Yeah but how does that convert into game terms? You have to LARP it.
I'm not talking about fucking LARP, and I'm utterly opposed to the furry fucks who think Oblivion is the best role-playing game because it utterly fails to characterise your choices and you can just substitute
pure imagination for emptiness.
I'm talking about a simple statement that
drives imagination. Let's rationalise:
Oblivion said:
Fallout said:
You see light pouring in through a cave opening. For the first time in your life, you are looking upon sunlight.
Bioware said:
The sidekick who has stepped you through the insulting patronising and compulsory tutorial sequence remarks - "Hey Chosen One, there's the cave exit. Isn't it amazing! This is the first time we've ever seen the sun!"
- Yes! It's astounding!
- No. I hate the sun.
- Er, if you give me money I might enjoy it more.
See how the first is simple and utilitarian, because otherwise it might interfere with your furry fucking LARPtastic view that your character hates the sun and is an elder vampire. The third is leading you in a pantomime fashion. I'm suggesting that the best compromise is to be utilitarian, but provide enough of an impetus to get the player's mind working.
Bioware character narratives are like reading something in second person. It feels... intrusive. You're being told how you think. The Elder Scrolls character narratives are blank pages that you write yourself, and chances are they'll end up being furry slashfics involving a character off your favourite TV show. Fallout's character narrative is the motherfucking Neverending Story. It provides the richly detailed world required to make you feel as though you're actually there, and ample
gameplay options to project yourself into that world.
That's my problem with Fallout, I love the game but not for it's plot or the setting. Really it isn't possible to roleplay as the specially selected young Vault Dweller on a dangerous mission in a completely new and alien world. I forget the starting story and roleplay more as a shiftless mercenary type which seems to fit much more into the dialog, quests and atmosphere of the rest of the game.
This is even more true with Fallout 2.
That's mostly because the initial premise for Fallout 2 is fucking retarded. It's pretty easy to forget you're a dimwitted racial stereotype with a bone through your fucking nose, because there's no sensible reason to be.
Arcanum was kind of the same (up to the point I've played). Just who the fuck are you? The backgrounds were only for slight changes to the starting stats usually overcome within a few levels. Too much is left to the imagination so that the player can have freedom.
You define who you are throughout the course of the game. Your background should not be essential to any CRPG. Torment of course, does a great job by giving you a well developed background, but not holding you to it. In fact, much of what I've seen riffs off the fact that you're completely different now as compared to then.
I hate the Bioware design mentality <s>but I have to say they are closer to striking the right balance.</s> You need some kind of context to play within.
With my quick edit, we agree. You do need a context to play within. Fallout provides that. Bioware games give more than just a context, they force feed you either the one-dimensional "good" guy's take on the game, or the one-dimensional "bad" guy's take.