EmperorSubcutaneous said:
Spencer Petersen said:
The way your character behaves can give great indications as to how they would solve particular problems. Characters that act evasive and mysterious when interrogated or asked important questions might be more inclined to sneak by or use ambush tactics to defeat enemies. Characters which respond resolutely and hold their ground might be more inclined to tank damage in combat and have high shields/armor. People who value life in conversation would be more inclined to use non-lethal methods or crowd control to deal with enemies. People who act rashly and use force to coerce might specialize in more offensive attacks and strategies. Its a simple way of interconnecting your dialogue and your combat, by helping you develop a fighting style or strategy by how you behave in various situations that gauge your values. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to make the flow of events feel more logical and structured, as well as make your character feel like a more consistent entity.
Right now Shepard can spend the entire game talking about forgiveness, how valuable life is and how we should always give people a chance, and then when the combat starts shoots 10 people with frozen bullets and then karate chop them to pieces. It isn't consistent, logical or reasonable, its just bad design.
In Mass Effect, just like in almost all other RPGs, you can take care of this by class choice. If you want your character to be a stealthy type, you choose a rogue-type class and select evasive answers when prompted. If you want to be gentle, you choose a support-type class and select kind answers when prompted. This is what most people have always done in RPGs if they have a character concept in mind.
This way allows more freedom than your idea of dialogue affecting combat behavior, because some people might want to play, for example, a character who is soft-spoken but becomes a berserker in battle. Your way would limit them to being a one-dimensional character.
Your Mass Effect example only occurs if the player allows it to occur. If you want your Shepard to be pro-forgiveness, you only take the side-missions where that's an option.
Additionally, the character of Shepard is already a hardened military officer who has seen plenty of battle. There are only a certain number of personality types that can coincide with that lifestyle, and they would all fight back if they were being attacked. This is a consequence of giving the main character a name, voice, and rank, which was a deliberate choice for the Mass Effect franchise and can't be backed away from now.
Except unlike most other RPGs (or should I say most other good RPGs) there's only 2 choices for how you wish to solve problems. Idealistic or Pragmatic. Neutral is possible, but it provides barely any of the reward the other 2 provide, and will mostly end up with a bunch of dead squad members and half-finished missions.
And please explain to me exactly how class type affects your combat goals, because as far as I know, the only "stealth" option in the game is the infiltrator's cloak, and that alerts every enemy to your location the instant it wears off, so its really more of a damage bonus cooldown. Regardless of class choice, you objective is to just kill all people in the area to unlock the door, and while class may change how you go about doing that, its still a shallow objective.
The example of soft-spoken who becomes a berserker, is exactly how the other half of the equation works. The way you behaving in combat affecting you in dialogue, or if you want to simplify it, the way you behave in combat affects how others treat you in dialogue and how you can respond to them.
Example:
After a mission where you activated a berserking ability and hunted down enemy survivors who were fleeing the battlefield.
Liara: "Shepard, I saw how you were acting on the battlefield, and while I must say I was impressed, I'm also fairly disturbed. I've never seen you act like that before. Is there anything wrong?
Then you get a choice of owning up to it, saying that its what has to be done to win the war, possibly putting her off but demonstrating your ruthless personality. Or you can say you lost your mind for a moment, and she doesn't have to worry as long as she doesn't try to kill me, possibly jokingly, demonstrating the gentle giant who becomes enraged ala your example. Or he can deny it completely saying she was mistaken and possibly offering an excuse, demonstrating an evasive personality that wants to control its violence and keep the ones he loves around him, more of a sympathetic hero that still gets the job done.
The starting hero archetype of war hero/survivor/ruthless can lend itself to an infinite number of character types. War Hero who adopts a passive style in dealing with threats, as he has personally seen how bad it can get when no one tries to diffuse a situation. A ruthless officer who feels enormously guilty for losing his/her soldiers and adopts a lone-wolf style to protect those around him. A survivor that knows exactly how valuable it is to approach a situation by fully observing and choosing to ambush rather than walk in and risk ambush. Characters are very pliable, and their transformation can be a very important part of the story.
Saying that Shepard as a character will always kill people has no bearing, as even Shepard in paragon mode will spout constantly about how important it is to have an open mind and forgive others for their crimes, and how we must try to solve problems without wanton killing. It may be a part of his/her character in many versions, but to keep that aspect of his/her personality there regardless of moral affiliation is lazy and undermines the character.
