**ROMANCE**

It depends, for me. I like the romances because they give me another avenue for roleplaying my character, getting into their head, and developing their relationships with their crew. I don't play romances for the sex scenes. For all I care, they could replace all the sex scenes with fade-to-black, but include deeper relationship-building content with the LI instead.

As long as they replaced the axed romance content with deep relationship-building between PC and squad, then I would still give the game a try. But if they axed romance and didn't replace it with anything...then probably not.

I wouldn't miss them at all.

That is the greatest thing ever!! 

I played KOTOR and Jade Empire without ever realizing that there were romances in them, and while I always say I don't have "canon" playthroughs, I do consider my best run on ME1 to be the one where Shep doesn't romance anyone (I thought they all seemed unprofessional from a character perspective in that game).

That said, I've found the romances since DAO and ME2 to be an interesting exercise in character development. In DA2 especially, I found that the unique character information that you got from the romances added to the replayability of the game as a whole. Of course, I didn't think most of the romances in MEA were very well done, so losing them wouldn't be a big loss. But I do think that when they're done well they do add to the overall atmosphere of the game in an interesting way that does give some extra replay value, so I'd miss seeing that (unless they were able to replace it with some other choice-based character development for NPCs).

Eh? "Donk" has been my BSN handle/identity/whatever for a few years now.

And yeah, without a doubt those that know of me will be sitting here wondering if I'm trolling or pulling the piss -- while that is tempting, I'm not. I'm curious to see how much of a selling point the romance mechanics are to these games, and judging by the responses, it's pretty important to the fans.

Kinda makes me wonder why BioWare haven't capitalized on it and made a game that is dating simulator specific.

As for my own opinion: it wouldn't stop me from playing. However, if they keep giving us open worlds with boring quests, I'm more likely to stop on that alone. I can understand how the whole romance/friendship building mechanics can be a "relief" to players who are fed up with playing fetch.

A dating sim seems like such a different animal to what BioWare actually offers. Like, part of what makes them fun is how they exist within the context of the rest of the game. Like, look at the scenes in LotSB if you romanced Liara in ME1. Having it live in an action adventure story is a lot better than it just being some dating thingie where your character is just exchanging romantic dialogue the entire time. I think it keeps a good balance that it remain the minority content in the entirety of the game. 

I certainly wouldn't buy it at release. Might pick up in bargain bin if they ditched romances.
To me romances are a pretty important part of the immersion in the RPG experience. Trying to get into the head of a sterile character who can't engage in something so fundamentally human is far less rewarding.

Would I play/love a BW game if there would be no romance in it? Good question. At first impulse I would have said "yes" but then I started thinking...
My very first experience with a BW game was NWN and I was so surprised when I learned that I can "romance" an NPC. It was "wow, now that's nice. Makes the whole thing more "personal" than just slaying some pixels and save the pixel world".
So no, I wouldn't. Because it is a feature (as someone called it) that I love in every BW game. You can call it "romance" or "deep friendship", it doesn't matter. And it also woulnd't matter if there wouldn't be these extra candies like our "hot scenes". I even would prefer no eyecandie scenes at all because then nobody would complain (like me for example) that some get the better cinematics while others have to live with cuddling a fully armored Garrus or a "lovely headbutt". Or like in MEA a fade to black with Liam or Suvi while others have a full cinematic with Cora, Peebee or Jaarl. Either equality or no extras. But no romance at all? No. Am I happy with it? No. It needs to be more "natural". It has become too mechanical. The moment I get my "hot romance scene" I know the great showdown is knocking at my door.
But it is a nice "feature" and no matter that it has some flaws, I love it. And I use the feature for my chars. And I don't care for any "trophies" - if I don't see a "romance" fitting for my char I don't do it. Or if I think of any the love interests as not fitting or interesting for my char I don't do it at all. But it's nice to know that I could if I would want to. To see that there is someone who is interested in my char other than "She/he is a hero because she/he has slaughter so much bad guys". Because that's part of role playing, too. And I'm thankfull that BW included it in their games. It makes my char more "real".
It's part of them like a Creation Kit is part of Bethesda. Would I play/love a Beth game when there would be no CK? Certainly not.

Hmm... I don't think so, no.

Now I don't play games just for the ability to have a fling, have sex with all the crew etc but one of the most compelling aspects of Bioware games is the way they allow you to know your crew, friends etc and expand on those relationships. Plus Bioware is the only company AFAIK brave enough to include characters of all genders and sexual identities. So no I wouldn't.

It is fundamental ingredient of human existance. Without it role-playing seems lacking. Imho. I have crgpgs that don't include the romance arc but they tend to not be played as much.