Western RPGs

I tend to like customizing my characters as much as possible. I usually have a personality in mind for each one, so I base most of said customization on that, when possible.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."

I go with the flow when it comes to customization.

DA 2 was the only time I went with a default, and that was because I didn't want Bethany or Carver to change.

Umbran Climax◊

Myself, I usually try to customize the face if available, tweaking it until I get it to look right (that is, not frakk-ugly ). I sometimes use default character templates on my first playthrough if I am overwhelmed by the game system. In the same way, I accept automatic skill point distribution until I understand the system better—or if the skill point distribution doesn't really matter to success. For instance, I have stopped caring about squadmates' skills in the Mass Effect series half-way through part two, because my Shep was so overpowered, he didn't have any particular combat weaknesses to be covered by companions anymore.

Speaking of Shepard and facial customization: like most players, I got hit with the face import bug in ME3 and had to recreate his face from scratch. While doing so, I made a very small mistake in his cheekbones but didn't notice it until something inside me yelled "THAT'S NOT MY SHEPARD!" half-way through the opening cutscene. Had to restore the face all over again, just to silence that voice...

I have noticed very few answers to my "default templates" question, so let me clarify it... What I meant were predefined character builds (with fixed initial stats and skills) provided by the game itself, not facial presets. As I said, I tend to use them if the game system appears too complicated at first glance.

edited 18th Dec '12 3:41:33 AM by Koveras

I tend to modify everything I can.

I never take a default, but I also don't create a face from scratch. Usually I'll just take one of the templates and make slight changes to make it resemble myself more.

No.

Never.

...

@Nicknacks: Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass. I've got a lot of games to play that I don't have to force myself to.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

I do try to see as much as I can on my first playthrough, but I'm not crazy about. I can deal with missing stuff just fine.

One time (due to me procrastinating a lot, it's rare that I finish one in the first place). The only one I can thing of, where I did that, is KOTOR. I actually like to make different choices if possible, if only to see what changes. Often (at least in KOTOR) it's not much anyway.

No. I only use them when there is a quest I really want to do and I realize that I can't do it on my own.

Not much. Grinding is more something for JRPGs.

I always distribute them immediately.

I mostly only concentrate on the characters I actually use. If the game has character-exclusive gear, I may give characters, I don't normally use, their exclusive items when I find them (intead of just selling them), but I do rarely more than that.

I tend to save very often, out of a, partly irrational, fear of losing progress. Whether I overwrite and old save or make a new one depends on the circumstances. But I try to keep a sizable number of different saves.

As much as I think is necessary. Or looks good, if it's the appearance.

I alwas modify them, if possible.

No, hell no, a million times no.

No, hell no, a million times no.

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.

On an entirely different topic, I've spend a lot of time working on the SoYouWantTo.Write A Western RPG guide lately. Have any of you guys read it? I'd really appreciate some feedback.

edited 20th Dec '12 10:08:40 PM by Koveras

Personally, I don't think I've played many RP Gs with predefined character templates that weren't just the face.

There's Fallout, and maybe Mass Effect 1, and that's it. Do you have any other examples?

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."

Fallout 1 and 2 or Arcanum? (Which I've just started.)

edited 23rd Dec '12 8:40:16 AM by Benluke

It's actually quite common for old games, like Might and Magic or Bard's Tale, to have predefined characters, which can form a complete party.

People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.

I knew about Fallout (I even mentioned it... so... uh...)

But Arcanum? I don't remember it having predefined characters. I remember it having selectable backstories, that affected your character's stats, and served to help you get into the mind of your character, but not presets.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."

Both Baldur's Gate games, as well as the first Neverwinter Nights came with a handful of predefined level 1 characters. It was actually quite easy for them to implement, since they already had the Player Character export/import function.

edited 24th Dec '12 4:23:55 AM by Koveras

As did Fallout and Fallout 2.

This post has been powered by avenging fury and a balanced diet.

Has anyone mentioned yet that Fallout 1 and 2 had character templates?

Oh yeah! Them! I'd completely forgotten.

edited 24th Dec '12 6:20:24 AM by Nicknacks

This post has been powered by avenging fury and a balanced diet.

Many have answered my question about saving up skill points with a negative, so I just wanted to let people know that I have just encountered a game where that is actually quite useful—namely, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Keeping a few Praxis Points in reserve can save you from being caught with your pants down, which I experienced when I was fighting the first mandatory boss after spending the whole game as stealthy diplomat. Essentially, Barrett goes down fairly easily—if you have the perk that lets you lift explosives barrels and throw it at him. Which I didn't, so I spent over an hour figuring out safe spots to hide and sneak an occasional headshot at him. Had I only had a spare Praxis Point, it would have made my task so much easier... I now keep 3+ unassigned PPs at all times, so I can quickly unlock the skills I need as I go.

I'll generally try to do as many quests or optional dungeons as I can discover on my own.

If Deus Ex counts, 5, otherwise I've only played Baldurs Gate 2 and Planescape Torment more than two times. I have played a whole bunch of Neverwinter Nights mods, though.

For me trying new things is the main reason I'd even think about replaying games as long as most RP Gs.

Only sometimes if there's a warning that I won't be able to return to a specific area to make sure I've done all the side-quests. For games like The Elder Scrolls, I generally don't until I'm nearly done with it.

I sometimes use walkthroughs for certain kinds of quests (like item finding quests) if I find that I've been spending too much time on it.

For much older games, I may read up about about character or party configuration since they can have a huge effect.

One of the reasons I like Western RP Gs is that there's enough side-content to level up without grinding, and quite a few of them don't have regularly respawning enemies anyway. I generally just do every side quest I can and clear out any dungeon I encounter, but I won't repetitively fight enemies that respawn. If I'm really close to leveling-up, however, I'll probably do some monster slaying. I usually find that I'm a bit overlevelled by mid game, but it tends to get balanced out later. I'm still usually overpowered when it comes to equipment though.

I'll usually spend them immediately, unless certain skills require several points. In things such as D&D based games , I usually have a general idea as to what kind of character I want to build.

I'll give them good equipment, but take their items back if I know they're going to leave the party.

I generally save every time I accomplish something, like defeating a mob or finding an item, or otherwise every 10 minutes or so. I generally keep around 10 slots and overwrite them in order.

To the person who posted about liking Neverwinter Nights over the sequel, I'm with you. I just loved the variety of monsters to be found in the game, and the music was a lot better as well. The main downsides are the lack of a proper party system and meaningful character interaction, even if the expansions improved on that aspect slightly.

Mask Of the Betrayer definitely had the best story in the series, but I found the game a bit short and the Spirit Eater mechanic initially frustrating (though it was fine once I got the hang of it). I enjoyed Storm of Zehir, and liked the additions of a few cool new classes and feats (like "dinosaur companion"), but again, I missed the party interactions.

I also had a few problems with Barrett, using a stealth-focused character. I did manage to beat him with grenades and blowing up barrels, but it took a couple of tries. I had even worse times with the other two bosses, though thankfully with one of them I was able to get a turret into the room. By the end of the game I had wasted a lot of my points on hacking skills which were pretty pointless.

edited 10th Feb '13 3:44:17 PM by supergod

For we shall slay evil with logic...

Is it true that Western RPGs are the most resource-demanding genre to make games in? I certainly would think so, since most of them have really big worlds, and those kinds of worlds take a lot of time and money to produce.

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As much as possible

I tend to modify it, but it's not something I spend a lot of time or thought on.

I usually pick a template because I find it interesting to see what default configs look like, but only as long as I still get to make the final decision. If the game automatically chooses everything for you when you level up then I won't use it (I think Arcanum did that, but you could turn it on or off at any point).

Again, I'll see what is suggested, but I'll usually end up making changes.

For we shall slay evil with logic...

I must admit, my habit of keeping 5 Praxis Points saved my ass in the second boss fight (as far as I got thus far), where I was able to quickly upgraded my armor plus EMP immunity to let me gun away at the boss while she was stunned by electricity. I also find Hacking abilities somewhat overdrawn: there are no locks past level 3 that cannot be skipped or crack in other ways and I never use Fortify... Hacking the turrets is really nifty, however.

Not sure whether it's the most demanding genre, but it does indeed take quite a lot to produce a good RPG, mainly because the process is very multifaceted. You need to playtest the game mechanics, make the graphics look good, write and proofread the (non-linear) story, record the dialogue (which tends to be a lot), animate the cutscenes, etc. By comparison, genres like shooters and strategy games can concentrate on graphics and mechanics more closely, while adventure games are primarily about dialogue and puzzles. But they say that MMORPG is even more demanding than a single-player RPG, since you also have to keep the multiplayer aspect in mind at all times in addition to all other (offline) concerns.

edited 13th Feb '13 11:56:46 AM by Koveras

Because Western RPGs are non-linear, they are most definitely harder to produce than Eastern ones.

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Open world ones? Maybe.

Stuff like Dragon Age, I'm not so sure.

Umbran Climax◊

DA has an enormous amount of dialogue to record, which eats up a disproportional lot of resources.

Oh yeah, I wasn't thinking about dialogue when "resource-demanding" was stated.

Never mind then.

Umbran Climax◊

The expenses of recording dialogue occur across all genres, though. Is it really that Western RPGs are that heavy in dialogue?

Please help out our The History Of Video Games page.