Trivial: Can we not have every starting character at age 21?

[Hormalakh]

If age is incorporated into this game, can we have some sort of random 20-40% of lifespan roll for the age? I hate it that everytime I play a game, my character is a young adult at age 20 (if human) that is starting out his adventures with little or no wisdom. Then if my character's portrait looks like the dude is 60, I just have to ignore the fact that the number says 20. And obviously, by the time the game is over at most 5-6 years have passed. So now he's 25-26. But he still looks like he's 30-40 or even 60.

 

Please I beg you, stop it with the young adventurers. Some of us are older adventurers.

 

Or don't implement age.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Hormalakh

[mcmanusaur]

Or implement age but simply let it be chosen freely, optionally with certain bonuses and penalties (like racials) to relevant ability scores such as wisdom and constitution respectively, or perhaps instead with older characters being a kind of higher difficult since they learn and acquire experience slower.

Edited November 2, 2012 by mcmanusaur

[Hormalakh]

Or implement age but simply let it be chosen freely, optionally with certain bonuses and penalties to relevant ability scores such as wisdom and constitution, respectively.

 

I don't care much for age as a stat, but if it's going to be in the game, just do it right.

[Hellfell]

Yup. I also hated how in DAO every freaking origin implies that you are basically a "child". I hated human noble father for his "pup"...

[Monte Carlo]

I want to start the game aged forty.

 

I've just left my wife, who has kicked me out of my crenellated condo. She also got both my horses and the magic boots I took of that Mind-Flayer in .92. Bitch.

 

Anyhoo, I've just bought a new racing chariot, yeah I know younger adventurers like them but after I got that druid to cast a spell on my greying temples I just feel.... invigorated. That elf chick at the tavern has noticed too.

 

So, here I am, aged 40, which is the new 20, right? Right?

 

Can't wait to get into that dungeon. OK, that old arrow-wound to my knee plays up now and then, and I like to get home in time for eight hours sleep, but there's still plenty of life left in this old dog!

[Corvus Metus]

I think part of the reason games do it is... Well, in most cRPGs you start out as a 1st "level" character (different for games with no actual levels - but the concept is the same), and either way... You're inexperienced. Age, to a certain degree reflects experience. Why does the 60 year old PC know crap about anything?

[mcmanusaur]

Yes. I'm all for some geriatric questing. And on the other side of the road we have...

 

"Pacifier of Superior Feather Fall? Goo-goo ga-ga"

-Sir Poops-in-his-Pants, patron of infantile adventurers

Edited November 2, 2012 by mcmanusaur

[Thangorodrim]

Age in most of these games is window dressing at best ... it would be interesting for a game to have different age characters that actually affect game play (different sets of skills and reactions from NPCs) ... too much programming work to pull off though ... since most RPGs are a year or so of game time at most the age wouldn't really make too much difference unless there are some special quests where the "endurance" of the youngsters outweighs the "experience" of their elders

[Hormalakh]

I think part of the reason games do it is... Well, in most cRPGs you start out as a 1st "level" character (different for games with no actual levels - but the concept is the same), and either way... You're inexperienced. Age, to a certain degree reflects experience. Why does the 60 year old PC know crap about anything?

 

Well some of us start trying out new things a little later in life. Maybe he had something strange happen to him at age 30 or 40 and his life changed. Now he's got to go out and adventure.

 

Mages supposedly study their whole lifes reading tomes just to learn a few spells. Why is it that it takes the elves 150 years to learn Magic Missle at level 1, but my young whippersnapper age 20 human learns it in oh about 2 months.

[Hormalakh]

Age in most of these games is window dressing at best ... it would be interesting for a game to have different age characters that actually affect game play (different sets of skills and reactions from NPCs) ... too much programming work to pull off though ... since most RPGs are a year or so of game time at most the age wouldn't really make too much difference unless there are some special quests where the "endurance" of the youngsters outweighs the "experience" of their elders

 

If its difficult, don't put it in. That's all I'm asking. Don't force my character to be a certain age, I can write that into his biography myself.

[LadyCrimson]

I like being able to pretend I'm 21 again, instead of pretending that when I turn 50, it'll be the new 25.

 

But yeah, more seriously, I don't like it when RPG's are too age specific in terms of your own character. If the game has specific, laid out story reason for the pc to be young (or old), that's fine, but in a game where you're creating your character, I'd prefer a storyline that isn't locked into being one age. "You witnessed an event in your home village and have ventured forth to find answers" doesn't have to specify what age you are.

[Sacred_Path]

Don't implement age, or do it properly (modified attributes and all). On second thought, no, don't implement age at all.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Sacred_Path

[Hormalakh]

I like being able to pretend I'm 21 again, instead of pretending that when I turn 50, it'll be the new 25.

 

But yeah, more seriously, I don't like it when RPG's are too age specific in terms of your own character. If the game has specific, laid out story reason for the pc to be young (or old), that's fine, but in a game where you're creating your character, I'd prefer a storyline that isn't locked into being one age. "You witnessed an event in your home village and have ventured forth to find answers" doesn't have to specify what age you are.

 

Huh that's weird. I always thought that women never age over 21. So I'm not really sure how it's physiologically possible for you to ever become age 50.

[LadyCrimson]

Huh that's weird. I always thought that women never age over 21. So I'm not really sure how it's physiologically possible for you to ever become age 50.

Nah, we get older than 21. The limit is actually 30. As in, "I turned 30 today! ... again!"

[nikolokolus]

One of my favorite PnP characters was a grizzled half-orc barbarian that pulled a Logan's Run with the orc tribe that was planning to sacrifice him to Gruumsh, right before he slipped into his dotage on his thirtieth birthday.

 

He spent a lot of time seeking pants that fit properly, complained incessantly about how stupid and lazy his young companions were and how he'd gotten " too old for this #@%$"

Edited November 2, 2012 by nikolokolus

[Malkin]

You could always handle it like the Might and Magic series. As you got older your wisdom stat went up and you strength went down.

 

So choose to be old and have a higher base wisdom and lower base strength.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Malkin

[Thangorodrim]

You could always handle it like the Might and Magic series. As you got older your wisdom stat went up and you strength went down.

 

So choose to be old and have a higher base wisdom and base strength.

 

As long as they have a girdle of Storm Giant Strength I am all for this one

[Monte Carlo]

Well some of us start trying out new things a little later in life.

 

This is why at weekends I wear fabulous shoes and insist on being called 'Margot.'

[Attero]

Custom age is unneeded complication for them and in general ppl want to be young ;] .

You can probably pick portrait that will fit your age needs and that should suffice.

[Pipyui]

I don't care for the idea of stats varying with age, but NPC interactions based on age wouild be neat. Just select "young" or "adult", maybe even "elderly" if Obsidian has the time for all this, during character creation. Then people can call you "Sport," "Hey you there," or "Old man," accordingly.

[Umberlin]

Age is an interesting thing to talk about in context of RPGs.

 

If your character, in your mind, is 60, asking why he looks 20 isn't an unjustified question. Asking why a 60 year old character is level one with absolutely no skillset is also a good question. Age in RPGs suffers from issues like that. I think Final Fantasy: Tactics is one of the few games I've ever come across that your character (and characters you interacted with) aged up as the years went by. Still, that was a strategy RPG, and you weren't really creating that character, so it was pre-determined. They could get away with things a true RPG, with full customization, can't without adding in further systems. An RPG would, quite literally, have to allow you to create your character at different ages to escape that, "He's sixty now but he still looks twenty" issue.

 

Custom age presents problems that, most developers, have found avoidable by . . . simply not allowing for it, or not mentioning related subjects. It's interesting to talk about and think about, but I can't help but feel I agree with developers that just side-step the issue. Addressing it head on goes into the two camps (and I say two camps because the following are the typical results) of: "Extra work for the developer with little return for the player" or "It's in but to a lesser extent, in such a way that players are unhappy with it, and complain about things like their character's actual age and visual age not matching up."

 

So, yeah, maybe just avoiding the issue entirely by glossing over it, or not making it an issue at all by simply not allowing it are best . . . but that's Obsidian's call. Whatever they think they can handle is fine by me.

[Hormalakh]

Custom age is unneeded complication for them and in general ppl want to be young ;] .

You can probably pick portrait that will fit your age needs and that should suffice.

 

don't railroad my character by forcing an age on him. That's just dumb. Would you like it if you were forced to play a human only character? Why would they force an age? Not everyone wants to be young. I'd rather be old. The young ones are loud and obnoxious. I hate those kinds of people. *hrmpph* darn young whippersnappers.

[Hormalakh]

So, yeah, maybe just avoiding the issue entirely by glossing over it, or not making it an issue at all by simply not allowing it are best . . . but that's Obsidian's call. Whatever they think they can handle is fine by me.

 

Completely fine by me. Ageism is the new discrimination anyway. If they don't force an age, players can play any age they want and create any number of reasons why that player is starting his journey this late in life.

[Attero]

Custom age is unneeded complication for them and in general ppl want to be young ;] .

You can probably pick portrait that will fit your age needs and that should suffice.

 

don't railroad my character by forcing an age on him. That's just dumb. Would you like it if you were forced to play a human only character? Why would they force an age? Not everyone wants to be young. I'd rather be old. The young ones are loud and obnoxious. I hate those kinds of people. *hrmpph* darn young whippersnappers.

I wouldnt mind being human only, actually in PT you couldnt set gender let alone race did that prevent the game from being great?

Maybe we wont even know how old we are? maybe we will own special soul that when reincarnates keeps memory of previous lives? maybe we wont age ? maybe maybe... lets not expect unreasonable things. Unless age will have meaning for the story it probably wont be mentioned.

[Hormalakh]

I wouldnt mind being human only, actually in PT you couldnt set gender let alone race did that prevent the game from being great?

Maybe we wont even know how old we are? maybe we will own special soul that when reincarnates keeps memory of previous lives? maybe we wont age ? maybe maybe... lets not expect unreasonable things. Unless age will have meaning for the story it probably wont be mentioned.

 

I think that PE's character creation is going to be closer to Baldur's Gate than Planescape. If they don't allow us to customize our character for story-reasons, I don't have a problem with that. If we are given a named character where we can only adjust stats, that's fine. But I don't want to be able to choose his/her gender, race, culture, stats, gear, and everything in between, but then not be able to choose an age, just because....Obsidian said so.