Poll: Would you play this game?

[Camaranth]

It seems to me that no matter what game you are playing the player character is the most important character in the story (for obvious reasons).

So my question is: if there was a game where you played the role of a support character instead of the hero destined to save the land would you play it?

Somethings for this game to work: the "Hero" takes you everywhere, NPCs talk to the Hero not you but you get to be the a snarky sidekick if you want, and you can choose specializations etc,

personally I think it'd be great to see the standard RPG story fair from a different point of view. What else would be required for this game to work?

 

[Fishyash]

It would be interesting.

 

[drbarno]

I'd say have something like the Tails story from sonic adventure, which involves tails standing up for himself without the aid of sonic and saving a town from Eggman.

I would say yes, and the "hero" should be portrayed as a over-confident, jerk type character in order to show why you're not playing as him.

 

[Tartarga]

What kind of support character? I wouldn't want to spend an entire game talking to a guy through an earphone.

Lol jk. In all seriousness that does sound rather appealing, it would be nice not to have the weight of the world on your shoulders for once.

 

[Camaranth]

What kind of support character? I wouldn't want to spend an entire game talking to a guy through an earphone.

Wouldn't that make it an RTS?

KIDDING!!!!!

 

[Galliam]

i've thought about that before, but it would have to be done with care otherwise the concept would get lost and it'd suck.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

Why not? Final Fantasy XII was fun... wasn't it?

Well, I enjoyed it, anyway.

 

[socialmenace42]

That's a bit of a niche, so it would either be fantastic or pure rubbish. I think that actually many stories of the hero are best told from the perspective of an observer. It gives the whole thing more grandeur. That's one thing that I liked about the age old Call of Duty games based in WW2: typically you played a lower ranking soldier, a lowly recruit even. You were led through the story by your diary entries and the decisions of your commanding officers. In modern games there is often so much emphasis on your character 'running the show' as it were. I'd like to see a game where you get hurled into a situation by someone else.

 

[swankyfella]

It could be fun as long as you as the sidekick still had some sort of impact, like maybe you could alter the course of the game a little by convincing the 'hero' to do or not do something.

 

[Camaranth]

It could be fun as long as you as the sidekick still had some sort of impact, like maybe you could alter the course of the game a little by convincing the 'hero' to do or not do something.

I started thinking it through a little more after I posted and this would have to be a major aspect for the game to be engaging. You'd have to be the hero's best friend, they would ask you for advice and you would gain or lose influence with them depending on what you recommend. Say you convince them early on to burn a village to the ground...depending on the outcome they may be less inclined to listen to you

 

[Fwee]

Actually I had thought of this kind of idea a couple times. Just the other day I was wondering if games could get rid of the whole "death" idea for the player's character by basically replacing "death" with a kind of "personal failure". For example, the Dark Knight pulls a fast one and stabs you with his Awesome Sword and you forgot to take your health potion. You then drop to your knees, bleeding but trying to defend yourself as your companion leaps to your aid and finishes off your enemy. You stay alive but injured (diminished stats or lost items), and your companion is now the big hero and you're the sidekick until you get the next chance to prove your worth.
That and I was working on an RPG that involves you being the nameless soldier working for a cowardly, lazy, incompetent prince who gets all the attention. Inspired by the knight in Final Fantasy 9 for some reason. Not his mannerisms, just his look.

 

[mikev7.0]

It seems to me that no matter what game you are playing the player character is the most important character in the story (for obvious reasons).

So my question is: if there was a game where you played the role of a support character instead of the hero destined to save the land would you play it?

Somethings for this game to work: the "Hero" takes you everywhere, NPCs talk to the Hero not you but you get to be the a snarky sidekick if you want, and you can choose specializations etc,

personally I think it'd be great to see the standard RPG story fair from a different point of view. What else would be required for this game to work?

I think it's a great idea! Just imagine a game where you were not so much a sidekick or even support guy (as you can be both simutaneously in any MMORPG) but instead you controlled the one who was trying to mitigate most of the collatoral damage that they create. You could have healing abilities, force fields, as well as other fantastic powers designed to save lives and instead of scoring through body count you scored by number of lives saved and dollars worth of property damage avoided. I don't know about it becoming it's own game but it would certainly make for a great alternate way to play the game rather than the "play as good or evil or morality meter" fad that seems to be going now.

It also could say something important about the so called "heroic" fantasy stories that most of up play now pretty much because these were the basis for the first great story based games and also for the same reason that Eskimos eat blubber.

 

[Camaranth]

I think it's a great idea! Just imagine a game where you were not so much a sidekick or even support guy (as you can be both simutaneously in any MMORPG) but instead you controlled the one who was trying to mitigate most of the collatoral damage that they create. You could have healing abilities, force fields, as well as other fantastic powers designed to save lives and instead of scoring through body count you scored by number of lives saved and dollars worth of property damage avoided. I don't know about it becoming it's own game but it would certainly make for a great alternate way to play the game rather than the "play as good or evil or morality meter" fad that seems to be going now.

It also could say something important about the so called "heroic" fantasy stories that most of up play now pretty much because these were the basis for the first great story based games and also for the same reason that Eskimos eat blubber.

Hmmm initially I thought of your first idea as playing something similar to a trauma surgeon cleaning up after a firefight but I think there is a lot more potential in there. At first I had the image of playing and fighting along side the "hero" but you've made me consider ways of using this as a non-combat gaming mechanic similar to what extra credits discussed not too far back. Thanks

The social commentary has potential to be really deep or really funny (maybe both) if handled with care.

 

[Ganthrinor]

I'd play it only if I got to be a snarky, possibly non-human smart-ass bastard side-kick the entire time.

Spoiler: You know the kind I mean.