12 réponses à ce sujet

[LonewandererD]

Sorry if you find the title confusing I just wanted to share an idea I have. If in the future we start getting less companions we run the risk of getting too many of one class when you also factor in the PC e.g. if you were a rogue in DA:2 you could have total of 4 rogues in total or if you were a warrior in DA:O you could have a total of 4 warriors. Take into the fact that male companions are by and large more common than female companions of late we run the risk of the overall party feeling a bit..... unbalanced, both class and gender wise. Normally the gender and class of the companions is set in stone though their personalities maybe subject to change. In DA:2 we had the new idea of which of your sibling-companions is allowed to live depending on the PC's class which helped to even out some of the imbalances in the companion class distribution. So I had an idea, how about having a companion whose gender and class are both dependent on the PC's choices?

 

Here's my scenario, we have seven companions including the companion in question. We already have two of each class three of whom are males and three are females. The seventh companion will have the opposite gender to the PC, leading to four of each gender in the end. Now class choice will be dependent on what choice the PC made at a certain point in the game. Early in the game the PC in this situation will have met their first two companions, a female s&s-warrior and a male mage with this "variable companion" coming in as the third companion. Gender will automatically be the opposite of the PC, perhaps with a name and personality which is not constrained by their gender. Now if the PC is a warrior than the third character is a bow-rogue, if PC is a mage they become a dagger-rogue and if PC is a rogue then they become a 2h-warrior. By this order we end up with 2 of each gender and a balanced party class function wise from very early on the game.

 

Hell, to add onto this idea if the third companion is also set to be the opposite gender of the PC than their voice can actually be the PC default for that gender, e.g. a female PC has a companion who has the male PC voice. So in a very obscure way the player is actually kind of creating two characters, though for sake of simplicity and functionality their appearance and race will be predetermined.

 

Just another of the crazy ideas bouncing around in my head right now

 

-D-

[Computron2000]

Too much money spent for VAs for not much effect. If you said that the character's class affected the NPC's class (only not gender) then yes that would work

[LonewandererD]

Would it really cost too much? I mean, they had to record all the lines for Bethany and Carver knowing that almost all of them would go to waste in any given play through. Hell, given that most companions are optional I would thought that just writing more line for two voice actors for two different character would make more sense than bring in four voice actors in the long run.

 

-D-

[SporkFu]

I like this idea. I like it a lot, and your point about Bethany/Carver, or any of the other optional characters, is a good one... having said that, it's a matter of deciding how great a variance you want this character to have, in terms of race or class or gender. If you want to give them as much depth as any of the other NPCs, then yeah that's a lot of extra work, in terms of writing, appearance, back-story, voice-over, banter with the others. You know, it's several of each for one character. As the Illusive Man (from ME trilogy) says, "it's always a matter of resources." ...but I think, if done right, the reward has potential for a very big payoff. I'd support it.  

[LonewandererD]

As said, race and appearance will be predetermined. There would only one of two appearances with the race always being the same. A good character and there personality in my belief is not something that should be too heavily influenced by gender. It could be treated the same way that the PC's gender is treated, acknowledged with variations in conversations here and there but ultimately not too different. There could variations in some dialogue choices and party banter but I ultimately think that the variable companions personality could be essentially the same regardless of gender, kind of how PCs are treated in may other games.

 

Though this was just an idea I had and you do present valid points. More thinking for me then.

 

-D-

[kalasaurus]

As long as females don't get stuck with this guy's clone...

[LonewandererD]

Woops, forgot to mention. The third character has their won appearance completely unrelated to the PC. For example they would always appear as a blonde human even if the PC is a silver haired, tanned dwarf or dusky skinned bald qunari

 

-D-

[ThreeF]

Honestly, if I don't like the character as a character, I do not care what class he/she/it is. Are classes that important to people? I've had all sort of very unbalanced parties in DAI without any problem in combat.

[LonewandererD]

I understand my problem is that even though I don't like particular characters *cough, James Vega, cough* I still brought them along for the party banter and to see and hear things I wouldn't have normally. When I have too many of one thing to choose from I tend to end up bench-warming characters in favour of other characters which is something I hate. If I have equal numbers of class options among my companions that work with my PCs class I feel as though I can bring along new characters and try different groups without sacrificing gameplay efficiency. For example; I am playing a dual-dagger rogue on my nightmare run so I have no real reason to bring a long Cole, he has the same role as my PC and would unbalance my groups strengths and so gets left behind for one of the warriors. This is a shame as I like Cole, both his party banter and view on the world, so having him be delegated as a bench-warmer is something I would preferred to avoid. And no, before people point it out I won't make him an archer, I already have two and don't need three; again it is too much of one thing as now I couldn't field him in a group with either of my two other archers.

 

-D-

[Panda]

I guess then I would end up playing with the gender whose opposite gender companion I like more ^^;

[sch1986]

Yeah... My only issue with this is that in DA:I we have 9 companions to choose from total.
I like having more options, not less.

Also, what would end up happening is depending on which companion you get, would have a HUGE influence on what class and gender I end up playing.

I do not not want to have to play a warrior just so I can get that cool Mage character only available if you play a warrior.

Going off the Bethany/Carver example: I really hate Carver. He is my least favorite companion in ALL of the games. It sucked playing a Mage and knowing I would get Carver.

The reason they give you 3 of each class is so you can make a balanced party and still have options. You can still only bring three companions with you. If balance is your concern then just pick 1 of the same gender, 2 of the opposite and fill in with the classes you like.

[sch1986]

As an aside: the math doesn't add up right on this either. 3 warriors including PC, 2 rogues, 2 mages + 1 Mage variable character. Leaves you short 1 rogue. The genders might be equal, but I still don't see how a characters gender is more important than their class. In your case to have balance: there would need to be 2 Variable characters.

[LonewandererD]

I think your maths might be off, we're only off by one mage or one warrior at the end. 6 people already determined, 2 of each class. If PC is a mage or warrior than VC is a rogue, if PC is a rogue than VC is a warrior. End results would be

 

M,M,M R,R,R,W,W

or

M,M,R,R,R,W,W,W

 

If needed to bring up the total to be three of each a temporary warrior or mage character could be present to shore up the numbers. That actually works in regards to the story from which this situation is derived as I have an idea for advisors who could serves as temporary companions if the story needs it

 

-D-