2 réponses à ce sujet

[1101000110100111]

I know that ME3 will be too far into production for anything I say to have any influence on the game but I'd still like to run my ideas past people to say what they think about them and to act as input for future games. I will talk about ME2 and ME2 characters but what I'm saying could apply to future games and characters.

I'm laying myself open here as I haven't played many RPGs (does Zelda Twighlight Princess count? :-)  But its plain that economics is a big part of RPG history - money/resources let us level up or tweak stuff. And looting is a biggie.

But the economic side of ME2 is one of the game's weaknesses.

The implementation is pretty poor (mining nuff said).

And the looting as seen in ME2 is also, um, strange and somewhat poorly thought out. Why is Shepard riffling through colonists' bedrooms, stealing people's saving from their wall safes and laptops? Is Cerberus poor? Does Shepard just have a personality problem? What are my squadmates thinking as I pause mid mission to hack some bystander's online accounts? Is petty theft really a Paragon virtue? Is it Renegade or just sad?

What is in those wall safes? Bags of gold?!? Who would be interested in buying those crappy spares that were left out in the rain? Why is Shepard selling junk to pay for things that he vitally needs? Cerberus: don't waste that money on Zaeed, just buy me decent weapons. They build the (al)most advanced ship in existence and fill the weapon lockers with junk. ?!??

Maybe looting works better in a medieval setting but it makes little story sense in a professional army or when you are the most important person and team for a well financed, shadowy, organisation. Kasumi is a thief but Shepard shouldn't be.

So what is the answer? How do we have an economy without petty theft and mining?

If Shepard needs to steal then let him steal large amounts, have big Heists and steal from bad guys: mercenary banks, money launderers, organized crime. Let his team plan and carry out Stings against dangerous characters, for instance: someone like Alia. Let his team carry out Capers like The Italian Job.

These are things that involve planning and role play. You plan the perfect crime, everything needs perfect timing, every(?) squad member has to play his/her role. You research access, cover stories, getaways, modify getaway vehicles, decide which squad member does what - will Miranda or Jack blend in best as the waitress at the party? Do you ask Grunt to follow a mark surreptitiously? or Thane? You could even choose costumes and disguises - use futuristic cosmetic surgery to change Shepard's appearance.

Your economy would be tied in directly to the story and have masses of character interaction and decision making. It would have appearance and gadget tweaking to the max! And it would be the ultimate in role playing - your character playing another character. Put the Role Playing back into RPG and ditch the historical/medieval baggage.

Obviously this would take a lot of planning and preparation and so would be a big chunk of the game. But that is a good thing as it has its own buildup and climax so it breaks up the game progression. The game isn't just build team for X hours, then have the suicide mission and climax. And this big chunk of game time has a big payoff.

I think that once a Heist/Sting/Caper moves into its execution phase then it enters a No Turning Back section just like the suicide mission at the end of ME2. You could maybe even lose squad members in the NTB section. Also, the game should throw a spanner into the works half way through the NTB section that forces you to think on your feet.

As an asside I want to mention my favorite part of ME2. It was the part where I had to seduce the naughty Asari (details omitted to avoid spoilers). I liked the fact that I was vulnerable, that I had no weapons. I liked the fact that it was character driven, that I had to work out what made her tick. Most other levels involved: good aiming, use of cover, pick the right weapon or find the 3 buttons that I need to press in the correct order so that I can open the door and switch off the thingy. <- Almost all games have some version of that, picking up Morinth was a refreshing change.

Unfortunately, after having played this a few times, it seems quite hard to fail (is it impossible?). I thought that I had made a mistake doing something that I was warned would bore her but I still caught her attention. I would have liked it if the game randomized things so that some characters were not there on different playthroughs or they didn't have the dialog options that I had got used to on other playthroughs. Basically the game should throw me curve balls to keep me thinking on my feet and a little nervous.

I would like to see more of this role playing in future Bioware games. I have no problem with shooting, I'm not asking for it to be removed, I'd just rather have less petty theft and more playing roles and more living in the story world and working within that world.

I had hoped that the Kasumi DLC would be like what I am suggesting but it was too limited. It was mostly: find the three triggers that open the door that you need to open to get to the thingy. And there was too much shooting, especially during the party. Shepard should have distracted the guards whilst Kasumi silently took out the guards behind and then Shepard could melee the last guard when he turns to see what is happening. Then they hide the bodies and everything is more sneaky and less shooty. If your Shepard is an Infiltrator then do some infiltrating!

Sorry for the long post.

TL;DR

Get rid of the anachronistic/historical RPG baggage and make the economy an integral part of the story. Lets play roles and make character customization, costume choice, and item modification an active part of the story. I think that that is more fun and more Role Playing than is: spreadsheet twiddling of weapon and armor characteristics.

PS

I'm not saying that customizing weapons and armor is not role playing, let's just have more ambition than that.

[Lumikki]

Not much to say.

Not sure how economy is connected to this?

Shepard tries to get or find or solve something what is needed or wanted and if it's even connected to story or make sense, thats just great. I would like more agent or "James Bond" style in missions. Where it's not just shoot everyone, but solve situations different ways. Yes, Kasumi missions first half was good example, nice start. Also one important thing is that, allow different ways to player solve situations, but NEVER make so that raw force is easyest solution.

Modifié par Lumikki, 03 janvier 2011 - 06:54 .

[1101000110100111]

Lumikki wrote...

Not sure how economy is connected to this?

I'm suggesting that we remove petty theft and mining and those are parts of our economy or resource gathering.

If we get rid of them then we need a replacement, another way of making a living. Its hard for Shepard because Shepard already has a job (galaxy saver :-) I'm suggesting that our new economy (way of making a living) be more deeply tied into the story and if its done via Heists/Stings/Capers then we get to do much more actual role playing.

So an economy change gives us more character/role-playing based gameplay.

Lumikki wrote...
Shepard tries to get or find or solve something what is needed or wanted and if it's even connected to story or make sense, thats just great. I would like more agent or "James Bond" style in missions. Where it's not just shoot everyone, but solve situations different ways. Yes, Kasumi missions first half was good example, nice start. Also one important thing is that, allow different ways to player solve situations, but NEVER make so that raw force is easyest solution.

Yes and I like the idea of being in danger where shooting your way out isn't an option. For example having a non-biotic under cover among a nest of enemies and then the game introduces a threat that could uncover our mole... We would have to work quickly in the background to head off this danger before our mole's cover is blown.

What if we are operating on Illium and a Quarian technichian discovers a wiretap that we have put in place? What if he is tracing the fibre optic cable back to the room where the bad guys are? How do we stop him? How can we do it quietly? With an Infiltrator melee attack? or can we tell tali to head him off and convince him that he has discovered a Quarian intelligence operation on behalf of the migrant Fleet? What do we do if he later sees a mixed bag of non-Quarians leaving with a MacGuffin? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin