The romance system just punched me in the gut and kinda' put me off everything
The romance system just punched me in the gut and kinda' put me off everything
So, got in yesterday to check out the new update, prepped everything for the new missions, then headed onto KIM before starting to play, to get the chats out of the way.
I've been dating Lettie since first possible, kept the relationships through the resets. She had an unread message, opened it, asked me what would take me away from her. I went for the full-on romantic option, she instantly dumps me, and now acts insulted if I ask her to date me again.
Truth is, I can't complain about this, it's believable. I've been subjected to this kind of vehement and impulsive behaviour many times before, and it doesn't suck any less this time, so it has to be realistic. But, man, did it put me off playing this game, to be very honest. Just made me want to get away from the mess.
Similarly, I first had a romantic relationship with Aoi, and when she declared her love instantly I thought that was going a little too fast and was not so head over heels back at her. She dumped me right away.
Going on 4 of the same repeat years with Eleanor though!
I mean, in contrast to a real person you can just reset her affection for you and then grind it back up...
Then again, just wow... Sucks to dumped by a video game character.
(っ ᵔ◡ᵔ)っ Help, i don't know what to write here. Imagine something comforting that isn't offputting coming from a total stranger on the web.
Honestly, the contrast stands elsewhere for me, in that with a real person, I at least know there's still a chance to talk things out if I play my cards right. In this case, though, I have no idea whether or not this is one of those "this will branch out into a related convo which will either solidify or completely cancel," which would motivate me to keep trying to navigate this situation and would pull me into the game even more, or if it's "you triggered the Ick flag and now you're out unless you mind wipe them," which just sounds sociopathic in and of itself, so no. Just no. As a person who's really into the not being able to retread choices aspect, means that something may have been blocked off for me for a really shitty and unjust reason (yes, I still believe it's an unjustified reaction based on the conversation, although a realistic one - realism does not imply healthiness).
And all I know now is that I triggered her NoDate flag, and I barely even know what that means other than she literally hates my guts for saying I'm never leaving. Not even kidding, her reaction to my asking to date her again would suggest I insulted half of her family tree...
Thanks for the support, kinda' regret getting into the dating sim part. They wrote the characters well enough for their presence or absence to matter, and it feels a lot like a real break-up would, although the impact is far smaller. It still fucking sucks to see an empty apartment and just go through with the grind after that.
Oof. Glad I didn't try with Lettie now. I think I've locked myself out of future convos with Quincy, wasn't romancing him, just talking, because I eventually got weirded out by his persistent transactional approach to everything and the inclination that he was intentionally trying to get me into 'favor debt'. Just not interested.
Of all the Hex, Q put me off the most. Totally uninterested.
Weirdly enough, I let him do his thing and it eventually broke down. Which seems organic, he got to trust me and no longer feels the need to secure cooperation through debt.
Unlike Lettie, who seems to be thrown even farther into avoidance the closer you get to her. Which, again, makes sense! But nah. No more, thanks... She has become yet another reason why one should never dip their pen in company ink.
I asked about his thing after making that choice and I was probably pretty close to it stopping but by that point I'd just had enough and was unwilling to humor him about that any further.
There's Romance options in Warframe now? Lol, wtf?!
I had the same reaction. Especially considering who your actual character is that feels a bit... Weird.
I'm guessing maybe you haven't played the New War quest (or Duviri, I guess) yet? There's a story development that makes it not weird.
Oh, yeah, it's a whole thing! The writing's very good, but the time limits and overall progression dynamics are a bit... frustrating at times. Moreso because the characters are well written!
Like, you get one Chat per day (consisting of anywhere from 2-3 lines, to a hefty, in-depth discussion on a subject) and you can also screw it up pretty badly in some very abstract ways (see my example above and expanded in my other comment). And it being Warframe, the mechanics are blackbox, so you're stuck wondering if you have to brainwash the characters into resetting your status with them, or hang in there hoping there are some twists and turns in character dynamics which will allow you to progress and develop your interactions with them.
I tried with Lettie, but there are so many landmines in her conversation tree that I simply couldn't be bothered to continue second, third, and fourth guessing every message I sent her. Ultimately I pissed her off and that was that.
You're not wrong, it really did feel like I was gaming the system with her. There are moments when you seem to break through and have a "normal" conversation (i.e. her not slamming the door in your face after your third sincere word), but this avoidant dance is making me really tired.
I seem to have reached the same point, we're Best Friends (down from Loved) and she's not messaging me anymore. Fun. I've been through this IRL more than I'd care to remember.