Alternatives to NPC romance, since it's a polarizing topic

[Brynne]

Granblue had an Idolmaster collab and even before it was released, JP players were threatening stopping playing the game if the Idolmaster girls interacted with male characters even as friends.

Our character already interacts with other characters as friends... that ship has sailed.

[Ashennae]

Instead of romance, I'd just like to be able to interact with the scions outside of the MSQ.

For example, it'd be cool if we could at least invite our favorites to our Island Sanctuary, personal house, or apartment to just hang out. Maybe have them comment and/or interact with any furnishings we have. IE Y'shtola could sit down and have tea with us on the deck, Alisaie could test out a training dummy, Urianger could comment on any bookshelves we had.
Heck, even if it's something small like playing Triple Triad with the Scions or even seeing them at Holiday Events would be cool. Maybe even do custom deliveries for them. I could see Tataru taking advantage of an omnicrafter WOL, and I'm kinda surprised she doesn't ask us to put our crafting talents to use.

This way, even if the devs do decide to take the scions to other places, it would be in a more fair manner to both the player character and the NPCs.

[Tennyoelf]

Granblue had an Idolmaster collab and even before it was released, JP players were threatening stopping playing the game if the Idolmaster girls interacted with male characters even as friends.

NPCs in the game already interact with our WoLs though? I mean, G'raha already acts a bit smitten with our WoLs? Besides that being a different genre and a different game? I think that's not a very strong argument for not doing any sort of friendship quests?

[SilverObi]

I would argue that you can already do that by talking to the scions while they are in the rising stones.

I do like the idea of calling on your companions, though I was thinking more about content with favorite NPCs besides the scions themselves. Though what FFXI has is a good jumping-off point!

(Double post because of word limit! Sorry!)

Sorry I didn't mean to imply that the Scions would be the ones we talked to in this system, I picked The Rising Stones because it's an instanced area only. The choices of NPCs to talk to would be any important and currently alive NPC that's deemed worthy of being added into it.

[Tennyoelf]

Instead of romance, I'd just like to be able to interact with the scions outside of the MSQ.

For example, it'd be cool if we could at least invite our favorites to our Island Sanctuary, personal house, or apartment to just hang out. Maybe have them comment and/or interact with any furnishings we have. IE Y'shtola could sit down and have tea with us on the deck, Alisaie could test out a training dummy, Urianger could comment on any bookshelves we had.
Heck, even if it's something small like playing Triple Triad with the Scions or even seeing them at Holiday Events would be cool. Maybe even do custom deliveries for them. I could see Tataru taking advantage of an omnicrafter WOL, and I'm kinda surprised she doesn't ask us to put our crafting talents to use.

This way, even if the devs do decide to take the scions to other places, it would be in a more fair manner to both the player character and the NPCs.

I like this idea, and I'd be pretty happy if they ever did something like that.

However, I really want something with a bit more meat content-wise, which is why I suggested a questline that deals with a personal issue that NPC has, which can help flesh them out even more.

Sorry I didn't mean to imply that the Scions would be the ones we talked to in this system, I picked The Rising Stones because it's an instanced area only. The choices of NPCs to talk to would be any important and currently alive NPC that's deemed worthy of being added into it.

Oh, that is nice! That would be cool, I'd be down for that.

Honestly, if we could have a questline AND have them visit AND be in our trusts? I'd be one happy player lol (And I know that's asking for too much. I'd be happy with just visits too. )

[Shougun]

Would be fun to get our companions back. And while I guess the chocobos kind of fulfill it a bit, I do miss the scenes and dialogue with my companion. She was no-nonsense!

I had the pervy flirty miqote and the grab me a dictionary lalafell, good times :3. Chocobo certainly wouldn't be able to fulfill all the feelings of a talking companion, but I think it could also add other elements too. I know it's a bit silly sounding but really if they added like a patting, combing, ambient noises, different food mechanics (meaning the mechanic itself, not strictly 'more foods' - I don't feel the simple timer is the most conducive option for growing a partnership vibe), chocobo hot and cold, interactions with the environment, etc, imo, you could add a pretty strong animal-companion vibe. It doesn't help that there are so many mounts, I suppose, and while I do enjoy many of the non-chocobo options we have, in some ways I feel it's a shame that chocobos have such a back seat presence in most places of the game.

But on the talking companions, of course there is a lot of value to be had in being able to converse with them.

[Haruka_R]

Yes. Alisaie needs to be my soul sister.

[Tennyoelf]

Yes. Alisaie needs to be my soul sister.

That's another thing I like about buddy/friendship quests, you can include the twins. I'd love to be best buds with Alisaie!

[Yandere-chan]

I'm not really into the idea of it being platonic instead. The most important reason is that it doesn't truly address the core issue preventing the feature that is being brought up in the interview. Also, there's nothing negative about romance and the issue that comes up has nothing to do with the idea of it being negative either. The problem that is described in the interview is one of continuity in regard to being able to keep story happenstances open for NPCs while also maintaining closeness with a chosen NPC to be closer with. That issue would remain even if the character you were choosing to invest into was worded to be a bestie.

No, the solution needs to be one that could somehow allow a player to date a specific character while also still making it possible for that character to potentially venture out to do their own things in the main story when necessary. My thoughts to a solution to this is that if it was content that the devs were serious about implementing with keeping this issue in check to a great enough degree, there likely would need to be slightly different cutscenes to accommodate player choices in regard to it.

Like, take their example of Urianger needing to go to the Mars for the story. If you chose Urianger as your love interest, perhaps you would get slightly different dialogue and a quest that would allow you to search and develop some sort of teleporter device based on allagan tech or what not (which could also serve as one of several bonding quests or what not), which would allow for your chosen character to be able to still meet up to talk with you and such post leaving. Every romance option could be given their own slightly different version of the quest with what they say and such. This seems like the most practical way of maintaining continuity while also always allowing the player to be able to meet up with their preferred romance target.

I suppose, though, it could be possible to implement both options, platonic or romantic (based on dialogue choices perhaps?), for those who want to explore extra interactions without the romance as well. If it was either just one or the other though, I, and I imagine the vast majority interested in such content, would prefer romance though.

Oh hell no.

Ain't no way I'm letting FFXIV turn into a filthy eroge

I feel like this is spoken in humor, but in all seriousness, dating a NPC would not make FFXIV an "eroge," as that would require erotic focus which isn't what was brought up. Romance, while likely having some instances of closeness, is not really focused on eroticism. It would be more accurate to say that FFXIV would have optional content that is akin to what you would see out of a dating sim of some kind, but fit to the lore of the FFXIV world and game characters involved.

It's not actually that wild of an idea, and I can understand why it's something that has been requested fairly often now, especially from Japan which has a heavy interest in dating sim games in general. Even if not everyone would be into such content worldwide (something already true for various content additions already put into the game), there would very likely be enough people interested that it would warrant its inclusion being justified. Of course, those uninterested could just ignore the initial quest to unlock such content to begin with. So, it's not like it would be forced on anyone anyways.

For me personally, I would find it a very pleasant addition and gladly sink extra hours or even extra money into the game to routinely explore that type of closer character dynamic with various NPCs. I'd love to see how it affects certain scenes and dialogue as well. It would be cute if with the chosen character you are given unique playful banter in trust dungeons or such. It would be super adorable if they let you do seasonal events with your chosen love interest as well. Convincing Y'shtola to help out wayward lovers in Gridania for Valentione's Day in comical outfits would be worth every cent, hehe. ♥

[Tennyoelf]

-SNIP for length-

There are issues about romance in the game that isn't about story continuity. There are also animation limitations as well. If someone wished to romance Urianger as a Lalafell, that would take some genius animator to figure out a way to even show them hugging. If code limitations prevent them from ever figuring it out, then they may limit which races can romance which races, which would be very upsetting to certain players. Buddy quests, which are platonic in nature, would skip that need for extra animations.

Also, there are some who worry about what romance quests added would do to the game culture as well as the perception of the game to those who don't play FFXIV. I've seen some vehemently oppose romance quests. From a developer's POV, that means taking into consideration those who don't want such a thing. All of us are players of FFXIV, we all mean something to the developers. They're going to aim to make as many people as happy as possible.

As for your concern about my idea not addressing the concern, it comes down to the significance of what a best friend verse a romantic partner means to the average person. There is definitely an argument to make that a close friend is indeed just as important, maybe even more so, than a romantic partner. Saying being best buds with a certain NPC would have the same weight and writing constraints as a romantic partner is definitely something that will defer from person to person, from culture to culture. Generally speaking, most people weigh romantic partners are being much more significant than best friends, that a romantic partner will ultimately be the closest, most important person in your life, especially once being married is thrown into the mix. So taking the example of Urianger going to Mars from the article, if we are best buds with him, then an extra line or two, spoken or not, is all that is needed for a goodbye. If we were romantically involved, that means either breaking up or having us go with him. It'll cause a messy situation, especially since Urianger wants to go Mars despite being romantically involved with someone. Also, as the WoL, the developers probably don't want us following after our love interest or we can't because we gotta save the world again. Or Mars isn't going to be in any expansion any time soon. Saying "I'll wait for you!" is an extra writing constraint than, "We're bros, so I hope you come back soon!"

To me, I rather have extra time with my favorite NPCs, even if it must be platonic-based, than get nothing because romance turns out too difficult for the team. Or they're too reluctant because of writing constraints. Having platonic-based questlines for NPCs doesn't take romance quests off the table. They can be separate or even a pre-requisite if they do find a way to implement romance. But if they never do? If they remain reluctant? If those who oppose romance quests became the louder group?