Emotional Attachment to Oblivion.

[Gollon]

I also like very early on in Oblivion, the first monk you see in Weynon Priory has a letter to his mother about the emperor. There's also two crumpled up drafts where he comes off very angry towards her, as opposed to the nice version. That was good for a laugh.

 

[nightfish]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

 

[Kogarian]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

I know tons of women who get emotional over movies...so male gamers can't do the same thing for a game?

 

[jiffmcgriff]

I sort of got attached as I had some pride that my highest levelled character was practically invincible in the world, other than that though the last mission for the thieves guild where you have to sneak into the imperial palace and steal the fourth Elder Scroll is the most tense I have ever been and the most fun I have ever had in that game. It has to be done with a stealth based character the experiance is ruined somewhat if you use the invisibility spell though.

 

[nightfish]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

I know tons of women who get emotional over movies...so male gamers can't do the same thing for a game?

but movies generally have really people in - breathing people - people who have emotions and think for themselves...who are alive in real life.

maybe if the game had the equivalent of ziggy from quantum leap or HAL 9000 i might get a bit attached.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

I know tons of women who get emotional over movies...so male gamers can't do the same thing for a game?

but movies generally have really people in - breathing people - people who have emotions and think for themselves...who are alive in real life.

maybe if the game had the equivalent of ziggy from quantum leap or HAL 9000 i might get a bit attached.

I have gotten emotional quite often over games. I will admit to having cried over Aerith's death in FFVII, and tearing up when you had to kill one of your squad members in Mass Effect. . However, I managed to have a girlfriend for 7 months before she broke up with me, and she liked that I was emotional and not the standard macho guy.

 

[Chilango2]

I have to agree that a *good* game, like a good story, *should* create attachment. You should *care* what happens to your characters, about the results. To a certain extent, if this is not occuring, the game is an artistic failure, whatever its other merits.

As such, there's nothing wrong with emotional attachment to game characters, anymore than movie characters or characters from a book. If attachment occurs, it's a *good* thing.

 

[Kogarian]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

I know tons of women who get emotional over movies...so male gamers can't do the same thing for a game?

but movies generally have really people in - breathing people - people who have emotions and think for themselves...who are alive in real life.

maybe if the game had the equivalent of ziggy from quantum leap or HAL 9000 i might get a bit attached.

Living, breathing people with emotions? Most of them are just crappy hollywood actors following a scripted scene. I myself hold Mario in higher esteem than most actors.

 

[nightfish]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

I know tons of women who get emotional over movies...so male gamers can't do the same thing for a game?

but movies generally have really people in - breathing people - people who have emotions and think for themselves...who are alive in real life.

maybe if the game had the equivalent of ziggy from quantum leap or HAL 9000 i might get a bit attached.

Living, breathing people with emotions? Most of them are just crappy hollywood actors following a scripted scene. I myself hold Mario in higher esteem than most actors.

who says all actors come from hollywood? and even in hollywood theres some good uns..ed norton, john malkovich

but back to games; its lines of code and i do not see how people can get attached to lines of code.

 

[Melaisis]

No. Unfortunately your actions in Oblivion go as far as you being a renowned hero, or spending a day in Jail.

Right on the nail's head I think, Necro. The consequences, for me at least, in Oblivion were hardly enough for me to develop some sort of great sense of attachment to Melaisis The Nord Warrior.

 

[Echolocating]

...back to games; its lines of code and i do not see how people can get attached to lines of code.

I thought Grave of the Fireflies was a very emotional movie; one of the best war movies out there, actually... and it's a cartoon. In that respect, I think we could get attached to "lines of code" if the programmers and game designers were actually skilled storytellers and artists. Unfortunately, we mostly see the best of what a technical mind can accomplish... and it's not very satisfying. Once programmers and even game designers admit that they aren't the best artists and storytellers and allow the "professionals" to do what they do best, then we'll see some truly remarkable offerings. Until then, we have to be satisfied with mediocrity. It's no wonder that Roger Ebert can't appreciate the artistic potential of video games... we keep making shit that's just good enough to fool the masses.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

who says all actors come from hollywood? and even in hollywood theres some good uns..ed norton, john malkovich

but back to games; its lines of code and i do not see how people can get attached to lines of code.

As opposed to lines of script and a camera. No difference. In both cases people make the characters, even in a game someone has to write the script, you know. The only difference is in a movie you have someone portraying a character created by someone else, whereas in a game you have someone who created a character to portray a character created by someone else. And know we're just talking semantics about what makes them 'human'.

 

[stinkypitz]

I was actually pretty attached to Oblivion. It was my first Elder Scrolls game, so the whole free adventuring thing was new to me. Also, I was going through rough times in my life, and playing an immersing game like this really helps to escape from stuff.

 

[Kogarian]

If you get emotionally attached to a game then theres something wrong with your real life

This is the point when you actually go out and get a gf. If you already have one, then obviously the relationship isn't going to well is it.

I know tons of women who get emotional over movies...so male gamers can't do the same thing for a game?

but movies generally have really people in - breathing people - people who have emotions and think for themselves...who are alive in real life.

maybe if the game had the equivalent of ziggy from quantum leap or HAL 9000 i might get a bit attached.

Living, breathing people with emotions? Most of them are just crappy hollywood actors following a scripted scene. I myself hold Mario in higher esteem than most actors.

who says all actors come from hollywood? and even in hollywood theres some good uns..ed norton, john malkovich

but back to games; its lines of code and i do not see how people can get attached to lines of code.

Seeing as Singing Gremlin already put up a decent rebuttle, I'll just ask you this:
People are nothing more than atoms formed into complex systems. How do you get attached to them?

 

[Seldon2639]

I thought the characters in Oblivion were very compelling and while they never did send your character to the gallows if he were a murderer, it still offered an insane amount of freedom. Likewise, when playing as your character, you had to use an iota of imagination to enhance your experience. Conversely, in JRPG, the main character's personality is pre-determined to be an angsty androgynous teen.

That was kind of my problem with Oblivion to begin with. You have to embellish in your mind what your character is doing in order to create a sort of emotional attachment. I think it really does end up being which kind of gamer you are. I, personally, almost felt ripped off by paying $60 to use my imagination. I can do that for free

 

[Deathbird]

I played a Ranger style class except i played him as a ruthless thief, problems happened when id break into someones house at night, kill them steal everything i could (even forks for my house heh) and then id do something silly, such as hit some stray person with an arrow and the guard would find the stolen goods he had no idea where stolen on me. Then id be forced to kill him and every guard and everyone in the town then flee.. and id run into another guard and he'd know everything i've done.. really i killed every witness.. my problem is with the telepathic guards.

i felt no attachment to him though

 

[Divinegon]

That was kind of my problem with Oblivion to begin with. You have to embellish in your mind what your character is doing in order to create a sort of emotional attachment. I think it really does end up being which kind of gamer you are. I, personally, almost felt ripped off by paying $60 to use my imagination. I can do that for free

But using your imagination without some manner of physical aid to put it into practice tends to get rather dull. Heck, by your idea, why see movies, play games or read books when we can imagine our own stories?

Anyways, I use the same logic "Create your own story as you play". Lately I've been playing a warrior that conjures armor and beasts for aid.
But overtime I made my character overzealous and overconfident. He began to realize he was strong enough to fight a large group of raiders and undead, so screw going sneaky on the Dagon shrine. Just go in there, kill everybody and complete your objective. But when I found I had the choice to free a would be sacrifice, I instantly decided to free him (Good for fame and it's just general good doing to repay for all the people I kill in the name of good).
That's when the giant statue behind him suddenly collapses and kills the person I just freed. I was shocked. I even went as far as saying that "I never fail" to someone during a mission. Sure this wasn't the goal of my mission but it was my purpose to help people that needed help. And my character thought he was strong enough to prevent any problem like this.
This ended up having an impact on him and he decided to gain as much power as he could to avoid these kinds of situations. Even if he had to brew deception between two families so they kill each other just I could obtain some more power from a Daedra Lord that wasn't invading and destroying Cyrodill, I would do it. For the greater good.


Of course I agree that Oblivion doesn't allow RPG as much as you'd want. The little things that together make it matter don't in Oblivion, stealing the key of someone's house doesn't prevent her from getting in next time she goes back home nor does killing him/her affect the general life of others. But hey, I can excuse that. I still have fun with the game.