anomen

SisterZeus · Post by **SisterZeus** » Wed May 30, 2001 7:07 pm

Hello sisters of the dark flame harem!!

Where were you when Anomen first made his feelings known to me?? I was so shocked, I had never considered him as a romantic interest, and true he was a tad bit annoying.... but soon I found myself hanging on his every word, unable to get him off my mind. Truely, I felt the need for a support group!! I also was a bit surprised at how quickly he desired to lay with me, but perhaps not all clerical holier than thou types are prudes!!

So everything was progressing beautifully in our romance, then the dialog seemed to dry up... and I found myself missing it, and then annoyed with him (and the developers) for suddenly having nothing to say. Figures!! I thought, typical male, bags the babe then ignores her.

So I heard the romance continued in Chapter 6. I didn't want to read about it and spoil anything, so I just played it on through to killing Bodhi, from what little I read she was supose to kidnap him, but it didn't happen, and come to find out why (now after I've saved it beyond entering the graveyard district for the first time) My "AnomenRomanceActive" was set to 3.

And my "LoveTalk" rating was 37. Near as I can figure, him getting turned to stone at some point caused my romance rating to be set to 3.

{sniff}

To bad I didn't realize it sooner.

Georgi, you have definitly peaked my interest with playing a CN Anomen, the dialoge sounds much more interesting. I've read that if CN Anomen and Keldorn are together when we get to Brinlaw Anomen goes insane and attacks Keldorn who won't defend himself.... I wonder if Keldorn is not there if he would not go insane, or if it is unavoidable.

OT - I was also wondering if Yoshimo was left behind on the trip to spellhold if he would not get killed and possibly beable to rejoin the party at a later date, I was very bummed to loose Yoshimo. I also thought he was cute, and had an entertaining sense of humor, and wished that he might be a love interest as well.... though it turns out he had a geas on him.... so I guess I see why there wasn't one.

Well, its great to meet all of my sisters, we are all after all children of the same god, demi-goddesses ourselves.

Sincerely,

Laijah Greenleaf
Ranger Protector of Umar Hills

scully1 · Post by **scully1** » Wed May 30, 2001 7:24 pm

Hey, go on over to SYM, we have our very own thread over there (20-something pages, over 900 posts!!) The adventure is well-advanced, but I'm sure we could write you in; the more the merrier, I say

(Though ehh...you may not be pleased; Anomen misbehaved, we dumped him, and are now the Order of the Dark Flame over there...funny how things go with plot twists and whatnot...though your anger at his "bag/ignore" behavior may come in handy

. Stop by at any rate; it's an entertaining read...)

And just so this isn't considered spam

:

If you don't take Yoshimo to Spellhold, he will automatically die whenever you return to the place you left him. I walked into the Copper Coronet after Spellhold and he just dropped dead.

Welcome to the Order

[ 05-30-2001: Message edited by: loner72 ]

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Wed May 30, 2001 7:41 pm

Welcome to the Harem

... now kind of defunct due to our adventures on the SYM board! (See [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=9&t=000611"]here[/url]...) We have been around, there just hasn't been much to discuss so we keep falling off page 1...

I have to say, I wouldn't want to play the whole game with CN Anomen, simply because he doesn't get the kick-ass cleric spells that he does if he passes his Test. And the reason there is very little detail on chapter 6... because I used the console to cheat my way through both romance paths and find out what happened... I'm not quite dedicated enough to play through the whole game with him though! I believe the insane thing is purely his reaction to Keldorn (like the fact he kills Aerie if she is in your party).

The dialogue dries up anyway, after you finish the Saerk quest, so you didn't miss too much. I think we all would have liked to see a bit more dialogue in the later parts of the game.

Re. Yoshimo, there have been other posts on the board about getting him to stay in your party. If you leave him behind, he will instantly die the next time you see him. Apparently if you can speak to him before he dies, you can get him to rejoin your party - he will still die, but you will then be able to resurrect him. I was kind of upset about him, he seemed such a nice chap

Oh, for lots of discussion about alternate male romances that we would have liked to see, check out the [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=004344"]Alternate Romance thread[/url] - Yoshimo isn't there for obvious reasons, but there are suggestions for Valygar, Edwin, and Kivan, mostly.

Glad to hear we've been of some help

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Wed May 30, 2001 9:02 pm

Just read this on womengamers.com and thought it might amuse...

At times I was fairly convinced that they had named him Anomen as an abbreviation for "Annoying Man."

scully1 · Post by **scully1** » Wed May 30, 2001 9:05 pm

LMAO!!

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 5:33 pm

While I haven't had the opportunity to read all of the posts in this thread, those that I did read were interesting. One of the things I found most interesting about BGII was the relationships, so I grabbed the romance patch and I'm currently doing three at the same time (my PC is female mage/thief). As many people have noted, I did find Anomen annoying but not any more so than many of the guys I hung around with in the Army. Clearly, the developers of the BGII have done their homework, because this is exactly how a man with family of origin issues acts, especially when these issues involve the father. Anomen's arrogance, narcissism, and bravado are intimately linked to a damaged self-image brought on by emotional abuse. Unfortunately, Anomen's voice script is the most irritating in the game, so if you are not involved in a romance with him, that is all you get. I find it interesting that people have posted that they hate this character, when for the most part what they seem to be hating is his voice dialog. To see what I am talking about, change the "sounds" for your PC and see how differently you will react them

. I spent five hours customizing the voice script for my PC for this very reason. I really became aware of this recently when I did a multiplayer game with a good friend (he found all the dialog and such annoying -- can you imagine that!?) He also chose the most neanderthal voice script for his PC, and I kept think of his PC as a total oaf until I realize I was just reacting to his sound of his "voice".

In my experience, the romance with Anomen is most similar to the Jaheira romance (I'm still doing these) than the one with Aerie (I finished that one). Again, many people complain about Aerie's whining, but I never felt that way about her. From a psychological perspective, both Aerie and Jaheira are dealing with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The fact that Aerie has issues is entirely consistent with being kidnapped, brutalized, and losing two of her limbs. I wouldn't call the need to process that kind of material whining. The only thing I found inconsistent was that she was still grappling with suicidal ideation (i.e. the dialogues about what is there to live for if she didn't have her wings). The healthy caretaker relationship she developed with Qualye and her religious conversion to his god would indicate that she had already resolved the question of "what to live for" and had moved past this. In my experience, this type of question would have been more appropriate for Jaheira, who had just lost a spouse in an extremely violent way and who was experiencing an more acute form of PTSD. I also feel that the Aerie romance was badly underdeveloped for such a complex character. That the bulk of the romance was geared around resolving her inner conflicts and then ends is unfortunate. It would have been nice if, later on, she would have been allowed to consummate a healthy union with the PC -- the fact that this didn't happen made her seem more immature than her background suggests. An individual who was able to bounce back from the kind of savagery she experienced, with the level of curiosity, determination, and strength that she displays is certainly not a little girl.

To finish up on the idea about the similarities between the Anomen and Jaheira romances, I feel that they are more complex and are therefore more satisfying. Having to do quests for these characters adds a level of intensity and intimacy that was not present in the Aerie romance and gives these relationships a more "lived in" feeling. I was a bit put off, however, that the only male love interest was stereotyped as initially being rather shallow and manipulative (i.e. trying to impress with tall tales, focus on sexual conquest, etc.), whereas the female love interests are straightforward, open, and honest. Please. Of course, I don't know if that is true of Viconia. Over all, though, I think they did a good job with the romances and look forward to more in ToB.

[ 06-02-2001: Message edited by: thantor3 ]

jennabard · Post by **jennabard** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 8:52 pm

@thanto3- i agree with you in many aspect, but i think that anomen trying to impress the pc with boasts is very acurate in how the majority of men act when introduced to a woman that they are interested in.

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 9:05 pm

@Thantor3 - At least Anomen's personality to start with is explained through his background, it's not like saying all men are shallow and focused on sex... And I don't think Anomen is that focused on sex either... he doesn't even start getting romantic until after his Test.

And his voice is swoonworthy in the romance dialogue bits, if only it was the same in normal situations

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 9:31 pm

Good points on both accounts. I guess there is a reason that such behavior is called stereotypical. Sigh. I was curious if you had done any other romances and what your opinion of them might be, compared to the one with Anomen. BTW, your rolicking adventures on SYM are hilarious... and amazing

.

jennabard · Post by **jennabard** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 9:45 pm

i've been working on the jahiera romance. i started to dislike her with a female pc. but thats because she and i have a same basic personality. with my half-elven cleric/ranger, i find her a strong yet vulerable person, like me

. my opinion afterwards has changed and you'll find me one of her strongest supporters.

@thanos3- your always welcome to the join!

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 10:32 pm

@Thantor3, glad you've been keeping up with us!

I have started a game with male PC, but haven't got very far through yet. From what I have heard though, I would say you're right that Jaheira and Anomen romances are much more complex than the other two.

scully1 · Post by **scully1** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 1:07 pm

thantor3 -- Wow, excellent points you brought up about the romances.

We are in a new adventure on SYM, in the Dark Flames thread. Do stop in and as Jennabard said, you're welcome to contribute as well

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 11:27 pm

Thanks for the invite. I'll stop by with a spot of Tia Maria and see what is happening over there

. Tell me, though, how do all of you come up with your ideas for the story? It's very tightly done and it feels a bit daunting to try and jump in.

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 9:54 am

Well, we have become more organised since we started!

We discuss some of it through private messages, so it doesn't get too diverse... but most of it is written on the fly I think. If you want to be written in, let us know what character you want, and we'll introduce you, if you don't want to jump in yourself

scully1 · Post by **scully1** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 11:51 am

Yes; for example, we wrote in Senior Wizard Manveru, since he wasn't able to post often. The new story is starting off on a rather serious note...but if I know us, that won't last forever

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 3:32 pm

@Loner I am doing my best to add a little humour

scully1 · Post by **scully1** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 6:32 pm

O yes, the bit about the strenuous activity, that was very humorous

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 5:26 pm

Ok, well I decided to just jump in because I thought it would be an interesting plot twist and because it was more fun that way

. My email address is whyterose3@aol.com if you want to email me, which would be useful since I had a couple of questions anyway. It was a blast creating a character, especially one who is somewhat mysterious. I hope he will be a good addition to your story.

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 6:31 pm

That's cool

Should add some interest

Why don't you turn on your private messaging? It's quicker than e-mail if several people are posting at once...

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 9:17 pm

Ok. How does that work exactly? The private messaging thing I mean.