S E X

[Gigano]

There's no fixed answer to how it'll work when implemented.

Sometimes it's an unnecessary gimmick with little bearing on the story or connection to the gameplay, at others it can provide character development or be a natural conclusion to a relationship that's progressed through the game.

Games like Catherine and A Drug That Makes You Dream (Yume Miru Kusuri) utilized sex and sexuality quite well - and the latter quite explicitly - as part of their main storylines and characterization. Mass Effect seem to include it more as a side dish to the main story and gameplay, but since it's optional and doesn't seem to clash with the setting, I can't image it being problematic.

For non-prudes, including "Sex" in a game is really no different than including "Potato farming"; sometimes it'll fit in perfectly, sometimes it'll be a side quest some will enjoy and the rest can ignore, and sometimes it'll be a foreign element that doesn't fit with the story and setting of the rest of the game at all.

...

So should sex have a place in gaming? You bet.

Should it implemented in contexts/ways where it clash with the rest of the game? Of course not, nothing should.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'd prefer not to have it. Sex in games, hell, most forms of art is blatant fanservice/porn. That's something we really don't need, IMHO. It also really, really doesn't help people claiming that games aren't just for maladjusted basement dwelling males.

Admittedly, yes, it could be done well, but it almost always isn't.

 

[strum4h]

Only if it has quick time events.

 

[Radelaide]

Sex is pretty great. Sex in games needs to be right for it to be a great!

 

[Shilefin]

It's fine as long as it's not put in there just to attract more people or/and make it feel like it's more mature for having breats waving around.

 

[J_Monsterface]

i think thats like asking "what do you think of nudity in paintings"

it totally depends why its there

ultimately i have nothing against it, but its not an inherently important issue to me

if its just there, i feel indifferent, although indifference isnt a good thing in art

if the game is making a point about sex, or using sex to make a point, then it should be judged on the quality of its statement like anything else

if its gratuitous or exploitive, then i suppose thats not cool, but who am i to draw a line, not everything thats gratuitous is bad

a good game is good and a bad game is bad and no amount of sex could change either

 

[Lyri]

I'm sick of it to be quite honest, I don't get why every RPG now has to have an option to fuck your allies when you can't get rid of them either.
I would have loved a chance at dumping Tali out of the airlock of the Normandy.

These "Relationships" are totally one sided in favour of making idiots feel like they have a deeper connection with characters because they exchanged fluids with them.
Make something decent or not at all.

 

[Astoria]

Like others are saying , depends why it's there. Mostly I think its just there for fan service so its pointless.

 

[GiantRaven]

Why would I want to watch two 3d models getting it on?

 

[Baby Tea]

I'm sick of it to be quite honest, I don't get why every RPG now has to have an option to fuck your allies when you can't get rid of them either.
I would have loved a chance at dumping Tali out of the airlock of the Normandy.

This is really a very good point. I hope more people read it.
You have options to 'fall in love with' or otherwise 'woo' your teammates, or select teammates, but you can't really 'choose' them. I mean, in some select cases you can to a slight extent, but not really.

The only game I saw where that happened, was Baldur's Gate. You could take or dump your party as you please. Heck, you could have everyone else in your party all attack and kill (permanently) one of your other party members. This on top of romancing a select few.

For a genre that's supposed to promote player choice, it's funny that this option hasn't come up more often. Maybe Mordan or Legion or someone does something I find incredibly offensive, or just annoying, and I want them gone! Can't do it.

Let's leave romancing options alone, and bring in more 'hate your face' options.

 

[rokkolpo]

As long as it works suggestive when I game with my GF.

*wink* *wink*

 

[Technicolor]

The act itself doesn't need to be shoehorned into everything, but discussion of it, can add a little more depth as well as humanize the characters in their universe.

Metal Gear Solid is a fairly odd example in which a sexually hesitant character, Solid Snake, is depicted as cold and unnerving, however there is a irony in that Snake is occasionally implied to be a bisexual.

 

[TheFinalFantasyWolf]

..Sex in games? Sure. Rendered sex cutscenes? No. No real reason to do that except fan service. Or catering to little boys.

If there's the implication that sex is happening, that's really as far as it needs to go. Otherwise it just comes off as a cheap trick to get people to play/remember the game. Or a marketing decision...?

Either way, if we can see it, it's bad. You want tits, there're plenty on the internet to see.

Yeah, I totally agree.
Unless it has anything to do with the plot, (which only a rare number of games do) than its just unnecassary, and quite off-putting actually. It practically just breaks the immersion.

 

[Lyri]

This is really a very good point. I hope more people read it.
You have options to 'fall in love with' or otherwise 'woo' your teammates, or select teammates, but you can't really 'choose' them. I mean, in some select cases you can to a slight extent, but not really.

The only game I saw where that happened, was Baldur's Gate. You could take or dump your party as you please. Heck, you could have everyone else in your party all attack and kill (permanently) one of your other party members. This on top of romancing a select few.

For a genre that's supposed to promote player choice, it's funny that this option hasn't come up more often. Maybe Mordan or Legion or someone does something I find incredibly offensive, or just annoying, and I want them gone! Can't do it.

Let's leave romancing options alone, and bring in more 'hate your face' options.

Oh the memories, Jaheria wouldn't stop whining about my pandering after Virconia (I think that was the Drows name anyway).
Couple of days of that and I told the stuck up elf to deal with it and leave.

RPGs really have taken a turn for the worst when it comes to situations like this, you cannot make any kind of connection with your companions beyond what you already have as standard.
They're part of your crew, well fabulous which one do you want to sleep with?
I don't get to mold a relationship in RPGs now, I get to hear about their life story and apparently that makes me a great guy that people want to sleep with.

There's nothing deep or meaningful in the experience anymore, it's just following a dialogue path the creators have put it.
We need more paths and avenues to explore with our characters and our companions.

[sub]Yes, I did really want dump Tali Vas Annoymondy out of the airlock. Suck it fanboyz.[/sub]

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

If it serves some kind of plot point, then sure. Most of the time though I think it is just as superfluous as when it shows up in books or movies. It is just there to be there.

 

[Ferrious]

While I've only played a few hours of The Witcher 2, I found the scene in the elven ruins between Geralt and Trish (optional scene, I might add), added depth to their character interactions beyond what I was expecting.

Of course, it helps greatly that Trish is way powerful, strikingly independent and often just goes off on her business, rather than tagging along behind Geralt like a puppy whose only purpose is to be the romance subplot.

It may be that the rest of the game devolves into mindless "SEX ME" bits, but I thought that one scene was a good argument for mature games to handle sex in relationships well. It also helped that it was a pre-existing relationship that felt meaningful, as opposed to:

"Hi, I'm your wife, you love me because I said you do, I'm sure I won't be kidnapped/dead/turned into some alien monstrosity a few hours into the game despite having had NO MEANINGFUL INTERACTION WITH YOU AT ALL."

I'm looking at you, Molyneux!

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

If it improves the plot, sure put as much fucking in there as you want to. But please, try not to make it completely distasteful.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Now i have your attention, what do you think about it in games?
is it unnessecary? should it be removed? is it maybe a nice touch of realism?
If its on an 18 rated game should it be more explixit even?

I personally think its all a bit pointless, other than to get me achievables on the Xbox i dont normally bother with romance/sex in games (though i did the threesome in fable 2 for a laugh and got the achievment on accident )

I'm not sure. How would you call the GoW mini-games with Kratos having fun with some women?

 

[SpaceBat]

I'm talking Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan type stuff 0.o

That was awesome. The movie was great as well, by the way.


OT: I don't mind it in my games as long as it actually adds something to the characters. Just adding completely random sex is unnecessary and can be left out (GoW, most of Witcher), but seeing a short love scene after having developed a relationship with someone (like the one in Mass Effect) is fine.

 

[Kirkby]

Although I'm struggling to think of a game that warrants it's use now.

I think it worked really well in Dragon age origins. I went with Leliana and after that i started using her regularly as part of my squad which totally changed the gameplay (rogues die so very easily). So in anycase the relationship gave Leliana a new depth to her character, changed my way of play and deepened the whole experience for me. Admittedly thats the only example i can think of atm.... But wev all gotta start somewhere