DA 4 Romances! New info for real this time!!! Zom-bangin'?

Blackwall is a KISA in training, he's getting there, in some paths more than others (like joining the wardens). I'll give that Cullen is presented by the game as a KISA, I just have issues with his character and how they handled his transition between games.
I think someone described Sebastian as a guy who really wants to be a KISA, but sucks at it between his revenge plot at the start of 2, and his revenge plot at the end and in DAI, he's just not really helping anyone. I think he'd rather preach at that old lady than help her cross

Given my favourite two dragon age romances were bisexual human female rogues i should probably say that.

Welcome Mr. Slurpuff! 

also non-humans > humans every time

My main wishes for the romances:
- Everyone gets at least two choices (and at least one of the choices is a companion),
- Everyone gets a human and a non-human romance to chose from.

I would also be happy if we finally get a male or female dwarf romance (maybe Harding or a dwarf from the Ambassadoria or from Kal-Sharok).

Unless it's elves apparently.

Wait, are love interests plot-relevant?

It is not the first time I hear that, but what exactly does it mean?

As far as I am aware the romance stories are just smaller stories that are not overall relevant to the overarching plot at all, therefor no LIs are truly plot-relevant.

This is what I'd like as well.  And then if there are one or two "bonus" romances (a la Sebastian, Cullen, or Solas), so be it.  Would be nice if they were for a group other than straight ladies, but that's another point, I suppose.

And, yes, a dwarf LI (male or female) is overdue.  

Yeah, there's that line of dialogue from Vivienne.  But there are two things against this mattering:  1.) Harding isn't an official romance in DA:I, she's a fling.  You can flirt with her but it doesn't unlock the romance achievement.  Since she's not "official", she's still fair game to be a full romance in another game.  Look at Isabela in DA:O.  If there was a "heart" icon mechanic in that game, her interactions in the Pearl would be full of them.  But she didn't count as a romance and then she came back in DA2 as a full blown romance for a different PC.; 2.)  There's no place in the keep to indicate if you flirted with Harding or not.  So that won't matter in a future game since the flag doesn't exist.  If it was there, then I could understand.  But there's literally no way to track that decision, so it can't be relevant in DA4. 

I think what nick was referring to was that the more plot relevant LIs are usually the straight characters.  Alistair, Morrigan, Cassandra, Solas, Cullen.  They all have pretty prominent roles in the narrative outside of the romance.  Compare that with DA:O Leliana, Zevran, Bull, Sera.  They are more secondary or support characters.  It's not a perfect comparison since there are straight LIs that aren't terribly plot relevant (like Sebastian and Blackwall) and LGBT LIs that are somewhat more relevant (like Josephine and Dorian).  But it definitely skews towards having the options for straight PCs matter more for the overall narrative.

And obviously DA2 through a wrench into that since most of the LIs in that game are bisexual.

It's even worse in ME.  Need I remind everyone of Gil and Reyes.  Who?  Exactly.

If there is no option for romanceable Harding in the keep it makes it worse as the game won't even point out if your Inquisitor was or is dating her.

Better to keep her out of a possible romance in it's entirety then.

As for the plot relevancy stuff, arh I see.

Although I would not consider either Alistair, Morrigan, Cassandra or Cullen or Josephine to be very plot relevant. I mean, they exist and each have their own little story on the side... but compared to someone like Solas? Yeah, I can agree that Solas has plot-relevancy x1000

I didn't personally enjoy either of the m/m romance options in DAI, but I'm not going to accuse them of making mistakes, they did a pretty good job. But Andromeda is totally different, with m/m romances getting demonstrably less content than any other combination (and that's on top of getting the least amount of options), and where one LI got glitchy animations in the same-sex option, and the other had a very badly executed baby plot and very little substance outside of it.

So no, pointing out Andromeda's flaws does not equal "I didn't get exactly what I wanted."

I agree that it's subjective.  I tend to think that there are different types of KISA (such as "shining armor" vs. "sour armor" KISAs), but in general, I think the main criteria in my mind are:  chivalrous, strong moral code, usually lawful alignment (but not necessarily "good"), and there tends to be a "protective" slant to their decisions.  Protecting people.  Protecting ideologies.  Protecting causes.  Protecting sovereignty.  And, finally, they tend to be melee warrior types.  Not rogues or mages, but that isn't set in stone per se.

To me, Alistair, Aveline, Cassandra, and Cullen fit it well.  "Blackwall" does as well, but there's an asterisk on this one because it's an act.  "Blackwall" is a KISA.  Thom Ranier is not.  But since Thom has effectively become Blackwall as a way to atone, I'd add him in.  

Sebastian is questionable.  He sort of fits it.  My gut is to include him, even though he's a ranged rogue and skews a little "vengeful" towards the end.

I would also say that Justice fits it in DA:A.  But not when he becomes Vengeance in DA2.  

And they are all straight characters.  None of the LGBT companions come close:  

Zevran - has almost none of the KISA qualities
Leliana - has a strong moral code (or does she since she can be "hardened" by two different PCs) but is not "lawful" at all
Isabela - has almost none of the KISA qualities
Merrill - "protection" runs throughout her story, but she's also not "lawful" at all
Fenris - has a strong moral code, but is not "lawful" and borders way to close to "vengeance"
Anders - full on vengeance and about as unlawful as you can get by the end of DA2
Sera - her "Robin Hood"/little knives viewpoint comes close, but again, not at all "lawful"
Bull - has almost none of the KISA qualities
Josephine - if she were a companion, she'd come close in some ways, but she's an ambassador and not a warrior at all
Dorian - he comes the closest, in my opinion but he's too flippant and 'sassy' in my opinion; plus he's a mage and I just don't see mages as KISA myself (maybe a Knight Enchanter could?)

We'll have to agree to disagree on that.  Reyes has about an hour of screentime in a single mission.  Liam is your starting companion and can be with you throughout the entire game.  Just the opening mission alone gives him more of an overall plot relevance than Reyes.  

Because while I romanced Cassandra in my latest playthrough, I never had her around once I got the other companions, and the only time I would then run into her, is when I talked to her at Haven and Skyhold and occassionally she would have a single word or two at the war-table.

Alistair and Morrigan had the same treatment, Morrigan at the end suddenly wanting a baby, and Alistair had some business in Redcliffe and then the end.

I suppose you could say that Alistair, yes, had some special relations in Origins where he could be relevant outside of his own personal storyline which every follower-companion thus far have.

Yes, I could possibly agree that Alistair had some plot-relevancy, to a lesser extend and Morrigan... she existed after you met her in the wilds, never to be relevant before the very end when she wanted that cute baby, unless you brought her along.