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Faerunner

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Blog Comments posted by Faerunner

  1. Very interesting and very enjoyable to read.

     

    While I was reading this, I kept thinking of how the folks at the Penny Arcade: Extra Credits web series often talk about how a game should not be valued solely on its writing, but how well the writing, themes, and characterization are integrated into the game mechanics. For example, how themes present themselves in combat, exploration, aesthetics, quest-completion, character arcs, and so on. While reading this blog, all I could think was how well you follow their advice. ^^

     

    BioWare games are often praised for their writing, especially in their most recent Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, but to be honest it seems like a lot of their games rely on writing so much that they end up inadvertently creating visual books or clickable movies as opposed to interact-able stories or... playable games. I find your approach so much interesting and engaging, and you are clearly thinking of this from the perspective of a game designer (and an RPG game at that) as opposed to an author or filmmaker. ^^

     

    With that said, there are some passages that concern me.

     

    - "The golden rule is the companion should be a support character or a walking/breathing slab of target practice... the companion should serve as a sounding board for the theme of the game." I hope this doesn't mean the characters have weak personalities. No offense, but I don't want to feel like characters spring into existence when my player meets them, exist solely to serve my character's every whim, and then cease to exist as soon as my character stops looking at them. While it's what they are (meta-wise), I don't want them to look or talk that way in-game. I want to feel like they're real people with their own pasts, histories, thoughts, opinions, hopes, dreams, goals, ambitions and futures just like anyone else.

     

    While I love the idea of their goals coinciding with the player (why else would they tag along?), and their histories, personalities and/or situations helping to highlight the overall theme (helps from a narrative perspective), I would rather they feel like well-rounded people who tag along because of mutual interest rather than mindless automatons waiting to serve my character's every whim. You've written some great characters in the past, so I trust you to do well with these guys too, but just the same hope you keep this in mind as you write them.

     

    - "The companion needs to ego-stroke the player in a variety of ways." I'm sure you get this a lot, but I hope this doesn't mean the companions all blindly agree with the player's every action. I agree that "any companion that simply sits around bitching, complaining, and haranguing the player" is no fun, but at the same time, please don't be afraid to let some companions disagree with or even chew out the player if it fits their character. Again, I'd rather they feel like people with their own thoughts and opinions instead of satellites revolving around my character.

     

    Otherwise, I have no real concerns. This sounds like it's going to be an amazing role-playing game, I love the role-playing game designing approach you're taking (again, I think it's really amazing that you seem to be approaching this as a game that players interact with, not just a movie that players keep going by pressing buttons), and I cannot wait to see how this evolves! ^_^

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