So long as it doesn't get too confused about where its romantic feelings lie ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ofl_UP3apM

That's exactly where I want it to go.

What are people?

People are people and they have soul. People are not machines/robots.

I will react by tapping that shiz.

I'm ready to pull off a krillin at any time.

How do you quantify a 'soul?'

One could claim souls don't exist, there is no concrete evidence they do. Some beliefs state that everything has a soul, in Japanese mythology there are creatures called Youkai which may range from animals to an umbrella that has developed a soul.

You really can't say "they have no soul" when there are numerous faiths and beliefs that can state otherwise and there is the idea that souls in general don't exist.

@Cider! @Fredward

I should have added that this is my opinion and my beliefs then. I don't want to argue about it.

It would depend on how my characters think of androids.

If they are cool with androids/don't give a [censored], then they're willing to consider android romance.

If they think androids are just walking wires and bolts with delusions of 'humanity', then no, no they'd rather marry a Deathclaw than marry an android.

I thought one interesting idea would be if The Institute has developed a means for recording a person's memories, and programming an android with them. Perhaps the memories from someone who died in cryogenic preservation, but remained frozen and with an intact brain.

Strictly for role-play purposes (remembering that our characters are not us, and don't necessarily have our beliefs or attitudes), would people's player-character be able to form a romantic attachment to an android programmed to look like, think like, and believe it was their deceased spouse?

Whatever.

1. The android in Fallout 3 seemed pretty much like a person.

2. Given the state of "romance" in previous Beth games, I'm not really expecting much (and am moderately surprised by how many threads are popping up about it)

People live in hope for improvement. One improvement would be for Bethesda's writing to reach the levels where they can pull off something like this - or at least aspire to it.

Because, let's face it, if Bethesda's writers could manage a halfway decent romance (or had permission to - they may be capable of more than is thought by the lead developers to be appropriate to the series), then they could manage some really good writing that offered really good role-play opportunities in other areas .

My character (even I) would still probably feel attached, and even knowing she was an Android, I'd take care of her. It could be a fragile relationship, knowing what what she is, and if anything changed - like if her memories and personality got downloaded into another body, it could be very, very difficult. So I could get attached, but I might have a hard time coming to terms with my feelings for the original. Especially, if by some miraculous twist, it's revealed that she's not dead, it might be too hard to choose between someone I fell in love with and someone I faced the end of the world with.

This and Android romances would be silly....

"A3-21, initialize factory reset, authorization code: Beta, 5, 3, Alpha."

Just to clarify. The whole point is that you dont know she/he IS an android and possibly not them either.

The question I want people to ponder is - if they found out - AFTER falling in love; would it change how you feel about them? Would you break up?

Sorry, yes, I was rather going off topic.

I think it would largely depend on the character I was playing. One of my thoughtful, diplomatic characters probably wouldn't break it off - so long as any deception was well conveyed as being motivated by fear and/or affection rather than malice. One of my neurotically aggressive characters would break it off in an instant - probably with as much firepower as they could muster.

Heck, if the situation was well written enough, I may play through with two very different characters just to play out both scenarios .

Thanks for being one of the few with an actual good answer.

I got curious about all this not only due to the blade runner movie, but also by talking to a friend about the FA4 android theory were we also dipped into if there should be romance / friendship with an android. We disagreed strongly on android romance. My argument was that super-advanced AI is no different from a human, in that human behavior is also just a biological "program" based on determinism and chemical reactions in the brain. We ended up on agreeing to disagree.

What also came to mind was the EDI + Joker romance in Mass Effect 3. I loved it personally.

what was the name of that one? fisto? either way. same here

"assume the position... beep"

Of course, one huge difference is that our understanding of each other's behaviour has evolved for millions of years alongside the evolution of that behaviour. It is possible (within limits! ) to trust that if someone behaves in a certain way, it's because they feel a certain way.

With a constructed AI... well, all assumptions and instinctive understanding goes out the window. Even assuming no deliberate deception, an AI's mannerisms and body language may be a very poor guide to it's feelings and motives - and may be an exceedingly deceptive guide, as our instinctive reactions to unconscious cues can also be unconscious, and so very hard to ignore or resist.

And put that into the Fallout universe, where a paranoid view of the big, secretive organisations like the Enclave or The Institute is simply well adjusted caution, and any sensible player character would have to be wondering what sort of 'sleeper code' might be installed in an android, just waiting for the right triggers to start running, or what sort of hidden motives and agenda a seemingly loving and affectionate android might really have beneath it's carefully calculated behaviours.

Of course, often the fun in RPGs is playing a character who is far from sensible .

doesn't matter to me what they are as long as they fight effectively ,they're welcome with me anytime.