GI article Nov 18th: Andromeda's New Approach to Buttsecks

You can even one-night Jack and not get the "F-off" dialogue.  Just wait until after you do her loyalty mission before triggering the conversation that can end in the one-night stand.

Oh come on, sure, it was infantile, but it was a funny mechanic...

Nice read, thanks, I especially liked this:

"BioWare knows how popular the romances are, but that's not why the studio includes them. These relationships provide something that no other element could."

Great! Now all they have to do is to actually use them right within their story!

Also: Butts*x =/= butthurt... just saying.

Aaaah opinions. Bioware have said plenty of times they write romances they want to write and keep an open mind to inclusivity which isn't a bad thing. If you think that being inclusive is a waste of resources then that says something about you personally. 

As far as romances go I haven't played all of them. I usually pick the one that appeals to me and maybe try out another one or two depending about how I feel about the character. They've made me cry on several occasions with these damn romances and that's from the feels not how cringey it was when Garrus gave me wine. Romance has always had a bit of cheese in it, it wouldn't be the same if there wasn't some in Andromeda. 

If my romanced space husbando goes out and sacrifices themselves to save me I will actually die of a broken heart....again...... Looking at you Alistair

And what does it say about me? I said that I consider too many resources spent on romances a waste, never did I say what those romances should be, straight or gay or other. I specifically said that I'll play ANY romance as long as it's done well. I'm making a case for good writing over pandering. Bioware may say they write what they want but people wanted Garrus and Tali as romance options even though I thought dextros were incompatible. And so we got them and were supposed to just not think about how that would even work. Or accept that Shepard would jeopardize a crucial squadmate's health because of the feelz? That's exactly what bothers me. Fanservice that's stupid. Could have made Tali a sweet non-sexual romance. Would have been interesting to have the reality of her weak immune system written into the romance in a believable way. Instead we got a magic pill and a "let's hope for the best, lol" scenario. Bad writing to me.

And of course that is my opinion. You are free to disagree!

PS: Alistair was a great romance and I was GUTTED when he sacrificed himself for my warden. All those emo drama romances though? No, thanks.

Of course we're just stating our personal opinions, and mine is that Bioware writes characters well but their romances are usually quite... juvenile and over-dramatic. If not downright terrible and creepy (Jacob).
I get that Tali thought she might never get to experience sexual intimacy but their objective was to save the galaxy. So maybe that was not the right time for anyone to be selfish...

It's just that I have issues with too many romances that only serve to satisfy personal needs for pixel sex. RPGs aren't dating sims. Developers are not obligated to cater to anyone, straight or gay. If they want to tell a story about a gay hero or one who's asexual, go ahead! In fact, please do so. So that people get to experience something from a different perspective than their own. People complain how they only have two unappealing options for their character when really they mean for their own sexuality. Because every player has the same amount of romance options. If people can't enjoy a character who likes the other half of the population, that's not the game's fault.

Bioware is an a word budget. I'd rather it was spent on the story and general characterization, rather than bend a narrative to justify why that weird alien romance is even possible.

I do enjoy the prospect of romances in Bioware games a lot. But I'd rather have only two (bisexual) options or four (two straight, two bi) at the most, but have those amount to more than three short formulaic scenes that end with sex before the final mission. That's not how it works. The only romances that ever felt organic in Bioware games were in DAO. In ME3 and DAI as well it felt like your character wasn't even in a relationship in between these love scenes because they hardly ever acknowledged their love interest. At some point I thought my Solas romance glitched or he dumped my inquisitor because he kept addressing her by a simple "hello" for hours as if they just met. At least Bioware tried to add such details. The implementation of the romances have much to be desired, though. This will probably not get better if we get even MORE of them.

That's all I was saying, quality over quantity.

Dextros aren't imcompatible. ME already established that turians and asari can get together. Quarians are another matter, but their problems aren't related to them being dextros.

I....genuinely expected more trash talking and inflammatory comments on this thread.