298: Who Needs Friends?

[HunkyDork]

Sometimes you just don't want friends: I cannot imagine Alice (of McGee's fame) with a friend and even that grinning cat is wise to stay well away most of the time.
In "Call of Duty 4" I relate to the other guys, in a way. . . We do team work there and I'd be lost without them. I also felt close to MacMillan when following him and then carrying him and his thick Scottish accent around the Chernobyl neighborhoods.
In the less exhalted "Project Eden" you were part of a team of four, and you had to play all the characters, was that friendship? It was collaboration for sure.
These day I'm back in Morrowind and, as I usually do in Bethesda RPGs, I go around with a "companion". Gabran doesn't help much execpt for toting loots, and I have to save him a lot more than he saves me. Yet I enjoy having him around Somehow he makes the wandering more interesting.
Have to feed Arthur (the cat).
Bye now
Hunky Dork

 

[Samsont]

One point against you here bro, one, the courier does know people, and they know him. By canon the courier isn't from anywhere near there. And in the new DLCs that are going to come out you'll meet one of the people who does meet you, and is part of the reason why the courier happened to be carrying the chip.

 

[chuckwendig]

I thought New Vegas handled companions and friendships much better than Fallout 3.

EDIT: Oh there's a mistake in this article. In New Vegas some companions do in fact have houses where you can go and they can help you out. Raul is a perfect example, if you go to his house he can provide repairing services. Also although she does not neccessarily run up to you, Veronica is very excited when you propose travelling together.

Thanks all for reading and digging on the article:

Chupa, I'll just add that -- and maybe this is due to my writing in the article, and for that, I apologize -- my concern isn't that you cannot form connections or friendships in play but rather than you do not begin with any. You enter the world utterly unformed and disconnected. You can create connections, but these did not exist before. Nobody knows the Courier the moment you awaken in Goodsprings.

So, that mistake isn't a mistake, really.

Thanks!

-- Chuck

 

[theklng]

they do need to be disconnected, because that is how the western hemisphere role models heroes. you're asking a question in which you unravel the notion we have had from the earliest tales of narrative. and you are wrong in that we don't see it in other mediums; the number of same thing happening in books or movies is huge.

heroes are supposed to bring a sacrifice in an imbalanced world; that is their place in the world. they are not accustomed to live in a regular balanced world, and would most likely end themselves if they happened to live in one. it is their disconnection that allows them to succeed where "regular" people fail. and it is because they are not regular people that they do not have friends.

 

[Watchmacallit]

They don't have friends because its cool not to? That doesn't sound right...Get back to me.

 

[WrongSprite]

Meh, I'd say it makes a game less immersive, personally. If a character comes up and starts talking about pre-game experiences, I can't relate, because I don't know what they're on about, so the character just isn't ME anymore. Friends that you gain throughout the game though, that seems better.

 

[carpathic]

Truly excellent. I had not even really thought about this, but it does explain why I found Fallout 3 to be a very immersive game for totally different reasons than New Vegas.

Keep writing, I'll keep reading!

 

[Manji187]

Who Needs Friends?

Protagonists in videogames regularly save the world, the universe, and the princess. So why don't they ever have any friends?

Read Full Article

Good question. It made me think. This is what I came up with:

"Because it would be fake"

If you (as the player) weren't there when the friendship was formed...and you didn't spend time with the characters that are supposedly your friends (no shared experiences)...then those "friend" characters can talk all they want about "that time when..."...it's all the same to you.

I believe friendship works best in an "ab ovo" story...you meet the characters as the protagonist meets them for the first time. Then you all share experiences and establish a bond.

Basically, friendship has to grow.

IMHO, it is wrong for developers to simply assume that the player automatically cares about characters...even the ones that present themselves as life-long friends. It's the developers' task to make the player care....and it is a very difficult one.

Example: you are fighting a war with one of your friends in the same team...he "saves your life" by tackling you into cover just as you would have been hit by enemy fire. Your character mutters "Thanks bro...I owe you big time." Then some time later your friend gets mortally wounded and you get to experience the classic "last words" tearjerker scene.

Two things: both the rescue and the death scene are scripted (which destroys a lot of the emotional impact: it was apparently "meant to be"...you had no hand in it)...and you will not be able to return the favor unless it's scripted that you will. It's fundamentally a matter of choice (exercise of free will)...you don't have it and neither does your AI friend, not within the world of the game because a game is fundamentally totalitarian: whatever the game doesn't allow for...is prohibited.

A developer can make a character very likeable (through writing/ voice-acting)...a developer can make you share experiences with the character...but that character's choices will not be genuine choices (how can they be lol...). They will be predetermined by the developer (or whatever algorithm he constructs to calculate odds).

Such is the limited nature of videogaming...until we start incorporating powerful AI's that have passed the Turing test. By that time we'll probably be playing in a Holodeck/ Matrix like program environment.

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Extremely good read.

I'm reminded of the people who ***** about Yosuke Hanamura in Persona 4. Too chatty. Served as your mouthpiece. Too whiney, all sorts of reason. I personally LOVED his presence. He felt like my friend in spite of all his flaws, like a kindred spirit out in the boondocks. I kept him on the front lines all the time because I really felt like he'd have my back in anything. He was always like "Hey, let's meet at Junes" and was always leading the investigation discussion. He truly worked with me as a co-leader and as my, well, bro. We kicked the shit out of each other and finally acknowledged each other as equals. It was an awesome example of a "friend" in gaming.

But so many people bitched! The execution is debatable but the intent is definitely clear when it comes to Yosuke. It was a different dynamic than the constant tension of the main cast in Persona 3. People don't WANT to play as characters with friends. A lot of people playing Persona games just wanna bone every girl, get the strongest Personas, grind to 99, etc. They don't want a "friend," they just wanna be "badasses" and "pimps."

Most of all the reviews I've read for Bioware and Fallout games? The reviewers play as complete assholes! The Destructoid review of DA2 had a guy who went completely out of his way to make his character as reprehensible as possible to the point where three party members left him. Most people I talk to about Fallout 3 mention how much fun it was to blow the hell out of Megaton. People will always take the chance to be a dick when there are no repercussions. Sure, sometimes it may be role-playing, but I see it so often that the generalizing ass in me cries out: "Were you truly THAT badly bullied throughout high school that you need to blow up every game world you see?"

Developers see this, and act accordingly. Hence your loners. Hence your one-dimensional badasses.

 

[JMeganSnow]

An interesting article, except for the point that when Bioware gave you an Origin in Dragon Age: Origins, and an actual family cum background in Dragon Age 2, numerous people were COMPLAINING VICIOUSLY on the forums that Bioware was assigning traits you may not want to your protagonist.

Some people actually *like* the disconnected protagonist, albeit many of the most vocal for reasons I think are stupid--they want to be able to make up their own story about their protagonist and not ever have that conflict with anything they encounter in the game.

Me, I'm well aware that I can't ever play exactly the character I might like in an RPG--I'm limited by the writer's foresight and imagination. This is cool with me. A CRPG is not the same as a PnP RPG. I don't play them for the same reasons. I expect different things. So having a family/friends/whatever in a game is not a problem for me.

Just don't assume that one way is the be-all, end-all of gaming.

 

[beefpelican]

Holy shit this was an amazing read.

Agreed 100%. More 'friendly' interactions=more emotional input. If a character dies, so what? If a character dies that you previously had interaction with, much more different.

The Darkness has one amazing example that I always pull out of my ass. It concerns your girlfriend Jenny...and it's an incredibly simple yet emotional scene where you spend the night with her. You can choose to leave early, choose to tell her what you really do, or choose to sit down with her and watch an entire movie. It's epic, and it's what makes the game so powerful.

That was a beautiful scene.

OT: The excuse I see for this most often is that the player is supposed to be more able to project onto a blank slate than a well developed character. I think it's kinda BS though. I totally project more onto well developed characters in books and movies, why should it be any different in games?

 

[beefpelican]

I have to say, I disagree about Desmond Miles being an example of a disconnected character being a bad thing... because he is. He was kidnapped. Considering that in the first game all he could do was walk from room to room, and in II and Brotherhood they were trying to stay hidden, it isn't that far fetched that he wouldn't come across any childhood friends.

Furthermore, he does actually grow into familiarity with the other assassins he's hiding with. I think my favorite dialog in the game was:
Desmond: Whats-a-matter-you Altair?
Rebecca: Thats Racist!
Desmond: You're Racist!

It was nonsensical, but exactly the kind of silly nonsense that makes characters seem real.

On the other hand, Desmond doesn't really seem to miss, or mention, his former life, aside from a few references to "the compound". I think it would have been nice if that had come up at least occasionally.

 

[Ravek]

I don't get this article. The situations described in the first half happen all the time in videogames. Has this writer actually played any?

 

[loc978]

Honestly, I don't see the same problem in most games. There's usually a reason the character doesn't have any friends to start, a reason they have to forge relationships in the course of gameplay (and you do know the Courier in Fallout: New Vegas is from California, right?)... it's the same as the old DM trick of starting your players off on the road, all from the same faraway land, exploring a new and foreign place.
That makes it a hell of a lot easier to invest in a character than starting you off next to an NPC or three that you're supposed to care about for no immediately apparent reason. So... this is my wife and kids... and their names are..?

 

[FuzzyRaccoon]

Ugggggh! I completely identify with this commentary! This is actually only an issue for me in games that are so good that I don't have other issues bogging down my immersion... but that's why I feel like it's crucial!

It honestly would upset me in Dead Space being treated like an errand boy.

In Oblivion I felt so lonely, thinking that I had to buy my own house, that essentially there was no one there that wanted nothing from me.

Like a child in Fable 2, I chose to save my dog, because we had been through so much, and I felt like everyone was being selfish to ask anything else of me.

In Mass Effect 2 I really wanted there to be more dialogue options, to create things that felt like the close friendship my Shepard seemed to have with Wrex in the first game, or even Garrus.

In AC:Brotherhood I delighted in training my fledgling assassins. Zita (if you got her) became my favorite, was the one I worked on the most. I picked different colors for each of them, had them come in for training... I REALLY felt like I was Ezio, sort of like a grandfather. They made me feel /pride/ when they were higher up in levels, able to protect themselves, jump in and out without breaking a sweat.

I want more games to illicit a feel of togetherness... of a specialness and community. I'm not saying that it won't be hard... but it feels so wonderful to have it realized.

 

[dicai]

The one game that could really tackle the bonds of friendship in a warzone, IMO was Call Of Duty 2: Big Red One for the PS2. I really became close to those guys, and felt sad every time when one of my squadmates got killed. Hell, even in the ending you can notice how happy their are and realise the long way you had gone to that exact point. And not only I cared for my squad, but always got the feeling that they felt the same way about me.

And that's what friendship is.

 

[Yokai]

It's an excellent point, and something that I hope is rectified in the next few years.

Oddly enough, the game character I've felt the most friendly connection with was Baurus in Oblivion. He accompanies you for only three missions and spends the rest of his time standing around in Cloud Ruler Temple, but there was a certain sincerity about him that made it actually seem like he liked the player and saw them as a friend and companion. The fact that his voice acting was excellent, and very natural-sounding, definitely helped.

 

[caladors]

Yes.
But what to do?

Hope that people take note?
Wile the video game industry does take note more than say Hollywood.
How can you make the industry change?
The reason I ask is it seemed alot like a statement of common sense.
I know they say common sense isn't that common but none the less.

So what to do?

 

[Vibhor]

Has the writer played GTA 4?
There IS a reason why video game characters do not have friends, and I believe that it is perfectly explained in GTA 4.
Never I would have thought that friends could be interpreted in that way. After playing that game, I was enlightened why many games don't do the friends shit.
(This of course is a half joke, but the gta 4 shit is to be given a thought)