This is the problem BioWare had with DAI in that Straight Males looking for Straight Females had very limited choices. Well actually just one ... and she looked and acted like a man. But she had boobs so ...

Anyway I don't suppose I have a problem with everyone being Bi since I'll just play the companions the way I want like I did in Skyrim. My only issues would be if making them bi 1) makes them more generic and, 2) if making them bi means my straight character (or gay) gets hit on by the six they are not interested in. The advancement of the relationship would need to be completely on me WHICH in and of itself makes the characters weaker since being 'hit on' by someone you do like is actually one of the coolest things you can experience in life.

Huh. She didn't seem to me to look or behave like a man. Not like a real-world woman (more like a fantasy trope warrior woman, which is exactly what she was ) but certainly not like a man.

I don't think being 'hit on' by an imaginary computer character should be a problem for anyone. The problem comes when a rejection inevitably leads to gameplay/storyline consequences that the player couldn't foresee, so couldn't avoid, and can't mitigate or control.

It's the romance-subplot equivalent of an insta-death trap in a game which you can only avoid by falling into it once, re-loading and then remembering where it is. No-one likes those, and no-one likes a character relationship 'failure' they can't choose or control. Not in a game focussed on player choice

Another issue, of course, is how in-your-face an advance from an NPC is. It could be fairly low-key (a few flirting lines) which will fade off into ordinary friendship lines if not positively responded to in kind by the player.

Huh. What about Josephine? Or are you only thinking about characters you can take out in the field?

(I'm kind of surprised at the anti-Cass sentiment that I ran into doing a google search about this. She was my first choice when I played DA:I. Of course - relevant to this thread - she was flattered by, but unreceptive to my female Inquisitor's interest. )

Characters will have things like sixual preference defined. Animated accessories for the player character, on the other hand, need to be blank slates so as to facilitate the player's personal narrative. It depends on what you want out of an RPG.

In New Vegas there was no romance, but if there was romance with followers the character I would have been most interested in ... Veronica ... would have been off limits because she liked girls. You know what? That actually made her more believable as a character. Everything doesn't have to be about wish fulfillment.

Josephine was bi, not straight, and also a Disney romance. If you want one of those ... there's some movies I could point you to.

I did like having a relationship with Red Lucy in NV though. I wanted a relationship with Sunny Smiles, just loved the way she talked and all that. Kept going back to meet her but she never developed anymore. I really wish they hadn't had cut out the Shotgun Wedding you could have had with Cass. Would have been ok with spending the rest of my Wasteland days with her.

Cassandra is actually my favorite romance option as a Male character. I don't care much Josephine or Iron Bull.

Ah, I see. I guess I didn't see that as an issue. In a playthrough where I'm playing a straight male, the characters who I can romance are "straight male" options. That's at the "meta" level, of course, where I'm aware the NPCs are reacting code-wise with my choice of gender. At the written characterization level (ie., if the companion has dialogue where they reveal they're explicitly bi in-game) I suppose it would matter if the character I was playing was some level of bigot and wouldn't want to be romantically involved with a bi character, but other than that specific roleplay characteristic, it doesn't seem like an issue.

(Interesting comment I ran into while checking this out on google:

Just to set the record straight: you had several options for gay relationships in ME3; MaleShep had Kaidan and Steve; FemShep had Liara, Sam, and Diana (but she was just a trick).

What pissed people off were all the relationships (except Garrus) felt half-assed. And the only truly gay character in ME3 was Steve. Liara, Sam and Kaidan were bi. It just depended on which six your Shepard was.

BW did a better job with relationships in DAI (what killed that game for me was the endless fetch quests and the VERY short main quest).

In ME (1, 2 and 3) Shepard ALWAYS got laid. Lets see: in one of my play-thoughs my (male) Shepard nailed Liara, Maranda, Jack, Kelly, (almost had Samara), Kaidan, and Steve. But then again, he's Shepard. Savior of the universe. I'd throw him some action too.

I hope in FO4 the romance aren't that obvious.

Kaiden is bi? He is straight in ME1 .

So I guess Cassandra was a bigot for turning your female PC down. Bad backwards right-wing hateful [censored].

I recall doing the math before, but I recall that playing a bi female elf gave you the most options. Whereas playing a straight male gave you one option, or two if you were more progressive.

But it's issues like these that make the 'let them all be bi' makes sense I guess. Just hope they can still feel like unique characters and not generic.

In ME3 he comes out.

But, of course, there is a mod to makes Kaidan gay throughout all the games. Turns out the dialog was there all the time.

Hey man. As fans we should just trust in the whatever artistic direction Bethesda, as the creators and artists, choose to take. It is, after all, their art and the idea that they should be pressured into being less inclusive is just disgustingly entitled.

Several posts containing political discussion have gone away.

I'd prefer the companion's romantic preferences to be determined beforehand because it seems they'd be a richer character, like the crowd in NV (I never used them as companions but I did talk to them).

But if Beth wants to make character interaction easier I guess it's their call - it certainly isn't 'cowardly', it's a business and creative decision.

I don't expect it to hurt my enjoyment of the game.

1. Yes... Unrealistic and to an undefinable degree immersion breaking, just as no homosixuals at all, no bisixuals at all or no straights at all would be.

2. Well I don't think I've ever said they could satisfy everyone, nor should they attempt it. I'm stating my personal preference on the matter. Which is leaning towards realism, better characters and better immersion over a ... one size fits all... solution.

3. It is a minor thing and it's just my preference.

PS: Since when could we reprogram sixuality?

That's fair enough, and to some extent I can see what you mean as the player switches from vengeance to almost exclusively cerebral motives pre and post procurement of the chip.The transition between motives could have been smoother... but I do think the story will engender stronger emotions than that of the phlegmatic for most players.

I don't care about winning an argument, I think there's a great story in New Vegas and it genuinely saddens me when someone doesn't get to appreciate it, even due to completely valid reasons.

That's not even vaguely what I said. I said KOTOR was great and KOTOR 2 was garbage.

Only better to those who think Bethesda was the intruder. All much more subjective than objective. All under the bridge though. Bethesda are the guys now. Happy Happy joy joy!

Except in life companions have free will of their own.

A spouse can leave. The gov can take your kids. Inlaws visit. Your stuff gets sold. House burns down. Yeah, life. In vidya games, everyone essentially serves the purpose of entertaining your whims. Unless you're a psychotic, that's not true of real life.

Frankly, companions should be able to quit at any time. Take your stuff when you sleep. Stab you in the back, by selling you to slavers. Even just refuse orders, or put you under the boot. That's if a game had strong characters, but most are drones.

I actually don't mind companions leaving on their own free will if they don't like you.

It would be funny if one left for exactly that reason. I'm not talking about the typical karma/ethics based reasons a companion might leave in most game, but a companion that simply decides he doesn't like you.

"You know, I really can't stand being around you anymore. It's time we part ways."

"What? What did I do?"

"Nothing. It's not anything you did. It's you. I can't take any more of you."

"What do you mean it's me? I've done nothing wrong!"

"You haven't done anything wrong. I just don't like you. Good day!"

I can't speak for anyone else, but I sure as hell wouldn't be a Fallout companion. Those player characters are nuts.

Eh, I think I wrote that poorly then. I was trying to refer to the way you didn't consider a bi character to be a "straight male" option. Also, I was looking at it from the standpoint of a player character and/or the player - an outside viewpoint, looking to exclude a bi NPC from being a romantic option. Too meta, perhaps. Sorry.

(in other words - still not sure why you don't count Josephine as an option for your straight male character, just because she's bi. The only reason I could think of is that either you've got something against bi, or you were playing a character that did. But apparently, I'm jumping to conclusions. Apologies.)

edit: regardless, I wouldn't really consider a "bi" romanceable NPC to be "bi" unless it's actually referred to in-game. In my female playthroughs, they're attracted to women; in my male playthroughs they're attracted to men.

It could be Charisma based lol.

That's weird, I thought I quit the BSN but here I seem to be again...

Oh I agree if it's not mentioned in game it shouldn't matter. I don't recall if Jose says anything though (she might have, I just really didn't like her anyway so never pursued it). You could view Leliana's talk about her former master as such, if you read into it some.

As far as someone straight not wanting to be in a relationship with someone bi, I can think of reasons they wouldn't want it. Not sure it's a topic for discussion here though.

I'll assume that the companions in FO4 are just 'player sixual', meaning that they are attracted to the PC regardless of six, though other criteria like Karma, factions, etc. may also play a part.