Yeah I have been trying to think of a way it would work regarding players who have been eternal bonded. The only thing I can think of is that if the players choose to go for an NPC romance, then they lose the eternal bonding ring and is replaced with a friendship ring, which would work the same as the eternal bonding ring.

There could also be a specific NPC those players have to talk to to have their rings changed from eternal bonded to friendship and vice versa. I know there are people who spend money for the ceremonial binding ceremonies (me included) and I think this idea would mean that the players would still benefit from what they paid for.