Calax

No, but maybe at some point he's able to call in help on a midpoint mission from the alliance military to knock out a blockade or something, by sheer virtue of his reputation. Or, better, in ME2 he's accepted back into the Spectres and returned to "alive" status to the universe and has several interactions with higher ups in both the human and council power structures who try to use him for political gain. Or, you know, not have almost all [your] accomplishments be made moot in terms of how the game world was formed except for the extremely superficial (killing Saren). I know that a lot of people defended the council not giving credence to the Reaper issue because there was ultimately no evidence for it, but the reason people griped about it was because it took the main point and arc of the first game and made it so that it wasn't really known. It undercut the sense of accomplishment that you got for learning about this huge threat in darkspace and defeating their scout. Also undercutting that sense was the fact that the council basically said that even though we'd saved the galaxy, we weren't worth listening to or giving any form of benefit of the doubt to. I know that gaming in general is about overcoming the obstacles to save the world etc, but there comes a point where you'd think the gameworld would start actually trying to take your side. Instead of having to find un-impeachable truth about either somebodies corruption or in defense of your own name or whatever, have a scene where the big power you're being tried by actually takes your side (assuming this is late game). Instead of random Jim-bob the scoundrel who has rumors about his murdering tons of dudes calling you a murderer and everyone going "He must be telling the truth!" simply because he says it and is able to produce very shaky circumstantial evidence, have the judge turn around and take your side and simply throw out the case unless something more substantial pops up.

Here's the thing with ME, they keep saying you're this big hero, of great power and respected.... but a good third to half of the game is spent proving to various forces that it's bigger than they think (or that the conflict exists at all). Shepard, as a character, carries no weight within the game world. He's paid lip service but when it comes down to brass tacks he's just an ordinary guy who happens to have N7 slapped on his chest. In ME2 this becomes even more egregious in that Bioware had to make it so that just about every variable could be recounted, and thus almost all the decisions and events from the first game are basically negated. The conflict that was such a massive thing (the reapers) was swept entirely under the rug. Even after you saved the universe, you still ended up feeling like you didn't really get any credit for it.

Sort of. I suppose it'd be better to put it as "A game where you have no superior". Would this work in most RPGs? Eeehhhhhh... I don't know. I do find it interesting just how much of this is left un-explored in favor of you being a rags-to-riches sort of protagonist. And honestly, with how it's often handled (particularly in the land of sequels) it doesn't feel like the player character is significant (which is the point of this thread). Yes the world shattering consequences may center around your character, and indeed you may be the slaughter-god of the world, but most everyone you run into doesn't even try to take you seriously, at least until you've turned half their minions into a bloody pulp (assuming we're talking about an enemy). Even then they still say "Well, I'm more powerful than my minions! HIYAH!" In suikoden you felt like a major force because A) you were the center of the conflict of nations B) you were leading the rebellion and you were treated as such (with deference due to your military and political power, just like how previously they treated you like a royal) and C) The base mechanic they implemented had you hunting down NPCs to play blacksmiths and shop keepers etc, but instead of just being there to run a business, they're there to help equip your military force and charge you for upgrading your equipment etc so they can continue to get equipment for your army. In anything else, there is no secondary "Helping your fight" motivation to any of the shopkeepers or functionaries at your base. They only care about their one particular function/shop.

Except not. On reflection I think what it comes down to for me is this: The main character, his actions, his party, everything, IS the driving force behind the major conflict of the game. It's not "I am an agent of a higher power" or anything. THEY are the reason that the entire conflict exists in the first place, and thus the world has to recognize this fact. In ME you're the secret agent who is operating on your own against the powers of darkness, but you're still ultimately somebodies tool. And then most of what you did is promptly rendered minimal (at best) by the actions of those who you worked for. You always represent something greater and you always end up answering to somebody. The prince in Suikoden is the ultimate authority within his army. The game gets around the whole "well, crap, we have to keep them on a single line!" thing, by basically having the general still lead, but it's all understood to be in YOUR service rather than the other way around.

That's worse than my standard re-occuring nightmare where I'm back at Navy boot camp thinking I'm gonna be found out and arrested for being an RE4 who lied to enter the service, even though I never want to re-enter the service.

Of these I've only played the Witcher, but here's the thing: How do these significantly effect the gameplay? How would the game make you FEEL like you're a queen/goddess or whatever? I will give you Geralt however.

So you think your opinion is worth more because of your job? How conceited can one get? Please, tell us, how long have you worked in this field to gain this awesome knowledge that none of us plebeians can touch? Ten years? 20? I think you're a ****ing programmer with less than 5 years in the industry. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not interested in taking art advice from you. I value the opinion of a mechanic on cars more than someone who drives them. That sounds pretty reasonable. You would take the opinion of a mechanic over that of a race car driver? If I'm staring at a vehicle engine and wondering about reliability and usability? Yeah. If I'm trying to go really really fast in a circular path with 100 other cars? No.

Which is sort of the point. While he's not super powerful hero of the land who chews nails, craps lightning and burps stars, he's still somebody who has a significant presence within the land. Shepard in ME2 COULD have been the same if everything he/she ever did didn't end up being pushed into obscurity, and people not really giving the player much more than a patronizing look and a small discount for past achievements. The Prince in Suikoden is a member of the Royal Family and thus actually has to tend to affairs of state. It'd be like Shepard attending a "Shepard's day" festival and riding on a float with a massive statue of himself behind him waving. It also helps that part of the princes character (as being a prince) actually comes back to establish the main conflict (he's the displaced royal who's heading a rebellion to retake the throne for his sister). Admittedly this might be a part of Bio's infatuation with giving the players such a blank slate you could copy paste the character of a CAT onto their protagonist and still have it work. The fact remains that the player is important, not from simply having importance pushed upon them by circumstance, but by having it be a burden that they wear from birth. I know that Yahtzee made the point in his Conan review in that not everyone can be the chosen one or the special one, which is completely true of MMO's btw (and life if you wanna get down to it). But I think that it'd be fair for an RPG to have somebody be special, not by having mystical doohicky jammed through their chest or whatever, but simply by the fact that they born with that (which can be a curse and a gift). People get born with gifts and burdens all the time, I got born with serious levels of ADD and bipolar, both of which can be used positively in different ways if you know how to do it (I don't). And Slowtrain, you don't have to be super awesome. In Suikoden they made it obvious that for the first part of the game you were just a functionary replacement for the presence of your mother in diplomatic/political situations. You were absolutely PATHETIC in terms of strength, and thus one of your bodyguards (Georg) ended up just mopping the floors with everyone (I think you started literally at level 1, and Georg was trooping around at level 25ish). Later, after you'd fought three major battles and made at least 1 rescue attempt for your sister, you were on his level simply because you had to fight so much you were forced to learn how. Edit: I feel I should also point out that Suikoden also is a sort of gutter-to-greatness story. It's just instead of going from pennyless to powerhouse, you go from impotent politically and militarily to the dominant force in both arenas.

Well, Gutter to greatness can work, but when it's always gutter or "Yes-you're-famous-now-get-me-more-pig-gristle" to greatness (with everyone still treating you as little more than a peasant) it gets old. I suppose if you wanted to do gutter to greatness but still wanted to give that sense that the player is there (or at least on their way), you could set it up so they start in the gutter but by the time the world really opens up they are well known and recognized by the world.

Ok, bare with me on this because this may be long. In many RPG's you don't really play a very significant character. Sure you BECOME significant but you're always Jonny Bootstrap who just happened to find whatever it is that gives him power or makes him a threat to those in power. I have to question WHY. Is it because they don't want to have to justify why they don't just pop open a royal armory and give you the most powerful jibbles off the bat? That seems fairly easy to get around. I've only seen (or at least am only able to remember at the time of this writing) one game where the character was of obvious significance. Suikoden V, yes, it's a JRPG but it actually pulls off the significant character pretty well. Basically you're the prince of a Matriarchal Kingdom, meaning that politically you're only somebody to be wed, while your little sister will become monarch. One of the first things you do is actually go on a state visit (complete with bodyguards) to a site where your Mother put down a rebellion (by basically hitting them with the magical equivalent of a tactical nuclear strike). It sets up the significance of your player character, and the fact you're a known public figure, right off the bat and gives a fairly good reason you're not getting the best stuff. You're just barely 17, and you've got a burly bodyguard for most of the prologue (meaning the first 15 hours, I'm NOT kidding) who mops the floor with any threat. At the end of the prologue there's a Coup where you're smuggled out of the capital city by the royal guards and end up running to various towns until finally finding a merchant floatillia that takes you in and becomes the core of a troupe of rebels under your command. Things snowball and soon there's a full on civil war occurring. I have yet to see another RPG even TRY to do that (ok, Fable three, but I haven't played it yet so I don't know if they actually put any real force behind "You're a royal!"), instead you're always chosen by the gods, or the magic sword, or the special thingy that throws every bit of information into your head it can, or whatever. If you ever get into a situation where it's suggested that you might not be who you say you are, they ALWAYS assume you're not. Yes, ME2 did have a sort of "I recognize you" bit to it, but half of that was negated by "Well, records say you're dead! IMPOSTER!" and the other half was negated by Bioware slamming their finger down on the "reset" button so hard it broke, that everything that FELT like it should have a massive impact, was instead of negligible importance. Yes, in every RPG known to man the villain knows who/what you are and understands your significance and tries to shut you down, but does the layman or the "good" authority figures know/understand this? I mean, imagine if in NWN2, instead of getting your keep and then building it up for the battle without it being mentioned by anyone else, you built the keep but also had to deal with a civic duty or two. Maybe have to designate party members or other significant npc's to the roles required, like captain of the watch. And you also have to arbitrate a few disputes for alignment (if you HAVE to), and deal with nearby lords in order to keep roads safe etc. Make it feel like you're ACTUALLY the lord of the keep, not just some guy who happens to have a keep in his name. It is sort of silly when you think about it, "I am Count Draaga! I have smited the Demons of the Tower of Doom, defenestrated the Lords of Darkness at Zombie Keep, and am Master of Fortress Morgor! And now I shall find your pet bun-bun and take it to your grand daughter as a birthday gift (in my spiky armor drenched in blood with the head of my enemies on the shoulder spikes) so that she may give me a marble that will imprison the demon that is threatening this world!"

Dragon Age 1. I feel like I'm just bumbling my way through it given how badly i get owned in some spots.

Ubi CEO wants another gen of consoles and says that (basically) they're holding back ideas for their games for the new consoles. Not gonna lie, guy strikes me as a jerk. I'm sorry but there is a LOT you can still do fairly easily with the current-gen systems.

First day of work. Feet hurt. Signed up for classes next semesters. Realized that I may have to transfer schools for the particular history program that I desire (one focused more on asia/japan and has a japanese language program). That'll suck, but I'll just say screw it and pay the out of state tuition (most likely).

Why a claymore? Why not a machete?

Could you give source for this? Would love to see fort battles remodeled and some improvements to unit behavior but it does seem a little late. http://blogs.sega.com/totalwar/2010/10/22/modtools/ I initially got it from a thread on the Total War Center. Couldn't find that again.

Just a heads up, but Empire-Shogun they haven't had the mod tools they did for m2. Currently they can't actually change the map at ALL because of how the thing is designied. CA has hinted that hey'll finally release the EMPIRE Tools in the near future.

Deep thought: Enjoy the solitude because you never can get as much as you need.

Whoops, messed up my first post

I have a suspicion you'll have a harder time finding NFL players in overtly sexualized clothing than finding than women in bikini armour. Sexualized? eh, maybe not, but this seems pretty damn close So, we've got the butch, the stereotypical gay, the football player, and the snob.

Is that a euphemism? Has to be. We all know that Bok's system is of such intensity that it can only be kept at sub-meltdown temperatures with rapidly circulated unicorn blood. Really? I though that he also had to grind up fairies to throw in there too.

What's the matter Trebek, not a fan of the ladies are you? The endless parade of firm asses and perfect **** becomes boring after a while. Yes, because if you've got a god body you're automatically in Porn. Totally. I mean if we created an "Aesthetically pleasing Male character designs" thread would you be complaining about having the NFL being posted in there? Or just male porn stars?

?

Uh, they'd just do the same thing that they would have done in WW2.