Running into a strange problem. The game I''m working on is the remake of The ARC Legacy (an old QB game I made). In the old game there was a pretty badly written love story between two of the main characters: Rydar and Kalrin. Basically they were already in love at the start of the game so it wasn''t very interesting. In the remake I''m re-writing it so they just meet near the beginning of the game, but I''m finding that they really don''t have much in common and I''m questioning whether a love story subplot is really necessary for the game. Furthermore, I''m beginning to think that she is a much better match with Bokk, the main character. (Rydar was the main character in the original, but looking back at the original''s story, Bokk is the only one with any interesting character development at all so I''m focusing more on him this time around) Now, I''m wondering if I should a) Scrap the love story altogether. It''s a bleak, post-apocalyptic world, with no time for silly fairy-tale romances. b) Try to get Kalrin and Rydar together. It''ll keep the game true to the original. c) Try to get Kalrin and Bokk together. They''re on opposite sides of the Pruthe/Zydnia war at the beginning so it''s Romeo and Juliet style! d) Have both guys fall in love with her and get some jealousy-fueled conflict within the party. Not sure who, if anyone, ends up with her. Mark Hall Abstract Productions

If Bokk''s the new main character _and_ he seems like a better match for her, I''d go with him. In a bleak setting the silly love story probably serves important purposes like:
- making the bleakness seam more bleak by contrast and more dangerous because it threatens the fragile little thread of happiness
- showing that individual human dreams still occurr despite the surroundings (because if they didn''t, the heart and soul of the race would be dead and there''d be nothing left to tell a story about).
- if you have a happy ending, showing that there''s a possibility of regeneration for the world

Go with "jealousy filled conflict". Love will always be an issue no matter what time period it is, and jealousy spices things up instead of just having a boring "fairy tale" love story.