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Talk:Romance Archives

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ME3 - Love Interest dying[]

I was wondering. If your love interest dies can you replace them. For example if you have a relationship with Tali in the the third game (having "locked in" on her) but she dies on Rannoch, can you romance someone else after that? --JordanaBrewsterFAN 09:58, July 20, 2013 (UTC)

Affecting the Save[]

From the article:

"Whether by design or by mistake, if Shepard has one person 'locked in' and are at the 'challenge' stage with any of the other possible subjects prior to entering the Omega 4 Relay, Shepard has the option of dumping the 'locked in' subject after completing the finale, provided that Shepard survives. Doing so will allow Shepard to court one of the other subjects and the intimate scene normally seen before proceeding through the Omega 4 Relay will instead play as soon as the dialogue ends. It is thus possible to experience all three partners and their respective scenes this way. However, once a partner is 'dumped', they cannot be courted again. It is currently unknown how this will affect your save game and therefore affect the events of Mass Effect 3."

This was written before Mass Effect 3 came out, and the game has been out for a year now. I would definitively like to know what the answer is. How does this trick affect your ME3 save? Can my Shepard have sex with, say, Miranda, dump her, and then have my Ashley romance from ME1 continue unaffected in ME3? 71.195.87.84 18:33, July 26, 2013 (UTC)

Dunno but now I'm curious- it can perhaps be your unique contribution to the wiki to find out for us! :-) Cattlesquat (talk) 18:47, July 26, 2013 (UTC)
I didn't notice any effect - but then after sleeping with Tali, then Jack, then dumping Jack and picking Liara again in LotSB Liara became my imported romance in ME3. However I didnt get any negative consequences from dumping Jack, despite her only conversation options in ME2 being a definitive "FUCK OFF!". However if someone wants to investigate without romancing Liara in LotSB it might provide more conclusive results. Garhdo (talk) 19:25, July 26, 2013 (UTC)
I did as Cattlesquat said and tried it. I romanced Ashley in ME1 and Jack in ME2, but broke it off with her after the suicide mission. I am currently playing ME3, and my actions do indeed seem to have affected my save, but I seem to have been able to rekindle the romance with Ashley. When I went to see her at the hospital after she first woke up, she mentioned the fling with Jack and asked if our relationship could pick up where it left off, to which I replied that I like to continue it. Jack also mentioned our encounter at the Grissom Academy. Therefore, it seems that romancing someone else in ME2 and then breaking it off afterward does indeed affect at least the dialogue with your ME1 romance in ME3, but the relationship seems salvageable. 71.61.96.27 01:05, August 8, 2013 (UTC)

Citadel hook-ups[]

Should James and Javik be included here? I'd argue that they're on a par with Samara/Morinth in ME2. (For that matter, a relationship with Samara can be further pursued in Citadel.) Epenthesis (talk) 17:46, September 18, 2013 (UTC)

My opinion: yes. Cattlesquat (talk) 18:14, September 18, 2013 (UTC)
They're mentioned in the Citadel section; that's inclusion enough for me. Elseweyr (talk) 18:18, September 18, 2013 (UTC)
To clarify, by "included here" I meant given the same prominence as the games' other romances. Even those that don't grant the Paramour achievement have portraits.Epenthesis (talk) 19:07, September 18, 2013 (UTC)

Added this section and made some other small changes. I added Thane as well given his additional romantic content, though it kind of makes me wonder why he's not included as a love interest for the game proper--he doesn't grant the Paramour achievement, but neither does Diana Allers and she's up there. Comments? Epenthesis (talk) 04:58, September 19, 2013 (UTC)

Two words: not ok. All the romance stuff is isolated within the DLC with no effect whatsoever on the rest of the game and it should be confined to a separate section as it was. In any event, this would be a fairly substantial change to an article that you can't just slap in there without discussion. Elseweyr (talk) 07:09, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
I apologize if I didn't wait as long as I should, but you didn't indicate that you felt at all strongly about this, and the only other comment was in favor. No, this content isn't in the main game, but other DLC-only content throughout the series is closely integrated into main pages (eg, missions, temporary squadmates). Why should romance be treated differently? Epenthesis (talk) 13:27, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
Lack of strong emotional charge ≠ agreement. I'd be ok with different formatting (pics are always nice) as long as all the Citadel stuff is under its own heading, because
(1) the TOC should indicate what's DLC and what's not (otherwise LotSB should be integrated into the ME2 section as well (plz dont do it :c )), and
(2) in my books, being able to perform a one-night stand or pursue an old/current relationship strictly within the frames of DLC is not on par with a 'vanilla' romance. Because of their different nature and how only one of them influences the other, I wouldn't deem it agreeable to cluster the DLC options with those of the main game.
But that's just my opinion and I might have lost 1-3 already. Elseweyr (talk) 15:32, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
I wouldn't object to putting the pics further down under the Citadel section, which would make it clearer that the discussion of romance mechanics etc. doesn't apply. I do think that the three Citadel-exclusive romances should get the prominence of pictures, which even the minor romances from 2 and 3 have.
Part of me thinks Liara should indeed have a picture for LotSB, but given that she recurs as a full-fledged love interest in 3, I don't feel too strongly about it. Besides, it would probably raise questions about why Kaidan and Ashley aren't up there for their one scene and email, and I don't want to open that can of worms. Epenthesis (talk) 15:52, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
(Edit conflict) From my point of view the main thing is to get them in here, w/ portraits. When they were briefly there "but all in the ME3 section" it was fine with me. Mind you if the version I'd seen had had the portraits down in the ME3 Citadel section that might also have turned out to look fine. It's a little harder for me to picture the formatting, i.e ME3 Citadel is a === heading instead of a == heading, but it might be okay. So I'm vaguely leaning toward "how Epenthesis did it" and certainly view it as at least acceptable, mostly I'd like to get the portraits in, and if somebody who wanted to push an alternate view on their placement (ahem) made a mockup of how it would look in the ME3 Citadel section instead I'd be fine giving a "vote which of these two ways to do it" opinion. Also re Epenthesis' latest post, I'd be fine with a (smaller, perhaps?) portrait of Liara or some other visual treatment associated with LotSB, but I'd say let's get the Citadel peeps figured out first and if that points us in a direction on Shadow Broker. Cattlesquat (talk) 16:04, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
i can swing whichever way. my only immediate concern is properly-formatted content additions. purged the citadel tables for now pending whatever you people finally decide, but thane stays as he's obviously an oversight from the vanilla game. T̴̴͕̲̞̳̖̼̱͒͛̎͒ͫ̃ͧeͩ̈̽̈҉͓̝̰̼̦̫̤̀͠m̫̪̪̯̻͎̫̅̇̓̇͌̚p̸̙̝̓̓͌ͨ͆ͣͥ̂̕o͒̽͐̽͏̞̬̻͕͔͕͚̰͍͠͞ṙ̢̞͚͈̹̰ͨ̓ͭ̈́̌ạ̢̧̪̹̺̺̣̹̲͂͆̏ͪͨ͒ͭř̹͈͜͠y̷͍̻̜̹̼̾̽̈́e̵̹̼̟̦͚͐̈́͌͘d͉̲̣̻͉̱͗̅ḭ̷̻̆͋̆̓̔͝t̨͍̦̫̗͂̅̍̋̆ͩ͝ộ̫̟̬̳̝̲̾ͫ̒̿ͮ̑̚rͯ̎ͨͭ̄̿̽͛҉̠̫̱̠̘̘̲́ͅ7̩̻ͤͩͨ͝͡8̜̣̙͇̻ͨ͛͛̆͒̆̽̒͐͜͡ ͥ̍̉̃̇ͥ̓ͨ͏̕҉̥̹͓̗̤̠̖̤ (talk) 09:09, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
Thank you for making that change--I considered it, but thought it would be more controversial than the Citadel additions, so decided to wait for another time. Epenthesis (talk) 13:31, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
I for one liked the portraits where they got put, with the "upon installation of DLC" disclaimer they had. And then the actual relationships were described down below in the DLC subsection. Grouping all the portraits together seems good - here's all the folks you can romance - and the ones at the bottom were clearly declared added-with-DLC. Cattlesquat (talk) 13:17, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
If I am visualising what Cattlesquat is describing correctly then that seems like the best way to do it - all portraits together, disclaimer that they are DLC and do not award Paramour, and full descriptions in a separate heading with other Citadel content. Garhdo (talk) 16:44, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
A la this edit:[1]. Garhdo (talk) 16:47, September 19, 2013 (UTC)

view the "romance options" subsection as a kind of visual intro to everything that follows. the way things are currently written, intro text above "romance options" already alert people about preliminary stuff involving DLC.

== Mass Effect 3 ==
intro text covering everything including dlc. emphasis on "intro text".
=== Romance options ===
all portraits. i have already made some sort of caveat for the citadel hookups
before purging to clearly denote their status.
=== Romance mechanics ===
unchanged
=== Mass Effect 3: Citadel ===
unchanged

ME2 ash/kaidan aren't really "romances" in that their moments are essentially breakup/cooldown things due to death/cerberus. rekindled/forevergone a game and some chapters later. worst comes to worst (IF AND ONLY IF; i don't particularly endorse this), liara can share space with kelly/samara/morinth. + special note regarding LOTSB. good thing they're all bi, none of the formatting complications of simultaneous segregation by orientation and content origin. now back to ME3:

  1. vanilla game + DLC pics appended below (unobtrusive but at least picture prominence for the DLC guys achieved)
  2. DLC pictures under the same subsection as the DLC text (breaks text monotony for ME3 for a change -this is somewhat a good thing, don't misinterpret- but makes any retroactive implementation for LOTSB liara problematic -and this is a bad thing-)
  3. no insertions at all. javik sort of came out of the left field, james-lola dynamic practically itching to be resolved, samara interaction virtually nonexistent in main game and only developed in the dlc. that's 2/3 reasons for not choosing this.

your call.T̴̴͕̲̞̳̖̼̱͒͛̎͒ͫ̃ͧeͩ̈̽̈҉͓̝̰̼̦̫̤̀͠m̫̪̪̯̻͎̫̅̇̓̇͌̚p̸̙̝̓̓͌ͨ͆ͣͥ̂̕o͒̽͐̽͏̞̬̻͕͔͕͚̰͍͠͞ṙ̢̞͚͈̹̰ͨ̓ͭ̈́̌ạ̢̧̪̹̺̺̣̹̲͂͆̏ͪͨ͒ͭř̹͈͜͠y̷͍̻̜̹̼̾̽̈́e̵̹̼̟̦͚͐̈́͌͘d͉̲̣̻͉̱͗̅ḭ̷̻̆͋̆̓̔͝t̨͍̦̫̗͂̅̍̋̆ͩ͝ộ̫̟̬̳̝̲̾ͫ̒̿ͮ̑̚rͯ̎ͨͭ̄̿̽͛҉̠̫̱̠̘̘̲́ͅ7̩̻ͤͩͨ͝͡8̜̣̙͇̻ͨ͛͛̆͒̆̽̒͐͜͡ ͥ̍̉̃̇ͥ̓ͨ͏̕҉̥̹͓̗̤̠̖̤ (talk) 17:06, September 19, 2013 (UTC)


My choice would be (1), but I wouldn't really mind (2). I don't see the text monotony as a serious problem, and if support later emerges for adding Liara to ME2, this would set the easiest precedent to follow. Epenthesis (talk) 17:17, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
I think the one I'm for is #1 (assuming #1 is the one, as Gardho put it, a la this edit:[2]). As I said before a mockup the other way MIGHT make me think it was even better but for now I think #1 is acceptable. Cattlesquat (talk) 17:55, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
  1. 1 has my vote too, and Liara should be present in the ME2 section in a similar manner as well. Garhdo (talk) 19:43, September 19, 2013 (UTC)
Citadel portrait appendix I can deal with, LotSB Liara with Kelly/SaMorinth not. Since I haven't a better idea, #3. Elseweyr (talk) 11:31, September 20, 2013 (UTC)
People seem to favor (1). Would this be an appropriate time to restore the pics as in [3]? Epenthesis (talk) 17:43, September 20, 2013 (UTC)
one week later. as per procedure. T̴̴͕̲̞̳̖̼̱͒͛̎͒ͫ̃ͧeͩ̈̽̈҉͓̝̰̼̦̫̤̀͠m̫̪̪̯̻͎̫̅̇̓̇͌̚p̸̙̝̓̓͌ͨ͆ͣͥ̂̕o͒̽͐̽͏̞̬̻͕͔͕͚̰͍͠͞ṙ̢̞͚͈̹̰ͨ̓ͭ̈́̌ạ̢̧̪̹̺̺̣̹̲͂͆̏ͪͨ͒ͭř̹͈͜͠y̷͍̻̜̹̼̾̽̈́e̵̹̼̟̦͚͐̈́͌͘d͉̲̣̻͉̱͗̅ḭ̷̻̆͋̆̓̔͝t̨͍̦̫̗͂̅̍̋̆ͩ͝ộ̫̟̬̳̝̲̾ͫ̒̿ͮ̑̚rͯ̎ͨͭ̄̿̽͛҉̠̫̱̠̘̘̲́ͅ7̩̻ͤͩͨ͝͡8̜̣̙͇̻ͨ͛͛̆͒̆̽̒͐͜͡ ͥ̍̉̃̇ͥ̓ͨ͏̕҉̥̹͓̗̤̠̖̤ (talk) 17:46, September 20, 2013 (UTC)
Got it. Thanks! Epenthesis (talk) 19:29, September 20, 2013 (UTC)
One week has passed without additional comments, so I'm restoring the Citadel love interest pictures under the main set, as per option 1. Epenthesis (talk) 14:28, September 26, 2013 (UTC)
And what is your position on Liara (ME2:LOSB)?--DeldiRe (talk) 14:34, September 26, 2013 (UTC)
If we're voting on it, I would argue that she should be with the other minor ME2 romances, with all applicable disclaimers added. But I don't feel strongly enough about it to do it myself; if you or Cattlesquat (edit: or Garhdo) would like to make that change, you have my support. Epenthesis (talk) 14:49, September 26, 2013 (UTC)

actually, no. 3 or so hours left judging from my timestamp. let's just say what if an army of sockpuppets other people suddenly cared at that 3 hours and voted for 2 or 3. blanking again for now. T̴̴͕̲̞̳̖̼̱͒͛̎͒ͫ̃ͧeͩ̈̽̈҉͓̝̰̼̦̫̤̀͠m̫̪̪̯̻͎̫̅̇̓̇͌̚p̸̙̝̓̓͌ͨ͆ͣͥ̂̕o͒̽͐̽͏̞̬̻͕͔͕͚̰͍͠͞ṙ̢̞͚͈̹̰ͨ̓ͭ̈́̌ạ̢̧̪̹̺̺̣̹̲͂͆̏ͪͨ͒ͭř̹͈͜͠y̷͍̻̜̹̼̾̽̈́e̵̹̼̟̦͚͐̈́͌͘d͉̲̣̻͉̱͗̅ḭ̷̻̆͋̆̓̔͝t̨͍̦̫̗͂̅̍̋̆ͩ͝ộ̫̟̬̳̝̲̾ͫ̒̿ͮ̑̚rͯ̎ͨͭ̄̿̽͛҉̠̫̱̠̘̘̲́ͅ7̩̻ͤͩͨ͝͡8̜̣̙͇̻ͨ͛͛̆͒̆̽̒͐͜͡ ͥ̍̉̃̇ͥ̓ͨ͏̕҉̥̹͓̗̤̠̖̤ (talk) 14:37, September 26, 2013 (UTC)

By golly, you're right. Sorry to jump the gun again. Epenthesis (talk) 14:49, September 26, 2013 (UTC)

people seem to favor option 1 against the others by 3-0-1. article modified accordingly. T̴̴͕̲̞̳̖̼̱͒͛̎͒ͫ̃ͧeͩ̈̽̈҉͓̝̰̼̦̫̤̀͠m̫̪̪̯̻͎̫̅̇̓̇͌̚p̸̙̝̓̓͌ͨ͆ͣͥ̂̕o͒̽͐̽͏̞̬̻͕͔͕͚̰͍͠͞ṙ̢̞͚͈̹̰ͨ̓ͭ̈́̌ạ̢̧̪̹̺̺̣̹̲͂͆̏ͪͨ͒ͭř̹͈͜͠y̷͍̻̜̹̼̾̽̈́e̵̹̼̟̦͚͐̈́͌͘d͉̲̣̻͉̱͗̅ḭ̷̻̆͋̆̓̔͝t̨͍̦̫̗͂̅̍̋̆ͩ͝ộ̫̟̬̳̝̲̾ͫ̒̿ͮ̑̚rͯ̎ͨͭ̄̿̽͛҉̠̫̱̠̘̘̲́ͅ7̩̻ͤͩͨ͝͡8̜̣̙͇̻ͨ͛͛̆͒̆̽̒͐͜͡ ͥ̍̉̃̇ͥ̓ͨ͏̕҉̥̹͓̗̤̠̖̤ (talk) 05:26, September 27, 2013 (UTC)

ME2 - New character[]

If I make a new female character in ME2, what kind of romance history does she have? 81.225.87.27 16:20, January 6, 2014 (UTC)

If you have the Genesis DLC or you're playing the trilogy version of the game, you get to pick whether you romanced someone in ME1. Otherwise the slate is clean. Elseweyr (talk | stalk) January 6, 2014, 16:55:11 (UTC)

Multiple Romances being carried forward.[]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but in the current version of the article it states that in ME2 if Shepard has multiple romances only the most recent will carry forward into ME3. I'm sorry but this just isn't true in my experience. In one of my games I romanced Tali before the Suicide Mission. Afterwards I then broke off the Romance to get the scene with Jack, and then broke that off to get Kelly to dance. Now in both LotSB and ME3 when I proceeded to reconnect with Liara (my romance from ME1) only my romance with Tali was recognised by the game. It was explicitly mentioned by Liara in LotSB, while neither Kelly or Jack showed a hint of our relationship in ME3. Is there any way of getting confirmation without playing the whole game through again? Garhdo (talk) 07:29, March 20, 2014 (UTC)

Any chance you might have imported the original autosave made when you finished the suicide mission, as opposed to the one holding whatever you did after that? Cattlesquat (talk) 15:49, March 20, 2014 (UTC)
Not at all - I only use the one save per Shepard so it was easy to find the right file, especially as in ME3's import you can select which file to import. So I did the Suicide Mission, then explored the Romances, then did LotSB, Overlord and other DLC, then finally Arrival, then imported THAT save into ME3. And as I said both LotSB AND ME3 recognised Tali as my romance, and not Jack or Kelly. In fact despite the fact I got Liara's romance scene in LotSB she also made little mention of that in ME3. Garhdo (talk) 18:11, March 21, 2014 (UTC)
I even just double-checked the importer, and when selecting that Shepard in the summary of decisions it does state that I romanced Liara in ME and Tali in ME2. Garhdo (talk) 04:15, March 22, 2014 (UTC)
statement inserted by random anon relatively recently, here. challenge at your own risk, i currently don't have the time to verify. T̴̴͕̲̞̳̖̼̱͒͛̎͒ͫ̃ͧeͩ̈̽̈҉͓̝̰̼̦̫̤̀͠m̫̪̪̯̻͎̫̅̇̓̇͌̚p̸̙̝̓̓͌ͨ͆ͣͥ̂̕o͒̽͐̽͏̞̬̻͕͔͕͚̰͍͠͞ṙ̢̞͚͈̹̰ͨ̓ͭ̈́̌ạ̢̧̪̹̺̺̣̹̲͂͆̏ͪͨ͒ͭř̹͈͜͠y̷͍̻̜̹̼̾̽̈́e̵̹̼̟̦͚͐̈́͌͘d͉̲̣̻͉̱͗̅ḭ̷̻̆͋̆̓̔͝t̨͍̦̫̗͂̅̍̋̆ͩ͝ộ̫̟̬̳̝̲̾ͫ̒̿ͮ̑̚rͯ̎ͨͭ̄̿̽͛҉̠̫̱̠̘̘̲́ͅ7̩̻ͤͩͨ͝͡8̜̣̙͇̻ͨ͛͛̆͒̆̽̒͐͜͡ ͥ̍̉̃̇ͥ̓ͨ͏̕҉̥̹͓̗̤̠̖̤ (talk) 04:39, March 22, 2014 (UTC)

So I romanced Ashley in 1, but I want to romance Kelly for 2. If I want to hit Ash up again in 3, does romancing Kelly affect that?

71.198.123.34 04:24, June 10, 2014 (UTC)

No. The only difference it will make is in the dialogue with Kelly in ME3. Shep will flirt with her if you choose to, but she's not a possible romance in 3 no matter what, and you'll be able to pursue a romance with Ashley who won't be any the wiser. 77.144.84.8 19:04, September 15, 2014 (UTC)

I think it happened that way for you because Kelly isn't considered a full romance by the game - that is, completing her romance does not give the Paramour achievement, it won't cause your ME1 love interest's photo to turn down, etc.

Since you imported a saved game in which you had definitively broken up with two romance options, I guess the game just went with the first one.

I say this because I had a different experience: I had a Shepard who completed two separate romances, and ME3 went with that Shepard's most recent romance. Details below in my original response, which I moved up here:

Hi. I think this sentence in the article is inaccurate: "Save files imported into Mass Effect 3 will only take into account the first character that Shepard romanced, and this will be the romance shown on the Importer."

I play the trilogy on the PC. I purchased the trilogy boxed set a few years ago, which means I'm playing through Origin.

So at least under those conditions, that sentence is untrue. In one playthrough I completed, just for the hell of it I did multiple Mass Effect 2 romances. I played a male Shepard who (1) pursued the Renegade casual sex option with Jack, (2) romanced Miranda successfully and got the engineering deck scene before passing through the Omega-4 relay, and then (3) broke up with Miranda and romanced Tali, subsequently getting the love scene with Tali in Shepard's quarters.

In the ME2 saved game I imported into Mass Effect 3, Shepard's ME1 love interest's photo was turned down, and Tali was the one who could be invited up to Shepard's quarters.

Mass Effect 3 definitely recognized Tali as Shepard's ME2 love interest in this playthrough, even though he was in a consummated romance with Miranda first. I remember that the dialogue in the quarian/geth plot-arc reflected Shepard and Tali's prior relationship - both in dialogue with Tali, and in the amusing banter aboard the geth dreadnought.

Furthermore, I know that in at least some cases, Mass Effect 3 is aware of multiple romances in Mass Effect 2. You can see videos on youtube in which Ashley asks a male Shepard about his cheating, but instead of mentioning Tali or Miranda or "bald-headed convicts," she says something to the effect of, "I hear you 'moved on' with multiple people."

So, basically, can someone look into this? As I said, I know that ME3 considers your ME2 romance whichever romance is active in the saved game you import, not necessarily the first one Shepard did.

Thanks! 76.181.51.185 15:23, June 25, 2016 (UTC)

UPDATE from the same person who wrote the above: I edited the page with language that I believe is both accurate and successfully reflects both our experiences. To review: the person above me reported romancing Tali, then Jack, then breaking off that romance too in order to invite Kelly up to Shepard's cabin. One of my Shepards romanced Miranda, then Tali, and preserved the Tali romance into ME3.

The current description should reflect both our experiences, rather than implying that only the "first" or the "last" romance "counts" as an import. 76.181.51.185 15:49, June 25, 2016 (UTC)

Double-timing[]

So for the heck of it, I'm romancing Diana Allers. Problem is, I'm already romancing Liara. Do I have to lock in with Liara first before hitting on Diana?

71.198.123.34 22:36, July 20, 2014 (UTC)

If you "lock in" with Liara, then you definitely won't get the romance scene with Allers, you'll get a slightly toned down conversation instead. If you pursue the full Allers thread first, then you will (probably, I think, haven't retested, save-your-game-first) still be able to lock in with Liara afterwards, because I don't think Allers counts as a "commitment". Cattlesquat (talk) 00:48, July 21, 2014 (UTC)

Does anyone know when two-timing works and when it doesn't? After completing Kelly's sequence -- I got the picture in the captain's cabin -- the Traynor romance was locked out, but Liara's was not. Can't check Kaidan since he's dead, and I was already past the Allers scene.

--72.80.175.252 06:37, March 26, 2015 (UTC)

After a little Gibbed work, it looks like this is because the conditionals are coded differently. Neither Liara's TrueLove variable (19722) nor Traynor's (19835) are set to True, while Kelly's romance variable (21100) was set to True. Setting 21100 to false didn't change anything, but setting 21100 to False and 19835 to True made Traynor's romance dialogue available. This is odd because it's generally said that the TrueLove variables are set True by locking in, not before locking in. I don't have a good explanation for the behavior, but since a hard drive crash took out most of my saves I'm not well-positioned to explore this further--AlanC9 (talk) 21:27, March 26, 2015 (UTC)

ME2/3 Romance Conflict[]

Do I get to continue a romance present on Mass Effect 3 that I started on Mass Effect (them being Ashley/Kaidan) if I pursued another relationship in Mass Effect 2? I'm looking forward to starting a relationship with Tali in ME2, but I want to re-start a relationship with Ashley in ME3. I know there's the option of cutting ties with your partner after the suicide mission, but will this affect in my pursue for a relationship with Ashley, somehow?. --BackStabbinBetty (talk) 07:13, December 27, 2014 (UTC)

Complicated game mechanics for 20 second scene[]

So among the myriad combinations of booty Shepard can tap I didn't see the one I was looking for. Maybe someone could add it.

I have been with Liara faithfully since the beginning but wouldn't mind takin' James for a tumble. Since she is the Shadow Broker, AND has bugged my ship and quarters it's inevitable she'll know (and too much to hope that she'll join in)... will she get jealous if I do it before I lock her in as my true love? 66.68.51.107 05:36, April 30, 2015 (UTC)

James is not a dedicated love interest. You can flirt with him but it will never advance to a full romance as he won't reciprocate the feeling until the Citadel DLC, and even then by that point you'll have likely locked in with Liara and you'll lose out on him anyway. --173.58.100.7 20:40, April 30, 2015 (UTC)

I'm unafraid of spoilers so I went to YouTube and found some romance vids... James' morning after dialog is one "early meeting" and some cab-fare short of a slap in Shepard's face.

Virmire theme[]

I have a strange glitch in the game. After you leave Virmire there is supposed to be a romance theme playing but for me there isn't. Instead the regular Normandy theme is playing. Does anybody know how to resolve this?

I think the Romance theme only plays after Virmire if you are engaged in a romance with Ash or Kaiden. IIRC when i romanced Liara I just got the normal music after the mission. Garhdo (talk) 00:16, December 2, 2015 (UTC)
I've had the music glitch out once or twice, but the romance theme should play regardless of who you're romancing (if anybody). Elseweyr talkstalk December 2, 2015, 01:13:26 (UTC)

Death of love interest[]

The wording in the article's trivia note currently states that a previously deceased Tali appearing in the romance scene is a glitch. Her romance flag actually remains ticked even if she dies on Rannoch, and subsequent attempts at romancing other characters will fail and she'll be referred to as if she was alive. I'm not sure if this can happen with Miranda, too (haven't done a playthrough romancing her) but I'll investigate and rework the note as needed, unless someone else has different experiences. Elseweyr talkstalk March 23, 2016, 20:58:45 (UTC)

Tweaking the ME3 table[]

The current table is confusing to new players as its not immediately obvious who is available to romance when you don't import the save file. There really aren't as many choices as it appears here, and its odd to have default options like Liara/Kaidan in a small row of 4 with minor romances like Kelly/Diana when they have more content than non-squadmate/ME2 imported romances like Miranda and Jack, who are put at the top of the table above even Ashley.

I propose we split it up like this - default romances available to all players, then romances available only to players who imported a save file, then the Citadel ones. It also then fits the format established in the ME/ME2 tables, with rows of 3.

This is what I was thinking:

Romance options without import or DLC prerequisites:

Male Shepard

Female Shepard

Ashley ME3 Character Shot

Ashley Williams

ME3 Steven Cortez

Steve Cortez

ME3 Samantha Traynor Character Shot

Samantha Traynor

A Lieutenant Commander in the Alliance Military and Council Spectre.

An Alliance pilot aboard the Normandy SR-2.

The Comm Specialist aboard the Alliance Normandy SR-2 in 2186.

Male or Female Shepard

Kaidan ME3 Character Shot

Kaidan Alenko

ME3 Liara Character Shot

Liara T'Soni

ME3 Diana Allers

Diana Allers

A Major in the Alliance Military and Council Spectre.

An asari scientist, archaeologist and the current Shadow Broker.

An Alliance News Network war correspondent.
Note: Does not grant the Paramour achievement.

Romance options if continued with an imported Mass Effect 2 character:

Male Shepard

Tali ME3 Character Shot

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy

ME3 Miranda

Miranda Lawson

ME3 Jack character shot

Jack

The quarian technician from the original Mass Effect.

A former Cerberus officer.

A powerful biotic, and teacher at the Jon Grissom Academy.

Female Shepard

Male or Female Shepard

Garrus ME3 Character Shot

Garrus Vakarian

Thane ME3 boxshot

Thane Krios

ME3 Kelly Chambers Character Shot

Kelly Chambers

An expert advisor to the Turian Hierarchy on the Reaper threat, former C-Sec officer and vigilante.

A drell assassin.
Note: Does not grant the Paramour achievement.

An ex-Cerberus member and former yeoman of the Normandy SR-2.


Possible romantic interests on installation of:

Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC
(Does not grant the Paramour Achievement)

Female Shepard

Male or Female Shepard

James ME3 Character Shot

James Vega

The Prothean Profile

Javik

Samara ME3 boxshot

Samara

A Lieutenant in the Alliance Military stationed on the Normandy SR-2.

The last surviving member of the Prothean race.

An asari justicar.
Note: Only if continued with an imported Mass Effect 2 character.


Thoughts and suggestions/tweaks? Pinchofhope69 (talk) 06:26, 30 May 2021 (UTC)


I actually prefer explicitly stating that a romance has to be "continued" from a previous game, rather than implying simply playing an imported game is enough - specificity is better there. Noting that Kaidan or Ashley have to be alive to romance them feels a bit on the obvious side. Bioware had enough controversy from the Fox News pundits without promoting some form of bodiless necrophilia. You'd then be obligated to note ME2 characters also had to have survived etc. Better to rely on common sense on that one.
That said, one thing you do draw attention to though is that the table being organized first by Shepard's gender lists Male romance interests first, Female romance interests second, implying that male Shepards or the romantic interests of male players are more important than female. That kind of thing does have sexist implications and is a point in favor of your organization scheme making Shepard's gender not the controlling organizer. As this may be a debate that's happened before and there are various arguments/pros/cons to this, other people should weigh in. If anything, I think "Female" should be listed first due to simple alphabetical ordering (F before M), or the Female/Male order should be alternated where possible for maximum fairness. Overall, I do like your organization the more I think about it. Ale89515 (talk) 13:48, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
Yeah I originally had Male or Female first but was trying to follow the format/order already established in the ME1/ME2 sections of the page.22:17, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
I guess it mostly looks plausible to me, at least in the baseline sense that I tried reading through it as if I was looking at the Romance page for the first time, and I didn't get confused. I do find the "available to all players" part a bit confusing, since that makes me think it wouldn't matter what my gender is, when that obviously does matter. So I might suggest eg "with no import or DLC prerequisites". Using some form of "continued" (eg from ME2) sounds like a good idea to me as well. I don't feel strongly about gender ordering one way or another as long as it's not confusing. Finally, it's a major (and occasionally controversial) article, so please give it a week or so for other people to weigh in. Cattlesquat (talk) 15:02, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
Yes changing the first heading just to read "Possible romantic interests" or with a parenthetical (no imported save required) to avoid confusion would be best at the top. Ale89515 (talk) 18:58, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
Good idea, I tweaked it.22:17, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

ME2 Romance Mechanics[]

I like this section, but it only has information for male Shepards for some reason. In my current p/t, my femshep plans to romance Garrus, so I'll start the female section with that, but I hope others can contribute so that we don't have to wait for me to do another two runs to document Jacob and Thane. DaBarkspawn (talk) 22:37, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

Hunh. I'm surprised nobody has ever done that before. Yes, a femshep section for Garrus, Jacob, and Thane seems entirely appropriate. Before adding the section we should probably accumulate the data here on the talk page as people make playthroughs, until we have all 3 characters covered (so that the article won't seem weird in the meantime). Once we have all three covered, we can add a section to the article mirroring the manshep part.Cattlesquat (talk) 23:19, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
I will try to fill this out as well. Also would like to note that the Miranda section for male Shepard is kind of misleadingly worded - if you "demur" or don't pick the "lock-in" confirmation dialog option during the "lock-in" conversation, the option for romance is PERMANENTLY TERMINATED for ALL characters, afaik (in effect, if you don't say YES in the convo, you are saying NO, with no backsies). You can't rekindle or change your mind after that. It's kind of bad design because you can say things like "I want to think about this" when in fact that means "NO" to romance as far as the game is concerned.Neo89515 (talk) 18:07, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
Also maybe we ought to also include "break-up" lines and choices, which is basically what you can do from the "zenith" romance conversation that always occurs once you've locked in with someone.

Femshep Romance triggers[]

NOTE: include the wording of the dialog TREE choices (aka not the spoken lines) for lock-in and refusal. Maybe put quotes around actual spoken lines to clarify. Let's also dispense with signatures for this one :) Neo89515 (talk) 18:25, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

Garrus

Flirt (might be worth noting you have to investigate to unlock romance dialog): Investigate --> Turian preparations --> Full-contact sparring? --> And how did it go? --> We could ease stress together.

Just want to talk.
Garrus: "Part of me still thinks we’re crazy for even considering... blowing off steam. But I want to try it with you. I want a few moments that are just for us, before we throw ourselves into hell for the good of the galaxy."

  • Lock-in: I feel the same way.
  • Refuse: I want to be your friend.
  • Breakup: I want to be your friend. (they really were Lazy with Garrus conversations in this game, his "Zenith" conversation where you can break up with him and the "lock-in" convo are basically exactly the same with the same options, total opposite of Jacob who has like 7 unique conversations with tons of options)

Thane

I want to talk about you.
Thane: "I confess I've come to care for you. Perhaps I'm being foolish. We are very different."

  • Lock-In: I care for you too.
  • Refuse: No. I can't replace your wife.
  • Breakup: I can't love a dying man. --> We're through.

Jacob - Jacob is a little more labyrinthine than most other romances so this may bear some verification.

Let's just talk. Personal.
Jacob: "I'm not looking to change what you need, Shepard. But there's not much point in doing this if I'm just not it."

  • Lock-In: I want to try.
  • Refuse: Just friends then.
  • Other refuse/Breakup: In short Jacob gets mad if you press him with bottom responses about his father, personal issues, or take hostile/bottom responses generally and is curt with you afterwards, you can apologize or not but there is no longer an option to "just talk" with him after; this also happens if you take "just friends" option and let him down gently, he's not angry you still can't gossip anymore. There are multiple ways to piss him off like this, but they're all tied to taking one too many bottom options.
  • Breakup: Too serious. Let's stop. (he also gets pissed like above) [or] I'm calling it off.

At least for the Garrus conversation, the refuse line appears even after lock-in, which makes me feel that it isn't really locked. DaBarkspawn (talk) 14:15, 20 June 2021 (UTC)
I have verified the romance scene will occur after taking it though, so it is a "lock-in". Neo89515 (talk) 14:19, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

If no one found any problems with the above is this ready to implement on the page? Neo89515 (talk) 16:56, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

Yes, the discussion/proposal has been up & responded to etc for long enough to be considered a"ripe" consensus. Go for it. Cattlesquat (talk) 18:52, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

Aria[]

Samara's romance (paragon only) is more subdued than Aria's "non-romance" (renegade only), so I wonder: is there room for an Aria mention anywhere on this page, and if not, why not? How many NPCs give Shepard a kisse? Further, Shepard's decisions control Aria's behavior. I suspect if this were part of a paragon route it would be given respect on this page, without a doubt. Hallexfreek (talk) 20:32, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

IMHO, the non-inclusion of Aria has less to do with Paragon versus Renegade and more to do with the fact that she's a temporary companion and her romance doesn't follow the same sort of path as the others do. Note that this is consistent with Liara being listed as a romance partner for ME1 and ME3, but not ME2 where she is also a temporary companion. DaBarkspawn (talk) 02:21, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
A mere romantic gesture does not equal an actual romance. Otherwise we would also have to include Gianna Parasini for kissing Shepard, or Shiala for making a pass at you. Also worth mentioning is that Shepard doesn't really do anything to reciprocate, even in the case of Aria, where it looks like she's kissing a store mannequin. Jus' sayin'. Neo89515 (talk) 16:29, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
I always assumed that rubric for being listed as a "romantic interest" involved Shepard being able to "pursue" the character in question, rather than whether or not they do-the-whumpa-whumpa or whatever. (But what do I know?) I don't have a strong opinion on the exact rubric -- if lotsa peeps all wants to include the people who pursue Shepard rather than vice versa then I wouldn't personally object. But this is usually one of our most-viewed pages so I'd expect "a pretty darn high" amount of consensus. Cattlesquat (talk) 22:25, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
Then we also include Joker, since Femshep can creepily hit on him in a bar. This again lends weight to "reciprocity" as an important factor in what counts as a true romance for purposes of this page, in my view. Neo89515 (talk) 22:46, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
In my view, in order for a character to be romanceable, it must also be not-romanceable. The romance mechanic is a way for the player to engage in an alternate track that involves dialogue or scenes which would otherwise not be available. Possible interpretations of characters' sentiments (especially ones that play out irrespective of player choice) is a separate topic. Elseweyr (talk) 18:04, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
I'm not totally sure what wouldn't count then, by this standard, since just about all of the examples of romantic interaction listed above can be avoided with the right player choices if desired. Even Shiala's can be avoided if you intentionally get a bad outcome for the colonists in ME2, or you simply kill her in ME1 (a harsh way to torpedo any potential advances by someone, but still). Neo89515 (talk) 18:51, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
Given the consensus of opinions here, what I think this means is not that we should add Aria, but rather that we should remove the ME1 Asari Consort section. DaBarkspawn (talk) 18:28, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
Not from my perspective, as it's a reciprocal sexual encounter, not a minor gesture like a single kiss.Neo89515 (talk) 18:51, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
Adding this as I just thought of it -- we should also consider that avoiding an unwanted romantic dalliance is something players might want to know in advance about or get guidance on, and since guidance and knowledge is the primary purpose of this Wiki, and the Consort sex scene is somewhat unexpected based on the dialogue choices that result in it, it's worth including here just to warn players that it can happen and what leads to it (because the game itself doesn't do a good job of that). As Cattle said, I also echo that I don't have extremely strong feelings on this, so if people feel like any and all romantic encounters of any kind should be listed here, even if they're minor, unreciprocated, or whatever, I don't seriously mind, but if we are going to try and "line draw" as to what counts and what doesn't, then I say again that "reciprocity" is the main factor to consider. Neo89515 (talk) 18:56, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
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