NPC versus Squad Romance Debate Thread.

There's nothing wrong with NPC romances per se; people have various tastes and even more various reasons for having those tastes. If there is a mixture of squad and NPC options, that's fine. But when only one of the four major gender combinations is restricted to NPCs only, that is a big problem.

For starters, I think the fact an orientation that was previously neglected quite heavily, and with extremely shoddy excuses at that, is the only one facing the possibility of being restricted entirely to NPC romance options automatically calls into question the claim that they're just as good. I'll buy that claim when it's only straight men who are expected to settle for NPCs. Something tells me that the excuses people are using now wouldn't show up nearly as often in that scenario.

Since the current situation has gay men facing the possibility of being restricted to NPCs only, there's another serious problem. There is a very old homophobic idea that if a man is not heterosexual, then he is weak. Making m/m options NPC would tie into the old idea that gay men are too weak for combat. Bioware prides and markets themselves as being above that kind of thing. If they were to go this route, with its attendant implications, after all they've crowed about how inclusive they are, and how much they've learned from past mistakes, it would be a betrayal. In many ways it would be much worse than the many companies that just pretend we don't exist.

As for why I personally prefer squad romances over NPCs, no matter how hard they work to make NPC options equal to the squad, there are some scenarios that would at best look extremely contrived when used with someone who is not a squadmate. In Mass Effect 3 for example, if Steve had been equal to the squad romances, making him the only m/m option still would have meant that I would have missed out on moments like this:



Disclaimer: while I am getting increasingly nervous due to the marketing department's handling of the issue, I do not believe that Bioware actually has made m/m romances NPC only in Andromeda, but since the subject keeps coming up so much, I feel it is necessary to explain why doing so would be unacceptable.

My Shepard survived, and since Miranda and Jack were NPCs in the third game, my point remains.

I'll summarize what I believe I have said already. It's important to me that a LI is invested in the main plot line and feels like an equal to my character. I've never been in a relationship where I could imagine one person out fighting the fight and the other one on the sidelines.

Speaking only for myself, a Cullen type character would be ok. Someone with their own important shit to do and who has a seat at the war table. I'd miss out on a sense of bonding on missions, but it would still feel "believable" to me and "make sense" that I would be with them. Sadly, I don't think Gil will fit this description.

Separately, I don't think it would be a good idea to have a m/m-only squad member with only 6 squadmates, but I struggle to see a reason there shouldn't be a male squad member open to both Sara/Scott. This wouldn't reduce choice for anyone else, so I'm still pretty confused why this is even controversial. They wouldn't need a troubled bisexual backstory or other type of writing need and I don't have much patience for someone feeling that a perceived straight character would be diminished for them if they were available to both instead, but I don't think I've actually seen anyone suggest that here.

Sure, I'll add a poll. Good timing; I was getting ready to eat in a few and go to bed.

I chose "other":
ME series? Squadmate content was larger and better than crewmate content
DAI? Pretty similar, with more or less content depending on the romance, not their "crewmate or squadmate" status. For example: I got the impression Cullen (crew) has more content than Bull (squad).

SofaJockey I feel you. Lace Harding was a major crush the first time I played Also, a pity I truly began to appreciate Liara's Voice Actor thank to Harding. Allis, I LOVE YOU!!!

My expectation of Lace for Dragon Age 4 remains high.
(don't disappoint me BioWare  )

Pretty much all this, this summon everything that I think about this. I was going to post something like that but my engrish is nt good enough k? 

PS. Greetings from the holds where the gays inhabite 

If I'm going by DAI, there doesn't seem to be much difference. I've romanced Dorian and (using a mod) Cullen. Both had a good amount of content. I don't know that I felt the same way in ME. There was all kinds of banter that when on both on the field and even on the shuttle that just wouldn't happen with a non-squadmate. Since we'll be using things like the Tempest and Nomad to travel, presumably said banter will still exist in MEA. Therefore, by not having a romanceable squadmate some people lose out.

Either can be good or bad. I enjoyed Cullen tremendously for instance. The things that matter: is this emotionally affecting? Does it reveal character? etc are things we won't know until we play.

They could potentially be as good, but no Bioware game has managed it so far. Even Inquisition, which came the closest, had very little interaction between the NPC romances and the companions, and virtually no romance-specific banter for the NPC romances.

I don't mind if there's less content as long as it's meaningful. Deionarra and Iovara are two of my favorite RPG romances and they only appear in their respective games for 20 minutes, probably less. I'd gladly take a romance like that but I'd rather not bother with Cortez/Traynor style romances that feel out of place and aren't very interesting.

I picked "other" since it depends on how its implemented. In DA:I, I think the NPC ones were on par. I only romanced Josephine and Sera and they felt of similar quality plus Josephine is even my canon romance.

In Mass Effect? Hell to the hell lolipoppin no! If I recall, Samantha Traynor didn't even get a Citadel date like other LIs. So...Do we put more consideration into Mass Effect's track record or BW's in general? If the former, I think people are justified in being wary of non-squad romance.