Poll: Character Death and Random Chance

[Daquin]

I have no doubt that many of you have played Mass Effect 2 where character death actually plays a large part of the final battle, and it got me thinking about character death as a story piece over all.

In The Hobbit, the big final battle ends and Bilbo realizes that many of the fellows he took his journey with are dead. That was Tolkien combining a mythic fantasy along with the reality of war, the concept that death, as a whole, is rather random in the greater scheme of things.

My question is, if there was a big final battle in a given role-playing game, and the party members you did not take with you each had a random chance to be killed, how would you feel? Personally, I think, if used as a strong story-telling device, it could actually bring about a true emotional response from the player that you don't get in many games. Most people know how they felt when Aeris died in Final Fantasy VII, but what about if the event was completely random in a modern game?

 

[JRCB]

Sounds interesting. You'd never know who you could lose that way. And that could be a welcome idea to stories.

 

[Flying-Emu]

I'm for anything that enriches a gaming experience.

After all, they're just lines of 1's and 0's, when it comes down to it.

 

[migo]

It'd be interesting to see that happen, but the AI would have to be a lot smarter for you to care if it's just random chance.

 

[Applejack]

If your not with them when they die then it loses any impact.

 

[manythings]

If your not with them when they die then it loses any impact.

Agreed, seeing Tali get shot in the face broke my heart. I'd already... not done what could've been done (spoiler averted) so her death really had an impact.

OT: It would depend entirely on the game and the skill of how it was made. If I don't feel compelled to care about a character why would I care if they die?

EDIT: Just thinking if it could just happen at any point in the game though that could be really interesting as it adds an element of real danger to who you choose to bring along. Handled badly of course it would just be something to speed up ragequitting.

 

[Calum_M]

In the epilogue in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (Not even an ending cinematic, you cheap bastards), the allies you left behind could die. Maybe it's because I'm a child at heart, but I always hope for a happy ending, so finding out a comrade has died that I had no control over always puts a downer on the ending (even if they died heroically, blah blah). But then again, death is a powerful storytelling tool, and I'm all for good storytelling. I think on paper, I'm for this idea, but in practice, I'd hate it.

 

[dangitall]

Mostly okay with it, because the death is irrelevent to your actions, but I was really confused with the death of someone in the latest Metal Gear.

Spoiler

In Peace Walker, your horse dies of exhaustion. Basically you were supposed to chase this mecha thingy, the mech blasts rockets at you in self defence, while running away from you and your horse, your horse can get hit by rockets, but when that happens, it whinnies and nothing really happens. Near the end, the mech outruns you. At first I thought the mech outrunning you is the result of the horse sustaining too much damage, and then the horse dies. I felt a little guilty then. I did this level 3 times after, until I begin to question if I am good enough. Finally I went on youtube and searched it up. It was all plot. Dammit.

 

[Meggiepants]

If done correctly, it can be pretty emotional.

Even though I felt the narrative story was the weakest aspect of Fallout 3, the deaths are still pretty hard on me. I can't even use Dogmeat for fear he'll die in battle for good. I just leave him at home.

I get pretty attached to my characters, particularly if I am in charge of their safekeeping. I didn't even like it if Charon died, and he was a cantankerous SOB if I ever met one.