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You design the characters personality, decide what their intent is when you make choices, and end the story when you want. The story of the game is more than just the dialogue choices the PC makes, it also includes travelling, combat, haggling, etc. The problem I have with Gaider's view on narrative is that I don't believe "a reason to care"(which I took as motive) should be supplied by the writer or even assumed at all by the writer. I believe that in a good RPG, who the character is(motivations, emotions, temperament) should come from the player. From his comments in the video that those quotes come from, he doesn't seem to believe that allowing the player to decide who the PC "is" and what they intend with their actions is a valid way to play games. I much prefer Avellone's view, which I take as creating a foundation(mechanics, dialog choices, etc.) and letting the player go from there. TL;DR: The narrative should come from the player deciding who the PC is and implementing that character in the game, not the designer allowing certain narratives. I agree entirely. The only way to ensure the player has a reason to care is to let the player create the PC themselves(with no contradictions to whatever design they may have come up with by the writers) and decide what that characters story is. You may nope be able to tell an EPIC saga or a deeply personal story, but that task is better suited towards film or literature than RPGs. I think that this is the main problem of KOTOR. You aren't offered a choice on the critical matter on whether your character decides to train as a Jedi or not. It gets forced on you. RPGs shouldn't be like that.

I believe that is because TNO was created by the player. All of his motivations, emotions, outlooks came from the player. That is how a RPG should be IMO, give the player control over who their character is don't tell them. I disagree with you on both counts and I think that just shows how good of a job Obsidian did with those games. The issues are not black and white and don't have a universally good choice. They are divisive and require the player to think about them deeply, instead of picking between an obvious good or evil.

It's me again! I liked Highcliff and dealing with the lizard folk quite a bit. I hate Elanae's guts, because not only is she an Elf she is also pretty damn creepy to boot. Neverwinter is a bit boring and cliche, and while the City Guard and Thieves Guild choice could have been explored better IMO having more than two factions would have been a better way to go. What PE could take from NWN2 OC: 1. Have a more interesting early game. Nothing kills my desire to replay something more than the thought of having to slog through some pretty uninteresting situations. NWN2 OC(while not as bad as some like to complain) is pretty bland and not very fun to rub through. 2. If it is possible to have a PC join a faction, have the choice relatively early and do not make it a mandatory choice. 3. NPCs need to be diverse and well-built. Nothing is worse than not having access to a (insert role here) till later in the game. NWN2 would have been greatly improved by having access to a mage earlier. Also try to build the companions a bit better, Khelgar and Neeshka were actually done well, but Elanae's stats made me shake my head. I would suggest starting companions at a low level and letting the player level them as they choose. I agree with PrimeJunta that the influence mechanics need an overhaul. The problem I have with romances in games(and I don't even hate them) is that due to a binary influence system if you do not choose to have the PC romance(or be friends with them for that matter) a character, you lose out on a good bit of content and often useful special abilities. I would cut out the special abilities of the relationship and try to implement a relationship system that allows multiple types of relationships with an NPC, and have each relationship have a similar amount of exclusive content and flavor a similar amount of existing content. YMMV, but I think that having NPCs have different types of relationships with different NPCs should be a prime goal of a RPG that encourages players to create their own characters.

Which one would that be? In PST, you can decide what the story of TNO is. In KOTOR 2, you can decide what the story of The Exile is. In NWN2, you can decide what the story of the Spirit-Eater is. In FONV, you can decide what the Couriers story is. The way I see it, all of the games he has worked on that are hailed as "RPG Gold" do that.

Nonsense, a lot of talentless women still depend on child support payments to make a living. Why do you want to force them to work? Because NKKKK is an evil misogynist who serves the High Council of the Patriarchy. I don't serve the high council. I am in the High Council.

I think that Avellone's quote is golden advice when designing a RPG. Letting the player decide what the story of their character is should be the direction taken, not showing them a kewl EPIC story that they have no control over.

You could always buy more copies and gift them.

Nonsense, a lot of talentless women still depend on child support payments to make a living. Why do you want to force them to work? Because NKKKK is an evil misogynist who serves the High Council of the Patriarchy.

That is actually uncannily accurate.

When you finish a round of bashing, do you "romance" the sock puppet? Oh yes. Yesssssss. Well then, carpet burn must be a real bitch.

Hmmm, I'm at an impasse. Should I replay BGT or try my luck with Sacred 2, after I wrap up my NWN2 OC/MotB play through.

When you finish a round of bashing, do you "romance" the sock puppet?

Yeah, it took me forever to find a Canadian one that was worthy of this thread and was clearly Canada. Perhaps we should go into the business of producing flag bikinis?

I'm beginning to suspect that Monte Carlo is actually David Gaider.

Perhaps Josh is the one who leaked them? If so, beheading oneself seems to be a bit difficult.

Despite the moral fabric of America having been destroyed, my life doesn't seem that different.

I think BruceVC is plotting something sinister, nobody is that positive and friendly.

It will be an ally, because instead of showcasing broodmother love, it will instead focus on porn star paper cutouts.

I'll preorder it if I can romance a Broodmother.

North America in a nutshell.

I dunno GD, putting the moves on an ex is tricky business. In my experience, if they seem too willingly to have more "intimate" time or are down with more exotic stuff, something is up. The more relevant question is " what if you find you aren't attracted to her anymore" Use the backdoor and GTFO?

Now I'm glad I avoided Political Science....

While I agree in most cases, rolling up the legs to the ankle or one inch above the ankle is acceptable in my book. What, so you look like Huckleberry Finn? Not that high, you goon.

On XP: Would all of you be fine with awarding XP for dealing with random encounters, but have it tied to overcoming them so no matter how you dealt with them you would still get rewarded with XP?

In order to foster a sense of exploration, you can't have an encounter around every corner. I think you still need to leave a good chunk of an outdoor map free of threat in order to cultivate a sense of drama. Otherwise it just degenerates into an action game. True, but I don't think that "more-content rich than BG" needs to be taken so far where you have encounters around every corner.