Is it just me, or are there really no normal romance partners in DA2? I mean, there's sure come pretty eye candy, especially if you play a female Hawke, but seriously, which one would you really date? An abomination, Mr. Chaste, or a magically enhanced cyborg equivalent with a failed memory chip?
Females fare better with normality, though it seems that their appeal has been somewhat offput by physical appearance, but even so: the idea that the lady of your heart has had fun with half the coastal Thedas, may be slightly unnerving, especially if you think about her collection of germs, and with the other option being a crossbreed of a mad scientist and a big-eyed puppy.. not much of a choice, is there?
WHY is it that the only two normal people around, Aveline and Varric, can't be romanced? Isn't it sad that if my Hawke wants a normal man in her bed, she has to go to the Rose? Ygrain (talk) 11:31, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
Agreed. I really don't like the choice I have for my hetero male Hawke. It's either an ignorant bitch (I hate her from the bottom of my heart) or a girl that has the stature, the behaviour and the intelligence of a girl before puberty. I've read somewhere that, originally, there were non-companions NPCs planned you could romance. I guess these would have been more normal. Lemonaidz (talk) 11:50, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Good, I'm not the only one with "exotic" tastes :-)) I was just remembering the old BGII: though the companions did not have much space, they were still quite well fleshed out, and had their appeal even though they were pretty normal people /*sheds a tear remembering Anomen, Jaheira or even Aerie/. - Though, on a second thought, they were slightly out of their mind, to hang out with a child of Bhaal, at one point even soulless :-) Ygrain (talk) 11:59, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- On the topic of Baldur's gate, Anomen was an okay guy when compared to Anders and Fenris,if only he had learned to bite his tongue.Aerie and Jaheira were good options for a male charcter.The drow was not that nice.But I really wanted someone like Jaheira as a romance option. Not someone who slept with everyone,a kid who would make characters seem like a pedophile,not a terrorist or hypocrisy itself personalized.Aveline was there but she kept gallivanting around with Donnic and Varric was most likely in love with his crossbow.How I miss a character with assertive personality and normal attitude!--SJD2342 (talk) 12:32, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- I especially loved the bit when Jaheira and Aerie were bickering over my bard. "I've seen you, the way you look at him!" lol! Ygrain (talk) 12:48, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Also,the romance there was complex especially Jaheira and Aerie actually had the guts to break things off if you took her up on her offer.Here,well no one does that and rivalry romance makes no sense.First it's "I hate you!" then suddenly they start playing tonsil hockey.That seems extremely dysfunctional.--SJD2342 (talk) 12:54, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- LI in Dragon Age break things off as well and some romances just ARE dysfuntional. Oh and Anomen was a bloody bastard, I wanted to kill the guy. A.Saturnus (talk) 13:01, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Yep. Well, at least Anders does if Hawke allows Torpor to have Feynriel. Anomen was...ugh. I'd rather not start...or no, I will: people who think Anders or Fenris or even Carth Onasi of KOTOR are whiners, must suffer through Anomen's romance to see for themselves how true, self-centered, completely insufferable whining looks. Plus, he was bloody useless as a party member. Dorquemada (talk) 13:18, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- LI in Dragon Age break things off as well and some romances just ARE dysfuntional. Oh and Anomen was a bloody bastard, I wanted to kill the guy. A.Saturnus (talk) 13:01, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Also,the romance there was complex especially Jaheira and Aerie actually had the guts to break things off if you took her up on her offer.Here,well no one does that and rivalry romance makes no sense.First it's "I hate you!" then suddenly they start playing tonsil hockey.That seems extremely dysfunctional.--SJD2342 (talk) 12:54, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- I especially loved the bit when Jaheira and Aerie were bickering over my bard. "I've seen you, the way you look at him!" lol! Ygrain (talk) 12:48, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Well I did say that he needed to learn to bite his tongue.But still what bothers me about Fenris is that he thinks every mage to be the same.Stereotyping can be a dangerous thing.And Anders is possessed.He can get away with blaming every thing on Justice.But I still say that watering them down would have been a good idea.--SJD2342 (talk) 13:22, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- On the topic of Baldur's gate, Anomen was an okay guy when compared to Anders and Fenris,if only he had learned to bite his tongue.Aerie and Jaheira were good options for a male charcter.The drow was not that nice.But I really wanted someone like Jaheira as a romance option. Not someone who slept with everyone,a kid who would make characters seem like a pedophile,not a terrorist or hypocrisy itself personalized.Aveline was there but she kept gallivanting around with Donnic and Varric was most likely in love with his crossbow.How I miss a character with assertive personality and normal attitude!--SJD2342 (talk) 12:32, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
Me, I totally do not miss normies. I can haz 'regular' love in real life and so I wouldn't pick such an option in a game even if I could. And the other way round, where else could I experience destructive, overblown and hazardous to health affair if not in a game?
- P.S.: Wow. Almost ten years since I was introduced to Baldur's Gate series, and today finally I meet this one person in the world who is fond of Anomen. Are you sure you exist, Ygrain? Dorquemada (talk) 12:06, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
There is really no "normal" love interest in the entire series. None of them are. Not one. But if they were, they'd be boring. The Grey Unknown (talk) 12:13, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Alistair being a potential contender to the throne removes normal quite easily IMO. Warden thing aside. I think some of them COULD be normal, but unlikely. Leliana perhaps, but her past, and future as we now know it makes it impossible, or at least difficult. I would put Isabela in the same boat...er...okay. She COULD be normal, but her background may prevent it. In some ways, the pirate is the most normal of the group to be honest. She's certainly the only stable one with a grounded view in DA2. Morrigan, no way, Merrill, no way (the blood magic thing, other stuff too), I won't even touch the males from DA2, they're blatantly obvious and way too overdone IMO as well. The Grey Unknown (talk) 12:32, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- I _never_ mentioned Morrigan in the group of "normals" :-) - Anyway: I guess we should start distinguishing between people with unusual background (Alistair, Leliana, Isabela) and people (?) with serious psychical problems (Anders, Fenris). The former group looks more or less plausible, the other... I think my Hawke will end up in celibacy. - And NOT jointly with Sebastian, yuck, the guy's definitely group no.2! Ygrain (talk) 12:48, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Alistair being a potential contender to the throne removes normal quite easily IMO. Warden thing aside. I think some of them COULD be normal, but unlikely. Leliana perhaps, but her past, and future as we now know it makes it impossible, or at least difficult. I would put Isabela in the same boat...er...okay. She COULD be normal, but her background may prevent it. In some ways, the pirate is the most normal of the group to be honest. She's certainly the only stable one with a grounded view in DA2. Morrigan, no way, Merrill, no way (the blood magic thing, other stuff too), I won't even touch the males from DA2, they're blatantly obvious and way too overdone IMO as well. The Grey Unknown (talk) 12:32, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
Actually, now that I think about it, my issue with Merril and Isabela isn't that they aren't "normal" or that they have weird backstories or professions or anything like that, it's just they are not appealing to me. At all. Lemonaidz (talk) 12:21, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
I think Merrill turned out like this because the naive Tali became a favorite to many.And they overdid the characters for sure.They could have watered down Merrill,Anders and Fenris a little. Elf Tali seems okay(even with the creepy blood magic) but Merrill is just too damn naive to be cute.Revolutionary Anders is okay but Possessed/Terrorist Anders is not and Fenris the less said the better.I seriously hope they get a normal LI or two in the next game and non-companion romance just for the heck of it.--SJD2342 (talk) 12:41, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
Maybe it would be boring to some by the point of a RPG is to play the way you want your character to be.174.45.17.39 (talk) 13:36, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
Bah, gamers will never be happy with anything. :P Look at ME2's range of love critters: the perma-hazmat-clad female without immunity system (+daddy issues, +blindly worships the protagonist), the raptor with a set of nasty, needle-sharp teeth behind the mandibles (+daddy issues, +Dirty Harry), both can send you into anaphylactic shock and possibly afterlife, and vice versa, the lizard with skin that can send you tripping balls(+sonny issues +widower, wife killed because of his deeds +has months to live), female Fenris(+potty mouth +even more violent), smug and trigger-happy female Shrek with high (and unjustified) opinion about herself(+genetical experiment +has a teenage clone of herself she calls a sister +of course daddy issues)...hm, I think I'm forgetting someone...oh, right: the one änd only normal guy, Jacob, aka the least popular LI! Dorquemada (talk) 14:20, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- You forgot that Jacob has daddy issues too.--SJD2342 (talk) 14:29, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Ah yes. Shoulda skipped the whole Daddy Issues thing anyway - it's pretty much given for most of Bioware's companions. Dorquemada (talk) 15:07, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- "Everyone needs daddy issues. Just trying to help." - Oghren Futonrevoltion (talk) 16:15, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- You forgot that Jacob has daddy issues too.--SJD2342 (talk) 14:29, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
Think it would boring to romance "normals" (as other have said) I play the DA series and other games like that to get away from reality (incredibly boring- unless there's a beach, damn my land locked location!) or pass-time. I think it would be fair though to throw in these so-called "normals" but then again what is normal in a fantasy setting (0o). Aveline would have been a interesting female LI, but again not as thrilling as Isabel or blood mage Merrill- and although I love Varric I can't imagine ever romancing him. I don't know Sebastian seemed like a "normal" male romance option, but to me he's just so hate-able (ha-ha). TheDubious (talk) 14:25, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
C'mon, everyone, even in normal life, has their issues or inner demons - but a guy who has a real demon inside is quite a different category. Ygrain (talk) 14:37, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Thing here is that some of us want our characters to look like mentally stable men/women.I don't think anyone here is ever going to date the real life version of Bioware characters.It's not too much to ask for a single normal LI that isn't bloody chaste.Hell Tali was still normal when compared to evil blood magic and idiocy.I think that the part where you can sleep with the demon in DA: O is less strange than Merrill's "Demons are our friends" policy.--SJD2342 (talk) 16:09, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
- Indeed "my" demon of sloth and I are always at odd ends- to go out or not? (decisions, decisions!)TheDubious (talk) 14:46, May 6, 2011 (UTC)
I wouldn't want to see BioWare cross into sexual relations that most civilized societies would see as taboo. Besides Varric, Aveline, and Sebastian, your Hawke character also can't romance his/her sibling, and that seems to be where the developers are understandably holding the line. (VicGeorge2K9 (talk) 00:02, May 7, 2011 (UTC))
Honestly, I'd LOVE it if Bethany was romancable, wouldn't that be AWESOME!
j/k A normal LI would be really nice, but I'd rather sleep with people who aren't normal. All LIs in DA have some kinda charm in them that comes with being "unique". Andrehydra (talk) 12:05, May 7, 2011 (UTC)