I was going to post something much more interesting....
But then I started playing a computer game, Dragon's Age: Origins.
Now, I generally hate myself for looking at walkthroughs, but I was curious about a comment someone made about the "romance options" between party members, so I looked it up on the wiki.
There's a rather disturbing set of AI parameters for monogamy built into the game.
Emphasis mine.
Quoted from http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Romance :
Love Triangles
It is easy to initiate romances with more than one companion. Nevertheless, none of the companions that are open to romance like sharing with other companions. The game contains romance triangle dialogs that will eventually force a break-up with the companion the character does not choose. These romance triangle jealousy dialogs will be triggered under the following conditions:
* For Leliana only: if her romance flag is set to active and her approval is "Care" (51 or higher) she will start an argument if you click on her after either a romance with Alistair approval has reached "Adore" (71 or higher) or the Warden has slept with either Morrigan or Zevran (their exact approval ratings don't matter in this case). It is possible to finesse your way through this conversation without breaking up with any characters. You can generally either lie and try to use your persuade skill to convince Leliana that you didn't sleep with Morrigan or Zevran, you can be evasive, or you can simply tell her what you have with the other companion is just a fling (Morrigan & Zevran) or harmless flirting (Alistair). As long as you don't tell her you have something special with the other character, don't tell her she misunderstood her relationship with you, don't tell her to mind her own business, and don't say something emotionally brutal, most of the other options keep all your relationships alive. Lying has the most short-term benefit as it will result in a small approval increase, but that benefit is temporary. The game keeps track of that lie and you will later face a far steeper approval decrease when she finds out. Telling her it's a fling will result in an immediate approval decrease, and the deductions can stack quickly if you make too many blunt statements. Being evasive, and then diplomatically indirect regarding the truth without lying avoids nearly all of the approval penalties without setting you up for a big deduction later down the road for lying to her. This conversation is something of a minefield loaded with approval penalties, but it's possible to get through it with just a very small approval penalty if you decide not to lie, but still wish to keep both romances alive.
*******
Hey, Programmer Dude, WTF? I do not want your monogamous insecurities to be a part of my Killing Stuff.
Now, I generally hate myself for looking at walkthroughs, but I was curious about a comment someone made about the "romance options" between party members, so I looked it up on the wiki.
There's a rather disturbing set of AI parameters for monogamy built into the game.
Emphasis mine.
Quoted from http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Romance :
Love Triangles
It is easy to initiate romances with more than one companion. Nevertheless, none of the companions that are open to romance like sharing with other companions. The game contains romance triangle dialogs that will eventually force a break-up with the companion the character does not choose. These romance triangle jealousy dialogs will be triggered under the following conditions:
* For Leliana only: if her romance flag is set to active and her approval is "Care" (51 or higher) she will start an argument if you click on her after either a romance with Alistair approval has reached "Adore" (71 or higher) or the Warden has slept with either Morrigan or Zevran (their exact approval ratings don't matter in this case). It is possible to finesse your way through this conversation without breaking up with any characters. You can generally either lie and try to use your persuade skill to convince Leliana that you didn't sleep with Morrigan or Zevran, you can be evasive, or you can simply tell her what you have with the other companion is just a fling (Morrigan & Zevran) or harmless flirting (Alistair). As long as you don't tell her you have something special with the other character, don't tell her she misunderstood her relationship with you, don't tell her to mind her own business, and don't say something emotionally brutal, most of the other options keep all your relationships alive. Lying has the most short-term benefit as it will result in a small approval increase, but that benefit is temporary. The game keeps track of that lie and you will later face a far steeper approval decrease when she finds out. Telling her it's a fling will result in an immediate approval decrease, and the deductions can stack quickly if you make too many blunt statements. Being evasive, and then diplomatically indirect regarding the truth without lying avoids nearly all of the approval penalties without setting you up for a big deduction later down the road for lying to her. This conversation is something of a minefield loaded with approval penalties, but it's possible to get through it with just a very small approval penalty if you decide not to lie, but still wish to keep both romances alive.
*******
Hey, Programmer Dude, WTF? I do not want your monogamous insecurities to be a part of my Killing Stuff.