After playing FO3 and NV I found one thing lacking in oblivion: emotional elements. To show what I mean, I'll give you a few examples:

1. in FO3, you grow up with a few characters in the vault and you start to have feelings about them, especially the overseer's daughter and the father. when I got the quest "following his footsteps" I feel very touched.
2. in FO3,
3. In NV, when boone tells you the story about his wife. it felt very emotional even though you are not part of it
4. in NV, when you buy veronica a dress
5. in NV, I even feel bad after killing Caesar, because he wasn't depicted as purely evil but has some human quality
6. Here's one from oblivion, after Martin turned himself into a dragon and then into stone, I felt sad for a little while

I'd like to see more of these kind of moments in skyrim. In oblivion everything feels like a joke and childish.

I never feel anything major towards in these games, although I would have liked it if Amata would have just went to Megaton or Rivet City after the quest where you go back to the Vault. She is the only person I felt anything remotely close to a connection to.

That being said it would be a great addition.

Yeah more drama.

Honestly, making the player feel emotionally attached is something I feel Bethesda has always had a hard time doing. In Morrowind too, I rarely really cared about the characters, I think part of the problem comes from NPCs in the Elder Scrolls often not being all that memorable, and you rarely really have a chance to have anything resembling an actual relationship with them, it's just do whatever quests they're involved with and you're done, no more reason to speak to them again. And making "friends" is usually just a matter of bribing characters enough.

I certainly wouldn't object if Bethesda tried to make players feel a bit more of an emotional connection with characters or the game world in general, though, without actually forcing players to form relationships they don't want to.

Mass Effect anybody?

maybe it's because in a fantasy world it's hard to build personal connection because it's too "unreal"? I think beth definitely did better on that in the FO series, maybe due to the fact the people in there are americans and easier to relate to real world?

I totally agree with this and hope they've done alot of things to make you care for the characters... even if there isn't any companions in the game.
I would also like to thank the OP for not setting up a poll. Need more threads like this. :goodjob:

Not really, I can understand where Baurus is coming from. Hes my partner. Only character I thought we had a friendship with the character in Oblivion.

I've read plenty of fantasy stories and have understood and connected with some of the caracters. Its not about the scenery, its about tone, personality(actually having a personality), and for games more interactivity or at least more negative/positive responsive actions to your actions.

there was one more that I really felt sad for, the dark brotherhood quest where you had to kill that whole family, I really didn't want to go after the old lady

There should be more violent scenes against innocent people that makes the player a little emotional. For instance a bandit gang attacks a little farm, drags the family out of their home too kill both the wife and kids, and the player has a 50% chance of getting to late to save them. If this game gets an 18 + rating then they can make very dramatic and violent content. Its time the elder scrolls step up on the mature level. They did in Fallout 3 and I think this should continue

I agree with the OP. Characters that matter are a good thing. In Morrowind, I think I can say that I only felt a connection with a few characters: Caius Cosades, Nibani Maesa to a small degree, and Mehra Milo (after I wrote a short fan-fiction letter from the Nerevarine to her about leaving Morrowind). I'd almost say Ahnassi as well, but it's hard to think of my character forming a connection with a talking cat In Oblivion it was even harder. I felt sympathy for Baurus, but not much connection with Martin, who I'm sure we were meant to form some sort of connection. I think it's the whole "I've never seen you before in my life, but suddenly I trust you completely."

after downloading LGNCP, there were a ton more that I loved.

Surprisingly, of all the characters in Oblivion, it was Amusei that I really felt for. I liked Lachance, Sheogorath and Haskill too, probably because they had more than decent dialogue lines compared to most of the others, but Amusei had a certain something in his naivety that really melted my heart. Perhaps it was the fact he was clueless in the competition quest, perhaps it was the fact I saved his tail more than once, I don't know... all I know is I love the kind of encounter that Amusei was. This is the kind of character that I'd like multiplied in Skyrim: one that you can actually bond with because you meet him in special circumstances, repeatedly.

yea, and I felt really sad when I saw Lucien Lachance's body hanging on a hook because I came too late to rescue him

I think part of the problem is that ES NPCs have always been static. Meaning, they never leave their place of residence, and most of them never change their minds or change in their characters. That makes characters boring. ES NPCs have always just been mechanics to help the character along in his personal quest which he always does alone.

If some important NPCs in Skyrim could change their minds, go from being good to evil, or evil to good, or decide to try and follow the player on his quest (if the character allows them), and then be killed or something...stuff like that would make the game much more memorable from a character and a roleplaying viewpoint.

I think the reason there's lack of emotional link in OB is because most of the characters don't have a history or background. for example, how did a beggar become a beggar? you hear a lot of these background stories in fallout

That my friend, though I never played the quest, is why I vow to take down the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim once and for all.

And yes, more emotional concepts! I think if they made, atleast the storyline characters, really unique and interesting, like Mass Effect, it would make for a far better game.

Example for how I felt during Mass Effect 2 ending (spoiler)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

I really think it is true. There is a need for more room for things like background and personalities in the games. I think it also has to do with the fact that NPCs haven't really got relationships either. Even if it was mentioned once in a while in Oblivion that a female NPC and a male NPC was married, that was it. I could go kill one of them and nothing would happen to dialogue or the body (like a funeral or whatever), I would just be wanted if caught, I could pay my fine and that would be it... I think I might have been a bit sad when Martin vanished, although he also annoyed me a bit so not that much.. Maybe Lucien Lachance also. I think maybe I'm just not evil enough to be in The Dark Brotherhood But yes, more personality and relationships between NPCs would help...

yea

I can't believe I forgot Amusei.

We had plenty of quests with the guy.

Yeah him too.

Lachance was a good character but not a character I would like to connect too.


One of my favorite emotional quests (to me) was WHODUNIT?
Pure fun. My favorite quest.

Which mod is that?

I forgot two other mods that definitely helped: Emma's White Wolf of Lokken Mountain and Kateri's Julan Ashlander Companion. Those two brought me hours of fun and amusemant and the characters had more meaning than most of the npc's in the rest of Morrowind.

I'd have to say no, the heroic prisoner shouldn't have any emotional strings attached. The only emotions are what you might tie to the NPCs you encounter. I, for one, was deeply saddened in oblivion when my true love was the first to die...I tried to take her sword to remember her by but it was stolen in the end. I couldn't even kill the thief only put him to sleep

As long its not all high fantasy, magic items/prophecies/alternate dimensions.

Timeless human stories work well no matter the setting and humour could be break up the dragon-apocalypse tone - I Agree that the WHODUNIT quest is my favourite.

Gears of War 2 and Halo Reach come to mind in terms of emotional bonds. Despite their audience and their notorious reputations amongst hardcoe gamers, their (sub)plots are quite tragic.

In order to capture such emotions, characters need to be built throughout the course of the game. They need to show you love, joy and anger; you need to know them, laugh with them and live with them.

Everything you shared with them, your goals, your knowledge and your laughs are gone. Who do you share them with?

Is the only way to stir up strong emotions made by killing off these kinds of characters? Definitely not.

Nice topic. I realize now that they never seem to take on you too personal or intimate, it' more all about the fantasy and epic which at some point shouldn't be so much like that. But don't get cheesy of course, we are talkin' emotive or deeper, not greasy.