I have an idea for a game feature: Let us exit companion romances! From threads here and here it sounds like that's currently impossible. ("Working as intended"!?) Once the [Flirt]ing has started you do see opportunities on multiple occasions to say "No," "I'm leaving you," "I changed my mind in light of this new information," and so on, and none of that matters: they'll love you, and keep propositioning you, 'til the end of time.

 

This is stupid. Upsetting, especially if you're trying to RP...the guy who's standing on your bridge watching you, requesting sex every few levels, is more than a little offputting. Especially when you have some very good reasons (as with female Sith Warriors) for dumping him.

 

Newsflash, writers: Stop means stop, and no means no. If your father and other role models never told you this, well, I'm telling you now. Asking players to push through something they don't want to do any more, and to tolerate sexual advances they've repeatedly refused, and then giving them stat penalties relative to their peers if they just stop doing conversations, is disgusting on both an in-game and a meta level.

 

Dragon Age: Origins did it right. The player had the option to break up; had several different ways to do it, either amicably or...not; and the companion respected their wishes. It blows my mind that SWTOR felt unsetting the "romance" flag after teasing the player with a chance to say "no" was just too much effort to implement.

If they do this, you do realize that it would require your affection with them to take a massive and possibly irredeemable hit.

I have to agree. My Smuggler is kind of a manwhore. He romanced Risha and Akaavi and even though I chose the option to keep things "casual" with Akaavi (the dialogue option even said it), she went all Fatal Attraction on him.

 

Now he is married to Risha, and unfortunately the only way I can progress through Akaavi's dialogues are romance options where if he turns her down I lose tons of affection, or if he chooses Akaavi and dumps Risha (which I do not wish to do, as I am looking forward to future companion quests and such).

 

I know I kind of painted him into a corner, but there should be a way to go back on the "just friends" track through our choices, shouldn't there?

Edited May 1, 2012 by Ralev

If they do this, you do realize that it would require your affection with them to take a massive and possibly irredeemable hit.

 

This is infinitely preferable to having the guy with my house key following my character around trying to put the moves on her for the rest of her life. One is awkward and difficult but more or less believable as something a team might survive; the other reeks of coercion.

 

There comes a point where I don't care about his (or her) affection, I just want him (or her) to stop stalking me.

If they do this, you do realize that it would require your affection with them to take a massive and possibly irredeemable hit.

 

It would be completely worth however many presents I need to buy. It's ridiculous that there's no way to get them off the romance track once I decide "OK, actually, you're sort of gross."

 

Corso is my personal example of this. I had thought (hoped) that perhaps he would grow past the godawful white knight stuff and see my smuggler as a person and a partner, rather than a ~lady~ to put up on an unrealistic pedestal, but it's become quite clear that no, he's going to do that crap forever. That is fine for some women, but it is not at all something I want to see through to completion, but it will not let me dump him. So instead I get to feel skeeved out that this dude will not take no for an answer, further solidifying my "he doesn't listen to a friggin' thing my smuggler says, he is a creep" opinion.

 

It's a simple, obvious thing, and I just do not understand how it got overlooked.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Birna

I have to agree. My Smuggler is kind of a manwhore. He romanced Risha and Akaavi and even though I chose the option to keep things "casual" with Akaavi (the dialogue option even said it), she went all Fatal Attraction on him.

 

Now he is married to Risha, and unfortunately the only way I can progress through Akaavi's dialogues are romance options where if he turns her down I lose tons of affection, or if he chooses Akaavi and dumps Risha (which I do not wish to do, as I am looking forward to future companion quests and such).

 

I know I kind of painted him into a corner, but there should be a way to go back on the "just friends" track through our choices, shouldn't there?

 

I'm not sure but I think that's the idea go messing around with two women that live on

Your ship mind you and you get what you got. Try that with two real women and they just mite get you in your sleep.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Bigdaddygarlic

/sign

 

simply not using a certain companion shouldn't be the only option since that class of character (ranged tank for example) may be what you need or desire.

/sign

 

simply not using a certain companion shouldn't be the only option since that class of character (ranged tank for example) may be what you need or desire.

 

True. Doc, from what I've seen so far is the worst companion in the game for a female toon... But I haven't seen em all, and clearly this is problematic for people.

 

I play both male and female toons for some variety. I hate Doc. My Sentinel uses Doc cause that class has no self heals.

I'm not sure but I think that's the idea go messing around with two women that live on

Your ship mind you and you get what you got. Try that with two real women and they just mite get you in your sleep.

 

My Smuggler is kind of the "Flirt first, Ask questions never" type. I did it because I had heard about the confrontation scenes (and they were a hoot), but I didn't know that you could not ever get off the relationship track once started (which makes absolutely no sense, particularly because I chose the option that told Akaavi that they were keeping it casual).

I didn't know that you could not ever get off the relationship track once started (which makes absolutely no sense, particularly because I chose the option that told Akaavi that they were keeping it casual).

 

I hear you. I heard a bit of Corso's backstory and style, then told him I changed my mind and wasn't interested in what he was offering. Never laid a hand on him, mind you; just flirted, realized my mistake, backed off. A few days later he comes back with "So we're going to have sex now, right?"

 

If I wanted guys to follow me around demanding sex after I told them to leave me alone, I would go back to college. There is no constructive reason to have this dynamic in game.

/signed

 

I've willingly pursued all the romances, so I haven't had this problem. However, the option to break off/start up a romance arc should be available at any time, not just "Oh you chose/missed this one part of dialogue, now you can never get rid of/have this relationship".

/signed

 

I was doing my companion quests for all my companions, doing the Risha romance and ignoring the Akaavi Romance, just focusing on her story, 3rd convo in with her... "Are you trying to court me?"

 

/facepalm

 

I told her no, and went on with the Risha Romance, and suddenly Akaavi busts in... "Cheater!"

 

In my mind I am saying, "No Akaavi... I let you on my ship... That does not mean I wanted to sleep with you... I let Corso onto my ship, and I have no romantic interest in him... I let GUSS onto the ship... GUSS TUNO!"

 

And so I had to dump a girl I never had a romantic interest in.

True. Doc, from what I've seen so far is the worst companion in the game for a female toon... But I haven't seen em all, and clearly this is problematic for people.

 

I play both male and female toons for some variety. I hate Doc. My Sentinel uses Doc cause that class has no self heals.

 

More Doc for me, then, he is by far my favorite romance. But yes, you should be able to shut him down and have that be the end of it because it is aggressively unfun to be stuck in a romance you don't like (I am looking at you, Corso Riggs).

 

 

EDIT: And yes, ideally you could also START a romance whenever, it's sort of a bummer to skip a [flirt] because it seems out of character for your person right then, and then have it turn out whoops, that was the ONLY TIME you were going to be able to start that romance (Ensign Temple had this issue for my IA, although ultimately I was glad I bungled it, because her character went someplace my IA absolutely did not want to follow. ).

Edited May 2, 2012 by Birna

/signed

 

It's more than a little unsettling that if you flirt at just the wrong time you end up stuck in a never-ending relationship with a character you may not be thrilled about. The fact that rerolling or dealing with perpetual awkwardness are your only two options there is really not cool.

Hm. I wrote the original post in anger, which was unwise, but I'm not going to try to cover it up with edits.

 

It's like this. I love BioWare's companions. Have since Knights of the Old Republic. I always look forward to working through new companion relationships, including the romance lines. I laugh, grumble, d'aww, yell at the monitor, get kinda misty, vigorously deny getting kinda misty, the whole nine yards. I work it into my character's story. I get involved.

 

So I enjoyed starting in on the romance lines for SWTOR companions. Corso was a dear. Kaliyo rocks. Quinn is my second favorite line of all time (after DA:O's Alistair).

 

With Corso I changed my mind after some flirting. That'll happen as you learn about a character. Tell him it's over, romance ends, life goes on...or so I would have hoped. Actually, Corso proceeded to proposition me with zero acknowledgment of the previous rejection. Um...straining the emotional involvement I had here, but I'll repeat 'no' and move on. He went on to disrupt quest conversations with jealous outbursts, horn into unavoidable on-ship class quest talks to yell at male questgivers, and I'm told that he is due to profess love and propose marriage soon. That each conversation should occur in a vacuum, with brand-new shock and hostility at every repeated (and sometimes too weakly worded) rejection, was beyond frustrating. I said no. I meant no. My full meaning was this: NO.

 

Dragon Age: Origins taught me to trust BioWare in these plots, especially romance ones. Zev's sudden reticence, Morrigan's...well, existence. If something feels off now, I'll see a reason for it later. A payoff that I'll understand even if I don't enjoy it. So what's the reasoning here? What's the greater narrative?

 

I never found one. The part of my brain that used to be wrapped up in the story is now feeling actively unsafe around this guy who clearly feels my boundaries don't apply to him. I hear from others that their love interests have done the same thing - behavior that woodenly, blindly ignores anything but "yes." It's not even some distasteful kind of characterization, it's just a design decision that said relentless sexual pursuit in defiance of repeated rejections is an acceptable thing that doesn't need to be fixed.

 

It's not, and it does.

 

I can't believe I have to explain this to a room full of adults, which is what most of these companions supposedly are: When I say "stop hitting on me," respect that. It's a gross violation of both the character's and the player's trust to just ignore it.

 

Now I'm going to go talk to Zevran Arainai, the nymphomaniac assassin with an open contract on my head who still makes me feel physically safer than Corso Riggs does. Zev can take "no" for an answer. Would that the SWTOR crew could do the same.

Me? I like man whores.

Absolutely agree with this.

 

"Flirt" equating to enforced romance/marriage is an attitude that has no place in a modern society. It is utterly abhorrent & the fact that the potential for enforced sexual interaction made it past an internal alpha release leaves me aghast.

 

If SWTOR was actually trying to explore those issues in a serious, nuanced & mature manner, I might feel differently. But this game is meant to be rated for teenagers and it's handled with the elegance of a dead fish.

If SWTOR was actually trying to explore those issues in a serious, nuanced & mature manner, I might feel differently. But this game is meant to be rated for teenagers and it's handled with the elegance of a dead fish.

LOL, I can feel the smell from here!

 

So funny, thx for the laugh. Made my day!

I agree, even if it is largely theoretical for me right now. But hopefully, when they get around to adding a few romance options that will appeal to me later this year, they'll take the time to fix this oversight too.

Ironically, it's easy as a male Jedi Knight to have Kira drop you in the "friend zone".

 

Though it's a shame, this goes all the way back to KOTOR 1. The only way to romance Bastila is to basically ignore "no".

Though it's a shame, this goes all the way back to KOTOR 1. The only way to romance Bastila is to basically ignore "no".

 

If you accidentally take Carth up on his first randomly-addressing-you-as-"Beautiful" thing, then tell him to cut it out, he interprets it as a sign to continue teasingly flirting. This links back to Han "'Stop that. Stop that.' equates to 'Let's start closet makeouts'" Solo...but while there's a place for that kind of story, there should also be a way for players to permanently escape that attention. I think sufficiently many people have direct experience with that situation going wrong that it's stupid and/or outright cruel to enforce it with every romance line in game.

Now I'm going to go talk to Zevran Arainai, the nymphomaniac assassin with an open contract on my head who still makes me feel physically safer than Corso Riggs does. Zev can take "no" for an answer. Would that the SWTOR crew could do the same.

 

He'll take no for an answer pretty cheerfully, even! And then you can be BFFs and it's GREAT and man I should play DA:O again.

 

Me? I like man whores.

 

Hell yes. <3 Doc and Zevran are my two favorite BioWare romances.

 

 

Speaking of Doc, part of why that romance works for me is because you can tell him to knock that crap off either in a way that ends it or in a "I am totally flirting with you on a third grade level by calling you an idiot but man I still want to do this romance" way, with the flirty faux shut downs CLEARLY MARKED, so you can have that sort of romance without the creepy sexual harrassment undertones.

 

Plus when I told Doc to stop calling me pet names, he actually did for the most part, the one time afterwards was actually sweet and appropriate rather than in his previously vaguely condescending way (which made it okay!). A-plus for that, Doc.

After reading this and some other threads I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am that my Smuggler is male. Corso is creepy and I want nothing to do with him. I tend to be very fond of melee companions - some ranged tank companions are buggy with their abilities - and usually aim for the tank, so for me I can use Bowie and not have to worry about romances. I do gift up my girls though, and I think I did accidentally flirt with Akaavi once. I *definitely* flirt with NPCs when Risha's not around, so I have no idea what effect that will have on my future relationship with her. Does she know? I have no idea. Nothing I can do about it now though.

 

The real problem I have is on my Trooper, who is stuck in a relationship with Catboy. To my knowledge, I never, EVER flirted with him. I was nice, sure, but I never flirted. And yet no matter how many times I told him no, he'd be back for more. WORST OF ALL, one romance mission didn't have a no option, and it featured an ominous fade-to-black. I basically feel like my Trooper was *****. By her own second-in-command. Quite frankly, I never use him except for crew missions. And now that I've gotten Elara and Forex up to almost-max affection, I could stop using Jorgan altogether and not notice it. I should be able to kick him out of Havoc Squad. Let him lead his own damn team, I'll make Elara my XO and I'll recruit somebody else. Hell, anybody else would do. I'd take Seetoo as his replacement in the Squad and he can't even use a gun.

 

Bioware, for the love of God, listen to us. This isn't what we wanted. And unlike a game like KotOR or DA:O, you can't go back to a previous save. In an MMO, you're stuck with how things are. Or we could throw hundreds of hours and God only knows how many credits spent and reroll the character - something I am simply not willing to do, even if I could get a free month of game time in which to relevel the character. No. Just let NO MEAN NO and get me the hell out of these unwanted relationships.

I know I kind of painted him into a corner, but there should be a way to go back on the "just friends" track through our choices, shouldn't there?

 

Lol! Oh yeah, because THAT works in real-life!

Vector: We would like you to marry us.

 

My Agent: Oh, wow. Hey. Look, Vector. It was fun, right? The sex was great, but I thought we were clear that this was a casual thing, between friends. We can't get married; I work undercover, and if anyone found out I had a family, they could be used against me. I know you understand.

 

Vector: We understand. We appreciate your honesty.

 

- a few days later -

 

Agent opens an e-mail from Vector: "We know your scent, and how you taste."

 

As I posted in the spoiler forum, Vector is getting really creepy now, and it's affecting the workplace.