So, here's hoping for a Minsc like Character!

[cyberarmy]

Not very Minsc like but at least she (he?) is a rager Altough we dont really know this is an important NPC or just a general barbarian drawing.

 

Edited December 5, 2012 by cyberarmy

[Rasputin]

Minsc was hilarious though, and is an iconic character. Ill agree with those that have stated that Obsidion will and should be doing whole new characters for this game and Im not sure any tribute to any character is warrented. This is a whole new world, new IP... let it stay that way.

[Hormalakh]

This is just basically insulting Chris Avellone and saying that he doesn't have enough creative talent to do one better than Minsc. That's shameful...

 

I'm kind of tired of the "idiot with hamster" trope anyway...Minsc made this cliche.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Hormalakh

[Agelastos]

And why is he badly designed?

Class: Ranger - exactly where?! He even don't have the minimum stats of the class. He even claim to be a berserker so either he should be Fighter/Berserker or Barbarian.

He has useless item (Boo) taking one of his quick item slots.

He always talking about big swords when he can have other weapons equipped.

Numerous times he breaks quest because someone thought it would be a good idea.

He is annoying.

He claims to led his life devoted to a vow and code but he is...chaotic.

And so on.

 

He's supposed to be a Rashemi berserker, but since there was no Barbarian or Berserker class in BG1 they made him a Ranger instead (closest class available) and gave him a negative Wisdom score so that he couldn't cast any spells. They added the Barbarian class, the Berserker specialization, and the Rage ability in BG2. Instead of changing his class and risking to piss off the fans they decided to keep him a Ranger and just give him the Rage ability instead. The reason he uses a greatsword and has a Chaotic alignment is to make it more obvious that he is indeed a Rashemi berserker and not just some Ranger.

All Rashemi berserkers are sworn to serve and obey the hathrans (Rashemi witches), despite the fact that most of them are Chaotic and NONE of them are Lawful.

 

It's all part of FR lore.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Agelastos

[rjshae]

Poor Boo...

 

[Wulfic]

I would rather have a normal character,boring,average looking,with no ambitions,and he likes to drink. I have enough that my team conists of odd indivduals who have an AMAZING past that u wouldnt even dream off ! Minsc was cool but do we really want a character who talks to vermin and acts all kinda of herp derp ? HODOR ?! No thanks. I want a cool normal guy who works for his money being a mercenary.

[JFSOCC]

I would rather have a normal character,boring,average looking,with no ambitions,and he likes to drink. I have enough that my team conists of odd indivduals who have an AMAZING past that u wouldnt even dream off ! Minsc was cool but do we really want a character who talks to vermin and acts all kinda of herp derp ? HODOR ?! No thanks. I want a cool normal guy who works for his money being a mercenary.

Jayne from firely. Excellent character, completely believable, yet stands out.

[Dream]

We need a companion that's our bro in this game.

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Viconia: "Minsc, that tattoo on your face. Does it have tribal significance or did some nursery’s fingerpainting class assault you with blue pastels?"

Minsc: "I do not like the tone of your voice, dark elf! The face I have is the face the ladies love! Boo loves Minsc’s face, too. Don’t you Boo?"

 

While Minsc is certainly memorable, I cannot claim he was the best Baldur's Gate character. I think Edwin, Jan, and Haer'Dalis (not necessarily in order) from Baldur's Gate II rank as the most interested NPCs as far as I am concerned. Xan, Xzar, and Eldoth from Baldur's Gate I stellar personalities as well, though I do believe it was the Baldur's Gate I NPC Project which made them such robust characters.

 

Amoral NPCs with scathing wits tend to make the best characters overall. However, that's not to say other personalities aren't necessary or don't have their place. I thought Jaheria & Khalid were great companions, but seperately they left much to be desired. Aerie was abnoxious, but provided great context for other character to engage her. Most NPCs followed this dynamic.

 

Even though the technical depth of NPC interaction was greater in Dragon Age: Origins, I cannot say they were superior to the NPCs within Baldur's Gate. The only personalities I found interesting were Allistar and Zevran, but this was not the most significant weakness. Despite the depth of interaction they had with the PC, they didn't have any meaningful interaction with eachother. Thus, to me, they didn't feel like breathing cohesive parts of a whole, but rather separate novellas to read and discard at whim.

 

I suppose the exception was with Morrigan & Wynne, but that was only one easily avoided empass. Baldur's Gate II provided several conflicts for multiple characters. Edwin vs. Minsc. Keldorn vs. Viconia vs. Jaheria vs. Aerie vs. Korgan vs. PC vs. Haer'Dalis--and more! Those were just the more critical interactions. That's what made them feel real. These existed outside of their interactions with the PC; therefore, they were. NPCs interacting with eachother I feel is more important than their interaction with the PC.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Mr. Magniloquent

[Jaesun]

Dear gawd no.

[SophosTheWise]

Please, don't rehash old ideas. That's the only thing I'm kind of worried about. Not that I don't trust Obsidian or that I think they are not creative, but I don't know how they handle their fan service. Sometimes, too much fan service destroys a game. Too many easter-eggs, too many déja-vu-characters. I'd much more have other memorable unique characters. I know, PE is supposed to be a spiritual successor to the IE games but that doesn't mean it can't have its own ideas. I know there are a lot of people here who are just here for the nostalgia, for experiencing the same things they have experienced with their old games. But being a spiritual successor doesn't necessarily mean that PE has to live in the shadow of the games of old. A spiritual successor is exactly that and not a humble tribute that is only there to compliment the games of the olden days. PE actually has a lot of potential to be more, to be a new series a new, fresh IP instead of a modernized copy of an old concept.

 

So give us new ideas, new character concepts, things that make us wonder and think, not the "oh, that reminds me of XY"-characters.

 

Except: give us a really stupid knight with a lot of courage and honor who just always has to be the hero. I like that. ;D

[Archmage Silver]

I wouldn't want to duplicate the personality or character traits of Minsc or any other major IE game character - it just wouldn't work. Especially not with Minsc, he's too unique.

[Tamerlane]

Truth: I vow to help the Anarchist cause.

Lie: I vow to help the Anarchist cause.

 

which one is lawful and which one is chaotic oh god help no stop hpelp

And why is he badly designed?

Class: Ranger - exactly where?! He even don't have the minimum stats of the class. He even claim to be a berserker so either he should be Fighter/Berserker or Barbarian.

He has useless item (Boo) taking one of his quick item slots.

He always talking about big swords when he can have other weapons equipped.

Numerous times he breaks quest because someone thought it would be a good idea.

He is annoying.

He claims to led his life devoted to a vow and code but he is...chaotic.

And so on.

 

He's supposed to be a Rashemi berserker, but since there was no Barbarian or Berserker class in BG1 they made him a Ranger instead (closest class available) and gave him a negative Wisdom score so that he couldn't cast any spells. They added the Barbarian class, the Berserker specialization, and the Rage ability in BG2. Instead of changing his class and risking to piss off the fans they decided to keep him a Ranger and just give him the Rage ability instead. The reason he uses a greatsword and has a Chaotic alignment is to make it more obvious that he is indeed a Rashemi berserker and not just some Ranger.

All Rashemi berserkers are sworn to serve and obey the hathrans (Rashemi witches), despite the fact that most of them are Chaotic and NONE of them are Lawful.

 

It's all part of FR lore.

Great post, but it seems like something is... missing. From the end, specifically. I think it could use a little bit more...

 

 

 

[Tigranes]

I loved Minsc. I'm sure we'll see some more unique characters in their own right in P:E, and I'm excited about that.

[Zenning]

This is just basically insulting Chris Avellone and saying that he doesn't have enough creative talent to do one better than Minsc. That's shameful...

 

I'm kind of tired of the "idiot with hamster" trope anyway...Minsc made this cliche.

 

Blargh, I didn't mean it like that! I know that Obsidian can do amazing characters, and pretty much every party member in all their games (Except arcanum, which was kinda lackluster in that regard) was awesome in their own ways. Hell, Mask of the Betrayer didn't have a single comic character, and it was still amazing.

 

Its just that, I love the comic characters. And I love, as someone else so helpfully phrased it, "bro's", and I want to see an other character like Morte and Minsc who are able to fill both catagories, and maybe more.

 

Capiche?

 

Edit: Oh, and SIE and Steven Heck from Alpha Protocol. Two other types of characters I was talking about. Both, stupidly fun.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Zenning

[JFSOCC]

I liked Sis and her... protectee? in Alpha Protocol, was really a shame they cut part of her content.

[Ninjamestari]

I'd honestly prefer a tribute to Boo rather than a tribute to Minsc, in some way. Boo could be an inter-planetary being that travels from realm to realm to aid in the assistance with confused and distressed individuals *eyes glance towards Forton*

 

LOL! Boo could be a hallucination/spirit/soul that only a drug abusing character can see (Forton in this case, or the Player character if he goes down that road too). It'd be fun, Forton rambling to an imaginary friend all game until you get up to the same level of addiction as him you'll start to believe him. It'd be a reward for pursuing addiction. It could be fun dialogue conversations too "Who the hell are you talking too!?".

 

A thousand times this! :D

 

It wouldn't even be necessary to require your character to develop an addiction, maybe there just is a special brand of mushrooms that Forton likes, that once you eat 'em allows you to see and interact with Boo (or a big smack in the head, or both as alternative methods). Or another talking hamster! Maybe it's not Boo, but a friend of his who happens to be looking for Boo; there could be a very interesting side quest involving reuniting the Hamster with Boo. Maybe the hamster is heartbroken after "Boo ran off with that brute of a ranger!"

 

Or, the hamster could be actual, but you could only communicate with it once you've hit your head bad enough/eaten the special mushrooms, that would initiate the "Where is Boo?" Quest.

 

To have a plausible context for this in the game world, there could be some sort of trickster god/spirit involved in the whole affair.

[Hormalakh]

This is just basically insulting Chris Avellone and saying that he doesn't have enough creative talent to do one better than Minsc. That's shameful...

 

I'm kind of tired of the "idiot with hamster" trope anyway...Minsc made this cliche.

 

Blargh, I didn't mean it like that! I know that Obsidian can do amazing characters, and pretty much every party member in all their games (Except arcanum, which was kinda lackluster in that regard) was awesome in their own ways. Hell, Mask of the Betrayer didn't have a single comic character, and it was still amazing.

 

Its just that, I love the comic characters. And I love, as someone else so helpfully phrased it, "bro's", and I want to see an other character like Morte and Minsc who are able to fill both catagories, and maybe more.

 

Capiche?

 

Edit: Oh, and SIE and Steven Heck from Alpha Protocol. Two other types of characters I was talking about. Both, stupidly fun.

Yeah but if I don't give you a hard time about it, who will?

[Michael_Galt]

I loved Minsc- I pretty much had in my party every time. A big, affable, simple-minded "do-gooder" that is protective. Entertaining, especially depending on who else was in your party. I remember a certain party member trying to steal the affections of his boo (go double entendre!), which caused a small conflict, which was thankfully, peacefully resolved. I liked that while he made out to be "stupid", he effectively wasn't, since he just used Boo as his "voice of reason and logic", and so could actually be quite insightful at times. Hell, his opening lines in BG2 are just awesome, "These bars will not hold my wrath. Minsc will be free! Butts shall be liberally kicked in good measure." And then, I paraphrase, "Euuu, you trick me! Very clever, you make me mad to unleash my mighty warrior spirit!"

 

http://www.minscandboo.com/quotes.php

[rjshae]

I'd honestly prefer a tribute to Boo rather than a tribute to Minsc, in some way. Boo could be an inter-planetary being that travels from realm to realm to aid in the assistance with confused and distressed individuals *eyes glance towards Forton*

 

LOL! Boo could be a hallucination/spirit/soul that only a drug abusing character can see (Forton in this case, or the Player character if he goes down that road too). It'd be fun, Forton rambling to an imaginary friend all game until you get up to the same level of addiction as him you'll start to believe him. It'd be a reward for pursuing addiction. It could be fun dialogue conversations too "Who the hell are you talking too!?".

 

A thousand times this! :D

 

It wouldn't even be necessary to require your character to develop an addiction, maybe there just is a special brand of mushrooms that Forton likes, that once you eat 'em allows you to see and interact with Boo (or a big smack in the head, or both as alternative methods). Or another talking hamster! Maybe it's not Boo, but a friend of his who happens to be looking for Boo; there could be a very interesting side quest involving reuniting the Hamster with Boo. Maybe the hamster is heartbroken after "Boo ran off with that brute of a ranger!"

 

Or, the hamster could be actual, but you could only communicate with it once you've hit your head bad enough/eaten the special mushrooms, that would initiate the "Where is Boo?" Quest.

 

To have a plausible context for this in the game world, there could be some sort of trickster god/spirit involved in the whole affair.

The characters in The Princess Bride were amusing as well. That doesn't mean I'd expect them to be popping up in a different fantasy movie. Minsc and Boo played their role in the BG series. Now it's time to move on. We don't need to keep nerdishly reliving amusing media moments. I'm sure that PE will have its own set of unique characters with different stories to tell.

[Shadenuat]

Baldur's Gate characters were fun, but also very meta and comedian. Obsidian's characters are a leap ahead of them. Although, I'd probably prefer a mix of both or a writing which is inbetween of those two types. Trying to figure the nature of a man, a bear, and a lesbian while buffing for a fight with Firkraag will be confusing.

[Umberlin]

This is just basically insulting Chris Avellone and saying that he doesn't have enough creative talent to do one better than Minsc. That's shameful...

 

I'm kind of tired of the "idiot with hamster" trope anyway...Minsc made this cliche.

 

Blargh, I didn't mean it like that! I know that Obsidian can do amazing characters, and pretty much every party member in all their games (Except arcanum, which was kinda lackluster in that regard) was awesome in their own ways. Hell, Mask of the Betrayer didn't have a single comic character, and it was still amazing.

 

Its just that, I love the comic characters. And I love, as someone else so helpfully phrased it, "bro's", and I want to see an other character like Morte and Minsc who are able to fill both catagories, and maybe more.

 

Capiche?

Yeah but if I don't give you a hard time about it, who will?

 

Who indeed. o_0

Edited December 7, 2012 by Umberlin

[Zenning]

This is just basically insulting Chris Avellone and saying that he doesn't have enough creative talent to do one better than Minsc. That's shameful...

 

I'm kind of tired of the "idiot with hamster" trope anyway...Minsc made this cliche.

 

Blargh, I didn't mean it like that! I know that Obsidian can do amazing characters, and pretty much every party member in all their games (Except arcanum, which was kinda lackluster in that regard) was awesome in their own ways. Hell, Mask of the Betrayer didn't have a single comic character, and it was still amazing.

 

Its just that, I love the comic characters. And I love, as someone else so helpfully phrased it, "bro's", and I want to see an other character like Morte and Minsc who are able to fill both catagories, and maybe more.

 

Capiche?

Yeah but if I don't give you a hard time about it, who will?

 

Who indeed. o_0

 

Great, three days on this board, and people are already lining up to give me a hard time!

[Hormalakh]

Great, three days on this board, and people are already lining up to give me a hard time!

 

Welcome to the boards. I'm not usually a buttface. It's just we've heard about Minsc a lot...

[Zenning]

I'm just kidding. Its nice to be here.