46 réponses à ce sujet

[chris2365]

So, I recently played the Walking Dead video games (seasons 1 and 2). I have to say they were fantastic experiences, with great stories, characters and choices, just like Bioware games. (On a side note, you guys should definitely give the games a shot if you get the chance. Tears were shed ... )

 

One thing that made the dialogue and choices interesting was TellTale's decision to include a timer on dialogue choices. Once presented with your dialogue options, you had a limited amount of time to make a choice. This added lots of tension to the scenes, and made you go with your initial gut reaction, just like you would in real life. You also had the option to not speak at all, and this was another potential choice.

 

After finishing the games, I began to wonder if Bioware should implement a similar timer into MEA or future titles. I can see why it would work. Sometimes, when I have to make a decision, I can spend a lot of time thinking, which doesn't really make sense with the context of the situation. For example, you can have Sovereign attacking the Citadel for half an hour while you decide whether or not to save the Council, and that kind of kills any urgency or impact that the scene should have.

 

On the flip side, Bioware games have a lot more dialogue than TellTale's, with a lot more decision to take into account. In that case, I always prefer having a bit more time to think over my decision. It is a lot easier to go back into a Walking Dead episode that is one hour in length and change a decision, compared to 50 hour RPGs like Mass Effect.

 

In the end, I think Bioware should implement a timer, but only in certain scenes. Scenes that have critical decisions to be made or have a certain immediacy to them should have one, as should emotionally charged scenes. Like I mentioned above, dialogue in the heat of battle should have a timer. Also, scenes like opening Grunt's tank in ME2 could have benefited from a timer. If you didn't make a choice fast enough, Grunt could kill you, logically. Your Shepard would have to quick with his tongue in a situation, and not let Grunt hold him for 10 minutes straight.

 

Obviously, most dialogue choices wouldn't require a timer. Casually talking to squadmembers, learning information about new places, etc. wouldn't require a timer. I think about 10% of all dialogue choices should have a timer, and only use it when necessary, to add immediacy and impact to a scene.

 

What do you guys think? 

[SKAR]

That's the stupidest crap. Give me time to decide and no deciding for me. I decide what I want. I play the game as I see fit. I'm not usually a renegade but maybe I want to pick a renegade decision. And Mass Effect isnt tell tale or the walking dead. They are not the same games.

[ash2ashes]

Nah.

[KirkyX]

It'd have to be an optional thing, I think. As someone who likes to roleplay characters rather than, well, myself, I don't often want my 'initial gut reaction' to have much to do with the decision my character makes. Instead, I think about what the character I'm roleplaying would do, based on the personality traits I've established for her, and then pick that. Now, once I've been roleplaying the same character for a decent amount of time, this process becomes much quicker/less 'conscious', but it'd still be mostly incompatible with a timer.

 

The occasional timers in The Witcher 3 worked, but unless BioWare intend to make a game with that style of protagonist - a pre-established character whose appearance and basic personality are set before you even start playing - I don't think they'd be a particularly good fit for Andromeda.

 

Hey, I could be wrong. I've certainly enjoyed plenty of games with timer-based dialogue systems - Telltale's stuff, the aforementioned Witcher, Alpha Protocol - in the past, so I'm not fundamentally against the idea, and it could just be that I'm not thinking of a good way to implement it.

[LinksOcarina]

Know what....for some conversations yes.

 

Would definitly make things interesting....

[Iakus]

I always liked that about Telltale games.  And Alpha Protocol.

 

I can understand that it's not for everyone too, though.

[Kalas Magnus]

tl;dr no

[Wulfram]

My problem with timers is that I feel they make it harder to roleplay interestingly. It takes time for me to work out when my character should act atypically - when the paragon has been pushed beyond their limit, say.

[UpUpAway]

Some people even just read slower than others, so no, I don't think timer on dialogue choices are a good thing.

[fraggle]

No. I need time to think about some choices

[Neon Rising Winter]

Only if accompanied by an independent pause button. The inability to pause mid sentence has annoyed me enough previously, I don't need that exacerbated.

[rocklikeafool]

[Zeroth Angel]

Depends on the situation.

 

Are we being surrounded by enemies and do we need to choose to sacrifice something/someone? 

 

Sure, in a situaton like that I'd prefer it.

[Silvery]

I played Alpha Protocol and while I did not mind the timer, I personally would rather have time to think about my choices then act fast. 

[Saberchic]

While I've had timers in some games, I don't think I would like it in ME:A.

 

If they were in there, it would have to make sense for the situation. For instance, your quick response is needed because if you don't do X, then Y will happen very quickly, which may or may not be a wanted outcome by the player. but even saying that, I still am not fond of those situations.

[The Dovahk]

No timer, unless theres a decision you have to make and you're under fire or something.

[Miserybot]

I actually like the timer from Telltale Games.

 

It puts me on the spot, and adds tension to the decisions. I'm not just sitting there going "durr, which 1 should shepard say?" like an *******. I get it though, the majority of players don't want to be pressured into a dialogue choice. 

 

Andromeda could have a toggle-able timer. If you don't really care about what Shepard Ryder says and want to keep things interesting, you can turn it on. If you want to spend 5 years meditating on every choice, then you can leave it off.

 

Or you know, they could just have the majority of dialogue choices unrestricted, but have the tough decisions on an invisible timer, whatever.

[Lyrandori]

Heh... I suppose it'd strongly depend on the situation at hand.

 

Let's say that the scene involves a facility that's currently blowing up all around you, in fact you'd hear and see explosions not too far from your character in the background as you're about to "make your choice", dialogue wheel appears and... it's time for you to "think about it". That's the moment when suspension of disbelief has its limits. So, are you going to choose the top right "[Run back to save the workers]" paragon-style option, or will you choose the lower right "[Let the workers die]" renegade-style option? Well you know what? You have all the time in the world to think about it, really. Go make yourself a sandwich and think about it as you do (don't forget the tomatoes btw). You might come back in 15 mins for all you know, that facility has a crap load of things to blow up before those explosions reach you anyway.

 

Yeah, I can see some situations where tension could be dramatically increased if you HAD to make a choice within a set period of time. As long as it fits the scene and its context and as long as the provided amount of time is also plausible and not just there for tension's sake. My ONE problem with being forced to make a decision within a period of time is the Default Choice that's going to be chosen for me if I don't manage to choose anything manually. If the game "decides for me" after five seconds, then I might end up hating that choice and I'd just reload my saved game from a moment before said scene anyway and re-do my choice. I think that most people would do that (unless of course they would force themselves to stick with whatever happens next because they're role-playing their game or whatever). In the end, I don't think that it would actually add that much to the game but I suppose that on very few select situations it could be alright if it's really well done, and not only done for the sake of doing it "just because" (the context would be very important to consider).

[DanielCofour]

Eeeeh... it's a difficult question. Generally, it's a bad idea, but I kind of liked the way the Witcher 3 used timed choices(very sparingly and only when appropriate). So if it's justified(as it was with the serial killer in Novigrad quest), then it's fine. But generally I'd rather not have them.  

[ArcadiaGrey]

Honestly I think I'm allergic to timers.  As soon as I see one I get super stressed and think 'oh god oh god oh god oh god' and make stupid choices.  So nope, no thanks.  Let me chill.  

[Inkvisiittori]

No. That's the one thing I don't like about Telltale's games. Most of the time the character I was playing ended up being mute because of it. I need some time to consider what my character would say in different situations. 

[drummerchick]

I'd be more open to the idea if I had the ability to pause during cut scenes, replay cut scenes, and/or save the game at my leisure.
I never know when I'm gonna have to jump up from playing a game.

[Vit246]

No.

Think of it this way. "Talking is a Free Action".  Your character is not really standing there for 5 minutes staring into space. It just looks that way, but Time passes differently in the mental zone. In the 5 or 10 minutes you spent picking which dialogue, only a few seconds have passed outside that zone.

[KaiserShep]

I actually posed a similar question a long time ago after playing TWD myself, and the response was always largely negative. Needless to say timed dialogue is not something the fandom would care for. That being said, DA:I actually has timed dialogue of sorts, but this only occurs in certain party banter. If you don't press the toggle/key to activate the wheel, it will eventually disappear and the companions will carry on with whatever they were saying. In regular dialogue, the equivalent of allowing the time to run out would basically be an actual indecision option, or [Say nothing], which is actually something I'd love to have. It might even be amusing if you can [Say nothing] so often that companions get seriously annoyed. 

[themikefest]

I'm currently playing Witcher 3. I noticed a few of those in the game. Not bad. Its just if you get distracted for some reason that causes you to look away from the screen, you could end up with a choice that may not be to your liking.

 

Maybe add a couple in the game as a test to see/hear the reaction from people.