" is hardly convincing, and more than a little dishonest.

the biowarians make games. perhaps the developers feels a little guilty that their contributions is little more than escapist entertainment. they shouldn't feel guilty, but we bets that some do. perhaps championing gay-rights gives some biowarians a chance to feel that they is... relevant. create tacky teen romances in games can be rationalized and legitimized if it is characterized as defending the cause o' an underrepresented minority group, no?

bio romances leave Gromnir emotionally flaccid... they is banal. we no longer bother to explore bio romance options as we believes that they is irredeemable 'less a complete new approach to their implementation is adopted. is ironic that one aspect that makes romances broken also makes 'em acceptable for us: they are avoidable. we not have to waste gameplay minutes and hours on bio romances, so we don't genuine care what bio does with 'em... save for that "vague notion" that wasting resources on such piffle is mildly disturbing.

...

regarding gay romances, we got no reasonable axe to grind. we not have to play gay romances, so we is not particularly bothered by the inclusion o' a feature that we will never utilize. that being said, the proponents o' gay romance is the so disproportionately vocal and obnoxious that we cannot help but hope for an end to gay romance in bio games. gaider once noted that karzak support o' thief dual-wield in bg2 were were so annoyingly dogged that his efforts actually made thief dw Less likely. we were moderate surprised by gaider honesty, but we thought he were justified in the thief dw context. the proponents o' gay romance on the bio boards is more ubiquitous than krazy ever was, and they is no less likely to hijack non-relevant threads to advocate their cause. am not concerned with bio romance... gay or otherwise. even so, the gay Rights proponents is a blight on the bio boards and we cheer for their failure... which is ironic given our support for gay rights in rl.

*shrug*

regardless, dave ain't being full honest with his description o' the resource costs... or he weren't being honest when he described the costs of romances in the past.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[GarfunkeL]

Gaider hasn't been "full honest" in many, many years.

 

[Gromnir]

Gaider hasn't been "full honest" in many, many years.

am not thinking that he is willful dishonest. when he told us how much of an impact the origins for dragon age would have later in the game, we suspect that he honestly believed what he were peddling. once we got him to concede that da would be dark "but not too dark" we recognized that his notions o' dark were... skewed. sometimes game design choices/decisions change mid-development, and sometimes developers buy into their own spiel. in our experience, most claims o' bio dishonesty is unwarranted. folks can look at the same game and form complete different (and yet entirely honest) opinions.

has been our experience that gaider ain't willful dishonest, but am having a hard time reconciling biowarian comments regarding the resource cost o' romances as described during previous developments, and what gaider is claiming in his most current posts.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Serious_Business]

Fantastic thread, made me feel a powerful assortment of emotions, ranging from



to



to



and then, of course, as always, the conclusion is :



Looking foward for more

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Gay romances are there as a form of fanservice to female players. Biowhore games have tons of female fans. And most of yaoi fanfics are written by female fantasy fans.

And romances themselves are for lunatic female gamers such as merelinda or what was her name.

 

[Xor]

I think I agree with Gromnir here. Gaider does seem like the kind of guy who would easily buy into his own hype, and he probably believes all the crap he says about romances and grimdark.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

God really hates biosexuals.

 

[SCO]

Gromnir you've been lurking?

Antediluvians rise from torpor and walk again.

 

[Claw]

Watching Dragon Age: Asshole Edition on YouTube has made me consider buying it. The game looks like it could actually be fun. The Dragon Fight looked alot better than I expected, homing fireball breath notwithstanding.

 

[Obsidian Squid]

Gaider is a dumbshit, but I don't really care about romantic content, gay or otherwise.

 

[amaya]

Gaider is a dumbshit, but I don't really care about romantic content, gay or otherwise.

Damn straight. Romance in video games is a waste of resources that could have been used to develop something worthwhile.

 

[deus101]

HELLO!!!!
we need "both ways"

its an rpg

IT NEEDS CNC!!