Yes, I think romance is a good dimension to exploit in Tes, it's something that some players will ignore but some will enjoy. Just make it optional. Buying a house is optional too, nobody forces you to use it but if you like it, the option is there.

Too tired to bother arguing why it's not worth it.

wow man real life is here, use it!... lol sorry i had to do this joke, real life svcks! (another joke duhh XD) not entirely romantic relationships, but some kind of relationship would be amazing, it would make me remenber of my last love... =[, but it would be cool to actually find a smart opposed six npc who actually "likes you" in a away that make us like her too, of course, before alot of conversation, quests, and some companioships, i would love to have the option on try somenthing more than just friends with her( he for the female characters)
i dont really care for the "kiss" since it is a kiss in a game it would make no sense, but definitly a emotions-for-me showing would be amazing, and it would make the game much more interesting... of course im a npc lover, and i want to be friends with some of them, and TOTAL [censored] BAGS TO THE UGLY AS HELL ONES, or with ideas opposed to mine HEHAHAHA! :chaos:

yea man, thats pretty much it, what you want is not romantic relationships, but definitly the fell that you actualy made a friend in the game, "someone" who actually cares about you and ask about how you are, and even do unfunny jokes that the developers think is funny( well its not) you know, this npc would actually help you find things, help you get out of trouble and even give you shelter, and maybe one of then is the opposed six to your character...

I've changed my mind on this subject. Frankly I don't think TES needs a romance option. I'd happily trade a romance feature for some bonemold armor and a morag tong questline.

Actually it was all rather disappointing to venture all the way to Tel-something-or-other in Morrowind, with the hope that a certain alchemist would find interest in my male Altmer: alas she was more interested in her alembic. I forget the exact name but I think the quest was related to the 'Beauty and the Bandit?'

I'm a little bit conflicted...I love playing Emma's 'White Wolf of Lokken' mod for Bloodmoon, but on the other hand...Would it configure well into Skyrim?
I'll have to give it some more thought....

A few questions:

When the romance is over and the relationship is into marriage, will she:
Climb all over my ass to take the garbage out?
Argue with me about pedantic topics?
Come home from a long day working at the local tavern and fly off the handle at every little thing?
Ask me questions like; "You're not going off to fight dragons dressed like that? Are you!?"
Because if this is what you had in mind, then I'm all for it!! HELL:YEAH!!! :tops:

TES makes me fall in love with the province and appreciate the culture of their universe as a whole, I fear that adding romance in the games would take away from that and even worse alienate the fan base into discussing the quality of romances with character x and why character y can't be romanced rather than the awesome discussions of the lore we are provided with .

LOL +1
this would be nice! xD and funny

LOL, you know what? no one has actually stated any real good reason for why romance shouldn't be in the game. It won't ruin the game or by any means make the game worse, in fact it could add to it. Possibly have a part of the game where u meet a girl, or boy depending if ur a male or female, that you knew at a young age in danger and u save her or him. that could start the romance quests. If adding romance quests to the game will add more things I can do in the game, why not? So i'm all for it, if it's optional =)

Only if it has a purpose to it, I.E Marrying a Count's daughter gets you money or makes you the count if her father "mysteriously" dies. Otherwise no, it can be modded in like the housewives mod in Oblivion.

Morrowind had a "romance" quest or two, the most memorable of which was Ahnassi. Even then it was more she liked you so she gave you quests and then invited you (her "special friend") into her house and gave you gifts. Hardly all that romantic.

Simply put, the idea of an in-character romance doesn't really work when your avatar in the world has no character to speak of. He is what he does, literally. He has no other way to interact with the world, and cannot really expound his opinions on X or Y to the degree that a romance becomes worth paying any attention to. Seriously, you want a romance go play Mass Effect or else mod Tali's ample Quarian ass into Skyrim when it comes out.

Leave it to the modders, I don't think it would fit in a TES game.

If they made it with companions, and if they make it pretty good, like Kotor or BG II but better, where you can either choose to have all that dialogue with the person or just tell them to shut up, and you never have to deal with it again, then I would be okay with it.

I don't see it as a big deal. If they add it cool, if not I'm not worried about it. I'm more supportive than opposed though, just for variety.

Depends how they implement it. I thought it was rather well done in Dragon Age, but not sure if it fits the Elder Scrolls.

Then again, fans will make romance companion-mods for sure anyway, so might as well spare them the trouble.

I don't want romance, I want to disembowel ice trolls.

However, if there's a very optional side story/quest like Ahnassi from MW, great, fine, whatever. No harm in putting something like that in for those that are interested.

*ahem*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Friendships, sure. But Bethesda ain't fantastic writers, even for the most basic of dialogue. The voice actors aren't great either. Anything more than a close frienship would be corny as hell and absolutely terrible.

I don't know about a "full" romance, but at least occasional flirting options would be nice.

The way I roleplay my TES characters is that they have a very definite personality - and also a "life" outside the main quests, guilds etc. They have interests, likes and dislikes in my imagination even when I can't really use that stuff in the actual gameplay. Romance would just add to that, I think.

I've very much enjoyed some BioWare romances (Alistair, Zevran, Bastila, Kaidan). Some, on the other hand, have been extremely cringeworthy (most ME2 romances, DA2 romances). There's such a fine line between poignant and cheesy/tacky.

I find it hard to imagine how a deep romance could be implemented in an open, sandbox type of game. On the other hand, even a more simple one could add more to roleplaying value. For me personally imagination plays such a big part with Bethesda's games.

Would be nice to have the choice to have one or not. Not really needed but would be nice to have the choice.

I seem to recall there was a Morrowind mod that allowed for families and children, etc. It was relatively popular, but I think a lot of people would find it a bit odd in a TES universe. The laws of normal reality don't apply to you (you don't have to sleep, eat, drink, or do anything really), so why should relationships?

I feel that when they try to put these into games it makes them more linear. For instance it fitted in Mass Effect. However i don't think it fits in a TES game, because as Todd Howard states repeatedly, it's about being able to go anywhere and do whatever you like. ME was great, but it wasn't about that. The story was still the be all and end all. TES is different. You are supposed to be able to completely ignore the main quest for a very long time if you want to.

I don't think beth can handle romances, but some sixual themes might be nice - Daggerfall had them, and they really contributed to the atmosphere, while Morrowind and Oblivion completely avoided them for some reason. Teen rating, probably?

Nobody said relationships should be compulsory. They could be there as an option that you use or don't use. As you said, eating food is not something you have to do, but food is there and you can eat if you like.