Question I am a romantic racist and misogynist (but that's not the question)

[ZedClampet]

Romantic: We were going on a mission I knew was doomed, and Guido wanted us to take a follower with us. When followers die, that's the end for them. So I'm too much of a weirdo to want to take any of my current followers because I've grown attached to them, so I go out on a quest for a new high level follower.

Misogynist: I come across this barbarian camp and kill two of the three. The third is a level 20 woman. I beat her down then put her under my very convincing spell, and soon she is a follower. She was a tiny woman--had to be somewhere in the middle between 4 and 5 feet tall--with red hair, and I named her Penny. It was at that moment that I knew she was far too adorable to bring on the death mission. (I'm actually not sure that she isn't a child)

Racist: I didn't have time to go find another follower, so I chose the black guy to go (he actually had the highest spear rating of any of the other followers)

So on to the question (finally)! Do you ever get stupidly attached to characters in a game? I mean, they are just pixels and usually idiots. But somehow I get attached to them anyway. I brought Penny back and told her to do something and she couldn't figure out how to get through a doorway. How adorable!

Or are you like Guido, who's perfectly fine saying, "Everyone line up" and then shooting them all in the head so he can go find better followers?

** Sorry for the click-bait thread title, @Brian Boru , I'm sure you had at least 1 minor heart attack when you read it.

 

[Pifanjr]

Absolutely. Followers, allies, rivals, random recurring NPCs, I can get attached to anything if I get immersed enough.

 

[Brian Boru]

Mod Bot here, just filling in for BB until he's off the oxygen machine.

Do you ever get stupidly attached to characters in a game?

Not much in a game, but in books, where you can have a decent story, I used to get attached. I suppose Kane in the C&C universe would be the most attached I've got in a game. It helped he was in multiple games in the 2 main series, and Joe Kucan did a great job in the FMVs.

they are just pixels and usually idiots

Not idiots in books unless deliberately so, but that's like saying book characters are only ink spots on a page

 

[ZedClampet]

Absolutely...allies...

...I suppose Kane in the C&C universe....

Along those lines, I'm such a sucker that when the leader of a foreign faction in Civ5 would contact me and be friendly I would remove them from the "eventually going to die" list forever. That's why I never tried to wipe the map clean.

Not idiots in books unless deliberately so, but that's like saying book characters are only ink spots on a page

Books can be brutal when they decide to kill off one of your favorite characters. I think that may be why horror books and movies make all the characters so unlikable. Games are not so nice. They make you like someone before killing them.

Spoilers for Dying Light 2
In this game, you meet this heroic guy who leads a squad. You spend a mission getting to know him, and one night he stands up in front of everyone and gives a rousing speech about how brave and generally amazing you are. He then solemnly gives you a battlefield promotion and declares there was no one he would rather fight beside. I thought, "Aw crap." And, sure enough, he was dead within 10 minutes.

 

[Zloth]

Mod Bot here, just filling in for BB until he's off the oxygen machine.

At least he THINKS it's oxygen. Muuhahahahaa!

Books can be brutal when they decide to kill off one of your favorite characters. I think that may be why horror books and movies make all the characters so unlikable. Games are not so nice. They make you like someone before killing them.

They still typically kill them very late in the story. Except for the friendly older guy that helps teach you the Ways of the World, often an old wizard. Life is harsh for old wizards - just ask OB1. Love triangles can be deadly, too, but those are only rarely seen in games.

As for attachment, well of course! I think I get attached to most of them, unless it's a game where there's so many that I start forgetting who's who. (Letting me have some creative control over them allows me to remember far more of them.)

 

[Smellincoffee]

I was genuinely horrified when Sean and Hosea were shot in RDR2. In Civ 3, Spain's leader portrait looked exactly like my first girlfriend, so I always helped/protected Spain to keep Isabella safe and saying things like "You make me so happy, Smellincoffee!"

 

[Colif]

Looks at title: this is not the place for confessions!

So on to the question (finally)! Do you ever get stupidly attached to characters in a game? I mean, they are just pixels and usually idiots. But somehow I get attached to them anyway. I brought Penny back and told her to do something and she couldn't figure out how to get through a doorway. How adorable!

followers... not really. But then I hardly play any games with them.
Closest that comes to mind is escort quests and then its not a matter of choice if they follow me, its how likely they are to survive the journey. If I can, I will clear route before taking quest.
Dragons Dogma comes to mind as being about only game I had a follower I might have cared about.

 

[Belfast07]

Romantic: We were going on a mission I knew was doomed, and Guido wanted us to take a follower with us. When followers die, that's the end for them. So I'm too much of a weirdo to want to take any of my current followers because I've grown attached to them, so I go out on a quest for a new high level follower.

Misogynist: I come across this barbarian camp and kill two of the three. The third is a level 20 woman. I beat her down then put her under my very convincing spell, and soon she is a follower. She was a tiny woman--had to be somewhere in the middle between 4 and 5 feet tall--with red hair, and I named her Penny. It was at that moment that I knew she was far too adorable to bring on the death mission. (I'm actually not sure that she isn't a child)

Racist: I didn't have time to go find another follower, so I chose the black guy to go (he actually had the highest spear rating of any of the other followers)

So on to the question (finally)! Do you ever get stupidly attached to characters in a game? I mean, they are just pixels and usually idiots. But somehow I get attached to them anyway. I brought Penny back and told her to do something and she couldn't figure out how to get through a doorway. How adorable!

Or are you like Guido, who's perfectly fine saying, "Everyone line up" and then shooting them all in the head so he can go find better followers?

** Sorry for the click-bait thread title, @Brian Boru , I'm sure you had at least 1 minor heart attack when you read it.

Oh man, I'm totally guilty of getting attached to game characters too! I mean, it's ridiculous, but I've had moments where I've restarted a mission because I didn't want a certain character to die

 

[Smellincoffee]

Oh man, I'm totally guilty of getting attached to game characters too! I mean, it's ridiculous, but I've had moments where I've restarted a mission because I didn't want a certain character to die

PC Gamer had a few scripted moments where NPCs or die or not depending on quickly and effectively you defended them. I'd always reload to save my people from death or the Borg.

 

[BeardyHat]

I'm attached to my characters in Skald and they're basically just portraits.

That said, I think the more developers try to flesh out characters the less I tend to care about them. That may be because game writing is generally so mediocre, they come off as caricatures.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I'm attached to my characters in Skald and they're basically just portraits.

That said, I think the more developers try to flesh out characters the less I tend to care about them. That may be because game writing is generally so mediocre, they come off as caricatures.

Oh, that really depends on the game. RDR2 has deep characters, for instance. Sometimes developers purposefully don't flesh out characters so the players can fully invest in them: I'm told that's why Claude didn't have a speaking part in GTA3.

 

[BeardyHat]

Oh, that really depends on the game. RDR2 has deep characters, for instance. Sometimes developers purposefully don't flesh out characters so the players can fully invest in them: I'm told that's why Claude didn't have a speaking part in GTA3.

Don't disagree there. I play RDR2 in fits and spurts and just rescued Micah from Strawberry and man that guy is a piece of ****, I'd happily put a bullet in him myself.

But very few games have that level of writing.

 

[Brian Boru]

game writing is generally so mediocre

Amen to that, but of course so is 99% of book writing these days too—soon to be 99.9% once AI hits its stride

Sometimes developers purposefully don't flesh out characters so the players can fully invest in them

Or ignore them. Reminds me of the old shtick in educational books "I leave this for the reader to solve…". On the upside, it does help with gaming's unique ability, that of the player composing their own story—a blank canvas, paints and brushes… go daub, or Muad'Dib depending on watcher dune

Haven't played RDR2 yet, but from what I read it sounds like it's part of the 1%—looking forward to it some day.

 

[BeardyHat]

Amen to that, but of course so is 99% of book writing these days too—soon to be 99.9% once AI hits its stride

I tried to reach Ready, Player One after so many recommendations and good God is that book hot trash. The fact that people interview Ernest Cline, as though he's something other than a complete hack is utterly baffling.

 

[Colif]

PC Gamer had a few scripted moments where NPCs or die or not depending on quickly and effectively you defended them. I'd always reload to save my people from death or the Borg.

I must have missed the PC Gamer... game?

 

[BeardyHat]

I must have missed the PC Gamer... game?

Ever used the old PC Gamer demo disks from the 90s when they had the whole "underground" thing going on? They usually had a little adventure/puzzle thing going on there, which was fun to do.

 

[Colif]

Finding computer game magazines in the 1990's was a matter of finding the right newsagent. So it was very hit and miss.
So no, probably missed that game.
I couldn't tell you if I found many PC Gamer magazines back then, I know I used to see Edge magazine more. Local newsagent at least had those.
Not being in USA could have been part of that.
And I didn't get a PC until 1999 so could have missed them anyway.

 

[BeardyHat]

Finding computer game magazines in the 1990's was a matter of finding the right newsagent. So it was very hit and miss.
So no, probably missed that game.
I couldn't tell you if I found many PC Gamer magazines back then, I know I used to see Edge magazine more. Local newsagent at least had those.
Not being in USA could have been part of that.
And I didn't get a PC until 1999 so could have missed them anyway.

Ah ok, sounds quite different from here in the US in that case. Could pretty much go to any old grocery store and find them on the shelf; expensive, but thankfully my parents were willing to buy them for me.

At any rate, the demo disks were fun

This is one from when Gary Whitta was EIC of the US magazine.

 

[Colif]

I had Nintendo consoles for most of the 1990's so the magazines I had were more likely to be about them. You didn't get demo games with those (attaching a cartridge sure would have increased costs).

I may have got a few PCGamer magazines after I got PC. Just as well I didn't need to prove anything like that when I got this "job" here.

 

[Brian Boru]

Not being in USA

PCG was launched in UK, then expanded to USA within a year—so Oz should've been MFN status.

PCG and PC Mag were my tech staples back then.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I must have missed the PC Gamer... game?

I meant ST Elite Force. Morning brain, I guess.. XD Introduced to it through PC Gamer demo discs!