Would you then not find it hard not to give said individual special privileges?

In Mass Effect 1, I found I was treating Ashley quite differently than the rest of the characters. She would always be with me when I went out on missions & I made more attempts to talk to her. [spoiler]When given the choice, I allowed her to live and the other to die. [/spoiler]I even went as far as starting Mass Effect 2 over when I realized that Ashley was still alive. But then that's me. I'm very monogamous. When I play, I view the characters as an extension of myself. And I found her back story quite interesting. I WANTED to learn more.

Do people take those marriages seriously?
I mean do people start taking these marriages as part of their real lives and start to dismiss other parts of their real lives?

I wouldn't say that I began to dismiss the other parts of my life (but I did spend a large portion of each evening playing the game).

...but for normal humans?

HAHA!

Another game [series] you may want to check out (for reference purposes) is FABLE 2. You could woo almost any character. It even had some interesting statistics (# of STD's contracted, # of people slept with, etc.). There were even funny 'cut scenes' where the woman (I was a man) would say, "OH! Is that it?!" or , "That's how I like it - short and sweet".

Personally, I am a fan of relationships in games. I like to know [and to get know] the people I travel with. Just like in my real life. I like to know the people I work with. I talk with them, laugh with them, empathize with them, etc. But that could just be me.

Another game [series] you may want to check out (for reference purposes) is FABLE 2. You could woo almost any character.

This is hardly a good option for research into in-game romance, except maybe as an example of how little it takes to include a "romance" option on the box. All the woo-able NPCs were cardboard cutout characters: their "personality" ammounted to three randomized stats determining things like what gifts would impress them and if they'd gladly sleep with a complete stranger. No seriously, at one point my wife and I ran our hero around the pirate town propositioning every NPC we could find to see how big of a group we could take back to the inn. I think we rounded up 60% or more, roughly everyone with a "promiscuous" stat. What can I say, it was a seedy place.

Hilarious, but hardly something fans of dating/romance sim interactions would consider part of that genre.

Any storyline to a particular player-npc romance would have to be invented by the player: there wasn't so much "romance" as a collection of facts and stats. Yes, we are married now. I place the collected spouse NPC in one of my collected purchased homes. I choose to add collected offspring to the inventory by selecting the "have children" lever. But at no point did you have any kind of interaction with an assembled personality.

Are you sure the ones you heard about weren't between two players?

I would have to say that I am sure it was between 2 humans since that is the only thing of which I have heard until now.

Personally, I am a fan of relationships in games. I like to know [and to get know] the people I travel with. Just like in my real life. I like to know the people I work with. I talk with them, laugh with them, empathize with them, etc. But that could just be me.

But…
I understand building a strong bond with characters in a game to intentionally heighten the experience. Same reason I suspend disbelief to enjoy movies such as The Smurfs.
In fact those bonds are exactly what makes Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII so great.


But taking it to the “relationship” level is a bit far.
If it is nothing more than an in-game mechanic then fine, I guess, but I easily see people getting way too carried away with the whole idea.
Besides, even as a game mechanic it would bother me to consider my spouse to be nothing more than a fat sweaty guy’s programming.


L. Spiro

[quote name='L. Spiro' timestamp='1357772641' post='5019668']
But taking it to the “relationship” level is a bit far.
If it is nothing more than an in-game mechanic then fine, I guess, but I easily see people getting way too carried away with the whole idea.
[/quote]

Agreed! It's not MY relationship. It is my CHARACTERS relationship. I simply find it difficult to respond in any way other than the way that I would in real life.

[quote name='L. Spiro' timestamp='1357772641' post='5019668']

Besides, even as a game mechanic it would bother me to consider my spouse to be nothing more than a fat sweaty guy’s programming.
[/quote]

HAHA - God forbid we end up being nothing but a program in something similar to 'The Matrix'. j/k

I think you picked up one of the dullest relationship systems around as example. It's just a "wanna marry me?" "k thx bai" *adds "stay in players house" AI package*

Skyrim characterization is null for NPCs except for *very* hand picked examples related to the main quest (Ulfrik, Phaarthumax, and thats it pretty much).

You should inspect games where those things are a more prominent feature like Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect, maybe the whole Triss or Shani issue in The Witcher 1.

Thank you for the recommendations. I'm definitely interested in looking at other games that have made some attempt at having romanceable NPCs. Though, I think because of the very basicness of Skyrim's system it makes a good test for those few elements it does provide that might make the player prefer one NPC over another (voice, appearance, maybe social role in their town. I know that I am actively repelled by a character being a beggar or a drunk, for example.)

I see. Well... I think Aela the Huntress is a favorite among most Skyrim players (male and female) for some reason :D

[quote name='L. Spiro' timestamp='1357728533' post='5019412']

1. Would you be a bit disturbed to later find out that one of those attractive male voices was a member of GameDev.net?
2. Especially if it was one you wanted to (or did) marry?
3. Would you then not find it hard not to give said individual special privileges?
4. Do people take those marriages seriously? I mean do people start taking these marriages as part of their real lives and start to dismiss other parts of their real lives?

[/quote]

1. Maybe I don't understand the question but I cannot see how this could be a problem at all.
2. Marry... in a video game. I rarely get emotionally attached to my data sets. Those which do something to me, are generally spectacular architectures.
3. I'll admit I'd likely gave them an extra chance to prove their worth in real life. Or two. Yes, that would be an extra privilege.
4. I seriously hope not!