The MEA game ratings thread (ESRB rating description)

I just wish they had better animations. Looks so unromantic when Cassandra slaps her legs over you before the cutscene ends. Otherwise I liked it but I was hoping for something more intimate because all the flirting and bonding before the actual romance subplot felt more genuine to me.

However, the game assumes control of your character from the Violence aspect... and no one here is complaining about that, right?  They're just focusing the "player agency" deal on very specific things... gleefully ignoring that point because it shows that "player agency" is an illusion at the best... not a "right" of an RPG player.  I agree with melbella, when the warning is there on the box, it's (more than) a bit diningenuous to expect otherwise.

Even when you get 4 or 6 dialogue options to define your character, the range of the those options is controlled by the developer.  This is where ME1 comes into play... you had lots of selections... but very, very few meaningfully different options.  For example, I couldn't in ME1 portray Shepard as a drunken Commander who would have been inclined to sit down with Harkin and pound back a few rounds with him.  At the Embassies Lounge when the bartender asks if we want a drink, we were given an option of "Why not."  but guess what, that isn't what is said or what happens after.  Shepard says "What do you have?" and the bartender replies with "Information, mostly."  I couldn't actually get Shepard to drink on the job if I wanted to make THAT his character in ME1, so why should you expect a better "right" to make him into a complete abstainer in ME3?  Both are RPGs.

The developers will ALWAYS  only give you options within the confines of the story they are trying to tell.  Also, even when you're not given those dialogue options (as in ME3), it doesn't change the fact, in ME3, that you were given other options you can use to avoid those scenes and define your character.  Being "optional" - they are, by definition, the same has having dialogue "options."

Would an "abstainer" even throw a big party... or would that party just not take place?
Would a non-violent pacifist have made it to N7?

Seeing or not a couple of pixels on the screen that represent PeeBee's or Cora's nipples is the last thing I care about.
I mean, why should I care about that?... I only do care about the game...

TW1 And TW2 were both MA 15+, only TW3 was MA 18+ though.

They're separate situations. Beside, it's not like their games aren't rated mature or 18+ from different classifications.

I suspect we're going to be in an uncanny valley for a while.

I suppose they could mocap, but I doubt that's an easy solution either.  
(one of the few relevant shots from 'Love Actually' I can post...)

The Australian classification is super confusing, nor do they appear to define their terms (I looked).

The sex in MEA and DAI has Strong Impact, the sex in TW3 has High Impact.
(must be the Unicorn...)

I wonder if Bioware willk ever go back to the BG2 romances where sleeping with a LI actually breaks teh romance.

I'd so LOL at that