By Robert Purchese Published Thursday, 23 January 2014

Remember all that hullabaloo about revealing lesbian sex in Mass Effect? However ludicrous the criticism, it's the sort of steamy content BioWare fans have come expect - love stories, love scenes, and often quite daring and progressive ones (for video games, at least).

'Who can I bed?' The inevitable question levelled at BioWare's produce within a heartbeat of people being able to answer it. And the answer people don't always like.

Is it time to mix things up a bit - time for BioWare to make a game without romances?

"Sometimes it's tempting," answered David Gaider, lead Dragon Age writer, on his blog (noticed by OXM).

He knows there will be a day when the Dragon Age: Inquisition romances are out of the bag, and he knows not everyone will be happy, and that some fingers will be pointed and accusations hurled.

"Yes, at that time, the conversation of why we even bother certainly can and will come up within the team."

He went on: "To me, the thing that BioWare does best is not story but characters - I think our characters are done to a level that few other games even attempt, with an element of agency that strikes a chord in our players... and romances have been a natural outgrowth of that.

"Sure we could stop, but that would be turning our backs on something we do which almost no-one else does. The question would be: 'why?' And what do we replace it with?"

BioWare has made games without romances before, he recalled, "and we could do it again".

"Perhaps, if we made a new IP, we might decide it's best not to open that particular Pandora's Box (which, yes, romances have always been) and go with something else... but that 'something else' better be something damned good, as there are a lot of people who enjoy that part of our games immensely and who might not be willing to buy into a new series which didn't have it.

"Some folks might be eager to write those fans off," he concluded, "but I'm not really sure that BioWare feels the same."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-23-should-bioware-give-up-romances

I wouldn't mind if they went away for a while. They've become cliche, just another box to be checked, and even the awkwardness of the terrible writing has ceased to be amusing. Also, I am quite unsettled by the knowledge that there is a bloc of psychotic fans on the Bioware forums who spend their every waking moment obsessing over the various romanceable characters. *shudders*

It shouldn't be something they feel they have to include in each new IP. If it doesn't fit within the frame-work of a game then it shouldn't be there. I don't think anyone would have a problem with that, as long as it's not something that's being removed from an existing franchise.

Personally, I like the extra layer of depth relationships add to a game like Dragon Age, which is based around having a party. It was also an enjoyable addition to their Star Wars MMO.

I personally like the romances when done well because they make the characters feel more human, and it adds emotional depth to the story. They're also completely optional, so anyone that doesn't like them can skip them if they choose to.

However, if the team has no ideas on how to make a romance work in their next game, no need to force it. Its better to focus their attention towards things they do have good ideas for.

I should add that I would be all about it in a Mass Effect game where you play as Super Agent Garrus Vakarian and uh... "calibrate" all the bitches in the galaxy.

But then how would we otherwise ever discuss how Tali's sweat tastes like?

Unless they improve yes they are horrid at them. See the witcher for how to do it better.

It would not be a major issue for me either way. For me it is a nice aside that can add a bit of variety to replays. If they don't feel like doing it I would not mind.

Bioware games have romance?