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Lathaon

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Everything posted by Lathaon

  1. I suppose I'll chime in with my opinion on this. People keep bringing up the genre, so let's start with that. An RPG is a game in which the focus of the game is the player(s) pretending to be one or more characters and acting spontaneously to some extent rather than entirely following a set path or script. As such, there must be choices to make. When I want to play an RPG, it is for the depth of the characters, the story, the setting and the choices. Nothing to do with combat, stats or loot. If that was all I wanted, I'd play something like Diablo 3 or Path of Exile or <insert MMORPG here>, where that stuff is the focus of the game and the actual RPG elements are secondary. In any game which includes mutually exclusive choice with consequences, there is going to be content which you don't see. Choices you don't make. It is when you play through a game to the end, do all the sidequests, and still feel like you have only scratched the surface, that you've got a really rich RPG. For me, someone saying that there should be no romance is exactly like someone saying that there should be no "evil" paths or that there should only be one playable race. It lessens the freedom you have to choose who your character is and how they think and behave. If the majority decided to play through the game as benevolent humans, never taking any "evil" options or trying out other races, would that make it a waste of time for the developers to include the other options? Of course not. The existence of other options is what makes the options you do choose actually mean something, and if the choices are meaningless then the developers might as well quit making a game and make a book or a movie instead. When I make a choice in an RPG, I want the set of options to be believable - in that it neither excludes any obvious responses, nor includes any unbelievable responses. To give some examples, when I talk to Gorion in the prologue of BG, I don't want to see a "We're not going anywhere. I'm going to kill you now" option because that makes no sense in the context. When I talk to Imoen, who has been established as pretty much a little sister to the main character, I don't want to see romance options because last I checked, Forgotten Realms =/= Game of Thrones. However, options to walk into a tavern and flirt with a stranger? Cool, that builds character. Options to tease the halflings about their height, or share some of your own stories with the bard, or pray with the cleric? Yes please. Options to express feelings for those travelling companions you're on really good terms with, who are often all too happy to sit by the campfire and tell you all about their past, their reasons for adventuring, their hopes and dreams, what they think of your leadership or other companions, etc. Yes please. Even if it never develops into anything, these options build character and help the player feel like they're playing a person rather than just CharName the Generic... and sometimes the lack of them can feel unrealistic. In my opinion, BG is a good game, but install the BG1NPC mod and it becomes a great game. Anyone here played the Banner Saga? Now that's how to do choices right. I'd say I'm for romance, if/when it makes sense as a possibility and isn't just tacked on. I don't think it needs to dominate interactions with companions, even those who are "romanceable". I also think short romantic encounters with other NPCs can be cool too. Example: Delainy/Durlyle from BG:TotSC.
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