**ROMANCE**

Is it confirmed to be romances though? I though it was just deeper friendship with the companions.

Anything I'll write will be more like speculations, because devs can back-paddle anytime then they feel like it's not fitting their story (as it was with PoE) and I think it's pretty save to assume that it won't BW level romance, still... either way, it will bring in the spark 

Dare I ask what that was about, or will I be unleashing PTSD flashbacks all over the place on you poor people?   I only joined a couple of years ago, but was always only on DA forums. 

As for OPs question: I'm actually not sure...   I would, but it would certainly make me sad. I've been gaming since I was a little kid and am 30...something now, and RPGs have always been my favourite. So, I'm well used to romances not being an option. Being a huge JRPG fan, too, I'm used to romances that just feature in games that don't have a customisable protagonist, and finding them rewarding. (Squall and Rinoa = Teenage Ripley's OTP for life  )

When it comes to BioWare though, I think it's been touched on a lot already in this thread that it's part of what makes them unique. Story and character development/interaction are what they have always done best, and romances can greatly add to this. I've no issue playing as default male, straight characters - but I'd be lying if I said being a kickass lady-killing lady wasn't fun and really appealing. So, my PCs in BioWare games are gay as Christmas trees and have a gay old time while saving the nation/world/galaxy. 

I'm extremely fond of all my romances across BioWare games, with a fondness for Femshep/Liara especially. I think the angst in LotSB really gave extra depth to that one. I also loved my Cousland and Leliana - I thought it was a really sweet romance, once you can shut your eyes and get past the hilarious gift-bribery mechanics.   Isabela's romance in DA2 is also really well done, IMO - she really grows as a person. DA:I didn't really do as much for me. Josephine's romance was really sweet, and I admit it was kinda novel to do the whole dashing chivalry, Disney-on-crack thing with an f/f romance and that did tickle me. But it didn't have the same depth (possibly due to her not being a companion). I replay my canon playthroughs 99.9% of the time with games, but I switched it up purely for Dorian and Cassandra because a) they are awesome characters, and their romances were great. Andromeda I haven't finished yet, so can't give a final opinion. 99% sure it won't come near the others, though...

So, I do think BioWare games would be losing something if the romances were scrapped, but I would still play - because there are other platonic relationships that I love. I somehow magically manage to always befriend or at least get to mutual respect territory with all my companions, and their friendships are brilliant. Femshep & Garrus remind me of me and my best friend (though, sadly, we're nowhere near as cool.  ). Thane, Mordin, Legion and even Kaidan's deaths all brought a tear to my eyes. Shep's speech to the Quarian Admirals in ME2 when she's sticking up for Tali always gets me. Leandra's death is the saddest thing about DA:2. And so on. 

BioWare aren't always perfect, but once they keep doing character and story, we can survive. 

As a slight aside: while I personally love the romance element, I hate how toxic and divisive it can be.   Personally speaking, as a gay woman I've never felt particularly hard done by (I do think gay guys do get shafted in ME in particular, though.) Yeah, sure, I'd romance Morrigan/Cassandra/Miranda in a heartbeat, but c'est la vie. It's a bit annoying to find out that devs intended certain characters as bi options and then ditched the idea for whatever reason, but that's the way it is. This isn't to say it's all perfect and no one is allowed to criticise or complain, but there's no sense going completely mental over it. Unless they do a DA:2 and have every character as bi in every game, someone is always going to be disappointed. Once the content is relatively decent for all options, I think that's the main thing. Obviously, particularly in Andromeda, it isn't, and that's a shame on BioWare's part.

And on the flipside, there are the dudebros losing their minds over characters like Anders and Kaidan being options for male players. 

So, yeah: I clearly had waaaaay too much time to kill this last hour in work...TL;DR: Yes, I'd still play, but would have a Sad Face.

Oh it's a grim and bloody tale...

Here you go.

Ah Jeeeesus...   Thanks for the synposis! Personally I love Miranda, she's probably my favourite companion alongside Garrus. And I think both sides of her are just as good character-wise. Her being a bit softer in ME3 suited my personal canon quite well, but I did feel she got short-changed in the last game, too. The sexuality thing, well, she was allegedly scrapped as a bi option along with Jack, Thane and Tali, so she's canonically straight, or at least not a romance for Shep. Such is life. (I totally think she and Jack are a hot as hell non-canon ship, though, and no one can stop me. )

That kind of reaction is just bonkers, though. Can't we all just calm down and have nice things. 

Ahhh ok...Sorry, just Miranda/Jack is a massively popular f/f ship, and I've seen massive arguments in other places that descended into straight dude-bros versus angry gay gals flame wars.   Add that to the audio files for a Femshep romance, and you have more war. I completely cracked up when they seemed to acknowledge it in the Citadel DLC. Shep ships it, too! 

Based on the Shadow Broker files on Miranda, I'd say it's safe to assume she's not a virgin.  But that kind of character is open to interpretation in that regard. Christ, that's an even more mental reason for arguing. 

Jack takes a while and a lot of headcanon RPing to warm to, I think. Despite being sidelined I think she actually improved a lot in ME3. But yeah, I see your points completely.  TBH I thought it was a bit nuts myself, but I read some really good fanfic (the kind with story and character development, not just angry hate sex lol) and I really took to it. Each to their own, though. 

In a way I'm almost glad that Miranda was removed as an option, cause my Shep is totally devoted to Liara, but the temptation may have been too much. OTOH, a Liara/Miranda confrontation along the lines of Liara/Kaidan in ME1 would have been delicious. 

I always thought it seemed a bit OOC as well - but OTOH, the poor woman is trying to keep the mission on track while dealing with a psychotic ex convict who wants to kill her, not to mind the rest of the shenanigans the crew gets up to. She deserves a little downtime. 

The old BSN had a pretty big reputation for being pretty, well, toxic back in the day. However I think it's fairer to say that the fandoms for both ME and DA have fairly sizable toxic elements, to be sure. DA especially, as for whatever reason I've always been more involved with that one online than ME. I have to say that my experiences in the DA forums on the old BSN back in '15/16 and my few weeks here have all been fun and friendly. It's worth ignoring the crap for the lovely folks that you can find. 

I could never not talk to her. That accent!

Hmm, yeah, I get you. I guess I kind of separated the two a bit - i.e she was DTF for downtime or whatever. Given her personality, demanding health screening from a random hook-up seems in character I thought. The fertility thing I found kind of, I don't know, touching? In that she is not, in fact, "perfect" for the purpose she was created for. Now obviously I'm not saying that human beings should solely care about procreation. But in the context of her crazy father and her history, etc. She clearly has a bit of a complex about the 'perfection' idea. Plus whether you're pro-"softer" Miranda or not, I could see her wanting kids regardless, I think it makes sense. But yeah, the two different correspondences together does make it seem very possible that she was looking to get knocked up - which is demented for any character, but especially Ms Pragmatism Personified! 

My choice of word was a bit hyperbolic perhaps, sorry.   But I've just genuinely seen some crazy trolling/bitching in the fandom with zero constructive elements, which does at least seem a bit worse than other fandoms (at least that I've encountered). I actually always do my best to search for any kind of valid points and address those, even if the person seems to be "trolling". I've actually had really good discussions with people who rub most people up the wrong way with aggressive posts about a theme/character. It's very important to make a distinction and try to get into a proper dialogue - and also to know when to quit. 

Considering what Obsidian's take on romance has been like in the past (Atton Rand, Visas, Gann, whatever TF was up with Bishop)....my body is ready    I love horrible, messed up, perverse takes on romance.  Because let's face it, anyone who decides it's a good idea to strap on a suit of armor and fight monsters is at least a little touched in the head.

Back to the original topic, I continue to love Obsidian's games despite the lack of romance, but TBH, I think Obsidian's plot writing is stronger than BioWare's nowadays, so maybe that's not a 100% equitable comparison.  I think I'd still like BioWare games without the romance, but the time and effort that went into romance content would have to go somewhere else.  Preferably to main plot quality.