User blog comment:Layola/Effect of relationship points in stories/@comment-3452092-20180614145939

Well, it's impossible to get no +Romance in RoE, at least for the main character (I tried, but there are some choices where all options lead to +Romance on the same character with all three love interests), so no way to test that, but I would guess even if there was a way it wouldn't matter. It does matter with Nicole's love interests (granted Paola barely counts, but he does count for a short while), because you can choose to keep her single. You can also choose to keep Jess single ultimately, but it's a single action and has no relevance to any romance points she gains and she does sleep with both male love interests no matter what you do.

Likewise, #LH allows you choose if you are dating someone (I think you might be able to choose no one), but it is three single actions and not related to romance points.

And ultimately TRR will not allow you to be single and you can choose any of the love interests as your fixed love interest near the end of book 2 without having had any +romance with them (My first playthrough is the only one that got that far, but I had all four love interests as options even though I'd only had +Romance with two of them . . . changed love interests when the one I really wanted became an option).

Just for the record, it barely matters in TF/S/J. It only kind of matters in HSS (it does determine who asks you out, but you can reject them and pick someone else and not get rejected). Not sure what happens if you have no romance points at all. Not sure it ultimately matters in TC&TF as I think you can make a single action choice at the end of the series. I'm not convinced MW has romance despite a handful of +Romance choices. So far it doesn't matter in RCDs, but maybe it will in book 2.

Honestly, I'm not sure it really matters in anything other than ES and maybe IL, though I'm not even sure there. Nerve definitely matters there, but I'd have to double check, but I think you can make a single action choice on who to ask to the dance.