This is how Bioware used to do it and the way I wish they would return to (I’ll use “Baldur’s Gate 2” as an example). The game would have more possible squadmates (party members) then there was room in the squad (quite a bit more to be sure) and the player had the freedom to choose any of these as soon as he found them in game. Some required a recruitment/loyalty style of quest before they would join. At this point the character became a permanent squadmate unless you decided to kick him out and replace him with a new one.
All of this meant that the player could freely choose his/hers favorite characters and the game didn’t force you to suffer the presence of those you dislike. Maybe even more importantly, this choice had a big impact on how the game progressed. A party without a rogue or a healer was possible but it made the game much harder. Evil squadmates would leave if you played too “nice” and good squadmates left if you were too evil. Also, some characters would get along fine with the protagonist but not with each other and you could not have them both in the party (in Mass Effect 2, Shepard can reconcile two mortal enemies with just a few words). Last but not least is the fact that this increases the game’s replay value (playing through a game with a different squad is a whole new experience when compared to just changing the class of the main character)
This approach to forming a squad isn’t perfect however. The most obvious flaw is that people often like and want to recruit more characters than the squad can hold. This also means that a lot more work has to be invested into the game. Still, I think that this way is superior to how mass effect treats its characters and that the extra work it requires would pay off.
I also wanted to mention my thoughts on how Bioware is going about promoting the last game of the trilogy (it’s somewhat related to the topic). In a game like Mass Effect the characters are as important as the story being told. The only fair way to promote any character related content is to reveal the status of all of them or none of them. Revealing the status of some but refusing to comment on the others is a sure way to alienate large groups of players. These are your fans and many are loyal customers, Bioware. As for me,I would rather know if my favorite characters are permanent squadmates or not. Even bad news is better than roasting on a spit for nine months.
I apologize if this was already discussed, I didn’t find a similar thread.
Modifié par broj1, 21 juin 2011 - 07:42 .
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