Yes, here is something to simply "play" with. Tie it to an interesting side quest, maybe. Over-power it or under-power it, as long as it's possible to complete the game by using it. Letting NPCs notice and comment on it, even. "Oh, we left that in there? That was just for our own testing!"
2. Giving us an end-game payoff that has playable components.
A "veteran" or "long-service" medal is nice and all, but how about something we can use when we play the game again. Maybe this is NG+. Or maybe just a few special artifacts we can buy during subsequent play-throughs - whoops, how did those become available from the weapons vendor? Or, unlocking an entire campaign companion not previously available. Where did she come from? A few "errors" in a few lines of code, and maybe you'll decide to fix these "bugs", or maybe not.
3. Making the bonds formed between characters more believable.
While you're ensuring that Skippy the dwarf works as an NPC who will apparently sleep with anyone of any race/gender/persuasion after a few dates, forget to make sure that he's also attracted to two-handed fighters. And Blood Mages. And people who would deliver party members back into slavery. And party leaders who would sacrifice part of the group just to side with the supposedly sworn enemy. And kleptomaniacs who are always wearing purple.
4. Making us think our choices matter to the game.
We know the story is basically set in stone, and its final destination is inevitable. We know its characters are going to do what they're going to do, no matter how the player plays the game, or played a preceding game. But maybe my Blood Mage doesn't level up the same way my Fighter would when I use Blood Magic to rid a town of a terrorizing Blood Mage. Oops. Maybe on the very first major party quest, my rogue decides to take a little off the top of the reward for himself, and one of the companions gets upset and never rejoins the party. Whoops. And even though someone somewhere inevitably lets an evil genie out of the bottle that comparatively makes our own major conflicts seem like meaningless minor squabbles, our words and deeds would undoubtedly have a marked effect on how the world approaches handling this evil genie. In time, you could be forgiven for forgetting that most final battles in gaming are supposed to resemble little more than a race to the bottom of a health bar.
6. Not talking about the game all that much before it's released.
Imagine working on the game, making the game you want to make, but then not having any time to publicly talk about it that much. Imagine having too much work to be able to stress over having to pre-explain or pre-justify things that may not end up in the released cut of the game. Imagine not having the time to experience the effects of community misunderstanding after misunderstanding as previews designed to sate appetites are constantly chewed up and spit out, no matter how appealing they seem to be. "Sorry, guys, but we've been working so hard on this game, we haven't had any time to talk about it. Hopefully we'll have a trailer up one or two months before release." You could be forgiven for this, too.
Modifié par jds1bio, 04 décembre 2012 - 07:35 .
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