Would you then not find it hard not to give said individual special privileges?
In Mass Effect 1, I found I was treating Ashley quite differently than the rest of the characters. She would always be with me when I went out on missions & I made more attempts to talk to her. [spoiler]When given the choice, I allowed her to live and the other to die. [/spoiler]I even went as far as starting Mass Effect 2 over when I realized that Ashley was still alive. But then that's me. I'm very monogamous. When I play, I view the characters as an extension of myself. And I found her back story quite interesting. I WANTED to learn more.
Do people take those marriages seriously?
I mean do people start taking these marriages as part of their real lives and start to dismiss other parts of their real lives?
I wouldn't say that I began to dismiss the other parts of my life (but I did spend a large portion of each evening playing the game).
...but for normal humans?
HAHA!
Another game [series] you may want to check out (for reference purposes) is FABLE 2. You could woo almost any character. It even had some interesting statistics (# of STD's contracted, # of people slept with, etc.). There were even funny 'cut scenes' where the woman (I was a man) would say, "OH! Is that it?!" or , "That's how I like it - short and sweet".
Personally, I am a fan of relationships in games. I like to know [and to get know] the people I travel with. Just like in my real life. I like to know the people I work with. I talk with them, laugh with them, empathize with them, etc. But that could just be me.
I'm definitely interested in looking at other games that have made some attempt at having romanceable NPCs. Though, I think because of the very basicness of Skyrim's system it makes a good test for those few elements it does provide that might make the player prefer one NPC over another (voice, appearance, maybe social role in their town. I know that I am actively repelled by a character being a beggar or a drunk, for example.)
