In regards to G'raha Tia in Dawntrail and going forward *MSQ SPOILERS*

I'd prefer for relationships to remain friendly as they have been, with room for us to infer something deeper if we as the players want it, I would like outright romantic stuff to just not be a thing. I did not read that scene as romantic at all. It was meant to reflect on what he would have done if he'd been in that same position as Sphene, would he have gone down that same road?

But that's kind of the great thing about how the team handles things, if you want romance you can think about it, if not, you don't have to either, I would like for them to not waste the resources changing things.

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Originally Posted by Anarnee

I'd prefer for relationships to remain friendly as they have been, with room for us to infer something deeper if we as the players want it, I would like outright romantic stuff to just not be a thing.

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I agree. I have played romance quests in other games like Mass Effect, and to be honest: they just felt weird and out of place.
Friendship and familial feelings towards NPCs are great, anything beyond that is best served via player headcanon.

I'd kill for a way to unlock specific quests with NPCs. I'd love to have a whole chain and have to 'lock in' with a romantic partner, while still having opportunities to do personal, deeper quests with other NPCs that don't necessarily commit me to romancing them.

I am just glad to know that I will get to see G’raha in the story soon. I was so angry that we had to leave him behind on the dock as we sailed away at the beginning of the story. I ranted to my husband and son (who also play) until they got sick of it. Hehe. I was in tears that he was not going to be part of this new adventure with us, sad and very upset/angry. So I am so pleased to hear about this upcoming (for me, at least…taking my time through the story) scene with G’raha. Thanks for keeping my hopes up. I have been sick of this adventure without him. Yes, I adore G’raha and have since he was first introduced. I am not sure if I would want a definitive romance with him since I am bonded to my IRL husband in the game, so it would not feel right to me. But I see G’raha as my best friend in my head cannon and any of the story without him feels wrong to me.

Oh my god this scene! I'm one of those people that didnt enjoy the DT MSQ, but this scene is just so sweet! I'm not a WolGraha shipper, I'm WolStinien kinda gal but even I can say that this scene is definitely heavily implied with some romantic/fond subtexts SPECIALLY since you were in the part of the city that was supposed to be for couples. It actually made me happy that one moment in MSQ despite not being a shipper for it. I'm kinda jealous of you WolGraha girlies but I'm also happy with the story's continuing way of making Estinien show his unwavering trust in WoL. In the fanservice of this kind, I content in DT atleast in that respect Im happy about it.

I agree tho that not everyone likes that in the game. I few teasing here and there are fine. EW did a fine job of giving fanservice that can be interpreted as either romantic or friendly. I would like for it to stay that way and not went overboard aswell.

I'm probably the least romantic person on the planet, but I didn't really read any romance in this scene. I absolutely loved it. I felt like we were seeing some of the depth we saw in him as the Crystal Exarch. He was vulnerable yet behaving like the WOL's equal, which he really is, rather than the hero-worship thing he had going for a while. I don't know who he was referring to, although I didn't take it to be the WOL because, well, we're sitting right there with him. :) Makes me think there's a story there that I hope we get to uncover someday.

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Originally Posted by Anarnee

I'd prefer for relationships to remain friendly as they have been, with room for us to infer something deeper if we as the players want it, I would like outright romantic stuff to just not be a thing.

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Agreed – I love these sort of romantic-if-you-want-it moments but actually having to navigate any kind of romance is a turn-off. (I gave up on playing BG3 somewhere between the awkwardness of turning down romance hooks I didn't want for my character and then the awkwardness of navigating the romance for the ship I was on board with.)

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Originally Posted by Auralet

I'm probably the least romantic person on the planet, but I didn't really read any romance in this scene. I absolutely loved it. I felt like we were seeing some of the depth we saw in him as the Crystal Exarch. He was vulnerable yet behaving like the WOL's equal, which he really is, rather than the hero-worship thing he had going for a while. I don't know who he was referring to, although I didn't take it to be the WOL because, well, we're sitting right there with him. :) Makes me think there's a story there that I hope we get to uncover someday.

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He's expressed his thoughts about us like it's someone else previously, in the scene on the clifftop – and in this case if he's talking about "us" then it's actually about the other timeline's "us" who died.

That said, if you don't want it to be specifically about you then he can just be talking in general about the people he had to leave behind in the other timeline.

It's important to note that he doesn't just say he'd like to bring someone back to life this way, but concludes that as much as it is tempting, he would sooner wish that they were actually alive again.

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Originally Posted by Connor

I feel like the intention of these scenes is to let the players themselves determine the subtext. Thus, people who want a scene to be romantic or believe there’s a romantic interest there will view it as such.
Whereas those who see the character platonically / expect the same from them simply see it as a conversation between friends.
Basically they try to have their cake and eat it lol

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I enjoyed the scene as Gra'ha is my good buddy and we got up to all sorts of hijinx; so him explaining how he would miss me is fine and I am all for NPCs becoming more human.

Honestly, despite being a big fan of G’raha as a character, I didn’t see this scene as romantic.

Rather, I read it as him lamenting over the people he left behind in Corvos, his family and friends who died when the Isle of Val disappeared, the people of the Crystarium who died despite his best efforts, and the entirety of the timeline he was forced to abandon in order to save the WoL and avert the eighth umbral calamity. G’raha’s experienced a lot of loss and this was one of the few points in the expansion where I felt the writers actually paid attention to a character’s past and tried to capitalize on it (extremely effectively, might I add. This scene was the sole point in Dawntrail that had me in tears).

I would love for the dev team to keep things vague enough that fans can opt in or opt out depending on how they read things, but I worry that by encouraging them to keep things utterly sterile, we’ll end up without any heart to heart moments at all between any of the characters, and that’s where FF14 really tends to shine in its writing.

I’d love for them to give us options to have these moments with a wide variety of cast members, though, for those who may or may not enjoy certain characters. The scene in EW *where we could choose who was at the door was a great middle ground, as was Ultima Thule with heart to hearts with ALL the cast.

I know "Dating NPC" came up in one of the Yoshida Question Rounds on the Media Tour and if i remember correctly he didnt was against it.
I cant imagine anything more than side quest or a addition to the trust system.
While i wouldnt mind side quest with the Scions and more important NPCs...not that they get the idea to make Rolequest out of that idea. XD