214 réponses à ce sujet

[Sifr]

 

Being the first Dragonborn for hundreds of years?  Special snowflake.  Being "the" anything pretty much makes you a special snowflake.

But, then, there's always the other truism--normal people don't adventure.  There's a strong selection bias toward having every distinctive weirdo in the country in your adventuring party because the people with jobs and lives that haven't gone bananas are too busy for your crazy shenanigans.

 

Even more so since in addition to being the first Dragonborn in hundreds of years, in Skyrim you were the Last Dragonborn that the Elder Srolls foretold would face Alduin, thus making you the most important Dragonborn of them all. Definitely Special Snowflake there, but still pretty awesome nonetheless.

 

And I completely agree that most people simply don't want to get involved in crazy shenanigans.

 

Hawke was an awesome character in my view, not only because they were a weirdo running around Kirkwall getting into trouble, but because they weren't the Chosen One meant to save the world. Hawke was one of those people that people like the Warden or Inquisitor don't often tend to think about when making vast decisions that affect people's lives, forgetting that they can simply move on to the next town afterwards, but the people they left behind still have to deal with the aftermath of those choices.

 

Say that if for example that Hawke's family would have settled in Amarathine instead, now imagine how they'd feel about the Warden-Commander having the choice to abandon the city at the end of Awakening to save Vigil's Keep instead? Some "Hero of Ferelden" that turned out to be, right?

 

It's okay to be a special snowflake, but the writer has to still ground the character in being fundamentally human (or elf, dwarf or Qunari) at the core, reflect on their choices and admit their flaws, otherwise you risk the character becoming a Mary Sue. ME3 at least got a balance with that, as despite everyone heralding Shepard as a saviour, you got to see that they were increasingly worn out by the conflict. When Shepard failed, they failed hard and those moments broke them a little bit.

[Allan Schumacher]

Technically this is "plot armor".  Special Snowflake syndrome refers to characters having WILDLY unusual or even unique traits.  Sten could be a bit of a Special Snowflake because even with his backstory the justification for a lone Qunari to be way the heck out in the middle of Fereldan was pretty weak.  Shale was 100% special snowflake but that was also kind of the *point* with her.  Wynne was a bit of a special snowflake due to her unique possession.  Fenris was a special snowflake.  Anders would have been except Wynne beat him to the punch with the possessed bit.

 

It's mostly semantics at this point.

 

When I'm referring to "special snowflakes" you know what I mean though.  I'm likely not going to change my usage because it's how I've been applying the term in my time on the forum, particularly because the player character (and their party) are able to accomplish stuff simply by virtue of being the player character, while no one else is able to accomplish sometimes even the most menial of tasks.

[Jigglypuff]

I like special snowflake syndrome, It's super cool to be unique and be original.

[Mockingword]

I wonder if anybody knows how it feels to actually be unique and original.

[Jigglypuff]

I wonder if anybody knows how it feels to actually be unique and original.

 

don't worry you will feel ti at least like once in your life.

[TheLastArchivist]

Every protagonist in a story must have some attribute that differentiates him from the reat and establishes him as being the hero.

 

It can be a spiritual quality, a physical condition, a social status, a special training he received, a karmic matter, anything that creates the conditions for him to fulfill his destiny.

[Giantdeathrobot]

Any protagonist in any RPG is a special snowflake to some degree. I mean, let's forget Bioware RPGs for a second;

 

Fallout 1? You drew the straw and go on to save the region from evil mutants all by your lonesome. The character then goes to to found a quasi-utopia.

 

Fallout 2? You're outright called the Chosen One and save the entire world from a bunch of despostic proto-nazis. Even if you're a dunce that speaks like a caveman.

 

Planescape: Torment? Ye gods, where to begin. Thousand-years old unkillable superhuman badass who decides the fate of entire planes in his sleep. The party counts as well, much more than in any other game I've ever played.

 

Fallout: New Vegas? Person who survives two bullets to the head and go on to decide the fate of the Mojave by your lonesome. The DLCs reinforce this even further.

 

Alpha Protocol? Trained superspy that uncovers and stops (or takes over, even) global conspiracies on a daily basis. Michael is an american James Bond on steroids.

 

The Witcher? Special mutant supersoldier who kills epic monsters as part of his sunday strolls, gets all the hot babes, decides the fate of kings and survives fatal wounds because magic.

 

Bethesda games? You're always the Chosen One Of Destiny And Prophecy Who Changes The World Because The Elder Scrolls Say So. Always. Sometimes several times per game, for several different prophecies. Particularily bad in Skyrim.

 

And I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. Are the above bad games? No, they're pretty much all classics of the genre. Given the level of challenges a typical RPG imposes on the player, the PC needs to be a super special badass snowflake. No other type of character can do what they're required to do.

 

It's interesting when, like with Hawke, writers play with this concept. But even if he fails at many things, Hawke is still an ultra-badass face-smasher who eats demons and insane mages for breakfeast, surrounded by important and super-special people.

 

If I want to read about more ordinary protagonists, there's books for that, or games like The Last of Us (and even then). But in epic RPGs where your character has a contractual obligation to solve big problems, make important decisions and kill the biggest, meanest monsters he can find? It would be kinda hard to have Joe the plumber do all that.

[A.Kazama]

don't worry you will feel ti at least like once in your life.

Once!?

 

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that...

[Dominus]

Any protagonist in any RPG is a special snowflake to some degree.

That's something verrry difficult to avoid for a Player Character, I will agree to that...though some RPGs have tried to avoid that to a degree. The only exception I can think of would arguably be an MMO where the successes rely more on communal efforts and the world doesn't rest as heavily on your choices as an individual or hereditary/legacy traits. V:tmB's only special snowflakiness would be their origin, as far as I can remember. I dunno.

It's okay to be a special snowflake, but the writer has to still ground the character in being fundamentally human (or elf, dwarf or Qunari) at the core, reflect on their choices and admit their flaws, otherwise you risk the character becoming a Mary Sue.

Which I think Sylvius covered a bit earlier in the topic, and I'd also prefer the "special snowflake" effects have more focus on your own choices than something inherently part of your PC. Some of that's unavoidable, though. The Inquisitor's a leader and his/her unique ability is going to have an effect.

For DA:I, Special Snowflake Syndrome isn't fully possible to Circumvent. I'd suspect a great deal of how that aspect turns out is up to the devs when the final version appears.

[myahele]

Alistair is probably the most special snowflake of all the characters.

[Dreadstruck]

Any protagonist in any RPG is a special snowflake to some degree. I mean, let's forget Bioware RPGs for a second;

 

Fallout 1? You drew the straw and go on to save the region from evil mutants all by your lonesome. The character then goes to to found a quasi-utopia.

 

Fallout 2? You're outright called the Chosen One and save the entire world from a bunch of despostic proto-nazis. Even if you're a dunce that speaks like a caveman.

 

Planescape: Torment? Ye gods, where to begin. Thousand-years old unkillable superhuman badass who decides the fate of entire planes in his sleep. The party counts as well, much more than in any other game I've ever played.

 

Fallout: New Vegas? Person who survives two bullets to the head and go on to decide the fate of the Mojave by your lonesome. The DLCs reinforce this even further.

 

Alpha Protocol? Trained superspy that uncovers and stops (or takes over, even) global conspiracies on a daily basis. Michael is an american James Bond on steroids.

 

The Witcher? Special mutant supersoldier who kills epic monsters as part of his sunday strolls, gets all the hot babes, decides the fate of kings and survives fatal wounds because magic.

 

Bethesda games? You're always the Chosen One Of Destiny And Prophecy Who Changes The World Because The Elder Scrolls Say So. Always. Sometimes several times per game, for several different prophecies. Particularily bad in Skyrim.

 

And I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. Are the above bad games? No, they're pretty much all classics of the genre. Given the level of challenges a typical RPG imposes on the player, the PC needs to be a super special badass snowflake. No other type of character can do what they're required to do.

 

It's interesting when, like with Hawke, writers play with this concept. But even if he fails at many things, Hawke is still an ultra-badass face-smasher who eats demons and insane mages for breakfeast, surrounded by important and super-special people.

 

If I want to read about more ordinary protagonists, there's books for that, or games like The Last of Us (and even then). But in epic RPGs where your character has a contractual obligation to solve big problems, make important decisions and kill the biggest, meanest monsters he can find? It would be kinda hard to have Joe the plumber do all that.

 

Pretty good examples. However, I always thought that the Special Snowflake in Oblivion was mostly Sean Bean Martin Septim, the Dragonborn king who banishes Dagon. You just... kinda happen to help him. And survive.

[Maliken]

The Witcher? Special mutant supersoldier who kills epic monsters as part of his sunday strolls, gets all the hot babes, decides the fate of kings and survives fatal wounds because magic.
 

 

I wouldn't really consider Geralt a special snowflake, even while he does have certain attributes that make him different than other Witchers.  He's essentially part of a dying order that takes young children and submits them to grueling experiments so they can better survive encounters with the creatures they have to deal with. 

Witchers are generally regarded as outcasts and not welcome in settlements unless they are needed to solve problems, their schools are in ruin and they're reviled simply for the fact that they're seen as relics from an era that the world is trying to move on from.

 

Sure, Geralt does come in situations where his decisions can have a large impact on the world around him, but he's also often been used as a pawn by said kings and he made it clear that he does not wish to get involved in politics.
 

[Sifr]

Pretty good examples. However, I always thought that the Special Snowflake in Oblivion was mostly Sean Bean Martin Septim, the Dragonborn king who banishes Dagon. You just... kinda happen to help him. And survive.

 

Until Shivering Isles, when you become the new Sheogorath... because let it not be said that the Elder Scrolls universe doesn't have just as much of an wicked sense of humour as the Daedric Prince of Madness!

 

And now we've seen the trailer we now finally know how much of a Special Snowflake our Inquisitor is.

 

Able to survive an event that killed thousands and reduced the people next to them into char-grilled corpses (flame proof underwear?) and able to create a green-thingy in their hand, which can close the Fade Tears. Also the ability to annoy Cassandra.

 

[Truffle]

Funny, I call people too stupid to fit in any category as special snowflakes. I wasn't aware there was a positive spin.

[Reever]

With all the talk about special snowflakes and the like...it's funny how some companions will ultimately be involved more in some of biggest events in the history of Thedas....

 

Okay, we can't know yet what roles Hawke and The Warden will play (if still alive etc.), but still. Funny thought.