49 réponses à ce sujet

[Foolsfolly]

Replaying Mass Effect has reminded me of something I'd love to see happen in DA3. In ME1 during the character creator you can choose one from three personal histories and 3 psychological profiles to define your Commander Shepard.

This is a simple and cheap (compared to full out origins) way to allow the player to personalize their PC. The current Shepard I made, for example, is a colony kid who at 16 was attacked by batarian slavers. Her whole family and everyone she ever knew was killed or taken. She alone survived. She inlisted into the military as soon as possible and became renown for her ruthless pursuit of goals. On Torfan her anger and relentless drive led to the complete slaughter of the batarians hidden on that moon. She also got a nice nifty scar that bisects her right eyebrow during the battle (please allow us to have scars in DA3. ME2 and ME3 took away our scars!). She is relentless and capable of being a walking war crime against slavers and batarians in general.

Now that's cool. While creating the look of the character I also choose the past and personality of the character. Since origins are often expensive (whole missions that many players will only see once if at all) this is a nice easy way to allow us to craft the character even before the character takes its first step.

And it's perfect for DA3. Throw in a few references and dialogues to the PC's past and psych profiles and you've just allowed the player a chance to connect on a deeper level with the character. We all win! It's cheaper than orgins, players feel more connected to the character, and it's just plain cool.

Now I'm a fan which means given a stage I will ask for the moon. But I'm also semi-reasonable. Even if this stuff gets mentioned like 3-5 times throughout an entire 50-60 hour game I'll be extremely happy. But Maker do not let that stop you from having personal past/profile based side quests or even entire plot lines.

And I'd like a horse.

In real life.

A new one. I'm sick of my old one.

Modifié par Foolsfolly, 30 septembre 2012 - 03:43 .

[ParkBom]

+1 I love what ME1 did with Shepard's history.

[Chromie]

I'd rather have a bio I can fill out myself but since it will most likely have a set protagonist I guess this is better than what DA2 forced us to deal with.

Modifié par Skelter192, 30 septembre 2012 - 03:51 .

[Lithuasil]

Just steal the way Fallout 3 handled the "origin story / tutorial". There's no excuse not to.

[Foolsfolly]

Skelter192 wrote...

I'd rather have a bio I can fill out myself but since it will most likely have a set protagonist I guess this is better than what DA2 forced us to deal with.

I enjoy making up backstories for my characters too. But being a BioWare RPG you can bet there's an actual hard storyline and progression. Story and character work always shine in their games and having these choices referenced in-game helps ground your character in that world while giving the player some agency in developing their character.

It's not flawless but it was so well done in ME1. If given an unlimited budget I'd prefer Origin stories each and every time. And mutliple races. And multiple origins based on class. I mean like 20 origins would be to my liking.

In ME1 the descriptions are so small but focused that you can imagine the events around them. I've picked the Colonist background the most and while the same event happens to those Shepards how I imagine those events shaped them changes. It's just enough information without spelling it out and taking away your imagined events. It's rather elegant in its simplicity.

Lithuasil wrote...

Just steal the way Fallouat 3 handled the "origin story / tutorial". There's no excuse not to.

That was just a simple single origin. You're always Liam Neeson's off-spring, raised in Vault 101, and eventually given a reason to escape the Vault when your father does.

If they steal any Betheseda opening I'd prefer it to be an Elder Scrolls game. "Your story starts here as a prisoner, why are you a prisoner? Figure it out yourself." But again I'd rather have the ME style past/profile choice.

[Lithuasil]

Foolsfolly wrote...

That was just a simple single origin. You're always Liam Neeson's off-spring, raised in Vault 101, and eventually given a reason to escape the Vault when your father does.

True - and ideally there'd be multiple origins like this. But the far more important part is - it gave you a somewhat consistent impression of your early life, and most important of all - it introduced the player to the concepts of the game-world at the same time the character was confronted with them, which is (imho) infinitely preferable to the all-too-common in medias res approach of "orcs come to your village, pick up stick for combat tutorial".

[eweandwhosearmy]

Origins would be cool. Full, playable missions are obviously preferable, but even a simple block of text with a bit of reactivity or resonance in the main story/character interactions would be great. Of course I love room to define a character, but having a completely blank slate is on fun at all. Something like this would go a long way, to be sure.

[Todd23]

I want to choose my race, class, and native land. I don't have to start playing there. Just choose where I came from.

[Plaintiff]

It's as valid as any other method, I suppose.

[Eveangaline]

I've never played MA, but this sounds pretty good.

[silentspec111]

Choosing a player background like ME could indeed be a good idea. I hope this is a feature available in DA3. This way we wont have a static origin like DA2 and also get player background diversity without doing it like they did it on origins which bioware has mentioned they wont be doing again.

Modifié par silentspec111, 30 septembre 2012 - 06:03 .

[sylvanaerie]

I wouldn't mind that at all. What happened in your past affects how you react to things (to an extent) in the present/future. It would allow for lots of roleplay opportunities and still not take up too much time/resources as, for instance, an entire origin. I never played through ME1, let alone the other games, I am not good with shoot 'em up games (though I will have to give it another go since I've played a smuggler in SWTOR and see if it's any better for me).

[Little Princess Peach]

Im torn between ME1's background and having a tutorial background story like in the Tes games.

[Foolsfolly]

sylvanaerie wrote...

I wouldn't mind that at all. What happened in your past affects how you react to things (to an extent) in the present/future. It would allow for lots of roleplay opportunities and still not take up too much time/resources as, for instance, an entire origin. I never played through ME1, let alone the other games, I am not good with shoot 'em up games (though I will have to give it another go since I've played a smuggler in SWTOR and see if it's any better for me).

To show to those of you that haven't played ME1 here are the descriptions for the three histories:

Spacer: Both of your parents were in the Alliance military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for
more than a few years. Following in your parent's footsteps, you
enlisted at the age of eighteen.


Earthborn: You were an orphan raised on the streets of the great
megatropolises covering Earth. You escaped the life of petty crime and
underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when you turned
eighteen.


Colonist: You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse.
When you were sixteen, slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family
and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol, and you
enlisted with the military a few years later.

And psych profiles:

Sole Survivor: During your service, a mission you were on went
horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to
overcome physical torments and psychological stresses that would have
broken most people. You survived while all those around you fell, and
now you alone are left to tell the tale. The Sole Survivor's unit was
slaughtered in a thresher maw attack on Akuze.

War Hero: Early in your military career you found yourself facing
an overwhelming enemy force. You risked your own life to save your
fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. Your
bravery and heroism have earned you medals and recognition from the
Alliance fleet. The War Hero almost single-handedly repelled an attack
by batarian slavers on Elysium.

Ruthless: Throughout your military career, you have held fast to
one basic rule: get the job done. You've been called cold, calculating,
and brutal. Your reputation for ruthless efficiency makes your fellow
soldiers wary of you. But when failure is not an option, the military
always goes to you first. The Ruthless character sent 3/4ths of his/her
unit to its death and murdered surrendering batarians on Torfan.

You can mix one from the first batch and one from the second. It's just enough to have references in the game (many references and even a side mission) while giving the player enough to imagine and roleplay from those.

Modifié par Foolsfolly, 30 septembre 2012 - 07:39 .

[Dave of Canada]

I'd like to see ME's system in replacement for Origins, it could still work with the whole personal protagonist thing they had with DA2. Would be nice to fill in the details of what you've done, rather than just randomly received a letter which says things.

[KiwiQuiche]

YES SCARS. I loved the scar my Femshep had on her cheek. Also the quest she got as she was a Colonist and she had to talk down that frightened woman with a gun. I loved it, it was so different from the quests I was used to.

Gimme more stuff like that please

[Swagger7]

It would be nice to have backstory options like this that would enable the occasional alternative bit of dialogue throughout the game.

[DarkKnightHolmes]

No, beside one side quest in ME1, history has meant nothing in ME2/3 and serves to just have one dialogue change in ME2/3. I rather have origins to actually experience this and know that it's just more than written text and a few comments.

Modifié par DarkKnightHolmes, 30 septembre 2012 - 11:36 .

[Chipaway111]

DarkKnightHolmes wrote...

No, beside one side quest in ME1, history has meant nothing in ME2/3 and serves to just have one dialogue change in ME2/3. I rather have origins to actually experience this and know that it's just more than written text and a few comments.

If you're thinking of DA:O style origins, then anyone can argue it was the exact same. You were the same warden, fighting the same blight. I like the idea of a short simplistic background choice.

I normally always choose a colonist background coupled with Akuze as Shepards defining moment, why? Because apparently I like torturing my Shepard, but it meant she could either be strengthened by this, or broken. Origins did the same thing but with more interactivity involved, but both were acknowledged with a few lines of dialogue. ME1's style seems like a compromise, and that's what DA3 is all about.

I'd rather DA3's budget go into something other than deciding whether or not my protagonist had a happy saccahrine life or was put through hell on Earth (Thedas?) before the game even begins.

[DarkKnightHolmes]

Chipaway111 wrote...

DarkKnightHolmes wrote...

No, beside one side quest in ME1, history has meant nothing in ME2/3 and serves to just have one dialogue change in ME2/3. I rather have origins to actually experience this and know that it's just more than written text and a few comments.

If you're thinking of DA:O style origins, then anyone can argue it was the exact same. You were the same warden, fighting the same blight. I like the idea of a short simplistic background choice.

I normally always choose a colonist background coupled with Akuze as Shepards defining moment, why? Because apparently I like torturing my Shepard, but it meant she could either be strengthened by this, or broken. Origins did the same thing but with more interactivity involved, but both were acknowledged with a few lines of dialogue. ME1's style seems like a compromise, and that's what DA3 is all about.

I'd rather DA3's budget go into something other than deciding whether or not my protagonist had a happy saccahrine life or was put through hell on Earth (Thedas?) before the game even begins.

It was more than a "few". It's extremely rare for your origin to be recognised in the ME series and most people only recognise you as the "Saviour of Citadel" or Commander Shepard. Your origin plays no part in your character. In ME3 alone, you only get the mum comment and one dialogue from Hackett when in the Cerberus HQ mission.  Plus your origin can make you a paragon in Orzammor, get a new home for the Dalish Elves, make an elf a bann and become queen/king of fereldan. In ME, nothing like that ever happens.

[NRieh]

Imo, if you headcanon-type of player - you'll build your Hawke's personality and background without any problems, because there were a lot of both space and "crafting materials" for your imagination.

If you're not that kind of player - different origins and psychotypes will not add anything to your playthrough, and I don't see why one might need them. I doubt anyone who choses RP games believes that each and every detail of hero's past and future should be described in codex or happen directly in-game.

[Chipaway111]

DarkKnightHolmes wrote...

Chipaway111 wrote...

DarkKnightHolmes wrote...

No, beside one side quest in ME1, history has meant nothing in ME2/3 and serves to just have one dialogue change in ME2/3. I rather have origins to actually experience this and know that it's just more than written text and a few comments.

If you're thinking of DA:O style origins, then anyone can argue it was the exact same. You were the same warden, fighting the same blight. I like the idea of a short simplistic background choice.

I normally always choose a colonist background coupled with Akuze as Shepards defining moment, why? Because apparently I like torturing my Shepard, but it meant she could either be strengthened by this, or broken. Origins did the same thing but with more interactivity involved, but both were acknowledged with a few lines of dialogue. ME1's style seems like a compromise, and that's what DA3 is all about.

I'd rather DA3's budget go into something other than deciding whether or not my protagonist had a happy saccahrine life or was put through hell on Earth (Thedas?) before the game even begins.

It was more than a "few". It's extremely rare for your origin to be recognised in the ME series and most people only recognise you as the "Saviour of Citadel" or Commander Shepard. Your origin plays no part in your character. In ME3 alone, you only get the mum comment and one dialogue from Hackett when in the Cerberus HQ mission.  Plus your origin can make you a paragon in Orzammor, get a new home for the Dalish Elves, make an elf a bann and become queen/king of fereldan. In ME, nothing like that ever happens.

For me, Shepards origin played a large part in her character because her background was reflected in the choices she made, but I never expected the game to actively acknowledge "She shot ___ because her early life taught her to never leave loose threads" or something like that. That's all up to the player though and their style of role-playing, I don't expect everyone's to mirror mine.

When it came to DA2 though, did those prizes/titles really mean much? It was only ever mentioned in dialogue, or a text-box telling us they went on to become ______. It never affected the Wardens primary role, or indeed Hawkes. Sometimes their origins just meant some NPC was an ass or not. Sure it was nice but asking for that again in DA3 seems indulgent. I suggested (and I'm sure I'm not the first) that human remains the only racial choice and give us more backstories to choose from, but don't let it affect the end game to much because a lot of handwaving is involved in the next installment.

[Gervaise]

I have a good imagination so it is perfectly possible for me to headcanon a generic character. However, I love the Origins back stories, particularly the city elf and the Circle mage. It gave a definite reference point for the character as was reflected in later encounters. The Circle mage in particular gave a different perspective to finding Jowan in the dungeon and how you dealt with him.

Failing that sort of set up though, I would be happy with the ME1 approach. It did lead on to a related side quest, which would be impossible with something that only existed in your own head. So if a similar thing were done for DA3 and then reference either in conversation or side quests (or both) that would be better than no sort of background at all or essentially exactly the same one every time (as in DA2)

[MichaelStuart]

I support this idea.

[Josh3598]

I agree.
And I'd like one of the origins to make the PC related to Hawke and the Human Mage Warden.
Doesn't have to be a big detail, or a plot point, it's just I like the idea of all my player characters being related, or at least having the option to be.