Quote Originally Posted by Ancalagon_Blacktalon View Post
IMO too often games fall into the exact opposite end of this spectrum. I think one can like, count on one hand how many quests don't end with the quest-giver and/or their friends betraying you in Skyrim, or dying for arbitrary reasons. Because it feels like the writers can't imagine the player being okay with splitting loot or not being the leader of a faction. Fallout 4 was like this too, and Witcher 3 to a similar extent, even though yeah, the logical thing is to not turn on the literal demigod/person with a nuke/monster hunter and get immediately turned to giblets.
I'm all for people not challenging the god-killing character, but they're also way too understanding with other NPCs. It's a little too "power of friendship" will fix everything. Things work out too easily and side quests always seem to wrap up with things being better than they started. A lot of powerful people try to fix things and make them worse instead or even more common, make them different but just as bad.

Amazing diplomats exist in real life, too and cannot necessarily bridge the differences between people that built up over literal generations. People aren't reasonable a lot of the time and history is replete with many instances of people sticking with their side at the detriment to the whole.

While I don't expect for the protagonists to spend 7 months real time working out trade deals, I do expect more friction. The number of complex problems we've solved with a few minutes of work breaks my suspension of disbelief more often than not. That's not good story telling if you're in the story and you realize that this isn't how people actually behave. Again, this is mostly about the side quests instead of the MSQ (though that's had more problems recently).

I remember when we got to Ondo Cups after having drained their ocean and thinking about how reasonable they were about the fact that we did it and how we still haven't fixed it. I'm not talking about betrayal. I'm talking about obstinance and disagreeableness. One can chose not to agree to help others without aggressing on the god killer.