Should choosing a new love interest in Mass Effect 2 be considered "cheating"? *SPOILERS AHEAD*

[Khazoth]

I'm a sucker for a good love story, it complicates things.


I'm totally calling Liara out in ME3 for becoming her mother, as for Ashley? She really didn't seem too happy or surprised that I was alive since I kinda.. DIED TWO YEARS AGO. Instead she lectures me and then sends an email later apologizing. So I think she's got a few screws loose she needs to deal with.


...Come on, who would REALLY pick Kaiden over Jacob, Thane, or Garrus. Kaiden has the emotional depth of dirty dishwater.

 

[luvd1]

Oh come on. I'm all fired up about a bit of love conflict in me3 It makes it all so juicy. I want to see a clash between Garrus and Liara. It makes good drama.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Whatever, I'm like captain kirk man. If alien honey's are around pants be droppin'.

 

[Vrex360]

I don't really want there to be some kind of 'clash of the romances' in Mass Effect 3 so in retrospect I'm going to stay faithful to Ashley. Partly I liked the chemistry between her and Shepard, partly I liked the fact that she wasn't perfect but mostly just because I don't want there to be the angry recognition in the third, I wanna keep it running smoothly.
Besides the upset reaction Ashley had on Horizon was quite justified given the circumstances and the corresponding apologetic email talking about hopes for a future and Shepard looking deeply at her picture on his mantle before leaving for the final mission tells me that this subplot ain't over...
I would consider it 'cheating' as far as the story goes but I won't link that to the real world. I'm enough of a nerd already without mixing real world relationships with fake sci fi ones.

 

[UnravThreads]

I'll probably end up with 2 saves for ME3 with my current character.
First save will be the "cheat" save where my Shep cheated on Liara with Garrus.
Second save will be the "faithful" save where my Shep is still "<3 Liara".

To be honest, I much preferred the whole Garrus romance deal to Liara's.

 

[The Extremist]

I would consider it 'cheating' as far as the story goes but I won't link that to the real world. I'm enough of a nerd already without mixing real world relationships with fake sci fi ones.

Heh, fair enough, but consider that the whole point of the relationships in Mass Effect is to add another "real" dimension to the storytelling. That is, what one would constitute as cheating in real life may be superimposed on the game world. The game world needs to reflect how we would perceive things in reality, otherwise the story lacks credibility and hence immersion.

 

[lapan]

Since Kaidan pretty much dumped my femshep in ME2, i wouldn't consider it cheating.

 

[Jenova65]

Just so we're clear, this thread is liable to be one gigantic spoiler, including my opening post. I also looked for a similar thread that might have been posted after the game's release, but couldn't find anything.

I have a few problems with the promises being made by the Mass Effect team about the repercussions of your choices regarding your romantic interest from ME1, to 2, to 3. This is specific to Liara, though.

First, a quote from a chat with CaseyH (presumably the creative lead, Casey Hudson). Thank you, reddit [http://reddit.com], for this obscure link.

CaseyH-ME2: To Guest-552 One thing I'm really excited to see is the achievement data that will show how faithful players are to their ME1 love interest. And the best part is, even though I expect most (almost all?) players will cheat on their ME1 love interest, that decision too will come back to haunt them in the next game!

The above quote makes it sound like your character will be made out to be a cheater in ME3 if s/he chose a new romantic interest over Liara.

Alright... Last chance... Heavy spoilers start now.

Which, considering the way she treats you in ME2, strikes me as unfair. I can kinda understand how Kaidan or Ashley might feel betrayed given the messages they send you after Horizon, but Liara can be left with no leg to stand on. There are essentially two scenarios.

1. You start pursuing another love interest before you find Liara in ME2.
2. You don't.

In the case of the first scenario, Liara has reason to be angry (provided she can find out exactly when you started romancing your new crewmate). Your character could be somewhat justified, however, by stating that it had been 2 years and he'd assumed Liara would've moved on since she was young and he was dead.

In the second scenario there really isn't a reason your decision should "come back to haunt you." Unless Liara goes nuts for some reason (which would suck -- it seems like an easy way out, story-wise). Liara makes it absolutely clear that she'd rather pursue vengeance over the death of a friend (who may well turn out to be you -- but she was specifically, so how were you supposed to know?) than be with you on a mission to save the galaxy. She even refers to you as nothing more than a "friend" when you argue with her about her obsession with the Shadow Broker.

tl;dr: I don't it'll be fair for your decision to pursue a new romantic interest over Liara in ME2 to "come back to haunt you" in ME3 without Liara at least giving you an opportunity to explain.

I don't mind sticking it out with Liara. And yes, I do think it should be considered cheating if you pursue another love interest in ME2. I consider her hardened attitude towards you in ME2 to be a test of sorts, purposefully tempting you to move on. If you resist, you should be rewarded in ME3. No doubt she will have probably found and killed the Shadow Broker by the time you get into the story of ME3. Or maybe you help her with that during the game. Either way, after that whole ordeal is over, she will probably once again become viable as a love interest.

Besides, she gives you a kiss when first meeting her if you were with her in ME1. Good enough for me. I don't need constant sex to remind me that I'm in a relationship. It may have technically been over two years, but it's only been a month or two to Shepard.

If you want to stay with Liara but need to see a sex scene in ME2 for whatever reason (achievement, etc), then just save, have sex with whoever, and reload your save.

Or play through more than once, since if you flirt they get really pissed at you for backing off (well Jacob does, on account of Thane is awesome) and there is a big build up to that point, so you would have to be prepared to at least play half the game twice, might as well play through faithful on any data you plan to carry over

 

[Jandau]

It's not cheating if you get dumped first, which you do. Also, I'd have romanced Tali in ME1 if I had the option.

 

[Jenova65]

I'm a sucker for a good love story, it complicates things.


I'm totally calling Liara out in ME3 for becoming her mother, as for Ashley? She really didn't seem too happy or surprised that I was alive since I kinda.. DIED TWO YEARS AGO. Instead she lectures me and then sends an email later apologizing. So I think she's got a few screws loose she needs to deal with.


...Come on, who would REALLY pick Kaiden over Jacob, Thane, or Garrus. Kaiden has the emotional depth of dirty dishwater.

Me! Jacob is an asshole and I don't like him, he is too cocky. Don't make assumptions that everyone sees the same thing as you, it wouldn't do for us all to be alike. Kaiden is ten times the man Jacob is, honourable and true to the alliance when Jacob joins terrorists and claims a moral high ground about it, purlease! And not just me, btw, my daughter and other female gamers I know. The only threat to Kaiden is Thane, imo, but Kaiden still has the edge, he is not an assassin for one thing....

 

[Amnestic]

I'm a sucker for a good love story, it complicates things.


I'm totally calling Liara out in ME3 for becoming her mother, as for Ashley? She really didn't seem too happy or surprised that I was alive since I kinda.. DIED TWO YEARS AGO. Instead she lectures me and then sends an email later apologizing. So I think she's got a few screws loose she needs to deal with.


...Come on, who would REALLY pick Kaiden over Jacob, Thane, or Garrus. Kaiden has the emotional depth of dirty dishwater.

Me! Jacob is an asshole and I don't like him, he is too cocky. Don't make assumptions that everyone sees the same thing as you, it wouldn't do for us all to be alike. Kaiden is ten times the man Jacob is, honourable and true to the alliance when Jacob joins terrorists and claims a moral high ground about it, purlease! And not just me, btw, my daughter and other female gamers I know. The only threat to Kaiden is Thane, imo, but Kaiden still has the edge, he is not an assassin for one thing....

Where's the love for my bro Garrus? The man epitomises badass and his romance is so cutesy awkward he easily beats Kaiden.

Haven't done Thane yet.

 

[carpathic]

I think this kind of speaks to a deeper issue here. Namely how well Bioware incorporated the decisions made in the previous game into the current iteration. The fact that some of us are concerned about what the cost might be of cheating really nails home the level of immersion this game brings about.


But really, Miranda is like 100000 times as hot as anyone in ME2...and next time Tali is gonna get it...Just sayin'

 

[Axeli]

I'm a sucker for a good love story, it complicates things.


I'm totally calling Liara out in ME3 for becoming her mother, as for Ashley? She really didn't seem too happy or surprised that I was alive since I kinda.. DIED TWO YEARS AGO. Instead she lectures me and then sends an email later apologizing. So I think she's got a few screws loose she needs to deal with.


...Come on, who would REALLY pick Kaiden over Jacob, Thane, or Garrus. Kaiden has the emotional depth of dirty dishwater.

Me! Jacob is an asshole and I don't like him, he is too cocky. Don't make assumptions that everyone sees the same thing as you, it wouldn't do for us all to be alike. Kaiden is ten times the man Jacob is, honourable and true to the alliance when Jacob joins terrorists and claims a moral high ground about it, purlease! And not just me, btw, my daughter and other female gamers I know. The only threat to Kaiden is Thane, imo, but Kaiden still has the edge, he is not an assassin for one thing....

Where's the love for my bro Garrus? The man epitomises badass and his romance is so cutesy awkward he easily beats Kaiden.

Haven't done Thane yet.

I finished the romance quest with Thane. It was more emotional than funny, focusing more on the fact Thane is dying rather than that he's a different species. But seeing him getting emotional about his fate for once was actually worth it, since he never really shows any trouble dealing with his imminent mortality otherwise.

It's actually one of the few flaws in ME2's story: The characters and their relationships with Shepard never really get closure unless you sleep with them or something... The conversations just suddenly stop. It'd be nice if you at least could go through all of them personally before the final mission starts to get that feeling of closure.

 

[Jenova65]

I'm a sucker for a good love story, it complicates things.


I'm totally calling Liara out in ME3 for becoming her mother, as for Ashley? She really didn't seem too happy or surprised that I was alive since I kinda.. DIED TWO YEARS AGO. Instead she lectures me and then sends an email later apologizing. So I think she's got a few screws loose she needs to deal with.


...Come on, who would REALLY pick Kaiden over Jacob, Thane, or Garrus. Kaiden has the emotional depth of dirty dishwater.

Me! Jacob is an asshole and I don't like him, he is too cocky. Don't make assumptions that everyone sees the same thing as you, it wouldn't do for us all to be alike. Kaiden is ten times the man Jacob is, honourable and true to the alliance when Jacob joins terrorists and claims a moral high ground about it, purlease! And not just me, btw, my daughter and other female gamers I know. The only threat to Kaiden is Thane, imo, but Kaiden still has the edge, he is not an assassin for one thing....

Where's the love for my bro Garrus? The man epitomises badass and his romance is so cutesy awkward he easily beats Kaiden.

Haven't done Thane yet.

Well, it's like this......... *looks innocent*
I do like Garrus and he is all vulnerable and everything, but damn if Thane doesn't just have that little 'something something', about him.
If it makes you feel better I felt awful leading him on (hadn't met Thane at the point when I started flirting with Garrus)
But Kaiden is my number 1 in ME and that is just the way it is, that lovely voice, mmmmmmmmm..
AND he did remain faithful for 2 years only dating cos his friends convinced him it was time to move on

 

[Penitent]

I can't wait to see how Bioware handle this. I'm personally not cheating with either of my two Shepards, partly because they're not like that (mostly Paragon), partly because Ashley and Kaiden are two of the best love interests (you get to know them, it's not about the sex), but mostly because I'm horrified for my male Shepard at the thought of Ashley coming after me with a chainsaw for an arm and brutally disembowl me and everything in sight the moment she finds out.

I'll just need to take them on another playthrough for Garrus and Tali. Sorry, guys, I have to choose.

 

[Spoonius]

People aren't thinking of Shephard's opinion. Maybe he or she feels that the relationship between them and the ME1 character they romanced (Ashley in my case) has gone down the drain. If Bioware are as smart and intuitive as I think they are, then the player's (Shephard's) opinions should make an impact when the shit hits the fan. Shephard should also be able to shape the encounter by expressing his/her feelings, instead of merely being able to react to another character's.

For example, I hit on Miranda in ME2. If in ME3, Ashley comes at me and gives me shit for 'cheating', my Shephard should be able to reason with her and explain his actions, instead of just having the situation thrown at him in the "you did a certain action in ME2, this is what happens as a consequence" way that Bioware was a little guilty of sometimes in ME2.

 

[Jenova65]

I can't wait to see how Bioware handle this. I'm personally not cheating with either of my two Shepards, partly because they're not like that (mostly Paragon), partly because Ashley and Kaiden are two of the best love interests (you get to know them, it's not about the sex), but mostly because I'm horrified for my male Shepard at the thought of Ashley coming after me with a chainsaw for an arm and brutally disembowl me and everything in sight the moment she finds out.

I'll just need to take them on another playthrough for Garrus and Tali. Sorry, guys, I have to choose.

Or worse, send her little sister after you.........

 

[scotth266]

Honestly? I didn't like either of ME1's love interests from the perspective of actually being involved with them. I romanced Liara because, well, Ashley was a goddamn space racist. On the other hand, it was a really hard choice picking who I wanted to go with in the second game.

Solution: Load a no-romances ME1 file, play through ME2 again. Problem solved.

 

[Jenova65]

Honestly? I didn't like either of ME1's love interests from the perspective of actually being involved with them. I romanced Liara because, well, Ashley was a goddamn space racist. On the other hand, it was a really hard choice picking who I wanted to go with in the second game.

Solution: Load a no-romances ME1 file, play through ME2 again. Problem solved.

I don't have a no romance ME1 file, I ALWAYS love Kaiden..............

 

[Amnestic]

Or worse, send her little sister after you.........

That's what Renegade interrupts are for.

Some ***** racist (or her sister) starts shit with Commander 'Galaxy Saviour x 2' Shepard? They're not getting out without a few broken bones.

I don't have a no romance ME1 file, I ALWAYS love Kaiden..............

That's what the Mass Effect Saves [http://www.masseffectsaves.com/] is for ;>