tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5979339353366878191.post5925552326632732414..comments2024-03-21T00:16:15.883+00:00Comments on Plot is Gameplay's Bitch: Silent Protagonists: A Unique OpportunityTom Juberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570661671387482872noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5979339353366878191.post-76527740368024355762012-07-05T19:32:39.197+01:002012-07-05T19:32:39.197+01:00I LOATHE silent protagonists in games. It is just ...I LOATHE silent protagonists in games. It is just stupid as hell. It was stupid in Half-life, FEAR, BIoshock, Rage...it does not help my immersion at all. It damages it actually.<br />In Crysis 1, Nomad, main character, spoke. Only rarely, and only when the situation warranted it - and I felt completely immersed ! And then they introduce Crysis 2, where character is silent all the time, despite the whole plot being based around the fact that all characters mistake you for someone else!<br /><br />HOW GOD DAMN STUPID IS THAT?!<br /><br />Seriously idiocy of Crysis 2's narrative pisses me off anytime I think about it, especially after nicely simple, but logical narrative of Crysis 1 and Warhead.<br /><br />I wish developers would stop using silent idiot in main role already.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5979339353366878191.post-33988517459992968452012-07-05T11:09:28.080+01:002012-07-05T11:09:28.080+01:00Speaking as someone burned out on cinematic linear...Speaking as someone burned out on cinematic linear game, I think what you call avatars (protagonists that are all about player control and identification) should be much more prevalent than they currently are. It's a case of something being much cheaper than the alternative (no big-time voice-acting) thus allowing developers to instead concentrate their efforts on building a world and refining the gameplay. <br /><br />Speaking generally, innovation and creativity in games often come with diminished graphical fidelity or cinematic bombast. There's a lesson to be learned here, I wager.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5979339353366878191.post-45862242394436298882012-07-01T14:47:47.918+01:002012-07-01T14:47:47.918+01:00How do you react toy the Gordon Freemans and the [...How do you react toy the Gordon Freemans and the [insert Rage's player character here]s of this world?<br /><br />What hits home for me is that as long as we're continuing to do these very linear, movie-narrative-like games removing talking heroes from our dramatic toolbox is a pretty drastic move. Those traditional plot lines are meant to have a hero at their centre with motivations and goals and relationships which interplay with the plot arch, and these are all much harder to do when you've only got NPCs to do the dialogue work.<br /><br />More abstract and less linear experiences which provide the player with meaningful decisions to make naturally are less well suited for a pre-scripted protagonist.<br /><br />How do we feel about games in which the player isn't the protagonist at all? I'm thinking about certain strategy games. Do we have this need to express our personalities, and does it comes into conflict with how much we can enjoy a story?Tom Juberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14570661671387482872noreply@blogger.com