Poll of the Day > Do you think there isn't enough intimacy in games?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is it because most people are adverse to public displays of affection?

I mean, sometimes a game will let you pet a dog... next up is hardcore offscreen sex with spouse, that's a huge gap, and the latter isn't even that intimate cuz there's no player agency there.

Of course, sometimes text is the supplement for actions... it could be a case of the genres not evolving; I mean, Lost Odyssey is VERY intimate with its 1000 Years of Suck side-stories

,,,

On the other hand... don't pull a Fable where you can just do anything to anyone, that's rude

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Sir this is a Wendy's

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I think the problem is there is too much mature content but not enough maturity about the content. Like, we'll have games with gratuitous sex scenes, nudity, and the like but it's treated like a teen power fantasy and we almost never see, say, a couple just happily hugging and enjoying each others presence unless it's a side couple. The main character has to have at least two possible love interests if not more and it goes straight from conversations to the bedroom.

One of the 'best' romances I've seen is DA:O's Morrigan romance because, if done right, she basically starts off as a wild and care-free teen girl who does whatever feels good and helps her only to get a cold slap of reality when she finds out someone actually CARES about her and loves her. It causes her to distance herself and stop engaging in bedtime activities and, if you follow through the story, she eventually goes from thinking kids are the worst thing around to having one to save her lovers life to loving her son.

While JRPG's are often better about romance than WRPG's they still have lots of problems and it's only marginally better (in that they develop a relationship and have it play out over the entire game instead of a few conversations). They still usually don't show the couple being actually... together... outside of maybe a scene at the end unless their romance is a core aspect of the game (and JRPG's tend to be more narrative-focused than WRPG's). Even then it's usually 'what would you do to make your beloved happy' instead of, say, just a tender moment where you and your characters lover cuddle up on a hillside to watch the fireworks.

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It's probably just seen as cringe. I wouldn't look too much into it.

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Lokarin posted...

sometimes a game will let you pet a dog... next up is hardcore offscreen sex with spouse, that's a huge gap

not all games have them, but I feel like you jumped right over emotes

/target lokarin
/wave

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*shrugs*

A lack of this type of content is the single biggest reason why fanfic exists.

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The big thing is that romances exist mostly just to have the prettier side be murdered or kidnapped to give the MC a motivation.
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Man's never played a JRPG
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Unbridled9 posted...

They still usually don't show the couple being actually... together... outside of maybe a scene at the end unless their romance is a core aspect of the game

It's as though it isn't plot relevant. Play a game that's actually about romance and weirdly it's shown a lot.
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They off screen it because of the rating system. Games that show sex are automatically given an adult only rating.
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

It's as though it isn't plot relevant. Play a game that's actually about romance and weirdly it's shown a lot.

Eeyup. If romance is central to the plot, you do get depictions of intimacy, even in more moderate forms. If it isn't, there's not much gameplay value to having cuddle breaks between artillery bombardments, so it gets left out.

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Man's never played a JRPG

I've played many, I think Lufia 2 is the only one remotely close

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I dont watch sappy movies, so I certainly wouldnt play sappy games.

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