Blank slate vs fixed protagonist. Male vs female.

[not_slimgrin]

Blank slate vs fixed protagonist. Male vs female.

We all know in due time we'll be getting a new IP from CDPR. It gets me thinking. Big time. I'm not going into genre discussion ( scifi, fantasy, etc) cause we've already covered that ground on this forum. But I would like opinions on the above two options in my poll. What do you guys want to see for the new IP?

 

[227]

Fixed protagonist female.

There have been plenty of fixed protagonist males and blank slates of both genders, but I can't think of more than one or two examples of compelling stories with a fixed female protagonist that didn't end up being completely over-the-top. An interesting, realistic story that doesn't turn the protagonist into a femme fatale of ridiculous body proportions would always be nice, if only for a change of pace.

 

[GuyNwah]

"Blank slate" doesn't really fit this world of definite characters and stories. Leave that for Bethesda and their jailbirds "born on a certain day to uncertain parents".

But after two well-done characterizations of Geralt, I wouldn't mind seeing what kind of spin the story writers and artists could put on a female protagonist.

 

[not_slimgrin]

"Blank slate" doesn't really fit this world of definite characters and stories. Leave that for Bethesda and their jailbirds "born on a certain day to uncertain parents".

But after two well-done characterizations of Geralt, I wouldn't mind seeing what kind of spin the story writers and artists could put on a female protagonist.

I'm not talking about The Witcher universe. We know in fact the new IP will be unrelated to The Witcher.

I'm tempetd to go with a fixed female protagonist myself. CPDR has proven they can do the fixed protagonist very well, and having a female character as compelling and unique as Geralt would help shape the genre for the better. Video games need real and compelling women, not floozies in bikini armor.

 

[Corylea.723]

I used to love blank slate games, until I played The Witcher. The depth and richness of that game convinced me that only a known protagonist allows the writers to create a great story; blank slate characters only fit into generic stories. In The Witcher, every single NPC in the game is reacting to a known quantity, and that very specificity makes it possible to create a better story.

It's not Some Guy, Prince of Denmark; it's Hamlet.
It's not Generic Military Brat, it's Miles Vorkosigan.
It's not A Physician from Central Casting, it's Hawkeye Pierce.

Great stories grow out of character, and for that to happen, you have to know who the character IS.

I'd like to see a female main character, because most games are about men, and the change would be nice. Plus, the sorts of stories that grow out of being female have not been much explored, so they'd be fresher.

 

[Oloroar]

I'm not talking about The Witcher universe. We know in fact the new IP will be unrelated to The Witcher.

I'm tempetd to go with a fixed female protagonist myself. CPDR has proven they can do the fixed protagonist very well, and having a female character as compelling and unique as Geralt would help shape the genre for the better. Video games need real and compelling women, not floozies in bikini armor.

I agree with you. They have shown us what they can do with their female characters. With amazing characters such as Saskia, Philippa and Triss, I believe CDPR could make a truly wonderful female icon. If anyone can, it would be them .

I also prefer fixed. If it were another studio I would have said blank slate, because it is much easier to allow a player to identify with a blank slate character than a fixed character. Again, CDPR have shown that they are more than capable of doing so, and I have no doubt they could do it again.

I just hope that CDPR is "rebellious" enough to do it. After all, male protagonist is considered the industry standard, since the majority of the "hardcore" gamers are male. As a male gamer, I would love to be put in the shoes of a deep female lead. It would be a unique and enlightening experience. Not to mention it would help open up the medium to the opposite sex.

 

[Dona.794]

Female, fixed.

I have no problem relating myself to either gender when I play games, but I would like a female because gaming seriously lacks quality female characters. We know CDPR can get characterisation like no other, and I would like to see them challenge themselves with a realistic female and a game that doesn't rely on marketing sex and objectifying women to sell. There are SO few games that do it right, and yet I'm sure a lot of people would be more than happy to play a complex, mature game featuring a female.

 

[username_2093396]

I picked fixed protagonist because I expect that CDPR will have a very deep and thought-provoking story, which requires the character to have a history and certain personality traits that other characters know about and will react to. I know nothing about what new IP they are working on, but assuming that it's an RPG I am totally fine with the character having a general personality to begin with and then I make the important decisions which will have consequences later on.

I chose female in the poll because it would be something different from most games if we get a strong female lead handled with the same maturity and depth as Geralt. I assume that if CDPR does make a female lead she will be taken seriously and not portrayed as some silly seductress like a lot of other games have.

However I'm fine with a character of either gender as long as they are well-written and at least somewhat likeable from my perspective.

Fixed protagonist female.

There have been plenty of fixed protagonist males and blank slates of both genders, but I can't think of more than one or two examples of compelling stories with a fixed female protagonist that didn't end up being completely over-the-top. An interesting, realistic story that doesn't turn the protagonist into a femme fatale of ridiculous body proportions would always be nice, if only for a change of pace.

Maya from Septerra Core was a very good strong female lead. The game itself is slightly over-the-top (it's fantasy and is not meant to be set on anything like Earth). But the characters themselves were normal and treated respectfully (not as eye candy). I thought of this because I just saw that Septerra Core is on sale on GoG, so if it actually works on Windows 7 64-bit I'm probably going to buy it again (My disc version doesn't play the in-game cutscenes properly)

 

[grregg]

Didn't cast the vote since I don't care about the gender.

As far as the blank slate vs fixed is concerned, I'll second what Corylea said. A blank slate character forces the writers to write a one-size-fits-all story and these are never good. To be sure, a good writer can play all kinds of tricks to work around it, but it is so much better if instead of the tricks they can focus on an actual story. Worth losing a lot of customization in my opinion.

And since the story can be about the main character and not the NPCs, the writers can avoid the dreaded Dysfunctional Companion Family Disorder.

 

[CostinRaz]

A female character would be something. I do not expect anything else then top notch writting from CDPR, so it's no concern of mine. However I do want a good voice actress if that happens. ( Jennifer Hale has a whole host of issue for Mass Effect ).

 

[Thothistox]

Both have strong merits and honestly I couldn't decide. It's much harder to make a blank-slate character because the game has to adapt to the changes the player has made. For example, if my race of character is hated or distrusted the NPC's better treat me differently than if I chose to be one of their kind, otherwise immersion is completely ruined DA2 style. On the other hand, when it's done well it adds immersion tremendously and adds a lot of replay value.

On the other hand... they made Geralt. Phlegmatic and street smart, he suits his world perfectly.

 

[Aditya]

I guess the numbers on the poll here speak for themselves Fixed Female. So far I only know Tomb Raider (not that great but enjoyed when I was a kid though) which has a goof female lead, (despite the ridiculous outfit, recalling an episode of Dexter in season 1, "you dress like THAT to raid tombs?") Being a male gamer myself, females depicted in games and most other media are either for sex or simply because they exist, nothing else. Its really ridiculous, and thats why I loved Saskia's character in TW2 - beautiful, realistic and an essential part of the core story. No Im not giving the give women respect speech but just saying like everyone else would love to see a kick ass female lead.

 

[Oloroar]

I guess the numbers on the poll here speak for themselves Fixed Female. So far I only know Tomb Raider (not that great but enjoyed when I was a kid though) which has a goof female lead, (despite the ridiculous outfit, recalling an episode of Dexter in season 1, "you dress like THAT to raid tombs?") Being a male gamer myself, females depicted in games and most other media are either for sex or simply because they exist, nothing else. Its really ridiculous, and thats why I loved Saskia's character in TW2 - beautiful, realistic and an essential part of the core story. No Im not giving the give women respect speech but just saying like everyone else would love to see a kick ass female lead.

Off to the top of my head I believe Jill Valentine was seen as a good female icon at the time. She kicked ass in full cop uniform. The point still stands though, when you struggle to find an example of a good female lead, something is wrong.

 

[227]

Maya from Septerra Core was a very good strong female lead. The game itself is slightly over-the-top (it's fantasy and is not meant to be set on anything like Earth). But the characters themselves were normal and treated respectfully (not as eye candy).

I'm really glad you mentioned that. Saw it on sale on GoG and was considering picking it up. Syberia is another game that I heard has a strong female lead, though I don't have any firsthand experience with that. Still, it's incredibly hard to think of a female lead who wasn't turned into a caricature, especially in modern games. Seems like the only good examples are older games.

 

[Dona.794]

when you struggle to find an example of a good female lead, something is wrong.

Exactly. I cannot think of many good female leads. Lara Croft was okay until Crystal Dynamics made her into a blubbery "where's my mommy" mess. Off the top of my head, I can think of Jade (Beyond Good & Evil), April Ryan and Zoë (The Longest Journey), Nico (Broken Sword), Victoria McPherson (Still Life). Oops, most of them come from adventure games that focus on story instead of graphics and flashy camera angles and two of them share lead role with male protagonists. None of them seem to be 'iconic', though, not on the level of Ms Croft anyway :[

@227
Yes, Kate Walker is another excellent lead, although many complain that Syberia is just a loooong string of doing favours for other people, and it's true. Still, if you have a chance, play the series. It's one of my favourites :>

 

[thatnewyorker]

I wouldn't want to be stuck playing a female if the game is an RPG or even RPG like.

 

[Dona.794]

I wouldn't want to be stuck playing a female if the game is an RPG or even RPG like.

Care to elaborate why?

 

[username_2093396]

A female character would be something. I do not expect anything else then top notch writting from CDPR, so it's no concern of mine. However I do want a good voice actress if that happens. ( Jennifer Hale has a whole host of issue for Mass Effect ).

Aww, I thought Jennifer Hale's voice acting was one of the best things about Mass Effect In my opinion the problem was the actual written dialogue and the lack of meaningful choices, not her voice acting. Sometimes it felt kind of arbitrary to me which was the "Paragon" choice versus which was the "Renegade" choice, although everything was neatly laid out on the dialogue wheel so just keep pressing top right for Paragon or bottom right for Renegade. It eliminated any actual thinking in terms of making the decisions because I knew that if I just kept consistently picking the Paragon choices things would turn out better than if I tried to actually evaluate the consequences of any given decision.

I'm really glad you mentioned that. Saw it on sale on GoG and was considering picking it up. Syberia is another game that I heard has a strong female lead, though I don't have any firsthand experience with that. Still, it's incredibly hard to think of a female lead who wasn't turned into a caricature, especially in modern games. Seems like the only good examples are older games.

You're welcome Septerra Core is a really good game if you don't mind that style that it's going for (the story is very well thought-out but you don't have any choice in it, and the combat is sort of turn-based in that every attack has a recharge time and once it's recharged you click it and watch the animation play out).

 

[Oloroar]

You're welcome Septerra Core is a really good game if you don't mind that style that it's going for (the story is very well thought-out but you don't have any choice in it, and the combat is sort of turn-based in that every attack has a recharge time and once it's recharged you click it and watch the animation play out).

I have the game, but have not had the time to play. If I had to describe it, I would say it is a western take on a JRPG. Imagine what it would be like to play a final fantasy game made by old-school Bioware.

 

[soldiergeralt]

i play these games to see believable looking characters behave believably. so as long as the world and its inhabitants don't look like crap(see dragon age and skyrim), i'm fine with any gender or background.