do u want a love interest for ur hero?

[Khailyn.6248]

Within the context of GW2, the only ones that had anything going for them was kas and jory. We're out busy saving the world time and time again, while faren, jennah and logan havent made any progress in 5 years. Who knows though, we might beat a ridiculously strong boss, absorb enough magic to ascend to godhood like kormir and get a date with lyssa.. (not likely but could happen). Leveling up my characters I once thought if anything would happen with Petra (human path, commoner) but nope. We'll likely be single forever.

[sorudo.9054]

with GW2 having the worst kind of character development in story of any game, i would not like to see it.

if GW2 was more like SWTOR then yes, as many as possible.

[vampirelazarus.9403]

My character has pretty much explicitly said that they have no time for fun, while Tyria is threatened.

 

Edit: It came up in PoF somewhere, I think.

[altermaven.7385]

"What would the meaning of love be if the world crashes down and there is nobody to love?" Sorry, I can't be attached to you. I'm busy preventing the Scarab Plague~

[Sako.7609]

Joko is my waifu

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

I feel that the OP is interested in playing some other game than GW2. Besides a love interest for the player character, the game also lacks a vegetarian option, a pacifist story line, travel to other solar systems, open world PvP, trade routes, and any of number of other features that make other games interesting. The PC without a romantic partner is like a choya without a bicycle, i.e. not really all that interesting in the context of Guild Wars 2.

[Cyberman Mastermind.6012]

I wouldn't mind, in theory.

But it would need to be optional and you'd need several choices, and it must not be enforced.

It should be a CHOICE that matters. Not some pre-scripted event happening.

[Danikat.8537]

> @"Laila Lightness.8742" said:

> Wont happend this game is 12+

 

Romantic plot lines don't have to mean explicit scenes. Plenty of kids movies (and games) feature people in relationships and even romantic stories. Look at Disney. You show them meeting, talking, getting to know each other, probably someone having to save someone else from something evil, bonding over the shared experience...and leave anything that goes on behind closed doors to the imagination.

[Feanor.2358]

> @"Ardenwolfe.8590" said:

> No, thank you. That's a little too Dragon Age-ish for me.

 

"Too Dragon Age-ish"? *Too*? I'm not sure I get what this means.

[Dreadshow.9320]

Everytime time I start a new char I wish I could romance my mentor in the order of my choosing, gender is irrelevant.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Feanor.2358" said:

> > @"Ardenwolfe.8590" said:

> > No, thank you. That's a little too Dragon Age-ish for me.

>

> "Too Dragon Age-ish"? *Too*? I'm not sure I get what this means.

 

Dragon Age is a single-player RPG franchise that invests a considerable amount of time in romantic aspects of the player character's life. (It's mostly optional.)

[Zeefa.3915]

Asexual irl so it kinda fits. However I feel like I should point out that asexual does not mean aromantic and as such you can still have romantic love intrest and want romantic partner as an asexual. So if the character being ace doesn't really equate to a no for love intrest.

It is still a no for an ingame storydriven loveintrest though. It is one thing nicer to RP on your own I think.

[Orpheal.8263]

No, not anything ever that is been written by Anet just to couple my character, because they want to make out of the game some kind of love story suddenly, nor is my character asexual for not wantign to get coupled...

 

If I ever would give my character a kind of love interest, then only in one out of 2 possible ways:

 

1) as part of roleplaying it actually together with an other player who plays a character of the other sex compared to mine character to make this way eventually even usage by a by then added also eventuall Marriage System just for fun, as long said Marriage System gives players no advantage over others to literally force me of having to do that,. if I don#t want to be in any disadvantage for not playing a married beloved character ...

 

2) or instead of 1) as part of a new Companion System which allows the player to use his own made Characters of your Account as improved version of the GW1 hero System as party members to take them into your group, and command them and switch play them as you like without needing to log out and log in again for that anymore to switch between your played characters - as part of that I would eventually make my Main Character some kind of Companion that could become roleplayed as some kind of love interest...

 

 

But any story related NPCs.. no, an absolute NO GO

In brief, this poll misses for me the 4th option that is "Potentially interested in it - yes, but only under a different system (Include description)

[Brahnan.1026]

Yes, I could see myself being the meat in a Belinda/Kasmeer sandwich :)

[Leo G.4501]

Just saying, my asura warrior felt some chemistry between himself and Livia during those few trips they had together...

[DeanBB.4268]

But if Anet were to do such a thing, we would all have to choose from a few NPC's of our race (assuming, of course). I mean, how many decisions are we presented with in the stories? Two at most (save the children or save the hospital, go with A to do X or go with B to do Y, etc)?

 

I don't see the appeal in that.

[Rauderi.8706]

I mean, *wouldn't mind* having the possibility with Rytlock, but the idea's just kinda silly. :P

Also, the kissing scene would be *really* awkward. Those teeth!

[DarcShriek.5829]

I keep thinking of the silly marriage option in Skyrim. That was horrible. GW2 doesn't need that. I already have a wife. I don't need a pixel one.

[Neural.1824]

Where is the "No, the player base is far to widely varied in opinion, orientation, beliefs, etc. to allow Arenanet even the remotest chance of not ruining the game for a lot of people" option?

[Kossage.9072]

Well, technically at least the human female Pact Commander was hinted to have feelings for Logan when she hallucinated about Scarlet mocking her for these unrequited feelings in the [Nightmare Chamber](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Nightmare_Chamber/Dialogue#Final_Room) during Living World Season 1's Tower of Nightmares arc:

 

> While fighting Nightmare hallucination of Logan Thackeray:

> **Scarlet Briar:** Thackeray loves a silly, fat-headed royal more than he loves you. Does that hurt?

 

I don't know whether Scarlet mocking the norn player's feelings for Eir is supposed to imply romantic or mentor-student kind of relationship between the player and Eir, but I'll add that line in here from the same Nightmare instance just for discussion's sake:

 

> While fighting Nightmare hallucination of Eir Stegalkin:

> **Scarlet Briar:** Eir doesn't love her slayer anymore. Not since...well, you know.

 

As for interspecies relationships, we've seen humans being attracted to norn:

 

> **Citizen:** Did you see that norn come through here the other day? Now that's a man!

 

And humans to sylvari (this example makes more sense in context if you follow the pair around Cursed Shore to pick up the hints as they keep arguing like a married couple with the sylvari being oblivious to the tsundere human's barely disguised feelings):

 

> **Historian Fia:** Nothing! Wait, how did you get here?

> **Crusader Jasper:** I followed you. I didn't want to, at first, but I realized camp was a lot less interesting without you.

 

More recently the Zohaqan meta event in Sandswept Isles is all about an interspecies, homosexual romance between the djinn Zohaqan and the human Nakis which ended tragically (due to those darned Inquest and their experiments! *shakes fist*) and turned Zohaqan into a sympathetic, grieving antagonist out for revenge on everyone over the death of his ["darling Nakis, tender Nakis, clever Nakis"](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Zohaqan%27s_Letter) if you look for the clues in the Zohaqan event as well as the Olmakhan backpack collection with Efi which reveals some of the backstory between the reason for Zohaqan's actions (and of course open world stuff like the Lovers' Tree with the image of two people holding hands near the cave entrance. I was impressed that we actually got djinn-human romance (which was homosexual to boot!) represented and given such story importance in a natural way, and I applaud the writers for daring to go in that direction even if they chose not to drum it up too much and let the playerbase figure it out from the clues instead. :)

 

The biggest and most hopeful interspecies romantic moment we've seen so far (that I can think of, at any rate) has been between the spirits of the human Nicholas and the norn Yngvild from ["The Departing"](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Departing#In_the_Domain_of_the_Lost) story mission. They did not want to move to one another's respective afterlives from the Domain of the Lost because they had bonded while helping one another and wanted to stay together no matter the cost:

 

> **Yngvild:** You have to find your way, then it'll all come back to you. Like we did. We helped each other find our names and our past. And in the process... we bonded.

> **Pact Commander:** That doesn't make any sense.

> **Yngvild:** I know. I'm supposed to join Raven. And he should go to be with his god. But we'd rather spend eternity with each other here. I suppose afterlife is what you make of it, too.

 

It does make me kinda sad that different races won't possibly ever get to see each other again even as spirits once they move to their respective designated afterlives. If only there was a way to keep contact with those of other species (friends or otherwise)...

 

As for a love interest for my Pact Commander, I wouldn't be opposed to it. We have plenty of accounts of love on the battlefield (or during war in that "calm" time between battles) from real life and films. For film examples just think of Lara and Doctor Zhivago, or Han Solo and Leia Organa, who had time to fall in love over the years while going through their respective times of trouble against forces more powerful than they were.

 

"Knight of the Thorn" side story and "Shining Blade Secrets" story instance already showed that the Commander was suffering from guilt and pain of loss, and we've seen the Commander show anger as they lash out at both companions and enemies (just think of how harshly the Commander treated the once-villainous Canach in latter half of Season 1 and throughout Season 2 until they miraculously became "besties" in Heart of Thorns) and even crack jokes here and there. There were even potential hints back in Season 2 that the Commander and Belinda Delaqua might've developed feelings for one another as more than friends if not for Belinda's tragic fate later on given the Commander's reaction to some of the stuff Belinda said.

 

As long as the story didn't go through the "stuffed in the fridge" moment of killing off the love interest to develop the Commander's character (a tactic used way too much in GW2's narrative if we look all the way through personal story to the present, both the instanced missions and open world), it would help flesh out the Commander and let us see a different side of them than what we've witnessed so far.

 

However, that kind of approach has its narrative problems too when it comes to player choice and agency which we know from interviews that ANet deems very important. We run into several problems:

1) How to write a convincing love story for different races (e.g. charr have different notions on romance than asura do)?

2) How to handle interspecies possibility for romance (should we just have one love interest for all races, which could be problematic if we had, say, norn or charr falling in love with an asura, not that such should be impossible but still...?)

3) How to take into account the Commander's gender and sexual identity matters? To appease both hetero- and homosexual players (as well as the lore side as we know trans- and homosexualism isn't frowned upon in Tyria based on Jory/Kas, Zohaqan/Nakis, Caithe/Faolain, Dagdar/Eladus; and then there's Sya, formerly Symon, becoming transgender via mesmerism), we'd need at least two love interests (one male, one female) to allow for some variety without forcing the Commander to be, for example, heterosexual only.

4) How would the story take into account the Commander's personality and player's perception of it (should the romance be mushy, straight to the point, distant-ish or...)? If given options, how much impact could these options potentially have while still keeping the story on the same track?

5) Would this love interest become a permanent addition to the cast, or just be a glorified trophy (a stay in home boy/girlfriend)?

 

Arguably the devs could ignore the fourth point completely as they already wrote the Commander a certain way without giving players a choice when forgiving Canach after a season-long show of hostility and making sylvari players threaten Caithe with death in Heart of Thorns, facing Braham's verbal onslaught and the whole Pact and Shining Blade plot from Season 3, and making us taunt Joko in Path of Fire. But given how many transgenders and homosexuals there are working at ANet's positively diverse workplace as of this writing, there's no way they would (or should) shoehorn in a singular heterosexual romance without at least giving a homosexual option for the players who want it (hence the suggestion of two potential love interests in point 3). The devs could (and should) ignore the fifth point as well because a love interest should play a part in the Commander's actions to make them matter and help form the bond between the two; it would be sad if they only existed to be friged or relegated to mere home instance interactions.

 

Sadly all of the presented points of immersion shown above contribute to the issue of budget and gameplay considerations. ANet has told us that they prefer working with smaller hero teams per instance/episode (starting from Season 3 onward) because having too big a cast on screen at once (as they stated to be the case in Heart of Thorns and, to an extent, in Personal Story) would not allow any NPC to receive as much development as they would like. Add to that voice acting and localization costs for the supported languages (translating and dubbing all that dialogue isn't cheap even if there's often the tendency for translators to suffer the most when it comes to undercutting translation fees). So unless they can figure out how to get past all these hurdles and present a compelling love story featuring our Commander, I simply don't see the devs ever giving us love interest(s) in GW2 at the current point in time as intriguing as the concept would be.

[Kako.1930]

Nah, leave the romance to the side characters. Ain't nobody got time for that. :P

[Ardid.7203]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> I feel that the OP is interested in playing some other game than GW2. Besides a love interest for the player character, the game also lacks a vegetarian option, a pacifist story line, travel to other solar systems, open world PvP, trade routes, and any of number of other features that make other games interesting. The PC without a romantic partner is like a choya without a bicycle, i.e. not really all that interesting in the context of Guild Wars 2.

 

Your argument plays against your own standing!

WHO COULD NOT WANT A CHOYA IN A BICYCLE!

 

> @"Brahnan.1026" said:

> Yes, I could see myself being the meat in a Belinda/Kasmeer sandwich :)

AND A SANDWICH!

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

I got ninety nine problems but a (I'm not allowed to say that here) ain't one .

[Zephyr.5382]

Like others have hinted, I say "no" because it would probably feel very contrived and cheesy. That being said, I wouldn't mind _some_ kind of deeper connection with our NPC friends. Right now, I feel none.

[RoseofGilead.8907]

Pass. I've yet to see romance done in a way I like it when it comes to games, and I don't think GW2 would fare much better than others who have done it.