Unwinnable Main Questline?

[-Zin-]

Why not both? I want multiple endings ranging from cheesy happy to abyssic depressing.

I suppose that's fine, but honestly if happy endings are just a form of pandering to hypersensitive individuals, must we include them at all?

 

 

Troll opinion is troll opinion.

 

"I suppose that's fine, but honestly if happy endings are just a form of pandering to undersensitive individuals, must me include bad endings at all?"

 

Works both ways.

 

The coolest thing to do is having both. Not just one of the mentioned options. In a game about choice, there should be many outcomes, or there's not any point in inculding choices to begin with.

[drake heath]

At the end of anything, whether it be a movie, book, game, etc. you must feel as thought he protagonist accomplished something.

 

That they changed something, if at the end you find out that none of your choices mattered, most people wont take away a sense of accomplishment.

 

The way I see it is in a game, especially an RPG, you can have multiple endings. Some where you fail, if you were incompetent or just died, and some where you succeed.

 

I got over the whole "dark depressing ending is best ending" a long time ago, and when I play a game I want to take something away from it that makes me feel accomplished.

 

It doesn't have to be "all across the board everyone wins, big celebration and **** yeah America!" I'd like more a personal happy ending even if everything goes to ****. Take the Witcher 2 for instance, there's no clean cut everyone wins, but personally Geralt wins in just about every ending. Sure the HRE invades, and bad things may happen to people, and chaos. But Geralt gets some closure and goes away alive.

 

Also cliffhangers suck, they're bad story telling devices in anything that's not a TV show, and should be abolished in video games. You can have untied ends, but I want to see the consequences of my actions during the game.

[Tamerlane]

At the end of anything, whether it be a movie, book, game, etc. you must feel as thought he protagonist accomplished something.

How much did Willy Loman accomplish, anyway?

[Serguei]

possible failure makes success enjoyable.

[Dream]

possible failure makes success enjoyable.

 

Possible failure in a video game is dieing/not being able to finish (on a given difficulty). Failing despite reaching the end of the game is just aggravating.

[wanderon]

possible failure makes success enjoyable.

 

Possible failure in a video game is dieing/not being able to finish (on a given difficulty). Failing despite reaching the end of the game is just aggravating.

 

Seems to me a game that offers multiple endings could be (and should be) more complex than just succeeding or failing.

 

If the endings rely on the players choices made during the game then the ending should speak to the player in some manner whether he/she finds it aggravating or not -

 

To me an RPG should be about a lot more than just finding a way to the end - it should be about the choices you make along the way and the consequences of making them.

 

If every path just leads to the same place whats the point of having them - just constructing a bridge to the next product in the series? I hope not.

[Dream]

possible failure makes success enjoyable.

 

Possible failure in a video game is dieing/not being able to finish (on a given difficulty). Failing despite reaching the end of the game is just aggravating.

 

Seems to me a game that offers multiple endings could be (and should be) more complex than just succeeding or failing.

 

If the endings rely on the players choices made during the game then the ending should speak to the player in some manner whether he/she finds it aggravating or not -

 

To me an RPG should be about a lot more than just finding a way to the end - it should be about the choices you make along the way and the consequences of making them.

 

If every path just leads to the same place whats the point of having them - just constructing a bridge to the next product in the series? I hope not.

 

Choices should affect your story in the now; not shuffle you toward a specific ending. Torment did it well in that no matter what you did you pretty much got the same ending, but by exploring the game you learned more and could achieve that ending in various ways. There was never a point where you go to the end and the TNO just instagibbed you because you didn't make the right choices along the way and thus auto lost.

[wanderon]

possible failure makes success enjoyable.

 

Possible failure in a video game is dieing/not being able to finish (on a given difficulty). Failing despite reaching the end of the game is just aggravating.

 

Seems to me a game that offers multiple endings could be (and should be) more complex than just succeeding or failing.

 

If the endings rely on the players choices made during the game then the ending should speak to the player in some manner whether he/she finds it aggravating or not -

 

To me an RPG should be about a lot more than just finding a way to the end - it should be about the choices you make along the way and the consequences of making them.

 

If every path just leads to the same place whats the point of having them - just constructing a bridge to the next product in the series? I hope not.

 

Choices should affect your story in the now; not shuffle you toward a specific ending. Torment did it well in that no matter what you did you pretty much got the same ending, but by exploring the game you learned more and could achieve that ending in various ways. There was never a point where you go to the end and the TNO just instagibbed you because you didn't make the right choices along the way and thus auto lost.

 

Why does an RPG have to boil down to simply won or lost?

 

Why can't the actions you take during the game have enough impact & meaning to lead you to different endings much as they might in real situations?

 

Wouldn't that make the game better than just dovetailing anything you do during the game back to the main planned ending after all was said and done?

 

Isn't that exactly what people complained about in NWN2 - that you could pick sides between the thief guild and the guard once you got to town but it all brought you back to the same place and thus was meaningless in the end?

 

Without getting into spoilers isn't that exactly what happens in DA2 as well and isn't that one of the biggest disappointments of the game?

 

Maybe with independent funding and no publisher breathing down their neck Obsidian can take this game a step further than some of those disappointments of the past and make it truly memorable and almost impossible not to replay several times with different results.

[Dream]

Why does an RPG have to boil down to simply won or lost?

 

Why can't the actions you take during the game have enough impact & meaning to lead you to different endings much as they might in real situations?

 

Wouldn't that make the game better than just dovetailing anything you do during the game back to the main planned ending after all was said and done?

 

Isn't that exactly what people complained about in NWN2 - that you could pick sides between the thief guild and the guard once you got to town but it all brought you back to the same place and thus was meaningless in the end?

 

Without getting into spoilers isn't that exactly what happens in DA2 as well and isn't that one of the biggest disappointments of the game?

 

Maybe with independent funding and no publisher breathing down their neck Obsidian can take this game a step further than some of those disappointments of the past and make it truly memorable and almost impossible not to replay several times with different results.

 

Yea, you're right. **** those awful games with set endings like BG, IWD, and PST.

[Tamerlane]

Isn't that exactly what people complained about in NWN2 - that you could pick sides between the thief guild and the guard once you got to town but it all brought you back to the same place and thus was meaningless in the end?

Well there was also the bugginess, the inanity, and the sheer god damn length of it.

 

Those were pretty important.

[TMTVL]

Fallout/Arcanum type endings are interesting, I personally like kinda simple endings, just a "these are the consequences," though the V:tMB endings were cool too (love, Jack).

 

Apart from the Persona 3 ending, I haven't really seen many sad endings, though Persona 3's ending was basically the best way to die ever, so I love that ending.

 

I'd love to see what Obs is gonna cook up.

[Wench]

OMFG, no no no. I want the story to have some finality in itself. Sure the story should be open, but the MQ for this game should be resolved positively, even if the story arc that will run over multiple games is just beginning. I want to be left with a sense of awe at the end of the game and wanting to play more because of how good it is, not because the writer has decided to leave me hanging. As far as I am concerned any 'bad' ending should be at a result of my actions as a character. If I do the 'wrong' thing I can accept the consequences but I would still want some positive to take out of it, where I as the character actually manage to do what I've been working at the entire game, even if the consequences of such are pretty dire.

[AGX-17]

possible failure makes success enjoyable.

 

But the failure state is always a present threat, it's failure in combat and the resulting death/s of your character/s. This rigged poll demands that failure is the only possible result of the game's main storyline quest's completion.

Edited November 24, 2012 by AGX-17

[Maria Caliban]

At the end of anything, whether it be a movie, book, game, etc. you must feel as thought he protagonist accomplished something.

How much did Willy Loman accomplish, anyway?

He provided for his wife and children.

 

One of the themes of the play is that it's okay to be a regular person and just accomplish regular things. Only being satisfied with accomplishing great things, or wanting your son to do so, can lead to heartbreak.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Maria Caliban

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I don't like the idea of having a unhappy ending just for the sake of having an unhappy ending. Now I wouldn't mind multiple possible endings, with varying tones and outcomes, but I don't want every ending to be painted black just to be different from other games.

[TMTVL]

Take the Drakengard/NieR approach: The closer to 100% completion you need to get the ending, the more tragic the ending is.

[Augusta Corvina]

Take the Drakengard/NieR approach: The closer to 100% completion you need to get the ending, the more tragic the ending is.

Never before have I seen a greater argument against doing 100% completion runs in my life. The last thing I want(speaking for myself only) is to be punished for exploring the game to the point where I found everything. That just means I wasted my time and I hold this kind of crap right up there with ME3's ending and DA2's plot.

[TMTVL]

But that's the thing, innit? Do you want to be rewarded with an ending and for the devs to say "you did well, player," or do you want the experience of playing the game, even if it doesn't lead to the results you want?

 

Or do you want to have your cake and eat it because you're a spoiled brat?

[Augusta Corvina]

But that's the thing, innit? Do you want to be rewarded with an ending and for the devs to say "you did well, player," or do you want the experience of playing the game, even if it doesn't lead to the results you want?

Yes I want to be rewarded with a -GOOD- ending if I put that much effort into something and it counts towards how the ending plays out. Note that I said -GOOD- and not "Everyone lived happily forever everywhere ladida". If you want an example of what I'm speaking of then pick up a copy of Planescape Torment. Then play through it enough times to see all possible ways for how the ending plays out. Failing that you can probably find someone who's seen them all and remembers the details then get them to tell you what happens. Or just watch some LP's. Suffice to say the writing in that game is most likely the best I've seen in a videogame to date and is an example of how to make good endings that reward you for your efforts.

 

Basically I can sum it up as your actions through the game matters and plays a part in the end. That and the game doesn't have a depressing ending for the sake of having a depressing ending, which is what the OP seems to be asking for.

 

Or do you want to have your cake and eat it because you're a spoiled brat?

Going by the way you've phrased this then said cake would be mine so why would I not eat it? After all if I didn't intend to eat it then I would not have a cake to begin with.

[Juneau]

Just no, I have nothing against endings where something bad happens and tbf most games don't have a 'happy ending' so I'm not sure what your playing besides "Happy Pony Land 3" but I out right refuse to play games that are completely un-winnable and those games I have played with crap endings have been put to one side/taken back to the shop for refunds.

 

Also having a poll with no vote against what your going for is annoying and stupid and defeats the point of putting something to a vote.

[Dream]

But that's the thing, innit? Do you want to be rewarded with an ending and for the devs to say "you did well, player," or do you want the experience of playing the game, even if it doesn't lead to the results you want?

 

Or do you want to have your cake and eat it because you're a spoiled brat?

 

What? Just because a story ends on as depressing a note as possible doesn't make it some paragon of writing (as ME3 shows).

 

And I want to have my cake and eat it because I bought it.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Dream

[Boatmurder]

This is not new grounds to break, check Final Fantasy X.

 

 

And i think this poll could've been voiced more diplomatic.

[BasaltineBadger]

Depressing stories are vastly overrated.

[TrashMan]

What? Just because a story ends on as depressing a note as possible doesn't make it some paragon of writing (as ME3 shows).

 

ME3's ending wasn't depressing - it just was badly structured.

 

And I want to have my cake and eat it because I bought it.

 

No. You can't have it you greedy, greedy man you!

[Irx]

I want a good ending where good stands for quality, whether happy or not.

Asking for a sad or depressing ending is just a matter of personal fetishes and its not any better than a happy ending, in general.