Poll: Customizable vs Premade protagonists: The showdown

[Loonyyy]

Why not both? I don't mean the in-betweeners, I mean I play multiple games and I don't always want the same thing.

This. Don't be a fundamentalist, you probably enjoy both, and that's cool.

Plus, there's far more important things than the appearance of your character they can do that are much more up in the air. Voiced/Not, does the game offer multiple choices, open world/linear, factions, do you ever really see your character (DARK SOULS, YOU SON OF A FUCKING *****, I SPENT 20 MINUTES ON THAT CHARACTER SCREEN). Talking freedom or exploration based on whether you get to pick your character's haircut is just strange.

 

[mrdude2010]

Depends on the game and the story they're trying to tell (if any). Sometimes, I just don't feel like going through the character setup screen and adjusting the sliders.

 

[Frission]

I'm going to give the only reasonable answer to this question, and you're welcome to copy paste this into the next thread thread of the same nature that will inevitably show up. <color=red>IT DEPENDS ON THE GAME!

I'm sorry for--no, wait, I'm not sorry for being irritated at this. There seem to be so many threads where the only reasonable answer you can give is that it depends on the ________. Some games work better with a blank slate character that can be customized by the player to allow them the freedom to role play a diverse selection of personalities, backgrounds and roles, and to appease the players who strongly prefer the ability to change their appearance; other games benefit from a tighter and more controlled narrative that will inevitably require a more defined character.
Not only is this another thread in the trend of comparing apples and oranges, but this specific comparison has been done many times before.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.355316-Poll-Voiced-Protagonists-Shepard-vs-Geralt
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.324752-Main-characters-who-are-a-blank-slate-Bethesda-games-vs-established-characters-Witcher
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.404435-Poll-Do-you-like-mute-nameless-generic-protagonists
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.194371-Poll-Predefined-RPG-characters-when-do-they-kill-the-concept
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.406099-Poll-Is-Gordon-Freeman-the-greatest-character-in-gaming-Why
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.882066-Poll-Custom-character-vs-Character-with-defined-personality

These are just a handful of threads I found with a quick search that address the defined/customizable character dichotomy, and these are just a small sample of the threads and articles that address it in a slightly more indirect way.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.389753-Skyrim-or-The-Witcher-2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877814-Do-you-view-the-player-character-as-you
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.932577-Why-do-some-people-complain-about-having-no-character-creator-in-The-Witcher-3
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877621-Single-player-games-shouldnt-have-create-a-character-features
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.386038-About-Gordon-Freeman-and-other-Silent-Protagonists-in-terms-of-their-relationship-with-the-player
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.877056-Just-putting-something-out-there-about-fallout-4-and-protagonist-voice-acting
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/experienced-points/15021-Why-Does-The-Fallout-4-Main-Character-Have-a-Full-Voiceover

Yes, I did just come to this thread in order to point out that we've done this all before.

Wow, that's a lot of threads. Woooooow.

I don't have anything to contribute, I'm just in awe at the time and energy you must have spent on this, though I appreciate it. Now, I'm just wondering what's the most revisited topic on this forum.

OT: Either? I think there's enough material in these threads for a dissertation.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

-Snip-

Wow, that's a lot of threads. Woooooow.

I don't have anything to contribute, I'm just in awe at the time and energy you must have spent on this, though I appreciate it. Now, I'm just wondering what's the most revisited topic on this forum.

OT: Either? I think there's enough material in these threads for a dissertation.

It really didn't take much effort at all. With the search feature on the forums it didn't take more than about a minute of searching variations of "blank slate character", "defined character", "customizable protagonist" and clicking every relevant title to find these links.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

Well it depend on what said game trying to do and how well it's implemented. There so depend on a player ability to roleplay. A person with little to no creativity is very likely create a very boring character when given a blank slate. There also exist such a thing as making a mixture of elements of both a blank slate and pre-made protagonist.

To answer your question about this arbitrary showdown; I enjoyed any type that when well implemented for the kind of game I'm playing.

KOTOR 2 had a brilliant take on this - the protagonist isn't one of those amnesiacs and/or foreigners that the blank slate protagonists tend to be, they have a backstory and everything. The player can still customise them and also, even if the events in the backstory are mostly fixed, they can also be defined by the player to an extent through dialogue. I think that was a really good mix of both styles.

I Agree.
I also really liked how planescape torrment handled the protagonist. Much like kotor 2 the back story of the player character is pre-made and his past actions are very major part of main story. Yet you have control over the kind of person the nameless one is. The nameless one has amnesia but this game has a very interesting way of handling that idea of the amnesiac protagonist.

After typing this I feel replaying planescape torrment.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I'm pretty chill either way. I mean Commander Shepard is a more interesting person than say, Soap or Price from the Modern Warfare games but by the same token few games offer me the ability to be as off the wall as Bayonetta or (old) Dante are.

Honestly the only way a pre-made character outsells a player created on is in the looks department. I use the default Fem!Shep mainly because every time I try to modify her myself I end up with someone who looks like a chimp with down syndrome so that's a plus.


There's room for both in my heart; and I should hope everyone's.

 

[Worgen]

You usually end up with a better story when you have a premade character since its much easier to write for a single main character. But we also have instances player made characters working really well too, mostly mass effect or guild wars 2.

Really it can work either way, but it takes more resources to make a player made character work well. Since you tend to have to take gender into account.

 

[Tilly]

Oh wow. Didn't see that option winning. Glad to see though. The massive overuse of the generic avatar character has started to annoy me. The one in Xenoblade X was a prime example of how it's awful for storytelling.

 

[MoltenSilver]

This incorrectly poses it as an either/or dichotomy, as opposed to there being different games that clearly benefit from one approach over the other. Or, I'd argue in many cases it's a false dichotomy due lack of thought put into most stories; as has been pointed out above in KoToR 2 the PC has both characterization and customization (As well as a demonstration of why 3-answer dialogue wheels are bullshit, since in many cases the same action could result in dark- or light-side points based on how you explained why you chose the action you did.)

 

[Mister K]

I am fine with both, as long as it's not "your character but not really your character" as with Fallout 4 and Mass Effect.

 

[Zhukov]

I prefer a pre-made character in a story heavy game. That way the protagonist can actually be involved in the story beyond killing mooks. Whenever a game tries to tell a story with a protagonist of no set traits or qualities you can just hear the writers screaming in frustration.

In a game that's all about mechanics and gameplay with no story or a token story then sure, let me cook up a character of my own.

Not averse to characters that toe the line between the two.

 

[Silverbeard]

*snip*

Surely you realize that all the labour you put into making this post, what with the URLS and whatnot, will not stop anyone from actually posting in this thread and will likely not give the OP an epiphany about the nature of singular protagonists or freely designed ones. You're better of scoffing at your screen and moving on, mate!

With that said, it make me wonder what exactly it is you expect your post to accomplish, if you think people aren't going to listen.
I'm merely pointing out that this exact same discussion has been had numerous times before on this very forum, and while it's not against the rules on The Escapist, it's generally customary on pretty much any forum to check for duplicate threads before posting the same old topic over and over again.
Besides, I'm not sure what this "labor" is, since I pointed out in the post that these results were found from an extremely quick search. Due to how often this topic gets rehashed they weren't exactly hard to find.

Me? I'm not trying to accomplish anything. I just want to save you some time and aggravation.

 

[JoJo]

I like designing my own character if decent options are given, but premade characters have the potential to far exceed customisable character if they are written well. I won't ever forget the stories of Lee Everett or Clementine, whereas the dude I played in Fallout 3 or New Vegas... I can't even remember what I made him look like. Of course premade characters can be dull too, like the hero out of Watchdogs. Ugh. Iconic cap my arse.

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

Depends on the role playing capablities.

If a voiceless protagonist is a blank canvas, I would like the game to provide me the tools to paint a complelling character.

I really liked RP-ing as different people in New Vegas. The mailman who snapped and sold her friends for money, a family man who lost his memory and joined a gang of slavers, a mister bin type character with stupidly good luck.

In the end, it depends on the player as much as the storytelling capacity of the game.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Player-made does not mean "blank slate" and pre-made does not mean "fleshed out". The poll is rigged.

This dude right here has got it.
I'm down for a game with a solid story and good character writing. Hopefully with good gameplay. Pre-made or custom matters, but there's good ways to utilize both within a story.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

Depends on the role playing capablities.

If a voiceless protagonist is a blank canvas, I would like the game to provide me the tools to paint a complelling character.

I really liked RP-ing as different people in New Vegas. The mailman who snapped and sold her friends for money, a family man who lost his memory and joined a gang of slavers, a mister bin type character with stupidly good luck.

In the end, it depends on the player as much as the storytelling capacity of the game.

You know what bugs me about trying to rp in games. You can crate all kinds of cool ideas for your character, but 90% your just playing them in your head. You never hear about what happened to the people you sold for money, or that famly you left behind or even the slavers you joined.

Lets not just ask about customizing your characters, we should have the ability to customize parts of the world along with it. (The only game I can think of that lets you do it is mass effect with it's backgrounds.)

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

Depends on the role playing capablities.

If a voiceless protagonist is a blank canvas, I would like the game to provide me the tools to paint a complelling character.

I really liked RP-ing as different people in New Vegas. The mailman who snapped and sold her friends for money, a family man who lost his memory and joined a gang of slavers, a mister bin type character with stupidly good luck.

In the end, it depends on the player as much as the storytelling capacity of the game.

You know what bugs me about trying to rp in games. You can crate all kinds of cool ideas for your character, but 90% your just playing them in your head. You never hear about what happened to the people you sold for money, or that famly you left behind or even the slavers you joined.

Lets not just ask about customizing your characters, we should have the ability to customize parts of the world along with it. (The only game I can think of that lets you do it is mass effect with it's backgrounds.)

I quess, it's fairly difficult to find a game that offers the same ammount of freedom as tabletop RPG's. Bethesda games kinda fload in-between being immersive and feeling stiff and restrictive.

Edit: Just remembered that Sunless Sea allows to set your character's motivations and personality, which influences the game in significant ways.

 

[pookie101]

the main issue with a pre made character is that you can end up with one that just rubs people the wrong way. i like the witcher games but dislike geralt as an example