Romance banter request
Lord_Gay
Member Posts: 94
I've read a few of the romance thread discussions and registered because I wanted to make a request on how the romances will be handled. Even though it seems that the game is almost ready and only fine-tuning and game-polishing is occurring right now, I think my request is simple enough at this late date as it only involves text, not code.
Many of the comments I've seen for romances have been along the lines of "make the romances good" or "make them good" or even "don't make them suck". That's all well and good, but that doesn't help you, the devs, very well. What is good? What do people want, specifically? Here are my thoughts.
While I love BG to death, and it's one of my all time favorite CRPGs, I must admit that I didn't like the BG2 romances at all. I felt they were immature and badly written. Not in terms of verbiage, but tone. It's been a while since I've played, but what I remember is Viccy complaining about you being a man, Jaheira complaining that you weren't Khalid, Aerie ignoring you completely to complain about her wings, and Anomen just complaining about everyone. The thing is, all their banter was about complaints. Listening to their complaints was depressing and brought my enjoyment down, not up.
If I'm spending time with someone, be they friend or lover, I want them in my life because they add to it. Their humor, their compassion, their love and their tenderness are what makes me care about them, and be glad I know them. This is what I never saw in the romances, and what I'd like to see in their dialogues and banter for BGEE. The writing doesn't have to be heavy or overwrought, but an overall tone of POSITIVE comments would be very much appreciated. I don't want to hear them complain, or whine, or put anyone down, or belittle me, or play mind games. Just an overall theme of positive support and affirmation. Humor is hard to write, but praise not nearly so.
There could be simple banters like:
As you're walking along, NPC reaches out and takes your hand. NPC looks at you, smiles, and without a word you continue on your way, hand in hand.
"Wow CHARNAME, you killed so many in that battle! I'm amazed! Seeing your skill, your... power, it's... well, it's got me kind of turned on. Maybe you could show me me more of your moves, tonight?"
"CHARNAME, I just wanted to thank you for bringing me into this party. I was having some trouble back there, but somehow things don't seem so bad now, despite all the killing and death that surrounds us. I guess it's, I don't know... easier, being with you. *blush* listen to me, getting all emotional. I guess I just wanted to say... thanks. Thanks CHARNAME, for being in my life. *smiles*"
The writing doesn't have to be maudlin or cheesy, just generally positive, supportive and praiseworthy. Please, try to stay away from negative or complaining banters, that's not what a romance is supposed to be about. Not a good one, anyways.
Many of the comments I've seen for romances have been along the lines of "make the romances good" or "make them good" or even "don't make them suck". That's all well and good, but that doesn't help you, the devs, very well. What is good? What do people want, specifically? Here are my thoughts.
While I love BG to death, and it's one of my all time favorite CRPGs, I must admit that I didn't like the BG2 romances at all. I felt they were immature and badly written. Not in terms of verbiage, but tone. It's been a while since I've played, but what I remember is Viccy complaining about you being a man, Jaheira complaining that you weren't Khalid, Aerie ignoring you completely to complain about her wings, and Anomen just complaining about everyone. The thing is, all their banter was about complaints. Listening to their complaints was depressing and brought my enjoyment down, not up.
If I'm spending time with someone, be they friend or lover, I want them in my life because they add to it. Their humor, their compassion, their love and their tenderness are what makes me care about them, and be glad I know them. This is what I never saw in the romances, and what I'd like to see in their dialogues and banter for BGEE. The writing doesn't have to be heavy or overwrought, but an overall tone of POSITIVE comments would be very much appreciated. I don't want to hear them complain, or whine, or put anyone down, or belittle me, or play mind games. Just an overall theme of positive support and affirmation. Humor is hard to write, but praise not nearly so.
There could be simple banters like:
As you're walking along, NPC reaches out and takes your hand. NPC looks at you, smiles, and without a word you continue on your way, hand in hand.
"Wow CHARNAME, you killed so many in that battle! I'm amazed! Seeing your skill, your... power, it's... well, it's got me kind of turned on. Maybe you could show me me more of your moves, tonight?"
"CHARNAME, I just wanted to thank you for bringing me into this party. I was having some trouble back there, but somehow things don't seem so bad now, despite all the killing and death that surrounds us. I guess it's, I don't know... easier, being with you. *blush* listen to me, getting all emotional. I guess I just wanted to say... thanks. Thanks CHARNAME, for being in my life. *smiles*"
The writing doesn't have to be maudlin or cheesy, just generally positive, supportive and praiseworthy. Please, try to stay away from negative or complaining banters, that's not what a romance is supposed to be about. Not a good one, anyways.
13
Comments
I like the flowers idea, though. You rest, and a message in the dialog box says, "Charname has gained an item". Then you go into your inventory, look at the item, and when you return to the main screen a dialogue initiates: "Good morning! ...What?" with options of "Did you pick these?" or "Flowers? Really?" or "Uh...Nothing."
That said, I would expect to see some surprises in the new NPCs. These are very different characters from the usual crop.
The flirt pack mod does add in a few bonus scenes like this, but for it to be included in the official release is, unfortunately, never going to happen.
Haven't seen a single suggestion in this thread which doesn't fall into this category for me.
However, to echo Rhian, what sorts of examples would you suggest Ajwz? What tone do you want?
I would play it, would you?
If somebody doesn't like positive romance dialog, there are 4 NPCs in BG2 to choose from. Now lets have some more upbeat options too.
Maybe I am speaking from my own male perspective, but I don't want them to just bring me shit like an affectionate puppy. All of the NPC's in the game, including Aerie, who I absolutely can't stand, are still strong enough not to constantly have to seek validation and protection from charname for thier every action, and frankly, the suggestions in the thread make them sound pathetic.
I could see some specific characters doing something specific that isn't just "Oh, are you...I didn't...So sorry, but...Yes, let's...Sorry, did you want to say something?"
Such as Haer'Dalis writing you a sonnet, or Jaheira giving you a poorly made dandelion necklace (because she's not used to being sappy and romantic like that), or Neera giving you a random magic item that appeared after her last wild surge ("Listen...I don't know what it does, so maybe you shouldn't use it until I figure that out, but...happy anniversary!").
But it should also be a singular instance. Too many gifts or "dates" and it starts to feel like a Final Fantasy game.
@ajwz Not all positive banter would mean an NPC bringing you a Celine Dion CD.
I can totally see Dorn (if the PC has earnt his respect or affection) saying something like that. "Charname has proven to be a competent leader. Back down, Jaheira."
"You are a fool, Anomen, to discount Charname's battle prowess." etc.
That said, I hated the other romance options. Aerie too whiny and downright annoying. Jahiera, was well, too mean to my other party members for me to care for at all so I tended to kick her out early on. During my one playthrough as a female PC I tried the romance with Anomen and found him to be psychotic. I would fully support alteration of the Aerie, Jahiera, or Anomen romances, but the Viconia romance is generally great the way it is.
Maybe there could be selectable options in game for people who wanted the game to go in different directions?