Companion Romance Yes or No???

JamesDax3 · June 18

Bring this up again since it appears that this hasn't been talked since 2023. What's going on with this? Why hasn't this become a thing yet? What's the word ZOS?

spartaxoxo · June 18

I'd also like to know as well about food/potion hybridization. The last update was in 2024 for romance.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/675880/any-update-on-romance-options-food-and-potion-hybridization#latest

robwolf666 · June 18

JamesDax3 wrote: »

Bring this up again since it appears that this hasn't been talked since 2023. What's going on with this? Why hasn't this become a thing yet? What's the word ZOS?

Well, at least there's player homes to keep any shenanigans private...

Erickson9610 · June 19

This feature would take development resources away from anything else that I would rather have instead. Regardless, I hope ZOS finds the time for everything that players have been asking for.

Dalsinthus · June 19

The devs do this with some of their new additions to the game - suggest subsystem expansion will come and then never delver on it. When we do get subsystem expansions, it's usually replicating something the exists already rather than expanding the nuts and bolts of the system. So we get new companions, but not new ways to interact with companions. New mythics but not new things we can do with the antiquities system.

opaj · June 19

My feeling is that this is more possible now than it was before, since ZOS has switched to this "seasons" model. Assuming that seasons work out they way they intend, of course--it's hard to judge from this first year, which is basically the same chapter + feature model we've had since 2023, but stretched out to fit a season.

If they were to add a romance arc for the companions, I'd hope for three things:

Some writers are stronger with characterization and some are stronger with plot. Put the character writers on this.
If this is part of a general continuation of each companion's story, don't lock the conclusion/epilogue of the story behind their romance.
When adding romance paths, please don't skip over Azandar just because he's older. My main character is closer to his age than any of the other companions, and she's actually found him quite charming. Dating Bastian, who she originally took on as an apprentice, would feel like dating her nephew.

ArchMikem · June 19

In general? Sure why not, TES:V had Marriage. I can't say no to more ways to immerse into the world.

Personally? My main character is a Female Khajiit with Ember as her companion, and that character doesn't swing that way. Now Bastian though...

TheMajority · June 19

I want more deeper friendship options first, and like way more companions than the ones we have...male options are like real limited

Monte_Cristo · June 19

opaj wrote: »

[*] When adding romance paths, please don't skip over Azandar just because he's older. My main character is closer to his age than any of the other companions, and she's actually found him quite charming. Dating Bastian, who she originally took on as an apprentice, would feel like dating her nephew.
[/list]

Do we know how old the 2 elves are? They might both be older than Azandar.

mdjessup4906 · June 19

I'm not against this in principle, but given what the writers seem to consider "romantic" or "flirty" in dialog, maybe its best they focus on other stuff...

Mofasa · June 19

I don't mind a romance/marriage option, I am(?) happily married in Starfield.
But maybe the first step would more interaction with them, currently, they do all the talking.
The problem here is the voice acting...

TX12001rwb17_ESO · June 19

No because I do not want to "Romance" characters I have zero attraction towards.

EnerG · June 19

Since we're going too a season model I need a smoulderscrolls season. Its hearts day for the entire year.

Waseem · June 19

JamesDax3 wrote: »

Bring this up again since it appears that this hasn't been talked since 2023. What's going on with this? Why hasn't this become a thing yet? What's the word ZOS?

You want to bang your companion?

CalamityCat · June 19

I'd rather just have companions who want to be friends and travel with me.

How can you even have "romance" with a computer game character who has zero choice in the matter?

elven.were_wolf · June 19

Honestly, when I first played skyrim as a 16 year old, the fact that I could romance characters in-game made me realize how much I like those systems in games. Nowadays, if a game has a character creator AND a romance system I am immediately sold.
This might not be for everyone so they could make the romance status optional with a more in depth platonic relationship system.
Now if ESO does ever implement a romance system… Naryu, Raz and Darien better be on the list of romancable characters…

Mofasa · June 19

and Lyranth, don't forget her

colossalvoids · June 19

Wonder how many people asking for the feature would be ultimately disappointed by execution or sheer shallowness of the options compared to other games they have an option to. We already know capabilities of their writing, it's not that hard to imagine how it would look like and if that's something even of a mild interest. Even new dialogue options are kinda a fat hint to whatever it can look like already.

Lugaldu · June 19

I guess it's a really difficult task, because players have such wildly different views on what constitutes an appropriate or interesting "romance" with the companions.
Personally, I don't like the superficial flirting either, but I'm sure there are others who would enjoy that. And then, in complete contrast, there's this strange love story between Gadayn and Leramil... well, it was "something different," but equally strange.

Perhaps the introduction of answer options with Update 46 is a first step in that direction. This way, there can be different "flavors" in romantic interactions with the companions. I think it would be interesting. The main thing - I hope for - that it's not like TES V Skyrim marriages: "Welcome home, darling, I've prepared you a meal!"

Mofasa · June 19

I think a great way to introduce a romance system in The Elder Scrolls Online would be to build upon the existing dialogue and mission structure. Similar to Starfield, players could engage with companions through conversations, choosing the right responses to gain affection.

For example, during companion missions, players could be presented with three response options:

A rude or dismissive answer
A neutral or normal response
A flirty or supportive choice

The player's selections would influence the companion's affection level. Additionally, the game could include flirty actions or special tasks that players could perform to further increase affection, such as using specific emotes or completing romantic gestures.

Ultimately, successfully romancing a companion could lead to new, more romantic interactions and comments from the companion, adding a deeper layer of depth to the game's relationships and storytelling.

JemadarofCaerSalis · June 19

mdjessup4906 wrote: »

I'm not against this in principle, but given what the writers seem to consider "romantic" or "flirty" in dialog, maybe its best they focus on other stuff...

I wouldn't mind companion romance, but I would hope that the writers they got would take a look at the existing characters and keep in that line.

IE, Tanlorin would not flirt the same way that Bastian would, just as Azandar wouldn't flirt the same way as the first two.

If they just did a one size fits all? Yeah, it would be a disaster, but hopefully they would actually take into consideration the 'personality' that the characters have been given and the previous quests we have done (since i would think that romance would be best left as an option for after you have achieved max Rapport with each companion and done their previous quests). That way the companions could stay in character and it wouldn't be like the current 'flirty' dialogue we have.

Syldras · June 19

Lugaldu wrote: »

I guess it's a really difficult task, because players have such wildly different views on what constitutes an appropriate or interesting "romance" with the companions.
Personally, I don't like the superficial flirting either, but I'm sure there are others who would enjoy that. And then, in complete contrast, there's this strange love story between Gadayn and Leramil... well, it was "something different," but equally strange.
Perhaps the introduction of answer options with Update 46 is a first step in that direction. This way, there can be different "flavors" in romantic interactions with the companions. I think it would be interesting. The main thing - I hope for - that it's not like TES V Skyrim marriages: "Welcome home, darling, I've prepared you a meal!"

I was always in favor of optional companion romance, for roleplay reasons. It's just a normal part of life, so why would our characters not be able to experience that as part of their story in Tamriel?

But now? I'd rather not see it anymore, or at least not within the next few years. If you see the "flirty" dialogue options in Solstice, you'll understand why.

spartaxoxo · June 19

CalamityCat wrote: »

I'd rather just have companions who want to be friends and travel with me.

How can you even have "romance" with a computer game character who has zero choice in the matter?

The same way that romance novels have existed for as long as fiction novels. In fact, one of the very first novels ever written is a romance novel. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikabu. It is only the first novel by a woman to have won global recognition. Video game characters are not real so this concern about their "consent" is disingenuous. They'd obviously write the story to be consensual.

spartaxoxo · June 19

Mofasa wrote: »

I think a great way to introduce a romance system in The Elder Scrolls Online would be to build upon the existing dialogue and mission structure. Similar to Starfield, players could engage with companions through conversations, choosing the right responses to gain affection.

For example, during companion missions, players could be presented with three response options:

A rude or dismissive answer
A neutral or normal response
A flirty or supportive choice

The player's selections would influence the companion's affection level. Additionally, the game could include flirty actions or special tasks that players could perform to further increase affection, such as using specific emotes or completing romantic gestures.

Ultimately, successfully romancing a companion could lead to new, more romantic interactions and comments from the companion, adding a deeper layer of depth to the game's relationships and storytelling.

That's how it works in most games with romance options. Skyrim you just showed an amulet of Mara to an NPC, they accepted or rejected you, and then you had a small amount of additional dialogue and maybe a cutscene if you got married.

Rohamad_Ali · June 19

I'm not interested in that feature. SWTOR had that and it was cheesy then and would be now to me.

CalamityCat · June 19

spartaxoxo wrote: »

CalamityCat wrote: »

I'd rather just have companions who want to be friends and travel with me.

How can you even have "romance" with a computer game character who has zero choice in the matter?

The same way that romance novels have existed for as long as fiction novels. In fact, one of the very first novels ever written is a romance novel. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikabu. It is only the first novel by a woman to have won global recognition. Video game characters are not real so this concern about their "consent" is disingenuous. They'd obviously write the story to be consensual.

It's really not like a romance novel though. In a novel you have characters that are capable of having romantic encounters with each other in situations where romance is actually happening. A person having a "romance" with a computer game character is not a romance. The computer cannot have feelings, it just runs code. All it is doing is what it has been programmed to do. That couldn't be further from romance than having a "relationship" with a teapot!

I'm not really talking about consent above, simply that it isn't romantic when your game "partner" has no way to choose what they do or consent, because they're just graphics and lines of code. Companions have to follow us around and follow commands. Romance requires actual sentient beings who can have feelings about you and are capable of understanding what romance actually is and acting upon it. Or refusing it.

DeadlySerious · June 19

No. No thank you. Nyet. Non. Nay. We shouldn't even have companions in an MMO in the first place.

Syldras · June 19

CalamityCat wrote: »

It's really not like a romance novel though. In a novel you have characters that are capable of having romantic encounters with each other in situations where romance is actually happening. A person having a "romance" with a computer game character is not a romance. The computer cannot have feelings, it just runs code. All it is doing is what it has been programmed to do. That couldn't be further from romance than having a "relationship" with a teapot!

It would be our fictional character having a romance with another fictional character in a story taking place in Tamriel. I don't see any big difference to a novel, except for it might be more interactive because of dialogue choices.

DeadlySerious · June 19

Syldras wrote: »

CalamityCat wrote: »

It's really not like a romance novel though. In a novel you have characters that are capable of having romantic encounters with each other in situations where romance is actually happening. A person having a "romance" with a computer game character is not a romance. The computer cannot have feelings, it just runs code. All it is doing is what it has been programmed to do. That couldn't be further from romance than having a "relationship" with a teapot!

It would be our fictional character having a romance with another fictional character in a story taking place in Tamriel. I don't see any big difference to a novel, except for it might be more interactive because of dialogue choices.

The problem is it's a complete waste of dev time when there are so many other actual issues they should be working on. Check out the bugs section. At some point things other than cosmetics have to take priority in a game.

Syldras · June 19

DeadlySerious wrote: »

The problem is it's a complete waste of dev time when there are so many other actual issues they should be working on. Check out the bugs section. At some point things other than cosmetics have to take priority in a game.

I would consider it quest content, not cosmetics, unless one believes everything else except for vet content to be "cosmetics" which would be something I disagree about. Quests are a central part of this game.

Also, I didn't state that I think companion romance should have any priority, I only explained how I view it - as narrative fiction, not different to a novel. (Actually, I did even state, a few posts earlier, that I would not want to see it implemented soon, if I look at how some dialogue choices look right now. But anyway).

spartaxoxo · June 19

CalamityCat wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

CalamityCat wrote: »

I'd rather just have companions who want to be friends and travel with me.

How can you even have "romance" with a computer game character who has zero choice in the matter?

The same way that romance novels have existed for as long as fiction novels. In fact, one of the very first novels ever written is a romance novel. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikabu. It is only the first novel by a woman to have won global recognition. Video game characters are not real so this concern about their "consent" is disingenuous. They'd obviously write the story to be consensual.

It's really not like a romance novel though. In a novel you have characters that are capable of having romantic encounters with each other in situations where romance is actually happening. A person having a "romance" with a computer game character is not a romance. The computer cannot have feelings, it just runs code. All it is doing is what it has been programmed to do. That couldn't be further from romance than having a "relationship" with a teapot!

I'm not really talking about consent above, simply that it isn't romantic when your game "partner" has no way to choose what they do or consent, because they're just graphics and lines of code. Companions have to follow us around and follow commands. Romance requires actual sentient beings who can have feelings about you and are capable of understanding what romance actually is and acting upon it. Or refusing it.

Words on a page don't have feelings either. It is ink and paper. Or ALSO lines of code in the case of digital books.

Romance in video games is very similar to books written in first person perspective. The Vestige is a character. They're not the player. The player has not actually defeated Molag Bal. And Molag also does not exist.

The difference between the Vestige and a character in first person novel is the illusion of choice on behalf of the reader.

Juliette no more consented to being with Romeo, than Cullen consents to the Inquisitor, because none of these people are real. They're works of fiction designed to provoke thought from an audience.

People have enjoyed romance stories in their entertainment since the dawn of fiction. It's not weird that extends to video games. They're just an interactive entertainment medium.