Do BioWare game romances mean sex scenes?

That doesn't answer my question though. If it is a critical element, then every romance needs it in its portrayal and yet there are countless cases where that isn't the case. Things like "it hasn't happened yet" is not an answer since the romance when portrayed doesn't involve it yet is still able to be portrayed fully. Or are you saying otherwise, that every romance that doesn't depict sex while being portrayed is a failure of a portrayal of a romantic relationship? If not, then again why is it a critical element when there are stories that don't have it yet still portray romantic relationships? 

Answer my question first.

When we say "sex scenes," exactly what are we talking about? Note that the Bio quote which kicked off the thread didn't mention sex in the first place.

But nobody's actually having sex in most of the DAI scenes.

Nope, nothing at all for Solas.  Dorian has 2 paths, one of which shows him naked from the back, and you see Cullen and the IQ naked in bed.  To my knowledge all you get in DAI is the post-coital naked chats.

I loathe the creepy DAO scenes, well any video game sex tbh, but I like the way DAI handled it as you skip the actual badly animated sex and instead hear an intimate conversation.  I guess there's 4 categories for this, full on sex, fade to black, post-coital chats and then no hint of sex whatsoever.

Yeah - I didn't like the fade to black in KOTOR (haven't played ME OT so can't comment on that), but from what I recall it was actually a mechanical issue that stopped them from showing the "kiss", wasn't it? The animation wasn't up to it at the time.

I'm in two minds about whether I prefer TW3 v DAI in terms of how they handled that content - I don't mind either way, though.

Yeah, this isn't an absolute standard. "Portrayed fully" can mean different things, depending on the context of the story, and its focus. The story of how x and y first met? Chances are they didn't bang the first date, so yeah, sex might be not be shown. Yet the start of their romance, being the focus of the story ends up "portrayed fully". Unless of course, the characters involved are supposed to be promiscuous for some reason, or sex addicts, or they simply did bang the first date, in which case, yeah show at least enough of that to be understood.

I'm not saying "every" anything. I'm saying the context suggests it more than anything. I'm also saying that sometimes sex, the lead up and payoff to can substitute for shorthand "they're in a relationship"- again in a context where the story wants to say that but can't or won't devote the full rom-com treatment to it. Ultimately it's up to the creators as to what story they want to tell, and what elements they want it to contain. And if romance is one of those elements, sex is fair game.

For the record the best romance I've ever seen in a game is still Jackie Estacado and Jenny in The Darkness. The grand total of their scene together is her making you a cake for your birthday and then cuddling on the couch and watching To Kill a Mockingbird (and you can choose to watch the whole movie in the game lol). Some real shit goes down later, but that's all that happens "romantically"- and it's one of the most heartfelt scenes I've ever seen. That game is also a very personal, torturous journey for the protagonist, with an emphasis on atmosphere and making you feel what's going on (and it's not even an RPG, though you do get a few dialog choices). Other games that have made other choices as to themes, atmosphere, scope and feel would not necessarily pull that off, sex scene or no. But the choices they made perhaps would benefit from a more explicit pointer to sex. Each of the games in the ME trilogy for example work better with a sex scene/clear indicator of sex. The way those romances are set up play with the tropes of letting of some steam, the last chance before the expectation of death etc, as well as some specific ones, depending on who you chose.

You could thank Fox News for that bullshit.

Such specificity as merely showing the damn thing?

Sure.  How many people who romanced Miranda think it's silly they they go at it right there in engineering, after all?

Sex is a very personal thing.  Where and when and how are very much up to individual tastes.  There is no "merely showing" it.