I suggested this before, in the other thread. I was brought to the conclusion that it would lack emotion and it would not fit well.
Kind of like one of these:
[video=youtube;8hq-nM5UV38]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hq-nM5UV38[/video]
Kind of like one of these:
[video=youtube;8hq-nM5UV38]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hq-nM5UV38[/video]
No pre-determined names for thank you.... fuck that.... I have no desire to play someone elses character, I want to play my own...
Plus the more names, the more dialogue has to be recorded, which has already been pointed out as a bad, resource wasting idea.
And with clever writing, something I keep being told CDPR are good at, there is no need for the character to have a name, as there are enough workarounds that it shouldn't be an issue.
Plus the more names, the more dialogue has to be recorded, which has already been pointed out as a bad, resource wasting idea.
And with clever writing, something I keep being told CDPR are good at, there is no need for the character to have a name, as there are enough workarounds that it shouldn't be an issue.
My issue with that is frequently being referred to as a title: the one, outlander, Dragonborn. It's impersonal and generic. Being called Shepard in Mass Effect and picking my own first name was a nice compromise.
As said before, custom (first) names have been in use for a long time. A good example is Mass Effect, where your character is Shepard. It may be a he or a she (props for all the femsheps out there), but it's always Shepard. And you're called Shepard. (What slimgrin managed to say just as I was writing this, btw.)
The problem is obviously only in the spoken dialogue. They can use a fixed surname in the dialogue, and they could go further and use certain callsigns or handles or give an array of surnames to choose from, and then record the dialogue for all of those (it's all about the money), but it's obvious that we can't have a fully custom name and have the dialogue address us by name. That's when we would need to be addressed by our roles, by our reputation and such.
However, a completely fixed name is an asinine idea. Completely. At least I think so.
The problem is obviously only in the spoken dialogue. They can use a fixed surname in the dialogue, and they could go further and use certain callsigns or handles or give an array of surnames to choose from, and then record the dialogue for all of those (it's all about the money), but it's obvious that we can't have a fully custom name and have the dialogue address us by name. That's when we would need to be addressed by our roles, by our reputation and such.
However, a completely fixed name is an asinine idea. Completely. At least I think so.
It's not really a compromise. I don't want to be named Shepard. I don't want to play someone elses character, I want to play my own. Forcing a name on me removes the ability to make the character my own. It also pretty much makes the whole "character printer" useless, unless you want everyone showing up to your game with the same name.
Chossing any part of our name is "fixing" it.As said before, custom (first) names have been in use for a long time. A good example is Mass Effect, where your character is Shepard. It may be a he or a she (props for all the femsheps out there), but it's always Shepard. And you're called Shepard. (What slimgrin managed to say just as I was writing this, btw.)
The problem is obviously only in the spoken dialogue. They can use a fixed surname in the dialogue, and they could go further and use certain callsigns or handles or give an array of surnames to choose from, and then record the dialogue for all of those (it's all about the money), but it's obvious that we can't have a fully custom name and have the dialogue address us by name. That's when we would need to be addressed by our roles, by our reputation and such.
However, a completely fixed name is an asinine idea. Completely. At least I think so.
Who needs the spoken dialogue to address us by name? I recognize for some reason this may be a big deal to some of you, and I can respect that. But I really don't want any aspect of my character's identity or personality decided for me.
As I said, if the game has to give us "nickname" it should be by our Role... nomad, solo, fixer, corp, cop, tech, medtech, rocker, media....While Nomad, Fixer, and Solo are pretty fucking cool by themselves, Corps could also be called Suits, Cops could be called Officers, etc....
I'm also considering how CDPR likes to roll, and the fact is they feel a pre-defined charcter offers benefits for story telling and roleplay. That may sound counter intuitive but those who have played the Witcher games will understand. So I guess my quesiton is: have they even confirmed we'll be playing a blank slate and not a predefined character?
Well, if you don't have a name, then your character won't be written in any story in any way. It'll just be some random dude or dudette. If it has a surname, then that alone gets you written in the story. Well, aside from being referred to by some nickname, as my Fallout example states later on.
They've said, I guess, that our characters won't be saving the world though, so I guess it might be there's isn't any story revolving around our characters. Or, it could be like in Fallout, where the character is referred to with nicknames (wanderer, vault dweller, etc.)
Fallout 3 and New Vegas did it just fine without ever referring to the player character by name, so names in dialogue aren't completely necessary, although as I said before, there were references to the player using those aforementioned nicknames. Perhaps 2077 could have a similar system.
They've said, I guess, that our characters won't be saving the world though, so I guess it might be there's isn't any story revolving around our characters. Or, it could be like in Fallout, where the character is referred to with nicknames (wanderer, vault dweller, etc.)
Fallout 3 and New Vegas did it just fine without ever referring to the player character by name, so names in dialogue aren't completely necessary, although as I said before, there were references to the player using those aforementioned nicknames. Perhaps 2077 could have a similar system.
They have made 2 games in the past... one a sequel to the other, both based on a novel with a pre-existing protagonist... This isn;t exactly a long history to make such assumptions with...
They have confirmed heavy customization... what that actually means is anyone's guess, but this mixed with the confirmation of character sheet printing seems to strongly suggest you will be a blank slate.
Even with clever writing a character who never gets referred to by name will seem hollow. Except if that character has some kind of plot-convenient amnesia (which gets us back to the "clever writing" part: plot-convenient amnesia isn't).
IIRC they said that it'll be a story revolving around our character.C. MacLeod said:
When has any world-saving story really been about the characters? I can't recall a single one that really was about the characters and not about the world they're saving, the conflict between faction A (douchebags) and faction B ("nice" douchebags) or about just shooting tons of dudes until you reach the final USB port of destiny.
And a character with any part of their identity being pre-defined never really feels like it's yours. You always feel like your just following someone else's story, not your own.
It's quite clear that the two trains of thought on this, the pro-prenamed and the against-prenamed, are about even in their support.
So, CDPR realistically has the following options:
Give our character a set surname or handle and address us persoanlly in NPC dialgoue - This will leave about half of the community disappointed.
Give us free reign to name ourselves and refer to us in generic terms/roles/titles or a mixture of all three - Again, about half of the community will be disappointed.
At the end of the day, it's down to perspective. I am in favour of freedom to fully name ourselves. This is because I feel that we don't lose anything by not being refered to by names all the time, like in real life. I don't refer to everyone by their name. Most of the time I use generic terms like bud, man, dude and bab, (local slang, I haven't misspelled babe.) I usually reserve names ofr when there could be confusion as to who I am speaking to. And that's only if I know their name. most of the time I am talking to people who I do not know, therefore I do not use their name. I don't go into shops, look at the name tags of the people at the counters and talk to them by name.
Mass Effect overdid the name thing. It seemed like all I heard was "Shepard, we're being shot at... Shepard, I can't find my helmet... Shepard, it's gonna blow... Shepard, dinners ready... Shepard, does my bum look big in this... Shepard, I can lick my own nose... Shepard, my pants have fallen off..."
I am not Shepard. I may have picked the first name, which was never used in any way in the game, what-so-ever, (apart from for save games which really does not count.) I did not connect with Shepard for this reason.
Fallout got it right in my opinion. Being refered to with generic terms and titles worked fine and it did not detract from the story at all. That is the model I would suggest CDPR go with for names and dialogue.
Yeah bu..he wasn't YOUR Geralt at all. He was really Andrejz Sapkowski's and always will be. I mean, when I read a book or see a movie, sure, I identify with a character and even feel , especially in 1st person, that we are seeing through the same eyes. Good writing.
But we're not and we weren't. Geralt's boundaries and theme and looks and, well, nearly everything about him outside some tactical choices and certain very limited role-playing options, are pre-set.
I love the White Wolf and quite liked playing him, but he is emphatically not one of my characters. My characters tend to either be much more speech oriented and of/when that fails, prefer stealth murder. In fantasy settings, anyway. Sometimes I swap that out for being a glowing font of power with a diabolic twist.
In Cyberpunk, I play a professional, regardless of class. I rarely if ever argue, typically don't ask a lot of questions, ( prefer to hire independents to do my research), always respect other professionals and, when I can, try to do something for the Little Guy. Also a soft spot for children, which is suppressed, occasionally violently, on the job.
So, I'm not really concerned about the name, I'm much more concerned that deeper role-playing aspects are available to me. I would like to pick my Handle, my Street name, that's for sure. And if possible, hear it used in actual dialogue. No clever writing has ever made up that gap for me.
But we're not and we weren't. Geralt's boundaries and theme and looks and, well, nearly everything about him outside some tactical choices and certain very limited role-playing options, are pre-set.
I love the White Wolf and quite liked playing him, but he is emphatically not one of my characters. My characters tend to either be much more speech oriented and of/when that fails, prefer stealth murder. In fantasy settings, anyway. Sometimes I swap that out for being a glowing font of power with a diabolic twist.
In Cyberpunk, I play a professional, regardless of class. I rarely if ever argue, typically don't ask a lot of questions, ( prefer to hire independents to do my research), always respect other professionals and, when I can, try to do something for the Little Guy. Also a soft spot for children, which is suppressed, occasionally violently, on the job.
So, I'm not really concerned about the name, I'm much more concerned that deeper role-playing aspects are available to me. I would like to pick my Handle, my Street name, that's for sure. And if possible, hear it used in actual dialogue. No clever writing has ever made up that gap for me.
That's not possible though, I thought we established that. It's either a name or a title, as far as I can determine.
Well. Let's see. It depends on how many voice actors you have. And how many times the name is used. Let's say you hear your Handle, (Monogrin, we'll call you), 30 times during the main plot and the major sub-plots , from various NPCs. 30 x say , 50 Handle choices, ( 100 might have been a bit much) = 1500 words. About the length of reading out a 5-page short story. Not too bad.
Now, you'd have to spread that around different voice actors, so you could either a) include it in the speeches - which would really extend things - or b) preface or conclude the speech by blending it in at the start/end.
"Monogrin. Good to see you."
"Do you understand, Monogrin?"
You'd have to do this really well to conceal the gap. Alternatively, you have the 50 names used in each of the games 10 most important speeches and then use the blend method for the rest, or skip it.
An advantage to this is that once your voice actors have recorded saying the 50 names in a few different intonations, you can deploy them around the game in different circumstances - NPCs on the street, in a bar, heard distantly from a cop car, etc.
OR, you could take the 50 names and use them only in the Major NPC speeches. Assume 5 Major NPCs that really matter in the game world. Add another 5 for smaller stuff or companions. Try to keep the part of the speech where they use your name to a sentence or two. That's 10 voice actors that have to say 50 Handles in up to 2 sentences.
About 1000 sentences total, not including re-takes. Much more substantial commitment. Could be 20,000 words. Even if you cleverly keep it to one sentence, that's still probably 10,000 words. Just so you can have your chosen Handle out of 50.
Sort of like "Shepard" only you get to choose.
Worth it? Up to CDPR. I think it'd be pretty cool to hear my chosen Handle, though. I liked hearing, "Geralt!" I felt it was very immersive.
Now, you'd have to spread that around different voice actors, so you could either a) include it in the speeches - which would really extend things - or b) preface or conclude the speech by blending it in at the start/end.
"Monogrin. Good to see you."
"Do you understand, Monogrin?"
You'd have to do this really well to conceal the gap. Alternatively, you have the 50 names used in each of the games 10 most important speeches and then use the blend method for the rest, or skip it.
An advantage to this is that once your voice actors have recorded saying the 50 names in a few different intonations, you can deploy them around the game in different circumstances - NPCs on the street, in a bar, heard distantly from a cop car, etc.
OR, you could take the 50 names and use them only in the Major NPC speeches. Assume 5 Major NPCs that really matter in the game world. Add another 5 for smaller stuff or companions. Try to keep the part of the speech where they use your name to a sentence or two. That's 10 voice actors that have to say 50 Handles in up to 2 sentences.
About 1000 sentences total, not including re-takes. Much more substantial commitment. Could be 20,000 words. Even if you cleverly keep it to one sentence, that's still probably 10,000 words. Just so you can have your chosen Handle out of 50.
Sort of like "Shepard" only you get to choose.
Worth it? Up to CDPR. I think it'd be pretty cool to hear my chosen Handle, though. I liked hearing, "Geralt!" I felt it was very immersive.
Still eating up way to many resources for something that really doesn't add anything to the game. I don't see how it makes you feel more immersed, it certainly doesn't have that effect on me... I recognize it does with others, and I respect that, but I don't get it.
Think about it this way. These handles... they have to be gender neutral, they have to be appropriate to all 9 roles (assuming all nine roles make it into the game), and every line they are mentioned in has to be recorded separately. The same people asking for this also seem to be the ones who not only want a voiced protagonist, but want multiple voice options.
Personally, a compeltely text based dialogue is starting to look much more efficient, and much less resource consuming, as to do this with voice work would be a simply massive expenditure of resources... for something that has very little to do with actual gameplay.
Nope! CDPR will do voice - that's one of their "things".
What did I play that was text based recently...hmm. I found it odd, too. Weirdly silent. I fear I've been recoded by the modern way.
Voice have little to do with gameplay, but a lot to do with immersion and role-playing. Bad voice acting grates on people and is a primary complaint in games. Many would rather have no VO than crappy ones - VO is that significant a part of play experience.
Gameplay isn't king for many people, myself included, or I'd still be playing Counterstrike. I like Cyberpunk because the setting and the stories are so great. Gameplay in most VG RPGs/sandboxes consists of what? Talk/Punch/Shoot/Drive? Many people and games dispense with the first and fourth as is.
Of course, terrible gameplay is never a good thing, but I love Planescape Torment and Fallout 1 and 2 - gameplay there was pretty terrible. Fallout was better.
So I hope they devote serious resources to the voices they will use anyway. I'm not sure if it's worth having a chosen Handle/Name in-game that you hear, but if I can have a great game AND that, bonus!
What did I play that was text based recently...hmm. I found it odd, too. Weirdly silent. I fear I've been recoded by the modern way.
Voice have little to do with gameplay, but a lot to do with immersion and role-playing. Bad voice acting grates on people and is a primary complaint in games. Many would rather have no VO than crappy ones - VO is that significant a part of play experience.
Gameplay isn't king for many people, myself included, or I'd still be playing Counterstrike. I like Cyberpunk because the setting and the stories are so great. Gameplay in most VG RPGs/sandboxes consists of what? Talk/Punch/Shoot/Drive? Many people and games dispense with the first and fourth as is.
Of course, terrible gameplay is never a good thing, but I love Planescape Torment and Fallout 1 and 2 - gameplay there was pretty terrible. Fallout was better.
So I hope they devote serious resources to the voices they will use anyway. I'm not sure if it's worth having a chosen Handle/Name in-game that you hear, but if I can have a great game AND that, bonus!