Character Romance Discussion

[Sardukhar]

Oooh. Full points to Slim.

I had this thought the other night as well, albeit not about romancing. We were watching...something..and I noticed again how very 10% body fat everyone was. EV-ERY-ONE. Except maybe the villain.

I would really like to see a character romance where the love interest is charming, funny and smart...but not beautiful. Even, dare I say it, homely.

In CP2020, that makes it even more unusual, as surgery is quite readily available and cheap. There are simple PnP rules for Attractiveness stat improvement per cost point, ( line from the core book: "Want to make yourself more ugly? A straight-razor costs fifty-nine cents." God, I love this game.)

So a homely person is either very poor or very..interesting. Great idea, Slim!

 

[Garrison72]

Well I do it enough in real life.

I like the idea for a few reasons:

-heroic or virtuous characters in games tend to go by the greek ideal - you look good, you're heart is pure. Game desingers need to shake this up a bit.

-When they announced hookers for TW2, I actually wanted to go to the brothel and see a few realistic depictions of prostitution, ie, drugged up, malnourished and painted with cheap makeup. This may sound a bit extreme but hell, that's how it is in real life. I thought it might give the player pause before they shell out coin for sex. This scenerio would fit even better in '77.

-Dona from the TW forums would be proud of me for saying this - game artists need to broaden their idea of what is attractive. TW2 did a pretty good job at times using odd and quirky facial features on people (mainly women) who were still appealing. Cedric, Phillipa, Anezka are all good examples of them finding a subtler aesthetic.

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

Everyone wants to see themselves in idols, and everyone wants to be considered attractive.

The problem is that some things are unattractive, and people who possess them have an understandable, biologically-driven need to enforce their reality as acceptable. Some people are more universally attractive than others and that's okay; this isn't something which is made-up or a social construct or whatever.

Everyone has different things they like, and that's okay, too. We don't have to force everyone to like "quirkiness".

What I am saying is that I don't understand why people say that ugly or fat or whatever is "real life"; it's not any more real than its prettier, slimmer counterpart.

But honestly, I can't imagine role-playing where my character is attracted to someone to whom I am not attracted in some way. So yeah, I am okay with the super model NPCs. Bring. them. on.

And let's have some sexy villain romance too.

 

[Sardukhar]

-When they announced hookers for TW2, I actually wanted to go to the brothel and see a few realistic depictions of prostitution, ie, drugged up, malnourished and painted with cheap makeup. This may sound a bit extreme but hell, that's how it is in real life. I thought it might give the player pause before they shell out coin for sex. This scenerio would fit even better in '77.

-Dona from the TW forums would be proud of me for saying this - game artists need to broaden their idea of what is attractive. TW2 did a pretty good job at times using odd and quirky facial features on people (mainly women) who were still appealing. Cedric, Phillipa, Anezka are all good examples of them finding a subtler aesthetic

Ohgodyes. I'm hardly a fan of this notion that excessive or insufficient body fat is attractive because it's natural or different or whatever. If that's your kink, fine, but I find waste or uselessness unappealing. I still think that, given a healthy, fit baseline, there are many more kinds of human attractiveness than we generally see depicted in games or other media

What I would like to see is a much wider range of body shapes, facial shapes, feature sets, racial and cultural twists, you name it. Given not only the cosmopolitan nature of Cyberpunk 2020, but also the interest in the "new", I'd hope to see men and women of Maori descent, Inuit, Mormons, female powerlifters, the Zulu, Russian drag queens, you name it.

Edit: actually, Flash, I'd disagree. Not everyone wants to see themselves in idols and I've met many who don't give two fucks about being attractive. Some out of rebellion, some because society's idea of attractive, ( and probably yours and mine) doesn't interest them, some, in at least one case, because he just doesn't seem to care. At all.

I can imagine role-playing being attracted to someone I'm not attracted to, sure. I'm not attracted to super-models, for example. Talk about uselessness..

 

[Garrison72]

The prostitution example wasn't me explaining a kink, but a desire for more realism. It made little sense in TW2 that the hookers, all of them, were prime examples of female youth and beauty. In '77 I'd expect to see people who can't afford to pretty themselves up.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

In 2020 there as all sorts of cosmetic surgeries available. rememebr the ad in chrome for turning your grandmother into a scantily clad 18 year old?

Perosnlly, I like something to hold onto. I would say that a size 14 is about perfect for most women. Just the right amount of curves. But thats me.

But if they had all this cosmetic surgery available in 2020, imagine whats supposed to be available in 2077...

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

On a related note:

Who here has a 'significant other' that spends about the same amount of money, (if not more,) on makeup as the house does on food?

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

@ Sard; Lol, that's fine. But I don't understand why we assume that one thing is more real than the other. And really, as long as I get my sexy NPCs, I don't care.

Also, the only thing unreal about TW2 hookers was that "pretty" women were available to common folk at relatively affordable prices.

 

[wisdom000]

Everyone wants to see themselves in idols, and everyone wants to be considered attractive.
.

Then why are Dwarves, gnomes, and Halflings still popular choices as player races for Dungeons and Dragons?

 

[Sardukhar]

Because those people are freaks, Wisdom. I mean, "gnomes"?! What.the.Fuck. You're like an even-uglier Dwarf.

Well, Flash, women who look like models are much, much less common than women who don't is all. Games run the numbers properly, you'd be lucky to see 1/10th the crazy-beautiful, too-skinny females you do. Or the handsome, chiselled 8 % body fat men. With super-developed pecs and underdeveloped quads. Anyway.

I'd be fine with the pretty women in W2 as long as when they smiled, you got to see what it looks like when you haven't invented toothpaste yet. Yeah. And the males. As far as I'm concerned, only Zoltan should have had perfect gleaming white teeth, because the idea that the Dwarves have great dentistry amuses me.

 

[thewarsend]

Then why are Dwarves, gnomes, and Halflings still popular choices as player races for Dungeons and Dragons?

They see something of themselves in them. Dwarves represent strong individuals, they have an honor system and even though they are short, they are way stronger than your average human. Gnomes can't take anything seriously and Halflings represent calmness and diversity. Some people can relate better to them than others.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Then why are Dwarves, gnomes, and Halflings still popular choices as player races for Dungeons and Dragons?

BEACUSE DWARVES ARE FUCKING AWESOME!!!

SO AWESOME THAT HORSES AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH, THEY HAVE TO REIDE BEARS!!!

 

[Sardukhar]

Kind of...short, really.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Kind of...short, really.

Just means it's easier to aim at you weakspots.

 

[Sardukhar]

I have none. Good luck, Hair Midget.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

I have none. Good luck, Hair Midget.

You have no knees, ankles, shins or genitals?

Fine, then I will walk away, safe in the knowledge you can't walk after me and I will use my superior life expectancy to outlive you...

 

[Sardukhar]

Life as a Dwarf. "Superior" to lice. Maybe.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

We drink, we fight, were all rich compared to everyone else and we are the greatest craftsmen ever. What's not to love?

I think you have 'beard-envy'...

 

[Sardukhar]

No. Scots are the greatest craftsmen ever. Scots-German for double fun.

Dwarven romance - how do you even tell the sexes apart?

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

No. Scots are the greatest craftsmen ever. Scots-German for double fun.

Dwarven romance - how do you even tell the sexes apart?

http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/index.php/Talk:Sharn

It's awkward, and there are accidental same sex marriages...

Easiest answer though is "Fuck Elves", because we all know they are all girls!