This might just be me, but lately the Grand Company NPCs for Maelstrom are excessively grateful. It's one thing to say "You are an exemplary member of our forces," but they tend to carry on for a couple of paragraphs of praise. When the NPCs overdo it like this, I can only think of the following.
- I am a White Mage. I may be important to the group, but you're acting like I took this on by myself. If anything you should be thanking the tank for enduring so many hits.
- I bet you say this to all adventurers. You might as well not thank me at all.
I love the story in this game, but I have trouble feeling immersed when they act like I'm the best adventurer in the world (which I'm not). Between XI and XIV, I thought Naja Salaheem was probably the best NPC leader. She makes you feel special by spending so much time telling you otherwise, and doesn't sugarcoat anything. She reminds you of the debt you accumulate every chance she gets, and even takes your reward away at one point. I'm not saying I'd like to see Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn turn on a dime and treat me like garbage after trying to build up my ego, but it'd definitely feel more immersive if she didn't treat me like Azeyma's gift to the world.
Grand Company NPCs too grateful?
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06-14-2012, 06:26 AMYrusamaGrand Company NPCs too grateful?
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06-18-2012, 11:58 AMZetsumei_Tsunarashi
I like how the GC leaders keep calling me the "Hero" and saying stuff like "You're my best man", "You're the only one for the job." But in all the cutscenese I'm either just standing there staring off into space, or getting knocked on my ass while the enemy goes off on some rant, and then runs away.
Yep, I'm heroic all right. -
06-18-2012, 12:38 PMRuisu
I don't like being treated like I am the most important person in the game. That's part of why I found SWTOR to be such a terrible title. I can be one of the people who saved whatever, sure. I just don't want to be the hero. Which was the charm of XI.
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06-21-2012, 06:07 PMYrusama
XI had some moments where they made you out to be the ONLY ADVENTURER IN THE GAME! I do like that there are cutscenes that show your whole party, but the NPCs seem ignorant of them.
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06-21-2012, 08:38 PMSkiesI'm sure that the excessive praise comes from the fact that the japanese language is more verbose about it than english so the loc team is forced to add more lines, that aside...Quote:
Originally Posted by Yrusama
Remember, the entirety of the efforts which have led to the occurances in the United We Stand quest has been spearheaded by you. You defeated one of the beasts that pretty much brought the Garleans to our doorstop, Garuda single-handedly destroyed a small town and still you and your team were the ones to kill her. The only opponent that (story-wise) haven't fallen before you are the two Legatus.
By the point you get showered with praise you HAVE done more than enough to earn it. It's true, this game requires a bit of suspension of disbelief because it treats you like the hero of a single-player game, which i'm okay with it really it's not hard to overlook that detail. -
06-21-2012, 08:49 PMYrusama
I guess it's fine when you put it that way, but it would be nice for them to remember that we did NOT solo the mission. They mention the other adventurers, but they act like <player> is the best one there. I would rather hear "you and your party" rather than just "you".
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06-21-2012, 08:53 PMSkiesI guess the answer here would be "You bring different people every time" is what the plot assumes, but the NPCs do mention often that you do need strong allies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yrusama
Also let's not forget the diplomatic missions you get on, a good deal of GC story-related quests you pretty much have to run diplomacy and it's always you who end up being the "face". It's... Amazingly a Thing that happens even in real life, people tend to pick just the guy who's the 'simbol' of the whole operation and he gets all the praise, and people kind of forget the others. (it ALSO happens on failures too) -
07-02-2012, 01:02 AMYrusama
The other problem I have is the idea that <player> is clearly the only one to obtain the rare artifacts as part of the story.... but wait a minute! There's someone over there wearing the Healer's Robe too! I think this is probably the biggest flaw in the narratives. You have your sense of individuality built up by the NPCs only to have it dashed away moments later when you see someone else has the same "one-of-a-kind" shiny thing.
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07-02-2012, 10:12 PMSkies
That is, sadly, a thing that not only can, but will invariably occur in an MMO where every player is theoretically supposed to be the main character.
Whereas I do think it would be interest a narrative in an MMO where we are nothing but unimportant foot soldiers, that is not a thing that most of them do. -
07-02-2012, 10:20 PMEekiki
I recall an interview with Tanaka, where he was asked why your party members never show up in FFXI's cutscenes. I think he said something crazy like "Pretend that each player is playing in their own separate universe, and when you encounter a powerful force of evil (e.g. Shadow Lord), you combine your power with the power of those from other universes. But to all the NPCs you're still just one person."