Opinions about romance sub-plots?

[Aleema]

Actually, men buys niche stuff like RPG, strategy, etc. Are mostly "teenager stuff" like FPS or arcade that are insanely pirated. Just think about The Witcher, a RPG very male oriented (you collect erotic cards of the women you slept with! this says all) and it sold over 1 million copies worldwide. My bet is that the male buyers for that game are 90% or something
Still I think game devs should provide equally distributed DLC and extra add-ons for both male/female characters.

I swear you mentioned it somewhere that women were more likely to pay, so I didn't just pull it outta thin air, lol. Not sure how true it is, but you're capable of having statistics like that, so I believed you. =P

Not to hijack this thread, but I think RPG and strategy has a huge female base, actually. So long as you don't make your game unplayable to women for some reason (degradation of women), it's fun. And I can personally point out multiple girls who own The Witcher, so there's got to be a higher figure than just 10% worldwide, eh? Games that let you play as male/female aren't a limitation, since JRPGS rarely let you choose. And it's only been recently when that's become commonplace. The first Fable game wasn't male/female, but I played it just the same. And there is a ridiculously high female fanbase for the Assassin's Creed series. Bioware games proved that girls do game, wow! I just wish they wouldn't forget that from time to time. =P

And now, back to your regularly scheduled broadcasting ...

[jack_norton]

Yes, in general women are more likely to pay (especially for casual games), but for certain specific genres like RPG,strategy,simulations ALSO men can pay. I probably expressed myself badly, I didn't mean that no women pay but that also men can pay for those games. I find interesting that women could play a game like the Witcher! Good to know (not that I want to do such a kind of women-degrading game lol).

[papillon]

(I suppose I need to hury up and buy/play the Morrigan-related DLC. I haven't even PLAYED a male character / romanced Morrigan but...)

[Rina]

The Morrigan romance is a little depressing, though the Morrigan DLC does let you have a happy ending with her =)

Okay, thank you everyone for your replies Now I have another question. Would it make you happier if romanceable characters talked about you and your problems a bit more? It seems that in romances, it's usually about the LIs past (whether it be about their dead wife or their estranged son or their abusive parents), and the PC's problems don't get touched on much. If your PC already had a set 'past', would you like their to be options for the LI to talk to your PC about it? Maybe even pursue a quest that's PC-related like the way you do companion quests?

In Dragon Age, PCs would talk briefly to you about your past (you could whinge about being a Grey Warden to Wynne and some companions would ask about the PC's parents or family or sexual history, but all the answers you could reply with were vague, which is understandable).

Would you like to be able to have conversations about the PC's past as well as the LI's? Because sometimes it seems like the PC is the LI's personal therapist, which doesn't really bother me too much but I can see why it can bother other people.

[Aleema]

it's usually about the LIs past (whether it be about their dead wife or their estranged son or their abusive parents)

That needs to die. Once was enough, twice was irritating, and rest make me want to smash things.
The gals working with me on RR know how vocal I am against "Carth Syndrome." Let's work towards the cure, by not doing that anymore.

I think to answer the rest of your questions, the biggest problem, I guess, is that the MC is a shell of a character that you're supposed to fill. The more options you give a player, the less you can properly recognize them all. Developing an external NPC character is easy, because they'll always be the same, no matter what you've decided your character's hair color will be.

So if you want characters to recognize the MC, make them someone who can be recognized -- make them a character. The further you step away from the cookie-cutter, the more real the person can become.

I wouldn't say that that bothered me in DA or ME, because that's what made the series great. I never felt like a therapist (I approached them), but I can see where people would get that. I loved the personal missions, and if I had to sacrifice either a quest for my char or a companion's quest, it would be mine. I want to get to know them so much more. Both is ideal, though. If you don't want EITHER, then go play an FPS or something and get out of my RPGs. >=[

[flowerthief]

I gotta admit I didn't feel very romantic always seeing my love interests in blood-splattered clothing, and furthermore, because my character was a short butt-ugly dwarf, jumping in the sack with Morrigan made me feel kinda gross at the same time that it was making me laugh. But I suppose that was part of the fun.

A lot of people already said it, but having other characters react to the relationships you're developing with your love interest(s), and having the love interests themselves react to each other with displays of jealousy and boasting, adds another nifty dimension and is one of the really cool things DA did with the concept.