4 replies to this topic

[Bill Bisco]

So for anyone with a good memory of Mod Romances.  Are there any kind of generally accepted standards?  For example:

 

1. How many lovetalks should there be before a Romance Conflict?

2. How many lovetalks before consummation or Variable = 1?

3. How many lovetalks before Committed or Variable =2

4. How many lovetalks in ToB before the end?

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[Agashi]

I've played pretty much every mod romance out there at least once, and from what I've noticed is that it depends largely on the character. There isn't really a generally accepted standard, but I can give you ballpark figures:

 

1. Most mod romances insert a romance conflict at least one or two dialogues before either romance hits the committed stage (variable=2). Some have conflicting interjections leading up to the decisive moment all the way from the third or fourth Lovetalk, like Edwin and Kelsey.

 

2. Hmmmm not sure what you mean by this one. Doesn't the variable=1 from the outset of the romance, if the player meets all qualifications and has the first Lovetalk? I think there are a couple romances (Sarah comes to mind, and I think Angelo?) where there is a getting-to-know-you sequence of dialogues before any Lovetalks fire, but a lot of them skip this.

 

3. Usually somewhere around 20. I've seen some mods have a lot more (HaerDalis and I think Kivan) and some that have a lot less (Darian) but that's about the average, I think.

 

4. Of all your questions, this is the answer that varies the most wildly. There are some romances out there that are solely for ToB after all. The shortest one I've seen had five dialogues, while the longest had about 20. A lot of people plow through ToB, but there are some who can't resist the loot in Watcher's Keep, so it's hard to tell you which is the better route to go. If I were making a ToB romance, I'd shoot for at least 8 talks, but no more than 15. Again, that's just me, though.

 

I'm sure someone will pop in and correct me if I'm completely off-base here.   Hope this helped.

 

The above poster was me, and I'm suddenly doubting myself with # 3. Maybe it's closer to 15 or 18 talks, on average? Also, the Keldorn and De'Arnise romances are better examples of long ones than Kivan.

[Kulyok]

For me, it's generally great to have lots of interesting content that's written from the heart and unique, and not-so-great to have boring stuff - one more round of "What's your relationship with Imoen?", "Tell me of Gorion and Sarevok", "We must find Irenicus!" and the obligatory "So, Child of Bhaal, huh?" Edwin's romance, for example, is unique - it deals with Edwin's personality and crisis of conscience(he was supposed to kill CHARNAME for the Red Wizards and didn't); Sarevok's romance is also very Sarevok'y, concentrating on his, um, manly stature(gulps).

 

Romance conflicts are good, and four-five lovetalks would be fine until the first one, but keep in mind that you can write a mod conflict with Anomen, but writing a conflict with Edwin, Haer'Dalis, Adrian, Kivan, Kelsey, Solaufein, Darian and Waukeen knows who else? And then updating it each time a new mod springs forward? A hopeless effort, I say.

I would say it's best to have eighteen or twenty or more lovetalks before confession and the variable becoming 2, because the romance _before_ the love confession is the most interesting part, the "will-they-or-won't-they" part. Besides, multiromancing is popular before commitment, so that the player has room to breathe and choose and maybe pretend she's not flirting with That Guy at all.

After commitment, I'd still have a minimum of five-eight lovetalks, because otherwise it might feel like the NPC's finally gotten CHARNAME into his bed and then fallen silent, because he needs nothing else from her. Which is a major turn-off.

For ToB, I'd say nine or twelve lovetalks with a short(40 min) timer is fine, if you already have a SoA romance. More is better, less than eight would probably feel too sparse.

Mind you, that's just me, the girl who wrote twenty extra player-initiated conversations for one(!) of Xan's romance paths in ToB alone just because she felt like it.

[Bill Bisco]

This is very helpful.  Thank you much.  I shall refer to this later.