The BioWare Romance Trap

[Shamus Young]

The BioWare Romance Trap

A romance story with no adventure can be dull and talky. An adventure with no romance can feel emotionally empty. By blending the two, both ideas get the extra punch

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[Mister K]

Just... Drop the whole romance idea from RPG's. Or, even better, write the dialogue so that it could fit in both love story and companionship story. I man, take Shadowrun: Dragonfall for example. When I spoke to Glory I could interpret the interecation between her and MC as them becoming comrades or, if I wished, as them getting close to each other.

 

[Something Amyss]

I sometimes expect people to actually come along and demand romance for underage characters, since "immersion" has been brought up for almost anything else you can't do with them.

I mean, I hope it doesn't, but what I want and what is actually reality don't always coincide.

Anyway, one of the things that struck me in this article was the idea that only lesbians are interested in a lesbian romance, etc. When I went looking for some clips of the voice actors a while back, one of the things I noticed was that a lot of the gay romance videos were from women, and lesbian romance vids from men. This really shouldn't be surprising given slash fic, how heterosexual and male-dominated the lesbian porn category is, etc.

I mean, I'm not saying these people are a representative proportion, only that they break with the idea. Plus, men don't always play men, and women don't always play women.

Then again, literally the only reason I do the romances in a Bioware game is to get the achievement/trophy/shiny food pellet. Take 'em out and I wouldn't miss them.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Personally I'd gladly give up romance options aimed at me if it meant that we could return to the days of having romance plots that meaningfully connected with the main story, but I know I'm in the minority.

Minority, but not alone. I play RPGs to play as a character: male, female, Qunari, human, whatever. I'd rather have a more meaningful romance during one playthrough that actually tied to my character and the plot than 3 shallow ones that remind me, through their 'tick the boxes to get love' nature, that I'm romancing a computer.

I don't particularly need the romance to be tied into the main plot (though it certainly helps), but I'd really like for the romance partners to be more aggressive, or at least proactive. I'm going through Dragon Age: Inquisition now, and I'm feeling glad that I picked Josephine because I actually see her regularly on my way to the war table. If I'd started a romance with Cullen or someone else in the far corners of the camp, I know I'd forget about them. At the same time, I remember overhearing a pair of Chantry sisters who used to gossip about spending the night with Iron Bull; how is it that this person the game tells us over and over is an incorrigible skirt-chaser never hit on my Inquisitor, an attractive woman? It's meant to add flavour to the world, but it just reminds me that I have to be the active agent in every scenario, from friendships and romances to personally walking the grounds and talking to all the people working for me to find out if there's any problems that need solving.

If I ever came back to the castle after a long mission in the Hissing Wastes to find Josephine standing on the steps with a cold mug of ale, it would make the experience of romancing someone feel much more valuable and worthwhile, that she actually cared about our relationship rather than just accepting it.

 

[Venatio]

I fail to see the exact problem. While I am aware of the constant swirling maelstrom that is "Romance" in role-playing games they are still purely optional for the developers. Bioware, and EA largely, want to have as big a net as possible to catch as many players as possible and since they have the deep pockets for development they can endeavor to do so. If people complain then that is their problem, as long as Bioware and EA keep making money they will be out of F's to give.

I like romance in games when they add to the story, and they also have the all important bonus of making it seem like the player has more choices in a game. Mind you, I know of very few games of note that actually bother delving into such matters other than those bizarre adventure indie sims that keep popping up on Steam (while I am sure a few are good).

Not all games approach romance the same way. Games like Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Mount & Blade: Warband have a purely marriage based system based more on player choice or bonuses than story. Lots of games have the odd brothel you can saunter into for a riveting fade to black scene. And then there is the Witcher... lets move on.

My point is, there really is no problem. Bioware is still making money, and if the fans complain then they will complain. Not like they listened to their fans when we asked for new wardrobe in Dragon Age: Inquisition for Skyhold.

 

[Imre Csete]

That's not the romance trap, BG2 is the BioWare romance trap. You didn't lose party members in KotOR/ME, like you could in BG2. If you initiated the subplot unwillingly and broke it off at critical eventflags, then you painted yourself in a corner. And party balance was an important part, you could screw yourself over big time there.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I've never known Bioware as anything other than a studio that creates wishfulfillment games. It's not just that you're able to get into almost everyone's pants, you're always the most awesome Choosen One in the universe.

In regards to the romances, I don't think there's any half way. Bioware either needs to appeal to as many orientations as possible or just scrap the romances all together. Because as soon as you give the choice to romance one or two characters of a certain orientation, players of an unrepresented orientation will demand their fair share.

This is why I always rather have a set romance in games.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Personally I blame it squarely on the one thing that has become something of a dirty word to me in gaming now: "choice". The concept of player agency effecting the story itself.

There is this fetishistic obsession in western RPG games to give the player more and more choice and story influence. Its not good enough to play a role in a story, it must be possible to "put yourself" in the game and make all of the same choices that you would do in that situation to influence the story in a particular direction. I really don't understand the appeal of just making a character based on yourself, but there always seems to be a huge market for it.

Compare and contrast with a lot of classical JRPGs. You play the role of a character and follow and experience their story. In playing the game you're playing the role of that person rather than playing the role of yourself pretending to be that person.

Western RPGs on the whole have huge problems with their story and with associated story elements being totally disconnected simply because its easier than trying to integrate every possibility. Bioware made noises towards doing exactly that for ME3 and we all know how well that turned out for them.

Having choice is not necessarily a bad thing; but it isn't an inherently good thing either. And playing the role of a character in a linear story may be more limiting, but can be much more liberating for the story itself. I'm not sure there is any way to match the two together without a gigantic effort to thoroughly integrate every single possible choice that can be made in a game.

 

[CosmicCommander]

I'm writing a KotOR retrospective, and I was just comparing the old romance elements to the shit we see in modern BioWare games with disparate character relationship subplots. You hit the nail on the head.

 

[09philj]

This seems like an introduction to a longer and more interesting article.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I think we should move away from integrated plot romances and focus more on friendships. Like Shamus said, the KOTOR friendship missions were written well but were tangential to the plot. Witcher 3 was fucking great for integrating Geralt's relationships into the plot and made them feel meaningful.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

A gay man and I can both enjoy another zone where we shoot some more bad guys, but we don't both benefit from the option of romancing Tali.

Not to be glib, but-- well, yes to be glib; Mass Effect's combat was always a bit naff. The character writing? Was of a very high quality. Gimme more BioWare chitchat (I can hear Yahtzee's soul screaming right now... ), and I'm fine with less BioWare combat. But, obviously, it is all subjective, so, er, yeah... Opinions.

The content in the main story is ostensibly there for the benefit of everyone, but romance options only appeal to a sub-section of the audience, and therefore exclude everyone else.

Perhaps, but some people play primarily for the character dynamics - vanilla or romantic - and not the plot. I think BioWare are great writers, but their plots and core arcs aren't really up to much. I end up replaying all their SP RPG's, and it's never for the main story.

/edit

Didn't see/read this post:

There is this fetishistic obsession in western RPG games to give the player more and more choice and story influence. Its not good enough to play a role in a story, it must be possible to "put yourself" in the game and make all of the same choices that you would do in that situation to influence the story in a particular direction. I really don't understand the appeal of just making a character based on yourself, but there always seems to be a huge market for it.

Who says that's what people do? It's an RPG - I create an RP, and play the game. None of my Wardens, Hawkes, or Inquisitors are 'me', and they're never supposed to be. That's the appeal I see in BioWare's approach, and I think a lot of fans share that.

 

[Johnny Impact]

A gay man and I can both enjoy another zone where we shoot some more bad guys, but we don't both benefit from the option of romancing Tali. The content in the main story is ostensibly there for the benefit of everyone, but romance options only appeal to a sub-section of the audience, and therefore exclude everyone else.

I agree with everything but this. I (straight guy) have yet to play a gay character but I play women all the time. My Saints boss, half my Skyrim characters, the list is extensive. My Shepard was male, but if he had been a she, she would totally have got with Garrus. I don't have to be a woman to play one, or to explore and enjoy options I wouldn't or couldn't choose in real life, for example every single nonhuman in any game ever. Does it really matter that the blue-skinned space babe was "designed for straight males" when anyone who plays the game knows "she" is really the psychic projection of an asexual, fundamentally inhuman being?

 

[Auron225]

Personally, I was rather glad with how Bioware handled the Mass Effect romance options in the end. Having such a wide choice was a breath of fresh air compared to most games which offer no choice at all; "This is your LI and you love her because plot".

Sure, people may have complained about the romance options; but how many people didn't? How many others were satisfied?

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Even worse is that the romance options in the newer Bioware RPGs are all pretty awful given that they are written to BE romances. One or two remarks and suddenly you are being railroaded into one. It never feels natural. They should definitely go back to the days of working them into the story and you either pursue them or you don't. I feel like the trend towards making RPGs that just offer millions of options, end up pleasing no one. It all becomes just really bare bones because those writing the story have to appease so many different variations.

My favorite RPG 'romance' was Nameless One and Annah of the Shadows in Planescape: Torment and that was barely even written as one. It just kind of evolved naturally over the course of the game. Another notable mention from Bioware itself was Tali being way more interesting in Mass Effect 1 when she wasn't a romance option, compared to 2, where she was throwing herself at you because "Fans wanted to romance her". She became far less interesting.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

I've never known Bioware as anything other than a studio that creates wishfulfillment games. It's not just that you're able to get into almost everyone's pants, you're always the most awesome Choosen One in the universe.

Well, they tried it with Dragon Age II, giving you a smaller and more personal story, and people roasted them for it. On a side note, I found that game the most engaging in terms of inter-party relationships, because the party felt much more active and 3d than usual. I still remember walking into the tavern and seeing Varric and Isabella sitting around and having drinks, not because there was some big plot thing they needed to deal with, but because they both live there, they both like to drink, and they both like company.

 

[Lightspeaker]

There is this fetishistic obsession in western RPG games to give the player more and more choice and story influence. Its not good enough to play a role in a story, it must be possible to "put yourself" in the game and make all of the same choices that you would do in that situation to influence the story in a particular direction. I really don't understand the appeal of just making a character based on yourself, but there always seems to be a huge market for it.

Who says that's what people do? It's an RPG - I create an RP, and play the game. None of my Wardens, Hawkes, or Inquisitors are 'me', and they're never supposed to be. That's the appeal I see in BioWare's approach, and I think a lot of fans share that.

I don't do it either. I have tons of characters in various RPGs who are...I guess you could say 'aspects' of my personality but are most definitely not me. And some that are most definitely nothing like me at all. None have ever been me. Ever.

And I never denied that some people do that (because I do it). However unless you've been deliberately avoiding any topics on RPGs for the past few years then I find it hard to believe that you've missed that there is a huge segment of RPG fans who consistently state roughly along the lines of: "Oh I wouldn't play an RPG if I couldn't make myself in it because I can't get immersed otherwise".

It is actually something I've seen VERY frequently cited as a reason for not liking JRPGs. "Oh I couldn't make myself the main character so I don't care about any of it and can't be bothered. All games should let you make your own character." There is a significant section of RPG players who flat out cannot play a specific character in a story. They must be playing as themselves playing a role in a story. And its poisonous to western RPG storytelling.

I've never known Bioware as anything other than a studio that creates wishfulfillment games. It's not just that you're able to get into almost everyone's pants, you're always the most awesome Choosen One in the universe.

Well, they tried it with Dragon Age II, giving you a smaller and more personal story, and people roasted them for it. On a side note, I found that game the most engaging in terms of inter-party relationships, because the party felt much more active and 3d than usual. I still remember walking into the tavern and seeing Varric and Isabella sitting around and having drinks, not because there was some big plot thing they needed to deal with, but because they both live there, they both like to drink, and they both like company.

I will never understand the complaints about DA2 honestly, it was a legitimately good game with a few glaring issues (hello, copy and paste dungeons). Its story wasn't exactly the strongest but it had incredibly solid character writing and background stuff. The things you mention here are almost a blueprint for what they did in ME3 on the Normandy with little character interaction things going on all the time. Made the ship feel much more alive.

 

[Nimzabaat]

In regards to the romances, I don't think there's any half way. Bioware either needs to appeal to as many orientations as possible or just scrap the romances all together. Because as soon as you give the choice to romance one or two characters of a certain orientation, players of an unrepresented orientation will demand their fair share.

With that in mind, Mass Effect 4 must have a furry option... and possibly a Hanar romance to win over the Japanese audience (heyo!)

Seriously, I am curious to see what Mass Effect 4 will be like. Bioware seems to learn with each new game (except dropping AI Tactics in DAI was stupid) and hopefully they'll have enough party members to give most people the options they like.

 

[JustAnotherAardvark]

The banters are the real Bioware gold, more than the romances, but I think the romances do give us some great moments in gaming (e.g. Garrus/Femshep tango in the Citadel DLC.)

I don't agree they should be dumped entirely; just because some of them have been clunky and checkboxy, these are still feature requests ... a good many people enjoy the content. Just not the Bioware forums, things are a bit ... different there. :/

 

[BarkBarker]

You know, if I was the 2% as I am in certain tastes, I really shouldn't be surprised in an all encompassing game or what have you the options are limited. Yes, Straight is the most common. It will likely always be. If I was that miffed I'd go to something more targeted to my taste. Yes as a straight person in an all homosexual game I'd be bored romantically. Boo hoo, it is my turn to feel the same way the tiny minority feels in many only straight games. Can't appeal to all, you simply can't.