After you've completed everything there is to do in an open world game, your character is dead.

[DudeistBelieve]

In a figurative sense.

Because you've done everything you can with the character. It literally can't change or grow anymore because you hit the level cap.

 

[DoPo]

And?

On a separate note, I am apparently also not alive. I don't gain levels.

 

[Zombie Proof]

If the emergent game play design is good enough, your character never dies because there's a nigh infinite amount of micro-situations for them to get into and figure ways out of.

fallout 4 and GTA V are excellent examples of this point.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

See I just assumed they went off and did other things. Last time I checked my DragonBorn was married to Lydia, my Survivor is dating that reporter lady and my Courier is...I dunno, having desperately sexual tension filled conversations with Cass about not getting drunk and getting the King to marry them.

So they're all doing fine.

 

[FalloutJack]

Our characters live on in our hearts and minds. It's all a part of having fun.

 

[MysticSlayer]

My Saints Row protagonist is right now hanging out on a ship occasionally jumping into a simulation where she can wreck havoc to her heart's content, all without the moral questioning regarding killing real people. Then again, killing real people never bothered her anyways.

 

[wings012]

I wasn't a big fan of Oblivion. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way. But I still played it, did a number of things and blitzed through the story mode.

And so here I was. Saviour of the world, got my special saviour of the world armour commissioned by the king. I decided to continue spelunking a bit, cleared a dungeon out with only 1 hp remaining. Saw a mudcrab. Decided I would BOX IT TO DEATH. It knicked me with its pincer and I keeled over.

I decided then and there to put down the game. This is how his story ends. Saved the world, mauled by a mudcrab.

 

[lacktheknack]

I've never gotten to this point.

I got very close with Saints Row III, but my computer crashed. D:

 

[EHKOS]

All of my characters are me. They may look different, they may look exactly the same character creator willing, but they are all the same person.

"Well, you got your revenge and have the mighty V8 at your beck and call." I grin, showing off my sharpened canines. "Let's take the black-on-black on a roadtrip, maybe pick up some anime dudes, and head to this nice little place called Yharnam..."


Afterwards I'll treat myself to some ice cream on board the Von Braun. I hear it's maiden voyage is testing out an FTL drive.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

A character is "dead" only whenever one stops playing. Simple as that imo. Players will always find something to do, whether the game agrees or not.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Depends on the player. 'Open world' games, by definition, should always have something to do as long as you get to keep on playing after the credits roll. You can always roam around, collect cars, wreak havoc with the authorities, search for unique items/collectibles, complete that set of armor. Or even dabble in a different playstyle looking for conflicts.

Given all that, besides modding GTA games, I rarely play after finishing an open world game. Batman Arkham Knight was the last I played, and I made sure I did all I wanted to (everything besides Riddler trophies) before tackling the final mission because I knew I'd pretty much uninstall after that. However, the AR challanges give that game a lot of replayability (or should I say extended playability).

 

[Catfood220]

Well, when I finish doing everything in Mad Max, he will be dead because I will probably never play the game again.

Don't get me wrong, its fine. It might just be the most 'OK' game ever made, but after I've finished it I can see myself not wanting to play it again. Ever.

 

[Kyrian007]

I don't think that's ever applied to me in a sandbox game. With the exception of maybe games with little character improvement like Far Cry where you hit max everything halfway through the game I always finish a game long before I get "everything." I see folks talking about their "level 81 Skyrim character" and think "really, I've beaten Skyrim with 5 different characters and only one was over level 50." My characters don't "die," as it was in pen and paper games when characters got to a certain level, they get "retired." So I can have more fun making a new character as opposed to plodding on with the old one. A new character, new build, new playstyle... more fun.

 

[bjj hero]

I don't see this as a bad thing. There are new places to go and people to meet.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I saw someone on a forum say once, that the Undead in Dark Souls can never truly be killed, that they just get more and more hollow and pathetic because they give up, and dieing feels awful and the hollowing comes after loss of hope and will. And your characters greatest trait that allows them to be the chosen undead and do all these things is simply stubbornness, that you can die a thousand times and not go hollow.

Unless you ragequit the game, if you the player give up, does that mean your character went hollow?

 

[pookie101]

It's always been an interesting question that your demi-god character just wanders around having nothing to do, Oblivion says my Morrowind character travles around afterwards, but the real hero was the guy who extinct the Cliff-Racers.

all hail the name of saint juib slayer of the cliff racers

 

[Rangaman]

I don't think I have ever done everything in an open-world game. I doubt I ever will either. But on this subject, your character isn't really dead. They just have nothing to do.

 

[The Raw Shark]

I dunno man, I'm pretty sure the world of Sleeping Dogs still has plenty of baddies for Wei Shen to Kung Fu-Brutalize in to bits and pieces.

Honestly in my heart all those 100% runs are just finishing it for an "Until next time".

And then Skyrim pulled a "The dickhead from the last game may or may not have turned in to the immortal embodiment of madness itself" (Without as much Lovecraftian subtext I might add), and I was happy.

Then Dragon Age: Inquisition came along and made me lose faith in any and all prospects of one of your characters from another game meeting a previous character from before.

So yeah basically it's still just a "Until next time" only I'm hoping people don't fuck up what will happen next time.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

They're no more or less dead than any character is after a narrative is finished with them.

Then Dragon Age: Inquisition came along and made me lose faith in any and all prospects of one of your characters from another game meeting a previous character from before.

Out of curiosity, what was it about Inquisition that did that for you? I rather liked how they worked Hawke into the story briefly.

Spoiler

Mainly because I got to kill them.

(I really hated Dragon Age 2.)