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Do You Want Any *Real* Dysfunction?

Débuté par Guest_Trista Hawke_* , juil. 22 2013 05:36

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#1
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:36

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Edit for Clarification: I meant "real" as in "severe" vs. something watered down. Like... "How about a REAL drink!" and someone hands you whiskey rather than apple juice. 

Week in and week out, I read a lot of posts regarding companions, friendships, family relations, romances, and so forth.  A great deal of DA fans seem to yearn for normalcy and balance. They want functional romances and functional friendships and functional family ties.

Why? Not criticizing, mind you. I am simply curious. 

I guess, to me, it doesn't sound like a very challenging game if I'm walking into an easy social situation, whether it's with a sibling, friend, or romantic interest. Plus it doesn't feel very believable since even the nicest of relationships have significant downsides (in real life). 

Do any of you want dysfunction? I mean real dysfunction. I'm not talking about a friend, relative, or LI who whines too much and disagrees with your protag's agenda.

Real dysfunction.

Wouldn't it be interesting to have to deal with a sibling, friend, or lover who stalks or harasses your protagonist? Maybe someone who is abusive, whether physically or emotionally, driven by a severe drug/alcohol problem. Someone who lies to you. Cheats you. Cheats on you. Hurts you. I mean really hurts you.

Or does that unnerve you too much?

Does it anger you?  

Are you not up to an interactive challenge like that? 

Does it hit too close to home?

Do you really just want the entire social aspect handed to you on a shiny, silver platter with only minimal discrepancies along the way?

Discuss.

Modifié par Trista Hawke, 22 juillet 2013 - 07:11 .

#2
Neon Rising Winter
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:43

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Good god no, I have real friends, real family and real life to provide real dysfunction, why on earth would I pay someone for more?

#3
Angrywolves
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:45

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No.
Feel the games real challenges will be enough.
We don't even know yet what sort of modes the game will have aka easy, normal, hard, and nightmare.
If we have those that' enough challenge without bizarre plot devices.

#4
ilikesocks
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:46

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Um no, that doesn't interest me, lol. Someone who abuses me? No thanks. Well, try to. My character would kick their *** and that'd be the end of that.

#5
Am1vf
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:46

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Maybe the Brosca mother in the Common Dwarf Origin in Dragon Age Origins?

Personally I it like when things like this are represented in fiction as long as it doesn't absorb the whole story.

Imagine how boring it would be to come to this forums without all the disfunctional people posting! ;P

#6
thats1evildude
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:47

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Why would you bring complete nutters on a quest to save the world?

Our companions in both games are at about the right level of dysfunction. Crazy enough to be interesting, but not so broken as to be useless.

Modifié par thats1evildude, 22 juillet 2013 - 05:48 .

#7
Diefenbaker
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:48

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Maybe for some of us it's a psychological thing. Maybe we use these games as a way of taking control because we lack control of our own dysfunctional families?

#8
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:48

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Aw come on. You guys (except for Am1_vf) are being wussies. (Kidding, don't murder me.)

#9
Magdalena11
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:48

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Narrow Margin wrote...

Good god no, I have real friends, real family and real life to provide real dysfunction, why on earth would I pay someone for more?


I couldn't have said it better myself!

#10
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:51

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thats1evildude wrote...

Why would you bring complete nutters on a quest to save the world?

Our companions in both games are at about the right level of dysfunction. Crazy enough to be interesting, but not so broken as to be useless.

 

Ahhh but the game is all about choices. You don't have to bring the exceptionally dysfunctional ones. But if you don't you might be missing out on a greater challenge. 

#11
Blackrising
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:51

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Narrow Margin wrote...

Good god no, I have real friends, real family and real life to provide real dysfunction, why on earth would I pay someone for more?


#12
Ziggeh
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:52

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Narrow Margin wrote...

Good god no, I have real friends, real family and real life to provide real dysfunction, why on earth would I pay someone for more?

Because that's what we call "story"?

#13
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:52

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"I want everything easy and smooth sailin!"

Hey if there's a nightmare mode for combat, there should be a nightmare mode for behavior. 

Modifié par Trista Hawke, 22 juillet 2013 - 05:52 .

#14
Luxorek
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:52

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I would say half of the DA2 characters could pass as dysfunctional. No, really... just think about it.

But, to answer the question. I would welcome any change, though I don't really see how your PC would want to associate himself with a really dysfunctional character. Then again... perhaps it could involve some family ties, or a companion going through trauma [perhaps some heavy topic, like rape?].

I wouldn't mind having something that would break your typical Bioware character routine, though they didn't really pull it off with Jack in ME2 in my opinion. I imagine writing someone like this cannot be easy.

#15
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:53

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Ziggeh wrote...

Narrow Margin wrote...

Good god no, I have real friends, real family and real life to provide real dysfunction, why on earth would I pay someone for more?

Because that's what we call "story"?

 

This.

#16
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:55

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Game of Thrones is an incredibly popular book series (and TV show).

It is not smooth sailing and the sheer level of dysfunction in it runs absolutely rampant.

#17
funmachine
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:55

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A certain level of dysfunction would be nice, but as someone else pointed out the companions should still be useful additions to your group despite their issues. Otherwise you get the same situation like ME, where everyone you meet is somehow flawless and the best at whatever it is they do. I realize that's a complete and utter simplification, but I just couldn't shake that feeling while playing the ME series. DA did the companions a lot better in my opinion. So MOAR dysfunction for all! ^^

#18
Neon Rising Winter
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:56

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Trista Hawke wrote...

Ziggeh wrote...

Narrow Margin wrote...

Good god no, I have real friends, real family and real life to provide real dysfunction, why on earth would I pay someone for more?

Because that's what we call "story"?

 

This.



No, real dysfunction makes for bad story I think, at least bad video game story. What grinds you down with a lot of that stuff is how it's amundane and ordinary aspect of your everyday life over months and years. Video games are more an edited highlights kind of medium. Sure you could do that, but it trivialises it into, well, video game dysfunction.

Modifié par Narrow Margin, 22 juillet 2013 - 05:56 .

#19
CronoDragoon
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:58

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I don't care one way or another. I want a great game, and I think that can happen with a "safe" companion system or a volatile one.

What I *would* want is to know ahead of time just how volatile the system is, so that I can play accordingly.

Modifié par CronoDragoon, 22 juillet 2013 - 06:03 .

#20
Guest_Trista Hawke_*
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:58

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I think there's a difference between dysfunction and uselessness.

You could meet someone in a game that is incredibly sweet and will kiss your protag's butt, yet they are utterly useless.

#21
Iakus
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 05:58

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I think the problem isn't dysfunction so much as characters having one particular obsession that ends up consuming their lives and relationships. It ends up defining them, making them less complex characters and more a problem for the protagonist to fix

That strikes me as something different from your typical day to day struggles in a relationship

Modifié par iakus, 22 juillet 2013 - 05:59 .

#22
ilikesocks
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 06:02

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I think Anders was dysfunctional. But what you are talking about is on a whole new level... Why on earth would anyone want to be abused by someone with a heavy drug/alcohol problem? I wouldn't want that in real life, why would I want to play a game about it? Maybe I'm boring, but, that all just sounds unnecessary.

#23
Magdalena11
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 06:02

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OK, no matter what class I play I have superpowers. I am incredibly attractive and rich and powerful. It's up to me to save the world, or possibly push it off a figurative cliff. Am I going to resort to realism now?

#24
AlanC9
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 06:04

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I like it fine. As others have said, though, there has to be a good reason to keep the character around.

#25
BouncyFrag
Posté 22 juillet 2013 - 06:06

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I'm down for some crazy. Regardless of 'temperment', I think quality is key. Most of the DA2 companions had their own quirky issues, but I couldn't really stand most of them at a basic, fundamental level.
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