Tale

I have no qualm with the concept of the chosen one. I do have a qualm with its constant overuse in order to speed up a story progression towards defeating a great evil. In order to get a character to go from a humble beginning to be able to accomplish epic feats within a single game he is given the title of chosen one and abilities as a consequence. I think too many games are quick to make the main character the center of epic conflict that will change the world! Too much overly dramatic importance placed on events in the game. Like everyone's competing to try to be as epic as Star Wars or LOTR without spending the time and effort to develop the story.

Crap! This! Or the first Battlefront. The second Battlefront removed the scattergun from the Darktrooper. I kicked posterior with that Darktrooper. My friends would panic when I was nearby. "KILL HIM! KILL HIM! OH CRAP, HE'S COMING!" "HOW'D HE GET BEHIND US!"

A

Celebrating the New Years? What's your poison?

Hotlink OWNED

As long as he's not a Halfling.

I was such an *** in Phantasy Star Online.

I'm pretty sure that's a misquote. The Ring, being a thing of pure evil that it is, would have not chosen Frodo unless it was sure it could use him. "There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought. " from the movie. I'll agree that Frodo was a chosen. Kinda... after the fact though thanks to story revisions. Regardless of story revisions relating to the prophecy or previously believed notions that anyone could become a Jedi, Luke was the only one capable of getting through to his father. Isn't that like the structure of an MMORPG? And still, a game with no included storyline would need to have something else that apeals to the person to get them to want to play. The game would probably heavily rely on the setting then, and that might be tough to do, getting a setting that would attract enough people to buy a game with no storyline. He's not saying anything about having no included storyline. Just that the storyline doesn't have to do what many other games like doing (note: I'm not saying all) and that is forcing an epic story in a short timespan.

Is there any point where I tried making the claim that one was more enjoyable than the other? I merely am saying they are different stories. Yes, Aragorn was chosen. The sword he carried in Return of the King was for him alone. The undead army that fought for him would have listened to no other man. His heritage played a lot into what he could do, who listened to him, and other things. Luke Skywalker was definitely a chosen, too. He was part of the prophecy that balanced the force through his father's redemption. Something that only he (or maybe his sister) could have accomplished. These are significant differences. However, the main significance of the difference comes in how the character develops and how the audience can view that development. BUT absolutely none of this can apply to games like Oblivion or Morrowind. They're centered around giving the player a world to do anything they want in. This discussion applies to character development (beyond stats).

Fate played a large part, simply because he was a hobbit. Besides, what you just described is not what you were in Oblivion either. Though it was a bit of a mistake on my part, because I typically associate "Chosen One" with being "PC is big and bad and ultimately stops great cataclysm." Is a game about saving a kingdom really, deep down, significantly different and more enjoyable if you are just "some guy" that saves it, or someone "chosen" to save it. Yes, there is a significant difference between the stories of Parn (Record of Lodoss War), Frodo (Lord of the Rings), and Drizzt (Icewind Dale Trilogy) and the stories of Aragorn (Lord of the Rings), Luke Skywalker (Star Wars), Dune, Cloud (Final Fantasy VII), Terra (Final Fantasy VI), both KOTORs, Baldur's Gate series, Raziel (Soul Reaver), and Kain (Legacy of Kain). There are stories where the protagonist is, for the most part, a regular guy. Perhaps due to a chance encounter or by the finding of the courage within himself he pursues an adventure. It is usually a tale of the capability and courage of man. It tells of regular joe schmoes achieving great deeds. And there are stories where the protagonist is "the chosen one." There is no chance in what occurs to him. But, he still often has to find the courage within himself to pursue the adventure. These tales are singular in their application, what goes on is not relateable to the greater world or the average person. It is something that could have only happened to these heroes because of their special status. They can both be good and fantastic stories.

That used too happen, kinda. NPCs used to solve quests and close Oblivion gates on their own. It had to be fixed, because it was preventing the player from doing some things. I've heard that before and it's kind of awesome. Granted not all that helpful from a gameplay perspective, but still awesome.

So what exactly do you do then? Do you make the PC completely uninvolved in the actual conflict? Because either you're solving it, or you're doing what you can to help. Do people not like, for instance Aragorn, even though his contribution to solving the problem is essentially just trying to help buy Frodo the time he needs? You can be involved in a conflict, you can help stop the conflict, without being the shardbearer/son of a god/the returning king/reincarnation of a man made god. Frodo wasn't "the chosen one." Fate didn't decide his place, he did. Is this the thread where we talk about this? I didn't want to go into it without being prompted, but I agree on the detriment point. Especially as a stealth character.

I didn't mind that too much. It made my character feel like a sidekick, though. People do often complain about being the chosen one. The idea people are thinking of as an alternative is not to be the chosen one's lackey. They're thinking to do away with the chosen one concept altogether.

I really enjoyed the campaign. It ended too early.

There's a sequel. Though it plays more like an expansion (sans visible cοckpits).

A, just to be different

X2 and X3 are action space sims (or something like that, lots of trading, good amount of shooting), they're not RTS games.

Aww, but I visit this site for the drug ads.

Google is tough.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13

Well, you can't play single player games with large groups of friends. HEY! Maybe that's the draw of the MMO!

Me neither. Thankfully he can't find you if you hide in the rocks behind the tree.

:popcorn: But seriously, that's just asinine. Since you don't like the way he presented his opinion, you're now insulting his position.

I can name a couple.

Are they still so delightfully insane? I've played Bloodlines twice and both times as Malkavian, I can't play any other race. Talking to stop signs (No you!), talking to the TV, making people go insane and hallucinate or just start laughing. For further proof of how much Malks rock, look at Dark Raven's avatar.