Killing important characters?

Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:32 pm

One thing I loved in Morrowind was the complete freedom, even being able to kill off main quest givers. Then if you did kill off an important character it asked if you wanted to continue play with that decision or to reload the game. I thought this was great system and was wondering why they changed it in all the Bethesda games since. The only reason I can see why people didn't like this was that you couldn't tell who was important or not till after you killed them, sometimes making you lose a few hours of gaming reloading. But it seems like this could be easily remedied such as when your reticle is on them and it highlights their name, it could a different color.

I have read that now when you kill minor quest givers such as a shop owner they maybe replaced by someone such as a family member. Will this be done with main quest givers as well (such as a clan chief being replaced by the next in line) Or are they all still immortal? Which really kills the imersion for me. If that's the case I think they should at least let us kill them after the main quest is done. How do you guys think it should be handled?
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Jhenna lee Lizama
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:05 pm

I would enjoy seeing Morrowind's freedom back. I want to be able to kill off the main questline, and drop all they're unique quest items in my house, if I choose to. A "warning message" like before would be sufficient.
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Kelsey Hall
 
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Post » Mon Dec 20, 2010 3:34 am

I am pretty sure it has already been confirmed that Main Quest givers are immortal, I don't think they have commented on whether they are afterward as well or not.
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Manuela Ribeiro Pereira
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:54 pm

I think this is where they're hoping for the whole "Radient Story" thing, though not exclusively when YOU kill them, but if they would get killed in battle, etc, and it would be nice if there people there to replace them; but with penalties of course, like the next in line knows less, resulting in being forced to either do something extra or seek out a certain individual, etc. Hopefully, if Radiant Story gets implemented perfectly, we could actually have completely different playthroughs each time. Would be neat if on your second playthrough you end up serving a different person right off the bat because the first time through that guy died right away etc. I hope they get this right...
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Lauren Graves
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:16 pm

I think this is where they're hoping for the whole "Radient Story" thing, though not exclusively when YOU kill them, but if they would get killed in battle, etc, and it would be nice if there people there to replace them; but with penalties of course, like the next in line knows less, resulting in being forced to either do something extra or seek out a certain individual, etc. Hopefully, if Radiant Story gets implemented perfectly, we could actually have completely different playthroughs each time. Would be neat if on your second playthrough you end up serving a different person right off the bat because the first time through that guy died right away etc. I hope they get this right...


I think you are expecting to much from Radiant Story. It seems to me like it will be more along the lines of side quests which will have a degree of change between playthroughs. I believe I saw something along the lines of 75% of the quests in the game will utilize radiant story while the rest will probably be main quests and side quests that are more defined in their layout.
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Scarlet Devil
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:35 pm

^ That seems more likely, but we can hope.
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Honey Suckle
 
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Post » Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:26 am

Isn't it possible to count the number of immortals in FO:NV on your hands? Obsidian had it right. Why does Bethesda insist on so many immortal characters?

It's possible to create a story that's completable with most other characters dead. Sure massacring the world makes getting quests harder for the player, and yields fewer long term rewards, but that's consequences for actions, guys. I think that Oblivion and Fo3 could have been greatly improved by making many many fewer killable NPCs.
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JESSE
 
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Post » Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:21 am

All NPC's should be killable!

I think, if you manage to kill off your only way to finish the main quest, you should witness the destruction you were meant to stop. This way, immersion will be maintained. If you are supposed to stop the big baddie from destroying the world, it doesn't make sense for the world not to end if you make it impossible to complete your quest!

Just a thought :P
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jessica Villacis
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:54 pm

The only reason I can see why people didn't like this was that you couldn't tell who was important or not till after you killed them, sometimes making you lose a few hours of gaming reloading.

Another possibility is that the AI sometimes caused NPCs to become suicidal or homicidal. Wouldn't it svck if the AI wigged out and an important NPC just jumped off a bridge, or decided to steal something an incur the wrath of the guards? Not only that, but it can happen while you're not near them, so you'd have no way to prevent it. Most people probably don't like games that break themselves.
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Robert Devlin
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:39 pm

I really implore Bethesda to either make quest NPCs vulnerable, or at the very LEAST, make it an option that can be toggled on or off.
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naome duncan
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:31 pm

I actually like the idea of essential NPCs. See, it pissed me off to no ends when I found Big Head dead before I could return his fork. This happens in my games often actually. If anything, it keeps the important NPCs from dying due to their own or other NPC's stupid behavior. As for the player being able to kill them? Well, I never actually wanted to before. Even my chaotic evil characters don't just go around offing npcs just because they feel like it.
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latrina
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 2:42 pm

I actually like the idea of essential NPCs. See, it pissed me off to no ends when I found Big Head dead before I could return his fork. This happens in my games often actually. If anything, it keeps the important NPCs from dying due to their own or other NPC's stupid behavior. As for the player being able to kill them? Well, I never actually wanted to before. Even my chaotic evil characters don't just go around offing npcs just because they feel like it.

There is a very simple way around that, though.
Just make it so that essential NPC's are vulnerable only to you, the player, and no other NPC's.
Or, make it so it's like Oblivion, if an essential NPC gets killed by someone other than you, they fall down for a few seconds, then get back up. But, if you kill them, they die.
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Laura Ellaby
 
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Post » Sun Dec 19, 2010 10:26 pm

There is a very simple way around that, though.
Just make it so that essential NPC's are vulnerable only to you, the player, and no other NPC's.
Or, make it so it's like Oblivion, if an essential NPC gets killed by someone other than you, they fall down for a few seconds, then get back up. But, if you kill them, they die.

Yeah, I can agree to that. ^_^
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Zosia Cetnar
 
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