Companion evolution asuggestion for games future

[itisspencer]

I have thought about this idea for rpg's for a few years and I think you may be able to pull this off.

 

In real life we meet and loose companions and sometimes run into them again and again, A companion role has been for the most part stagnant they level up but never really grow.

 

Loves and enemies crop up from time to time, they may go off and have families. They should age and evolve based on the relationship with the Player Charachter.

 

for example:

 

in the Fallout universe we acquire companions based on our karma etc. they travel with us and exchange weapons etc. but the charachter of the NPC never changes they don't age their wounds don't make them feel different.

 

What if Fawkes found you to be morally upstanding and offered a quest to help the super mutants be less violent and learn to grow? What if you said no and a resentment began?

 

What if you take a companion to a town where they are not well liked? just being associated with them makes the location and npc's of that town harder to deal with. conversations in the background about your companion are mentioned fingers pointed etc. giving you the feeling you may want to loose this companion or try to right the wrong they have commited.

 

Life choices have a true effect on them as they age and evolve next to you.

 

Say you dismiss a companiom and months later find what not getting together has done to them.

 

Charon a freed slave has become a freedom fighter and has created a merc group and is hunting down slave owners, since you spurned him in an earlier part of his life he has been leaving exidence that you are the leader. Thus a new line of hostility is created towards you within that area of questing.

 

Charon a purchased slave holds resentment towards you and at night you notice you are becoming ill and loosing health because he is slowly poisoning you.

 

Charon a freed slave and now friend has stuck with you through thick and thin and in order for you to live sacrifices himself.

 

Charon a freed slave has follwed you for months and realises you are evil and must be destroyed.

 

Charon a freed slave meets an NPC that converts him to be a follower of the atom and he guides you to do their work

 

As you can see the different gameplay would offer various and unfinishing quests and choices.

 

You would need a few writers to come up with the various courses of life that could take place it would offer DLC's in abundance and create a new form of gaming evolution.

 

I would love to hear from all of you about this and hear what your thoughts on the matter will be.

[rjshae]

I'd say that Fallout 3 is not the best example of how to develop interaction with a companion. The DA and ME series did a better job, and I'm sure the developers of P:E have some comparable character interaction plotlines in mind.

[Chrononaut]

[iNTELLIGENCE] I think you're right about that one rjshae

[bonarbill]

I have thought about this idea for rpg's for a few years and I think you may be able to pull this off.

 

In real life we meet and loose companions and sometimes run into them again and again, A companion role has been for the most part stagnant they level up but never really grow.

 

Loves and enemies crop up from time to time, they may go off and have families. They should age and evolve based on the relationship with the Player Charachter.

 

for example:

 

in the Fallout universe we acquire companions based on our karma etc. they travel with us and exchange weapons etc. but the charachter of the NPC never changes they don't age their wounds don't make them feel different.

 

What if Fawkes found you to be morally upstanding and offered a quest to help the super mutants be less violent and learn to grow? What if you said no and a resentment began?

 

What if you take a companion to a town where they are not well liked? just being associated with them makes the location and npc's of that town harder to deal with. conversations in the background about your companion are mentioned fingers pointed etc. giving you the feeling you may want to loose this companion or try to right the wrong they have commited.

 

Life choices have a true effect on them as they age and evolve next to you.

 

Say you dismiss a companiom and months later find what not getting together has done to them.

 

Charon a freed slave has become a freedom fighter and has created a merc group and is hunting down slave owners, since you spurned him in an earlier part of his life he has been leaving exidence that you are the leader. Thus a new line of hostility is created towards you within that area of questing.

 

Charon a purchased slave holds resentment towards you and at night you notice you are becoming ill and loosing health because he is slowly poisoning you.

 

Charon a freed slave and now friend has stuck with you through thick and thin and in order for you to live sacrifices himself.

 

Charon a freed slave has follwed you for months and realises you are evil and must be destroyed.

 

Charon a freed slave meets an NPC that converts him to be a follower of the atom and he guides you to do their work

 

As you can see the different gameplay would offer various and unfinishing quests and choices.

 

You would need a few writers to come up with the various courses of life that could take place it would offer DLC's in abundance and create a new form of gaming evolution.

 

I would love to hear from all of you about this and hear what your thoughts on the matter will be.

 

The companions in FO3 were kind of shallow (Butch was pretty cool, but he was developed before he became your companion), so it's not really the best example of decent companions.

Edited August 6, 2013 by bonarbill

[LKD]

It's certainly a feasible thing. Problem is... How much programming are they going to put into the companions when they could put that same effort into the player's character story, or the world's size? It all comes down to economics sadly.

[motorizer]

I think this would be better in a sequel (assuming it does well enough for us to get one) the companions will have moved on in life, they aren't still following you around, but they could still be in the game (if they lived) mass effect and baldurs gate both did it this way...

[Pshaw]

After playing Shadowrun Returns I'd like to see transitory companions become more previlant. It made sense that sometimes the people you're paired up with don't want to go into every risky situation that you want to get into. They joined with you for a reason and beyond that they'd rather go their own way or just stay safe. While I wouldn't want this to override the traditional party structure as I like getting to know my companions and keep them with me throughout the game I do feel that it adds a touch of realism and a bit of variety.

[Lephys]

I'd say that Fallout 3 is not the best example of how to develop interaction with a companion. The DA and ME series did a better job, and I'm sure the developers of P:E have some comparable character interaction plotlines in mind.

Indeed. A good example of this was Wrex. Although I'm not sure how extensive it was, I know he could possibly die early on, and he could possibly leave you but go on to become the leader of the Krogan. I don't know if the only two choices were "he dies" or "he lives and becomes leader of the Krogan," but in my playthrough of the entire ME series, it certainly felt like the potential was there for various outcomes. If there weren't, then there simply should've been. Problem solved, heh.

 

But, yeah, I like this idea. I think the most potent effect would be seen in some kind of carry-over into an expansion/sequel, like ME did it. It's a bit tough to have drastically different outcomes for a character in the span of a single game, unless the narrative covers a LONNNNNNG time. Granted, you can still easily have slightly less drastic differences. "Hey, because of what all went down, I moved to this city and joined this group," or "I moved back home to take care of my family" instead of "I BECAME PRESIDENT!". 8P