The Chosen One

[Jiraboas]

I think its much more fun to explane rationally why you are better than the other people.

 

Look at TNO in PS:T. he isnt a hero, but he is tousand of years old and because of this everything like magic and so on, he learn easier than the other people. Sure it isnt realitic to play a tousand years old kick-in-the-ass-overlord, but it is more logical than this prophetic "you are the choosen one the prophets talked of!" crap. I cant stand this anymore!

 

There have to be more stories out ther, than only to be the overpowered one-man-army how could save us all!

 

Even in fallout2, mabye you ARE the choosen one, but this is only a primitive nonsense from this clan people(dont know the word in english). In the "civilisation" of vault city noone gives a **** about the choosen one crap...

 

kind regards,

 

Jira

Edited September 24, 2012 by Jiraboas

[KenThomas]

I hate this choosen one bull****. It is so overused!

 

Every ****ing game used this schem, i hope so much they dont use it in project eternity...

 

Better a nameless one than a choosen one :D

 

 

kind regards,

 

Jira

 

That's hilarious, because The Nameless One is one of the most powerful if not *the* most powerful player character in the history of any RPG.

 

Like I was saying before. You think that you want a story about some completely mundane dude or girl, but you actually don't.

[KenThomas]

I think its much more fun to explane rationally why you are better than the other people.

 

Look at TNO in PS:T. he isnt a hero, but he is tousand of years old and because of this everything like magic and so on, he learn easier than the other people. Sure it isnt realitic to play a tousand years old kick-in-the-ass-overlord, but it is more logical than this prophetic "you are the choosen one the prophets talked of!" crap. I cant stand this anymore!

 

There have to be more stories out ther, than only to be the overpowered one-man-army how could save us all!

 

Even in fallout2, mabye you ARE the choosen one, but this is only a primitive nonsense from this clan people(dont know the word in english). In the "civilisation" of vault city noone gives a **** about the choosen one crap...

 

kind regards,

 

Jira

 

Oh I see, you're not talking about the main character being exceptional, you're talking about the idea of "prophecy" in games. Yes, prophecy is a lame and boring way to explain how the PC came about to be much stronger than other people in the world. That said, I believe what we're discussing is the idea of whether or not the main character is special at all or if he's just some schmuck. I maintain that in that case, nobody who seems to think they want the schmuck would actually find it fun if implemented in the game.

[Fooine]

The only way I see to realistically implement being the schmuck would be to have an option to cap levels at 1. Maaaaaybe 2.

 

Yeah, I know I wouldn't find it very fun.

[Jiraboas]

That's hilarious, because The Nameless One is one of the most powerful if not *the* most powerful player character in the history of any RPG.

 

Like I was saying before. You think that you want a story about some completely mundane dude or girl, but you actually don't.

 

No, you misunderstand what i mean.

 

I dont care if you are the most powerful character in the whole game history, but it have to be logical.

 

In many games you be a peasant in a small village and one day you take a sword in your hand and you become better than everone in no time. This dont make any sense.

 

In PS: T you are a immortal tousand years old guy, because your are actually tousand of years old. It is logical that you are the most powerful character in the world. But why every peasant like in Dungeon Siege or Dragons Dogma become the most powerful hero in no time only because a prophet said you are the choosen one?

 

I hope you see my point...

 

 

EDIT: In some games its will be interessting to be a normal person, but in general i want to be a special person, thats why i be the hero of the game, but it have to make sense to me. Thats all...

 

EDIT2: Changed my vote according to this...

 

kind regards,

 

Jira

Edited September 24, 2012 by Jiraboas

[Ieo]

I'd prefer to skip the mystical prophetic hoohah, but I do prefer my character to be exceptional in the sense of "able to deal with situations that would be beyond the abilities of actual people in real life". Is it absurd that you can defeat entire armies (or sneak by them, or convince their commander to take up knitting instead, WHATEVER)? Yes. Is this more fun than having you get your butt handed to you by each and every schmuck you encounter? Also yes.

 

But I prefer instead of "you're the ONLY ONE who can save us!" you get "well, you might be able to do the job, and you're HERE."

 

Practical. I think MMOs in general have to be designed around that concept due to the nature of the medium, to boot.

 

Although it might be funny to have a side-quest chain where some crazy prophet person insists that you are the Chosen One and tries to send you off to do things.

 

If that involves being sent to a different city and fetching an old bottle of wine and a pair of beaten boots from a house infested with giant poisonous spiders, that would be great. But I get to punch the crazy prophet in the end.

[KenThomas]

He's just a regular guyyyyy... hes in the right place at the right time.... over and over again..... how is he so luckkkyyy... but hes such a regular guyyyy..... he's kinda dumb and smells kinda bad and gets constipated and has a bad back and gets rejected by women and yet and yet and yet there he is in the right place at the right time again... why does he always show up at the right time... he must be involved in these bad events somehow... lets kick his ass....

 

and this is the character, judging by multiple threads on this forum, and the poll in this topic, that most people want to play.

 

Seriously, people don't know what they want. They think they know, but they don't.

[Tale]

He's just a regular guyyyyy... hes in the right place at the right time.... over and over again..... how is he so luckkkyyy... but hes such a regular guyyyy..... he's kinda dumb and smells kinda bad and gets constipated and has a bad back and gets rejected by women and yet and yet and yet there he is in the right place at the right time again... why does he always show up at the right time... he must be involved in these bad events somehow... lets kick his ass....

 

and this is the character, judging by multiple threads on this forum, and the poll in this topic, that most people want to play.

 

Seriously, people don't know what they want. They think they know, but they don't.

I think the poll just has some granularity unexplored. A person doesn't seem some magical boost of godly selection or lineage to be not a regular joe. He could just be the try-hardiest joe on the planet. As much an everyman as John McClane. The guy with guts.

[Lucas]

I think that the progression of the hero through the story narrated in the game is more important than the premise of the choices presented by the poll.

 

Does the game make a good job in showing how the main character progressed from the initial stage of the game to his/her status at the end of the game(and story narrated by the game, be it standalone or the first chapter of the series) ? Or everything feels forced and tacky, and you can see how the character is going to develop his/her personality right from the beginning?

Edited September 24, 2012 by Lucas

[True_Spike]

Chosen one or not, the PC must be special in one way or another, because no ordinary person is capable of feats a typical PC pulls off during the course of a normal RPG. Play Harvest Moon if you want your character to feel mundane and completely normal.

 

How is the PC labeled depends entirely on the plot and I could not care less if he's the chosen one or anything else for that matter. I just want to feel the connection, I want to feel immersed and I want it to make sense within the setting established in the game. It may be a cliche, but it hardly changes anything for me.

Edited September 24, 2012 by True_Spike

[KenThomas]

He's just a regular guyyyyy... hes in the right place at the right time.... over and over again..... how is he so luckkkyyy... but hes such a regular guyyyy..... he's kinda dumb and smells kinda bad and gets constipated and has a bad back and gets rejected by women and yet and yet and yet there he is in the right place at the right time again... why does he always show up at the right time... he must be involved in these bad events somehow... lets kick his ass....

 

and this is the character, judging by multiple threads on this forum, and the poll in this topic, that most people want to play.

 

Seriously, people don't know what they want. They think they know, but they don't.

I think the poll just has some granularity unexplored. A person doesn't seem some magical boost of godly selection or lineage to be not a regular joe. He could just be the try-hardiest joe on the planet. As much an everyman as John McClane. The guy with guts.

 

Even if that was the case, he WOULD gain a huge amount of fame simply by his actions alone. That's Commander Shepard for you in a nutshell and yet I GUARANTEE you most of the people would go "oh god not commander shepard, he is SO a chosen one, he's always being bugged by NPC's about how great he is and conveniently being put into situations". There are many people on this planet who experience that exact thing every day. All of our celebrities are in that position. All that you have to do is something to get yourself noticed and make yourself stand out and suddenly people will be the ones approaching you with propositions. I hear what you're saying but my position remains unchanged. Judging by what people have said, they have this image in their head that won't actually work. If you do great things, you'll be treated as a great person, regardless of what your history is or your base stats. There's no such thing as a regular joe hero. The moment he becomes a hero he ceases to be a regular joe and becomes known as something special.

Edited September 24, 2012 by KenThomas

[dlux]

Well, I don't really think that any of the options have anything to do with a story being good and exciting, or bad and boring - the writing makes a story good or bad. A "just some normal dude"-setting doesn't mean that a story will be good. It is the writing that matters - and nothing else.

 

I have to say that playing a character with a mysterious background (that not even he himself knows about) makes the game more interesting for me. I liked how this was done in BG series, that was story telling at it's best.

You can also totally **** it up like in Skyrim for example. The story about the "Chosen One" in Skyrim was really bad. It is no wonder that nobody wants to see stuff like this in a game anymore. We are constantly fed with "Chosen One" games where the writing is absolutely terrible.

 

I'm not keen on "Chosen One" plots, because it seems to me an overused narrative hook rather than being inherently bad. At least disguise it a bit.

True, like in Star Wars. Luke starts off as just "some dude with golden hair" and eventually becomes the Chosen One... Luke was actually the Chosen One the whole time, he and the viewer just didn't know this until the last movie. :D

Edited September 24, 2012 by dlux

[TrashMan]

HAS to be the chosen one, i need my character to be the most (potentially) powerful being in the games setting/universe , a reflection of how leveled (grinding), how powerful his stats are and most importantly how well equipped my character is.

Having said he needs to be the 'chosen one' I dont mind if its straight of the bat you know you're character is special/the last hope for the future, or if its revealed later on as the story progresses.

 

Can't tell is this is sarcasm or not.

 

 

That's the problem with interent.

 

In case this is sarcasm - good going .

 

In case it is not - I hate you and everything you stand for.

 

If there is anything I hate it's people who insist everything must serve the sole purpose of stroking their ego.

[TrashMan]

Postscript: Here's an interesting idea. One basic requirement of The Chosen One trope is that that person is the only one capable or destined to solve some ginormous problem threatening The Blah

 

But didn't that whoel problem revolve specificly around the Namless One? IIRC, wasn't he the only one beign able to solve it?

 

 

Being a Chosen One isn't only about some diving being or prophecy. It's about being the only one who can do it.

[Tale]

Well, if you're not the only one who can do it, how do you create tension around the fact that the player is the only one doing it? Or is the idea that they should assume it's going to get done either way and the PC is just in a race for first place?

[Nteger]

I'd like to play a game where my character's best friend is the "Chosen One" who turns evil and I have to stop him. Sort of a Cloud-Sephiroth deal.

[Wintersong]

Looking back at Obsidian games there's a very interesting pattern.

 

The protagonist is practicly always special.

 

 

KOTOR 2 - you have a special apower

PST - you're the Nameles One

NWN - you miracolously survived with the shard. Your'e special and everyone is interested in you.

etc..

 

 

And with the Explanation of power from the soul and reincarnation (which I'm not a big fan off....and is it me or does it resembe the Nameless One with the memory from past lives bit?) I'm beginning to suspect you're going to be an exceptionsal soul or some prophecized champion or something.

Any protagonist, no matter how humble in skills, would be special by the fact of being the protagonist. And he may start humble but inevitably will grow in power enough to survive and complete whatever must be acomplished.

 

Speculating without basis, I'd say that our character for PE seems destined to be special with some kind of "special power".

Maybe he had a regular broken soul or maybe a strong one. But the event that seems to trigger the whole game... Well, let's say that it wouldn't surprise me if some factions were trying to end our character's life using a huge bomb. After the event, maybe we can get/eat/drink/steal other characters' souls and/or alter other people's souls and/or destroy other people's souls...

 

Or maybe we get a surprise and we are just witnesses of some kind of powerful event that reveals something about all the soul cycle and the gods. Knowledge is power and some may be ready to do what they must to adquire it or to destroy it.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Wintersong

[TrashMan]

Well, if you're not the only one who can do it, how do you create tension around the fact that the player is the only one doing it? Or is the idea that they should assume it's going to get done either way and the PC is just in a race for first place?

 

 

Because you're in the right place and the right time?

Because you have luck and skill and suceed?

 

 

Most of the heros aren't the only one who can slay a specific beast or solve a specific problem. they are the one who do it.

 

Can someoen else do it? Probably?

Would they have done it? Maybe?

 

 

note that there is difference between you beign the only one who cna solve a problem because of other constraints (like time. the bomb will blow, there's no time to get someone else.... Or, that asasin will strike now, you have ot move NOW. Or maybe there simply ins't anyone else capable enough in the vicinty).

 

BUT when you are the ONLY one who can do it AT ALL (like only YOU have this super-special power that can hurt the bad guy), then it's the Marty Sue/ Chosen One syndrome.

[limaxophobiacq]

Postscript: Here's an interesting idea. One basic requirement of The Chosen One trope is that that person is the only one capable or destined to solve some ginormous problem threatening The Blah

 

But didn't that whoel problem revolve specificly around the Namless One? IIRC, wasn't he the only one beign able to solve it?

 

 

Being a Chosen One isn't only about some diving being or prophecy. It's about being the only one who can do it.

 

TNO was the only one who could solve it mostly because it was really just his problem (beside the poor bastards who died in his stead), the world would have been a bit worse with the transcendent one in it and new shadows being created but it's not like the planes wouldn't keep on turning. I don't really think you could call him a 'chosen one' given that the only one he really saves is himself (and Curst but that's mostly incidental).

[Sylvius the Mad]

He's just a regular guyyyyy... hes in the right place at the right time.... over and over again..... how is he so luckkkyyy... but hes such a regular guyyyy..... he's kinda dumb and smells kinda bad and gets constipated and has a bad back and gets rejected by women and yet and yet and yet there he is in the right place at the right time again... why does he always show up at the right time... he must be involved in these bad events somehow... lets kick his ass....

 

and this is the character, judging by multiple threads on this forum, and the poll in this topic, that most people want to play.

 

Seriously, people don't know what they want. They think they know, but they don't.

I think the poll just has some granularity unexplored. A person doesn't seem some magical boost of godly selection or lineage to be not a regular joe. He could just be the try-hardiest joe on the planet. As much an everyman as John McClane. The guy with guts.

 

Even if that was the case, he WOULD gain a huge amount of fame simply by his actions alone. That's Commander Shepard for you in a nutshell and yet I GUARANTEE you most of the people would go "oh god not commander shepard, he is SO a chosen one, he's always being bugged by NPC's about how great he is and conveniently being put into situations".

The only aspect of Shepard that makes him the Chosen One is that he's the first human Spectre, and that's handed to the player right at the start of the game. If, however, Shepard became the first human Spectra by virtue of something the player actually did, then I'd say there would be no reason at all to describe Shepard as the Chosen One.

 

I don't like the Chosen One mechanic. I like my character to be unexceptional in the aggregate (so he doesn't follow any rules differently from other random NPCs), except insofar as how he behaves. Because that's my input. He's chosen only by virtue of me playing him - everything else about him is typical. So he might have uncommon ambition or uncommon perseverance or any other character trait I assign him, but in terms of his natural opportunities he is basically average.

If you do great things, you'll be treated as a great person, regardless of what your history is or your base stats.

But anyone could have done those things. That I did is what makes me special. At the start of the game, none of that should yet have occurred.

 

It doesn't matter whether someone is perceived as special. it matters whether he is.

[Merin]

I always find it more compelling when it's a character who builds themselves up and finds the courage and strength of will to succeed.

 

"Destined" characters are, in retrospect, boring. By definition, they WILL succeed. It is "destiny."

 

I'd rather my character rises above his station, proves his worth by effort not by birthright or bloodline or prophecy.

[GuybrushWilco]

I don't think that they character has to have some kind special chosen destiny to justify their ability to save the world (If the game's story even involves saving the world). Is the protagonist save the world because he or she is special? Or is the protagonist special because he or she saves the world? . You could start the game as just a normal person, but somehow through the events of the game, just become powerful enough to be able to stop whatever major threat exists, but I don't think it needs to be some kind of foredestined thing.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Well, if you're not the only one who can do it, how do you create tension around the fact that the player is the only one doing it? Or is the idea that they should assume it's going to get done either way and the PC is just in a race for first place?

Just because anyone can do it doesn't mean that anyone will. If the PC doesn't do it, perhaps it will go undone.

 

I'm not asking for the PC not to be exceptional. I'm asking for any exceptionalness the PC has not to be built into him by the designers.

[Tale]

Well, if you're not the only one who can do it, how do you create tension around the fact that the player is the only one doing it? Or is the idea that they should assume it's going to get done either way and the PC is just in a race for first place?

Just because anyone can do it doesn't mean that anyone will. If the PC doesn't do it, perhaps it will go undone.

 

I'm not asking for the PC not to be exceptional. I'm asking for any exceptionalness the PC has not to be built into him by the designers.

That I understand. It was TrashMan's claims that seemed to imply any amount of exceptionality is "Marty Stu" and terrible. But he seems to have adjusted, or re-presented it, as an inherent nature/circumstance distinction. And while that has it's problems, I don't see that discussion going anywhere.

[Elerond]

The only aspect of Shepard that makes him the Chosen One is that he's the first human Spectre, and that's handed to the player right at the start of the game. If, however, Shepard became the first human Spectra by virtue of something the player actually did, then I'd say there would be no reason at all to describe Shepard as the Chosen One.

 

 

Mass Effect's campaing starting cinema Anderson and Udina decide that Shepard is best candinate to be first human spectre and that is the reason why Shepard goes to Eden Prime in first place. But Shepard's promotion to spectre is put on hold because of the events on Eden Prime. And then Shepard must so that s/he is right about Saren's involvement on Eden Prime, when as apology Citadel council make Shepard a first human spectre and task him/her to hunt Saren down.

 

So in my eyes Shepard fullfits choosen one characters requirements.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Elerond