Chris Gardiner said:
The Accidental Lesbian
RPGs use different methods to avoid falling into the identity gap ? that space between the developer?s game world and the player?s vision of it.
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I don't see the problem, in REAL LIFE people don't get to chose their own sexual-preference, why is it so game breaking for it to happen in game?
You are ROLE PLAYING after all! Play the role!
Though if the game is trying to reflect the GAMER'S preference then it should have taken more explicit clues like which gender you proposition for sex. Anyway, regardless of how you read this, this only indicates transient bisexuality. One lesbian crush does not a lesbian make. It's only official when most of her interest is for females with insignificant interest in males.
As to back-story, I don't think it is fair that the gamer gets to choose what terrible circumstances are befallen on them, whether living as prince or a pauper.
In real life people don't get to chose that, it influences them and changes FUNDAMENTALLY who they are, on such a deep level that it must be left with the player. The player must EXPERIENCE what their character has gone through and either emphasise with them or actually feel they are in the role like an actor really living their role.
But people DO have a choice every day what to do with their experience.
Are YOU seeking revenge for their murdered parents? Or are you seeking Justice? Or Do you just want answers and reconciliation? That is your dynamic decision that is entirely in your head and only works if you live the role. You have to know and experience the loss of your virtual family and then the decision is not what you "plan" to do, but what you do do.
You cannot simply have the situation: "Yeah, my brother got murdered, I just remembered that now. I have no memory of the circumstances or even what my bother looked like nor any memory from my life... but it happened and I think I am supposed to care about this..."
I have a very good mechanic for this: Dreams
Sleeping is a vital element of RPGs, almost universal. And every time you do, you remember, you remember
what happened. See to give a back story you don't need everything, you just need the important bits, stylistically presented the important parts. Enough to give you drive for your quest. This can also be done with flashbacks, hallucinations and vitrual reality constructs. You could even use de ja vu mechanics (who knows how).
Ever notice how in a dream you can't control yourself. Especially vivid memories, this can be so effective in game.
See from day-to-day moment-to-moment people don't remember all the events of their life, but when prompted they will remember. When left alone for their mind to wander.
Say your character is wandering through the woods from one quest to another then you hear voices - memories of poignant conversations. Relevant to your mission. Say perhaps a memory of an argument with your character's father such as:
"Son! Though shall not kill!"
"But Father, if I am being attacked, or I must help..."
"Killing is a Sin, boy... never forget that..."
For your character to 'recall' that memory as a disembodied conversation, just before he goes on a mission to avenge his father's murder, that I think works far better. I doesn't force you to do anything, nor make decisions for you, it does however force you into the role, be as conflicted as the character you are playing.
YOU make the decisions. You decide who to kill, who not to kill, who to sleep with and who not to.
Almost every role playing game demands the character start with amnesia - with no memory of past events - as it's the only way to put them in the same position as the gamer. Either that or you ease the player in slowly, giving them an entire introduction of their life to actually BE them... not merely impersonate them.
Same reason they make them either mute or of very few words... it prevents them breaking the character mould as in the accidental lesbian.
But I wouldn't say the "accidental lesbian" thing is so awful, it's the way you approach it.
Say for examples you are a female character and you hear the mention of a woman's name: Sarah.
This triggers a mechanic called "nostalgia" when unless you fight it with willpower (tap X for willpower) you will flashback to your time with Sarah. The flashback frames her romantically, your time together which is more than friendship. It is special and intimate but then it falls apart and stylistically the breakup is shown the cutting remarks and regrets.
You can't change this, the past is the past, those are your memories. It did happen.
But it doesn't matter what happened in the past, it is significant for how she will react to you and what kind of relationships you can pursue now but the decision you make now 100% yours. YOU the gamer could just decide you are not interested in her. Was your lesbianism just a phase? Was it just she was the one exception and it is over now? Or do you regret it all, do you want to restart what you had - that you the player only had a fleeting glimpse of as a memory.
