Interview Josh Sawyer talks Pillars of Eternity at Eurogamer, confirms no romances

[dibens]

The game's top down perspective isn't really well suited for romances anyway. Their strength in ME and DA was the ability to zoom in on ass see characters up close and experience their voices and body language, not to mention the promise of hot sex scenes. Two 5cm tall figures vowing their love in text is kinda pointless, not that romances in the games aren't pointless to begin with.

 

[Irxy]

Whaat, no romances? Cancelling my pledge!
...
Damn, no such option.

Did they somehow promise romances during the Kickstarter pitch?

No.

Well, considering BG2 *is* the game which introduced the whole romances! phenomenon to the jenre, I guess it's one of those things many people would assume to be the core element of the experience the spiritual sequel ought to recreate.

 

[Dokkalfar]

I don't like any romantic/sexual content in RPG's, it makes me feel like the game is psychologically manipulating me into liking it - even if the game itself is shit - by giving me a boner or making me feel emotionally attached. Reminds me of how I once liked anime, even though objectively it's complete shit, it just panders and through fanservice and lovey-dovey stuff, despite the fact that the characters are completely one-dimensional and the writing is horrid. You need to maintain a pure state-of-mind to see it how it truly is.

It also reminds me how I ended up feeling that I liked Dragon Age: Origins, even though I really didn't, because of the cute girls vying for the PC's attention.

 

[Haba]

What the fuck? No gay elf romances?

I DEMAND a full refund!

 

[imweasel]

Too bad. My PC would have really had a blast banging Morrigan the mysterious forest witch, only to cheat on her later with the redheaded rogue girl.

Oh WELL.

 

[theSavant]

There you (dear pledgers) go with a lack-of-features-game. Over-euphoric kickstarter pledges based on crawling in one's asses just because of a studio name stinks as much as it sounds. But hey, you get your pile, so no need to complain.

 

[Monty]

It also reminds me how I ended up feeling that I liked Dragon Age: Origins, even though I really didn't, because of the cute girls vying for the PC's attention.

 

[Roguey]

Well, considering BG2 *is* the game which introduced the whole romances! phenomenon to the jenre, I guess it's one of those things many people would assume to be the core element of the experience the spiritual sequel ought to recreate.

While it made it popular, it didn't introduce it. Planescape Torment came first and before that was Treasures of the Savage Frontier and probably others I can't think of at the moment.

 

[Dokkalfar]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

 

[Roguey]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

It does, especially the part where she's all I love him more than my own life, getting jealous over FFG and prostitute conversations, etc.

Grace is a romance too. So are Deionarra and Ravel.

 

[Dokkalfar]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

It does, especially the part where she's all I love him more than my own life, getting jealous over FFG and prostitute conversations, etc.

ie, it doesn't go any further than the kiss.

Grace is a romance too.

You mean the Ravel Fall-From-Grace?

 

[Goegoff]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

It's thinking like this, or rather, writing for people that think like this, that makes the game romances so cheap.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

"mundane fantasy."

Hey look, Roguey , your boy just coined a new term for this type of game!

 

[Dokkalfar]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

It's thinking like this, or rather, writing for people that think like this, that makes the game romances so cheap.

They're cheap however they're done in a CRPG, unless the player character is a completely pre-made character with their own backstory, motivations, personality, otherwise as has already been said it's a bit like masturbation - or a romantic visual novel. It's about thinking of "yourself" as the self-insert of the PC and then getting off on an emotional high of having a cute elf telling you she loves you. Don't deny it's anything but.

I think the less a CRPG assumes about player character/s, the better. PoE would be heaps better if the game just started off in the Adventurer's Hall, you roll your party, and off adventuring, no annoying banters, just killing shit and taking their stuff.

 

[Septaryeth]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

It does, especially the part where she's all I love him more than my own life, getting jealous over FFG and prostitute conversations, etc.

Grace is a romance too. So are Deionarra and Ravel.

I might agree that Grace and Deionarra are partially "romance" characters, since you have the options to "talk nice".
But how does Ravel comes into the equation? Her relationship with TNO is more of a backstory; it's not like the players can actually do anything about her even if they wish to.

 

[Dokkalfar]

"mundane fantasy."

Hey look, Roguey , your boy just coined a new term for this type of game!

There's nothing "mundane" about throwing fireballs and magic missiles.... it's just an indication of just how ridiculous modern fantasy has become

 

[tuluse]

I might agree that Grace and Deionarra are partially "romance" characters, since you have the options to "talk nice".
But how does Ravel comes into the equation? Her relationship with TNO is more of a backstory; it's not like the players can actually do anything about her even if they wish to.

You can confess your love to her.

 

[Athelas]

IIRC if you give Mebbeth (one of Ravel's branches) one of the black seeds you can get from Ravel, there is closure to her character, but it's clearly not romantic, but rather motherly/mentorly.

 

[4too]

[Rapping] " ' Been A Long Time Since I Used My Nine ' " [/Rapping]



Maybe romance would have more adherents if it was less parody of social realism, and direly relevant to the in game machinations.

How to offer artificial social interactions with barbed hook commitment, for those that REALLY _ REALLY _WANT!

Unlock the belt of Chastity? How about dangling special relationship-s when go to SINGLE SAVE IRON MODE!


Put some real time risk in your pause with reel time.

Dally down that primrose path "you can't go back, you can't go back".


So to commit your dog to the game, emotional attachment / trauma pay to play in EXPERIENCE POINTS.

Holy Mind Flayers! Your Love On The Rocks and it might cost you thousands, only a level or so, and some of your ego gratifying Achievements too.

High stakes RPG Romance! Bloody the waters with true survival-horror spread sheeting!

Real life you might risk only your CD's and or half of EVERYTHING you own, in this alternative play pen, ante up 1000-s of EXP PT-s and the +9 Sword of Viagra!

Can not have meaningful 'swinging wild and free' mood oscillations with out hard wired stimulus response … NO NOT MY +9!!!1!


Think carefully before heading off to the next end boss, do you REALLY_REALLY_WANT to p-ss him/her off?

Choice AND consequences: As you leave, Is it a hearty barbarian F' off B-tCH, or, a p-whipped "yes dear".

Might have more to lose than you thought to choose.

Ready? Ready to pay to play!!?!





4too

 

[Azrael the cat]

One kiss does not make a romance. Plus it goes nowhere, like the devs couldn't even be bothered finishing it.

It does, especially the part where she's all I love him more than my own life, getting jealous over FFG and prostitute conversations, etc.

Grace is a romance too. So are Deionarra and Ravel.

I might agree that Grace and Deionarra are partially "romance" characters, since you have the options to "talk nice".
But how does Ravel comes into the equation? Her relationship with TNO is more of a backstory; it's not like the players can actually do anything about her even if they wish to.

They have full closure insofar as it makes sense within the themes of the game. All of the romances in PS:T are there to underline the way in which TNO is bringing torment and suffering to all those close to him. The romances for Annah, FFG and Deionarrah serve the same purpose as Dakkon's enslavement and Morte's fate following you for eternity. Deinorrah needs no explanation, but Ravel makes it pretty clear that Annah falling in love with you is a 'very bad thing' (which can lead directly to her death - and even without that, puts her in a doomed devotion to someone whose fated to hell). FFG is the final part of the curse of torment - notice how when you encounter Ravel, she expertly picks apart every companion's weakness and points out just how TNO is bringing suffering upon them (Annah's love, Dakkon's slavery, Nordrom in a hopeless struggle against his own nature, and most of all, the one time in the whole game where Morte's joking facade gets broken, with Rael revealing the bitter desparation beneath his humour)....but when she comes to addressing FFG she doesn't really have anything to say - in fact, while all the other characters are being taken apart, FFG is described as carefully sizing Ravel up for weaknesses.

Then you get to the end of the game, with TNO on his way to hell...and finally FFG's torment becomes clear when she swears that she's go back to the very place that she had once escaped from, making a vow to rescue TNO that can't possibly be fulfilled and serves only to doom her to the same fate as TNO.

What more closure would you want? Romances shouldn't be there to play waifu - it's like saying there's no closure between Hamlet and Ophelia because he drives her mad and she kills herself, instead of them having a sex scene and living happily ever after.

 

[Johannes]

Drew, what are you saving the world for if not to fuck bimbos?

 

[Xor]

Just ignoring romances is probably for the best. It has the advantage of alienating the Bioware crowd, and I don't think I need to elaborate on why that's a positive. But I'm also pretty bored with the traditional n conversations to sex model of romance that Bioware has created.

On the other hand, I tend to buy Obsidian's romances more than Bioware's, so I am a bit disappointed because I feel like if they were going to do BG2 style romances they'd actually do something interesting with them and it would give me yet more fodder to call Bioware hacks.

 

[Drew]

Johannes Oh, I'll fuck them when I'm done. I just have my priorities sorted out, and they didn't make the cut as a worthwhile distraction.

 

[Malpercio]

Just ignoring romances is probably for the best. It has the advantage of alienating the Bioware crowd, and I don't think I need to elaborate on why that's a positive. But I'm also pretty bored with the traditional n conversations to sex model of romance that Bioware has created.

On the other hand, I tend to buy Obsidian's romances more than Bioware's, so I am a bit disappointed because I feel like if they were going to do BG2 style romances they'd actually do something interesting with them and it would give me yet more fodder to call Bioware hacks.

Yeah, pretty much how I feel. Romances aren't internally bad when well written, and damn, Obsidian dudes can write. They are just another form of character interactions.

But meh, whatever.

 

[Dorateen]

I think the less a CRPG assumes about player character/s, the better. PoE would be heaps better if the game just started off in the Adventurer's Hall, you roll your party, and off adventuring, no annoying banters, just killing shit and taking their stuff.

I'll pledge drink to that.