Silent or Talkie? The endless protagonist debate.

[haruvister]

As mentioned on one or more other threads, Gordon Freeman's name is ironic because of his lack of freedom - he's a pawn in a much bigger game. His silence only adds to his lack of genuine empowerment.

The hero in BioShock doesn't talk because there's no one listening (let's face it, those clockwork cameras don't come with audio out of the box).

 

[tobyornottoby]

what i meant was that it was fairly irrelevant. there are other more specific variables that contribute to immersion more than wether or not the protagonist speaks. character continuity can be retained or derailed with or without speech from the protagonist.

again,

depends on what you want. I know a lot that want to play the character, just as you I think, and then having a fleshed out personality with a voice is the best. However, I want to be the character and then sometimes a silent one works.

the single most annoying thing that breaks my immersion is when the avatar says something that I wouldn't have said (usually something with an emotional stance). Best solution would be dialog choices in such cases, which are immersion-heightening.

 

[Kovash86]

The spartan 3's were indeed crazy, crazy inefficient, that worthless piece of shit Ackerson is responsible for that failure. Spartan-IIs could have handled the same mission without casualties, they are simply more cost-efficient but you can't field them in great numbers normally.
Haruvister: that lonelyness didn't seem to stop Will Smith's character in I am Legend, now did it? That very same loneliness has never gotten Ashley J. Williams to shut up has it? No. Partially because Ash is an idiot, but I digress. That is just bad writing

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I think people really need a reality check on The Weighted Companion Cube. It's only in the game for one level and really isn't any different to the normal cubes (except for the adorable love heart and the fact you have to carry it with you). The nerds have gotten hold of it and elevated it to godlike status. It's now geek chic.

I say "get over it"!

*closes his laptop with a sigh, then looks though the sights of his sniper at the back of Damages head*

Steady Nathan, remember, this is for the cube...

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Haruvister: that lonelyness didn't seem to stop Will Smith's character in I am Legend, now did it?

That's because it's a movie. In the book Neville barely said a word.

 

[Same River New Water]

OK then, if Gordon Freeman has a voice: What accent does he have and how does he speak?

Yoda.

 

[SargentToughie]

Spartan 3's are crazy, 300 of them at a time, on suicide missions.

Crazy stuff.

And chief does talk, but not much. he reserves his speech for essential banter, he talks in military protocol, short sentences or quick phrases. why do people only remember his dramatic one-liners? because they are damn good ones. He's humanities last hope, the only soldier capable of saving the human race, a shielded super-soldier who through skill and speed takes down armies. why cant he make the occasional one liner? i despair sometimes... how can he please you people? once the majority started to hate him to be cool... reason ended...

*weeps*

"Thought I'd try shooting my way out...mix things up a little"...Awesome one liner Chief

and he does have a point, Master Chief is one of the best characters in the gaming universe (way better than Mario) so why do so many people just hate him for no apparent reason?

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

In half-life 3, they should still keep Gordon mute, but give you the option to Nod up and Down or side to side, and jumping around like an idiot or not looking at someone should make the characters react to you accordingly. It shouldn't feel "gimmicky" as well, like trying to show off their technology, it should just be subtle.

Example:

"Are you OK Gordon?"

You can respond with: "up and down" ---> ok then let's keep moving!

"Side to side" ---> Here take this medkit.

"Jumping around like an idiot" ---> "I'll take that as a yes...."

They almost pulled it off in Episode 2, well, something like it anyway. You could still roam freely, but if someone was having a conversation with you they would at least try to stay looking at you and occassionally follow you around. I remember Eli would follow me when no one is around and he'd be trying to have a conversation with me.

Could have been a coincidence.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Spartan 3's are crazy, 300 of them at a time, on suicide missions.

Crazy stuff.

And chief does talk, but not much. he reserves his speech for essential banter, he talks in military protocol, short sentences or quick phrases. why do people only remember his dramatic one-liners? because they are damn good ones. He's humanities last hope, the only soldier capable of saving the human race, a shielded super-soldier who through skill and speed takes down armies. why cant he make the occasional one liner? i despair sometimes... how can he please you people? once the majority started to hate him to be cool... reason ended...

*weeps*

Good lord man, it's OK to like Halo, just because people say it's over-rated doesn't mean they are saying "the game is bad" - there is a difference between "Halo sucks" and "Halo is over-rated", they just mean "it gets so much more hype, praise, and attention that it overshadows other things" - but they don't say "HALO SUCKS BECAUSE I SEE POSTERS OF IT AT GAMESTOP!"

You don't have to get preachy every time you say "I like Halo" - seriously, it's OK to like it God Damnit! No one is going to get in your face saying "No, Halo sucks and so do you!"

Last time I checked, Halo was the cool thing to call "over-rated" because you didn't have to fear someone saying "I disagree!" - but we all love a few rounds of Slayer with some buddies, you don't have to get on a soapbox and shun the non-believers every time you want to praise Halo.

Success breeds haters. Halo and GTA are fun, but I'm going to call them over-rated as much as I want. I don't hate you or master chief for being a fan of Halo, I'd be a hypocrite for doing so. Over-rated =/= game sucks. I have reason for not liking master chief, it's not because I just listen to the braying of the sheep.

Ok I'm done, now I'm gonna go play some split screen XBL with my friends because I still think Halo is fun >_> Just not what it was cut-out to be.

 

[Hurray Forums]

Well my pick where the protagonist's story is actually important is good lines>no lines>bad lines. Bad lines can really kill a game's story but at the same time a story with no lines from the main character will never be as good as a story where the main character does speak. There simply can't be deep interactions between two characters if one is mute.

 

[Kovash86]

Well, since you clearly didn't play Halo 2, the bomb Chief rode out was operated on a timer. Since the time had almost expired, he used Cortana to stop the timer. In order to make sure the bomb blew up at the right time and that Cortana was not destroyed along with the bomb, Chief had to follow it. Besides, it looked cool.

I beat Halo 1 and 2, didn't take very long, except for that one area where I chased that stupid robot for hours through rooms that all looked the same and contained the exact same enemies. I always saw the blowing up of the bomb as an explosion on impact due to impact, even still, throwing the bomb out the hatch would have been less stupid and I wouldn't have gotten the feel like the character was just showing off so people would think he is cool.

If you actually controlled Master Chief as he launched himself into space, perhaps had to steer the bomb past the other ships, then it would be cool. The same reason grabbing someone and interrogating them in Splinter Cell makes the character badass, its the user's actions that define the character, not the cutscenes.

First off: that was probably a bomb which didn't detonate on impact otherwise they would have just shot it at the satellite. They didn't spend all of that time getting a dropship on board your satellite just so they could launch a bomb at it, no they had to get that there so they could then plant the bloody thing, and then die, instead Chief made them die and then made them eat their own bomb in the form of blowing up a capitol ship.
Second: controlling that would have been an annoying addition to the game in my opinion, and I would like to think alot of people would agree with me.
Halo is a very cinematic series always has been, you didn't have to pilot the shuttle at the start of Halo 1 did you? No, sure Chief wasn't in the pilot's seat, don't think that would stop him for a second though. Oh, and by your logic you would also have us control the drop pod at the start of the chapter Delta Halo. This would have been annoying at best and game ruining at worst.
EDIT: Bungie likes to use logic and real world physics in their games, not sure why, but you CANNOT guide an inanimate object through space without vectored thrusters. There is nothing to grab on to, no air with which to cushion some parts of your body on therefore changing your direction, you would literally be wiggling your heavily armored ass in nothingness for no reason, in the scene where he jumps from satellite to enemy ship.

 

[Kovash86]

Well my pick where the protagonist's story is actually important is good lines>no lines>bad lines. Bad lines can really kill a game's story but at the same time a story with no lines from the main character will never be as good as a story where the main character does speak. There simply can't be deep interactions between two characters if one is mute.

Bad lines can be comedy gold sometimes.