Discussion about RPG features

[Kipi]

besides I think it's doable, if anybody played black or white..the cursor (a hand) grows claws and turns more devilish when you play evil, and emits light and becomes more angelic when you play good..I guess voices could be modified on the fly as well to suit the game play style.

IMO cursors are easier to change on the fly than voices. With cursors you can have few different models, which to use to every situation. With voice you must record different styles of voices to EVERY situation, thus aking more time and resources...

Final Fantasy was good example of how well it works to have "pre-generated" character, which is only slightly customable. It's true that today the characters seem to be more flat because of the dialogies...

[ARTillery]

IMO cursors are easier to change on the fly than voices. With cursors you can have few different models, which to use to every situation. With voice you must record different styles of voices to EVERY situation, thus aking more time and resources...

I know it's not the same..but i think you can put a mini application to affect the sound make it darker or happier through an effect.if anybody worked on sound forge, u can find effects like that..

[Lady Dragonfly]

It all depends on what you personally find enjoyable.
In the BG series you are given a choice to role-play not only evil or saintly good but everything in between as well. You can choose your gender, alignment, race, class and a fighting style. You can specialize and dual-class. The choices you make during the character creation and during the game affect your reputation, relationship with NPCs and the general outcome of the story. The conversation tree is very well written. I did not notice the 'muteness' of the main character because I enjoyed the dialogue lines so much. Ability to talk is not equal to having a personality. Just like in real life.

In Elder Scrolls you either choose a pre-made class or create your own. How to role-play your char is entirely up to you. You can make the game boring as Hell or you can make it interesting. Highly customizable characters can make your game experience different every time you role-play.

People playing RPG have different priorities. Please re-read the first line.

[DesR85]

Aside from the few reasons mentioned by the others, I am beginning to suspect that the bad/good aspect used in quite a number of RPGs these days is the main reason why it is not possible to have a main character with a personality. I also agree with Kipi about the fact that most characters in most RPGs are flat because of the dialogue options.

The few main characters who have a personality and can even talk come from RPGs that doesn't focus on the good/bad aspect such as the upcoming Witcher and Mass Effect as an example. Perhaps it could have been the fact that the goal is clear but how you do it is entirely up to you sort of thing.

I did not notice the 'muteness' of the main character because I enjoyed the dialogue lines so much. Ability to talk is not equal to having a personality. Just like in real life.

I noticed the mute 'epidemic' since the time I started playing Half-Life. I can understand for some games why they chose this method but for others, it doesn't really make much sense. While I do agree that the ability to talk doesn't equate to having a personality, if the script is well-written for that main character, you should be able to tell what his/her personality is like. That's what I like about main characters who can talk and have an interesting personality. Characters like 47 (Hitman series), Christopher Stone (Freedom Fighters), Lara Croft (Tomb Raider series) and Richard B. Riddick (Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay) to name a few.