Poll: Is gaming too narcissistic?

[sleepykid]

Way back when, I vaguely remember skimming a ZP comment thread and coming upon a complaint similar to the subject title. I found it an odd one, for I've never heard the objection that the characters gamers inhabit are too important/central to the plot. I'm interested in a discussion as to what people think.

Because we all know how it goes. It will be /your/ group of four adventurers in D&D that ends up saving the world. /You/ are the character that solves everyone's social problems in Persona 4. If a threat to the entire planet arises, you can bet your buttocks it'll have something to do with your past, etc.

So, what's your take? Does gaming elevate one's ego a bit much?

 

[gl1koz3]

I really dislike everything that goes along these lines. Unless there's some other quality that's worth paying attention for.

EDIT: Example: Cine and RPG in Mass Effect was enough to care.

 

[Palademon]

Not unless you're one of those douches that takes FPS too seriously. Games need to make you feel important, why would I want to have lives just as dull as my real one in several different games?

 

[gl1koz3]

Very interesting. But dullness is relative.

 

[sleepykid]

Not unless you're one of those douches that takes FPS too seriously. Games need to make you feel important, why would I want to have lives just as dull as my real one in several different games?

Well, an example I could think of would be something like being an ordinary guy in a zombie apocalypse. Not dull, goodness no, but you wouldn't have to be, say, the president of the US or Umbrella or the counter-terrorists stopping them, etc. to have a good time.

 

[Kollega]

I'd say it's a "neccesary evil". Of course you'll be important to the plot - if the whole "save the world" business was handled by an NPC who you don't even get to see, what's the point in playing?

I also have to note that in the context of war, you are not neccesarily "saving the world" - in some plots, you are but a part of a gigantic force, aiding the progress on your direction while there are thousands of soldiers working on other ones. You're not an "army of one", only a platoon.

 

[TiefBlau]

Gaming is deeply rooted in escapism. Moreso than it needs to be. The main character of any work is typically always someone you expect the audience to relate to. This is because you have to convey a message, and this is the means to do it. Characters need to be realistic and understandable, not a fucking idol.

 

[ShasoRmyr]

Yes, but this is why we play games. We want to be the most important/ coolest person. If we weren't we would most likely try to be. I don't think a narcissistic story is a bad thing.
For example: Take Oblivion. You do just about everything. And it's (Mostly) fun. What if you were just a shopkeeper in a random town? You would hate it. It's not as fun.

 

[Bocaj2000]

I find the lack of variety annoying, but I don't mind playing as Shepard, savior of the Citadel.

 

[Dexiro]

Games are just made to be fun. It's fun to be the hero! You want to be the person saving the world, not some other guy in his boring day job, that's not a bad thing though ^_^

 

[veloper]

Plenty of games where your character does NOT save the world, like the vast majority of games really, but the player characters cannot be anything other than the Stars in their respective games.

The player character will always matter in the context of the story, if there is one. Reason for this is the game has to follow the player controlled character, for the parts that are the actual game. That's 100% unavoidable and a good thing too.


If you're ever going to have a game that people want to play, or just a story that people want to hear, then the content will always have to be interesting.

That is not ever going to change. Nobody wants boring entertainment. (Just what is considered boring may change from person to person.)
The game will have usually need some kind of motivation for the PC to do anything.

So even if the game is just about trying to stay alive, instead of saving the princess or the world, the PC will always be the one.

 

[Lawnmooer]

I remember playing a game, I can't remember it very well but I do remember rageing when I spent half an hour creating my character when someone else was the main character and I was just "Some guy" helping him out occasionally.

If you are not important in the game, you may aswell just watch a film.

 

[FullMetalTrenchcoat]

I found this a little difficult to answer, while I would like a little variety, the inherent value escapism has in games and your commitment to them means that for a large part they have to elevate you in some way. But I think that in some respects this is balanced out a little every time you are killed, lose a race etc.; it reminds you that you aren't naturally the most powerful being present in the game world in relation to the story, it often being an epic struggle and so on.

 

[wolfboy23]

Not unless you're one of those douches that takes FPS too seriously. Games need to make you feel important, why would I want to have lives just as dull as my real one in several different games?

Well, an example I could think of would be something like being an ordinary guy in a zombie apocalypse. Not dull, goodness no, but you wouldn't have to be, say, the president of the US or Umbrella or the counter-terrorists stopping them, etc. to have a good time.

Left 4 dead does something like this. But that being said, in a full blown zombie apocalypse just being a survivor makes you some what unusual.

 

[Bellvedere]

It's pretty much necessary. Imagine "There's a terrible evil consuming the world - go do whatever you fancy".

I kind of like RPGs and games with sidequests in that they amount of effort you put in and the actions you take determine how well you save the world. Though when you get a game (I'm looking at you JRPGs) that have multiple endings and really tedious/difficult side quests and you can get really really bad endings that's kind of annoying. I feel it's better to not finish a game then have all your favourite characters lead tragic lives if you don't want to do the tedious bits.

 

[alrekr]

I'd like a game where your not necessarliy the "one" as it were, but instead important but only as important as your efforts in the game world make you. So if you went round doing all that hero stuff preety soon your elevated to hero but if you suck at the game and don't do alot guess what some other guy/girl ends up saving the world. Heck you could even have an antagnist who is just another hero trying to out do you.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I voted yes because I think that more games should be made where there is a real hard limit to how much you can do in one game and not everything is about you.

If you take a game like Way of the Samurai 2 then your character is an outsider who comes to a town and the impact your character has on the town depends on your actions. Is is narcissistic that you go into a town and know that your actions are the most important thing? Yes and No. You are the only real person in the game but the characters have their own agendas and the their stories reach a climax even if you choose to have nothing to do with them but you can also choose to get involved with their lives. A similar thing happens in Dead Rising where you can choose to ignore characters, although they normally just die or disappear if you ignore them.

This sort of thing used to be more common in western games but as time went on more people decided that it was too frustrating if the game world changes based on a timer or rules. RPG characters now are generally a bunch of lifeless muppets waiting for you to help or kill them without any will of their own.

Edit: Wasn't there an article here recently about a tabletop game where the players were motivated by having the DM play another party who competed with them to do the quests in the game? That could be pretty fun in a single player video game.

 

[TheIr0nMike]

It really wouldn't work if you weren't the hero.

 

[Bryan Jue]

There was an episode of the TV show Babylon 5 called "A View from the Gallery" in which, for just one episode, the perspective of the show changes from that of the series' main protagonists to a couple of everyday maintenance workers. It was a good episode - I found it entertaining to see that different perspective - the viewpoint of a couple of ordinary guys who were NOT the "heroes who will save the day". But ultimately I wouldn't want a whole story arc revolving around them.

There have been games where the main characters are not the heroes of the world/country/city, but even when they're not, they have some importance to the story that the writers are trying to tell. It just so happens that important characters that save the world or whatever are easier to write/make more money.

One game that came to mind when I saw this thread is the latest college football game. I haven't played it but I heard a couple of reviews. There's a mode where you start in high school, play your position and earn points for doing certain things on the field. While every single player on the team is crucial to the team's success, certain positions just aren't as much fun to play as *in a game*. Would you like to go through a whole video game football season being an O-lineman and blocking the whole time? Most people would want to play as the QB, I would think.

That's the same as playing through a sci-fi game where you're a random maintenance worker and you don't get to go on the missions, don't get to fire the guns, etc. Ultimately the game has to put you, the player character, into some position of power, freedom, and/or importance to be appealing to most people.

I haven't seen the movie "The Other Guys" but I'm sure that when it ends, Farrell and Wahlberg aren't as "lame" when the credits roll.

 

[Audio]

I do have a laugh when the epic dialogue goes "You are the last hope...only You can save humanity"
It is a sort of necessary evil; not many people want to play the guy who watched superman save the day. Us players think we can do it better if we could . I would be interesting to see more games where your character has a small but vital impact on the story. Such as turning on a light so you can red the paper: unknown to you an ninja was walking past the window..suddenly got exposed and killed. Thus saving some important dude.