[DA:O A] Point of PC

Darke · Post by **Darke** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 1:26 am

Never been a huge fan of party based RPG's - Always prefered the ones where you play as one character, all alone. Morrowind for example.

Recently I picked up some party based RPG's since I find most RPG's today to be streamlined and dumbed down, at least with the party based RPG's you still got that strategic combat.

However, I still can't understand the point of the PC - what does it matter what class you decide on? What's the reason behind a replay for example? Unless you want to go thru the oh so linear part for each race.

The only thing that differs between the PC and any other party member is the coercion skill. Also if you roll a rogue I guess you can start unlocking chests and pick pockets earlie.

My point is that unless you play on easy settings you are most likely to manually controll the move of every partymember anyway (at least thats what I do) So in a sense, no matter what character you start with, you can still play every class. As well as customizing and leveling up every class.

So what's the point in creating a warrior or a mage?

Darke · Post by **Darke** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:02 pm

Anyone? I felt like playing a warrior, but I have a hard time seing why I should put time into it when in a sense I already played every class thru other party members.

murph · Post by **murph** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:23 am

Not much, there are some changes beyond the origins (I believe mage and human noble has the most noticeable ones). Depending on which companions you like/dislike, you might want to choose a class that lets you bring your favorite companions.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 3:37 am

There are three different Party-Based CRPG styles to choose from:

1. You control all your party, like having a handful of PCs (Player Characters)
2. You control all your party but only have 'total' control over your one PC
3. You only control your PC but you get followed around by a posse of AIs who are on your side

For 1) these games often have such a huge variety of characters to choose from via varying Race, Class and Skill-Sets that they, surprisingly, produce more varied replay value than some of the best Solo RPGs. The Icewind Dale series is the most famous of this type.

For 2) this is the most common version of the style and often produces the most commercially successful games but with relatively weak replay value for the majority. The variations in play often revolve around who you choose to fight with and what equipment/skills/levels/conversations you allocate to each party member. Balder's Gate is the most famous series of this type.

For 3) this is the least popular version of the game and often results in players 'playing solo' but with plenty of cannon fodder prior to full enemy engagement. I'm not sure if there's ever been a popular series which uses this method. Diablo possibly, though I haven't played it enough to know the extent of 'involvement' with any in-game posse.

Since you've posted on the Dragon Age board I assume one of your games is on of the Dragon Age series. I've found replaying both these games to be a struggle. I'll probably replay DAI at some point but DAII is pretty much a 'never again'. I fully agree for this series that personal choice of PC makes very little difference to the overall gameplay or available experiences or team tactics, at least not on easy or normal mode. I also agree, for this series, that once you've played through once you've pretty much played every Class/Race the game has to offer.

roller1234 · Post by **roller1234** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 3:24 am

Darke wrote:you can still play every class

The point of the game isnt to play every class. The point is to create a class you want the main character to represent and to travel with the people you like, adjusting tactics to the available team. Powerplaying through the game is but one way to play it. Plus, customability. Like an all-mage party.