Linear vs non linear story

[Eiphel]

 

 What if people could ignore the narrative? And instead of this limiting their character's mobility (if they're confined to a particularly linear part of the game) or freezing time until the player wanders back, this would gradually affect the state of the in-game world in a way that their character's (and not the player's) motivations were what led the player to resume participating in the narrative? Let the player see the results of their complacency, and let them decide if it's worth it or not. Allow the player to reenter the narrative at any point but their character's influence on the overall outcome would be reduced accordingly. Don't force the player into having a character who everything must revolve around, but rather give them the opportunity to have as much or as little influence as they like. I don't know; maybe I'm the only one here crazy enough to not want to be the constant center of attention in a video game world, but... yeah.

 

This is something I have always, always dreamed of seeing in a game. It would take an immense amount of effort so would probably need to be the focal point of the game's design to be done satisfactorily, but wow it would be so much fun. The potential for a fulfilling playthrough where my character takes the stance of 'Frankly, I couldn't give a damn' is really exciting. (Heavy Rain offered a little bit of this, in amongst its many flaws.)