LF,
Yes, I definitely agree with this. The thing I have a problem with is why would it be bad that w/ a certain experience the player makes a concious decision that effects the plot. Maybe the effect won't be 100% direct, but I don't see what's wrong w/ the player being able to see the effect of his/her actions. I'm not saying what you're saying is bad but I don't see why a concious decision is bad.
I like non cause & effect. I like it a lot. It's taking advantage of the game medium in a very good way. I just don't see what is wrong with the player taking in the information of the world and making a decision based on that information and having it effect the flow of the plot. I'm not saying that every story-based game should have this, but I don't see what's wrong w/ it.
You said it yourself: The player should do stuff 'cause he wants to based on information gathered about the world. I don't see what's wrong with the player doing something 'cause he/she wants and seeing a result of his/her actions.
quote:
Orginal post by Chicken of the Sea
But this divergence should NOT be a concious process for the player.
Maybe you were saying in your particular example the divergence shouldn't be concious, instead of for all games in general? 'Cause that's the statement that's bothering me most.
One thing I must admit is that if you allow the player to choose concious decisions, you're putting a lot of trust in the player. You're trusting the player to be responsible enough to have a theme for their character at the beginning, so that they make consistant choices according to how the character of their player.
I must tell you though. That kind of player is out there. I check the message boards for the Elder Scroll games (Daggerfall was one of them) often, and there's a lot of people who are that responsible. There's people there who dressed according to the seasons in Daggerfall even though it had no effect. Imagine if it really did effect the game.
My point is that there's people who would be responsible enough to make consistant decisions, (the game's mechanics could help this also obviously through repuation and stuff like that).
If doing things like this is targeting a smaller audience, I wouldn't mind cause I'm just doing games for a hobby. I don't that the audience would be that small anyway.
""" "'Nazrix is cool' -- Nazrix" --Darkmage --Godfree"-Nazrix" -- runemaster --and now dwarfsoft" -- dwarfsoft
Edited by - Nazrix on October 9, 2000 6:46:12 PM