Does anyone else here vocally object when a game forces you to do "the right thing" against your will? It's only really a problem in games where choice/the illusion of choice is a centerpiece to the whole affair, but my god is it annoying.
I'd gladly use Mass Effect 3 as my example here, but to avoid offending the delicate sensibilities of a few whiny prigs, let's go with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Considering the title of this thread, you can probably guess I went the transhuman/augment aficionado route and gave the concept of "purity" the middle finger with both hands the whole way through. But despite this, there were still multiple instances in the game wherein an arbitrary and unforeshadowed sense of heroism seemed to surge forth from Adam Jensen. Like say when I sat through Tai-Yong's song and dance and let her feel me up as opposed to breaking both her legs with my augs and dragging her back to Sarif industries in a suitcase. Orrr when the game decided to make William Taggart immortal following that press conference in which I publicly shamed him. Or when the game decided automatically that I'd wanna talk Taggart's lackey into not killing himself. And here's an example of something that *wasn't* in the game that should've been: an option to violently and spectacularly murder Hugh Darrow after he's done throwing his temper tantrum (yes, you can just blow his head off but that's hardly satisfying).
Why do I want all of these options so much? Well it's simple: Deus Ex was a game that let me throw my weight around. It made me *feel* like a superhuman force that was more or less just above society's rules and laws. I remember spending my downtime in game mugging cops and taking their guns for fun, and crushing gangsters with the business end of a dumpster for mouthing off. Point is, my Adam Jensen was most definitely not a selfless hero, nor did he pretend to be. So what's with the clause that makes him an automatically good, selfless and trusting person when the chips are down?
I'll explain it the way one of my favorite DM's did back in the day: there's the bad guys, and there's the antagonists. You don't have to be nice to be the hero of a story. So if you're gonna give me the option of doing things rough, don't muzzle me at X/Y point arbitrarily.
*Let* me throw Hugh Darrow through a plate glass window and listen to him scream on the way down to meet his monster. *Let* me say: "So? Do it." when a side character I have no connection to puts a gun to his head. And *let* me be a skeptical and violent asshole when dealing with people of suspect character.
And this is one that all games just plain need: a "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" button. Y'know how ME had interrupts for especially noble/efficient actions? Well there needs to be a "SHUT UP!" clause for when characters are being forced to sit through dialogue that they're not interested in hearing. Let's take The Witcher 2 as our example here. Sayyy, when some ditzy merchant starts asking you random non-sequitors about your life? Give me an option to cut them off mid sentence and say somethin' like:
"Listen carefully, I don't care about you or anything you think about. Now shut up and take my coin before I get mad."
Rude? Absolutely. But this is a *game*, I should be allowed to be rude in this context when I damn well please. Having to sit through boring conversations for the sake of courtesy is a burden I have to shoulder in the real world, I shouldn't have to do it in games too. And yes, you can "skip" dialogue if you want, but time warping through a conversation kills any latent sense of immersion you had in what was going on instantly. I'd *much* rather be able to tell annoying/long winded/etc. people to go fuck a cactus. Significantly more satisfying, and it has a role playing benefit.
I'd gladly use Mass Effect 3 as my example here, but to avoid offending the delicate sensibilities of a few whiny prigs, let's go with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Considering the title of this thread, you can probably guess I went the transhuman/augment aficionado route and gave the concept of "purity" the middle finger with both hands the whole way through. But despite this, there were still multiple instances in the game wherein an arbitrary and unforeshadowed sense of heroism seemed to surge forth from Adam Jensen. Like say when I sat through Tai-Yong's song and dance and let her feel me up as opposed to breaking both her legs with my augs and dragging her back to Sarif industries in a suitcase. Orrr when the game decided to make William Taggart immortal following that press conference in which I publicly shamed him. Or when the game decided automatically that I'd wanna talk Taggart's lackey into not killing himself. And here's an example of something that *wasn't* in the game that should've been: an option to violently and spectacularly murder Hugh Darrow after he's done throwing his temper tantrum (yes, you can just blow his head off but that's hardly satisfying).
Why do I want all of these options so much? Well it's simple: Deus Ex was a game that let me throw my weight around. It made me *feel* like a superhuman force that was more or less just above society's rules and laws. I remember spending my downtime in game mugging cops and taking their guns for fun, and crushing gangsters with the business end of a dumpster for mouthing off. Point is, my Adam Jensen was most definitely not a selfless hero, nor did he pretend to be. So what's with the clause that makes him an automatically good, selfless and trusting person when the chips are down?
I'll explain it the way one of my favorite DM's did back in the day: there's the bad guys, and there's the antagonists. You don't have to be nice to be the hero of a story. So if you're gonna give me the option of doing things rough, don't muzzle me at X/Y point arbitrarily.
*Let* me throw Hugh Darrow through a plate glass window and listen to him scream on the way down to meet his monster. *Let* me say: "So? Do it." when a side character I have no connection to puts a gun to his head. And *let* me be a skeptical and violent asshole when dealing with people of suspect character.
And this is one that all games just plain need: a "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" button. Y'know how ME had interrupts for especially noble/efficient actions? Well there needs to be a "SHUT UP!" clause for when characters are being forced to sit through dialogue that they're not interested in hearing. Let's take The Witcher 2 as our example here. Sayyy, when some ditzy merchant starts asking you random non-sequitors about your life? Give me an option to cut them off mid sentence and say somethin' like:
"Listen carefully, I don't care about you or anything you think about. Now shut up and take my coin before I get mad."
Rude? Absolutely. But this is a *game*, I should be allowed to be rude in this context when I damn well please. Having to sit through boring conversations for the sake of courtesy is a burden I have to shoulder in the real world, I shouldn't have to do it in games too. And yes, you can "skip" dialogue if you want, but time warping through a conversation kills any latent sense of immersion you had in what was going on instantly. I'd *much* rather be able to tell annoying/long winded/etc. people to go fuck a cactus. Significantly more satisfying, and it has a role playing benefit.
) ReneShep proves that there's no one he won't throw under the bus and utterly betray as long as it suits his purpose. ParaShep proves that she'll bend over backwards to make and spread peace to serve her purpose. The thing is both of them have the same purpose: defeat the Reapers. ReneShep isn't trying to defeat the Reapers so that HE can control the galaxy (like Darth Revan wants to defeat Malak so that HE can control the Sith), he's just not afraid to make any sacrifice necessary to win.
