>>717786635
>Ask player to decide if they want to go by he/him, she/her, or something else
>Grooming

The term has lost all meaning at this point. Literal pearl clutching "Think of the children!" bullshit from the late 90s early 2000s. Fucking retarded shit.

Optional romance mechanics make RPGs better overall. It creates more of an opportunity to define your character, flesh out their personality through who they choose/how they interact with a partner, helps the player invest more into the world/story, and endears a player to the companions way quicker. It also allows devs to use that connection in creative ways, like having your partner get abducted by an antagonist, tying endings into who you chose, and even motivating the player to take certain moral decisions because it supports their relationship/what the companion wants.

While it's not a replacement for an outright good story/well written characters, allowing the player to form a connection with a companion adds an immense amount to the overall experience. Lot of people get annoyed by RPGs that have optional romance, yet those are often the ones with the most success and discussion that actually lasts.

>>63857209
>the chinese have...

>>507688173
test