I hope I can get to craft a really ugly bastard in the character creator, that's all I want, a face to make your own mother puke and children run screaming. Like my own gentle mush.
Am I the only one who thinks that the response was kind of vague on purpose? The other ones were pretty much spot on. They could have chosen any question they wanted ,and they went with the customization one. There are a few reasons I could think of:
-They’re surveying the forums for some insight into our expectations
-They don’t have the story written yet ,so they don’t know how much freedom in customization can be given so the plot won’t feel out of place
-They are planning something cool with the protagonist ,but they don’t want to spoil anything (unlikely given that evading that question would be easier )
Or I could just have too much free time on my hands and see things that aren’t there (very likely).
Crazy theories aside , I’m excited about the second question (Will choosing your class affect the story? If so, how much?). I loved it in VTM: Bloodlines (whatever clan you choose ,at least one malkavian play through is a must!) and loved it in Fallout series (Your super complicated science thingy is broken and requires someone with science knowledge to fix it? Small world…). So if we will see at least one of this approaches in Cyberpunk ,I’ll be really happy.
As for the character, I’d rather play a male protagonist ,but a female one is also ok. In the end what matters for me is the story. I can forgive a crappy gameplay , bugs and crappy graphics ,as long as the story is engaging and well done (Alpha Protocol ftw!).
Appearance customization is also low priority on my list, I mean it’s cool and everything, but I usually end up with one criteria if the editor has too many options and configurations ( “ Well at least he looks a little better than a pig’s arse…” ).
Cheers!
-They’re surveying the forums for some insight into our expectations
-They don’t have the story written yet ,so they don’t know how much freedom in customization can be given so the plot won’t feel out of place
-They are planning something cool with the protagonist ,but they don’t want to spoil anything (unlikely given that evading that question would be easier )
Or I could just have too much free time on my hands and see things that aren’t there (very likely).
Crazy theories aside , I’m excited about the second question (Will choosing your class affect the story? If so, how much?). I loved it in VTM: Bloodlines (whatever clan you choose ,at least one malkavian play through is a must!) and loved it in Fallout series (Your super complicated science thingy is broken and requires someone with science knowledge to fix it? Small world…). So if we will see at least one of this approaches in Cyberpunk ,I’ll be really happy.
As for the character, I’d rather play a male protagonist ,but a female one is also ok. In the end what matters for me is the story. I can forgive a crappy gameplay , bugs and crappy graphics ,as long as the story is engaging and well done (Alpha Protocol ftw!).
Appearance customization is also low priority on my list, I mean it’s cool and everything, but I usually end up with one criteria if the editor has too many options and configurations ( “ Well at least he looks a little better than a pig’s arse…” ).
Cheers!
KapitanPadzierz said:
Oh definitely, he said they really want to keep the role system from CP2020, which is fantastic news! That means we will probably be able to choose from among the following roles: Corporate (sleazy, rich executive), Fixer (smuggler/information broker), Media (Journalist), Netrunner (hacker), Nomad (biker), Solo (assassin, bodyguard, military type), Rockerboy (musician) or Cop.
I guess there will be some different content in the game depending on which role you choose, because they all have very different backstory and different points of view about what's going on in the game world.
Well this is where it definitely comes down to personal preferences. I felt far more connected to the characters that I created for most of the Infinity Engine games, Fallout series, DAO, ME1 and even Saints Row the third than I ever felt towards Geralt. Geralt never felt like me and at times he distinctly annoyed me. Given the choice, in say a pnp game for example, he wouldn't be the type of character I would create. I enjoyed the Witcher as a whole but I felt like a passenger with Geralt.slimgrin said:
I just hope that CDProjekt are true to the pen and paper roots of Cyberpunk 2020 and allow me to create my character.
How on earth did you feel more connected to a SR3 character than Geralt? Maybe customization means more than characterization to some people?
Your character in a CRPG is actually the developer's character. They created it, not you. The entire game reacts to what they created, not you. Feel free to imagine whatever bits in between that.
Your character in a CRPG is actually the developer's character. They created it, not you. The entire game reacts to what they created, not you. Feel free to imagine whatever bits in between that.
KIrving said:Yes, that would be how roleplaying works.
I used to be in that school of thought, before coming to the conclusion that this is just an excuse for devs to be lazy in story telling.
Blank slate can work well in an open world game like Elder Scroll or Fallout, as the game was never really about story, but rather being immersed in a setting that gives you a lot of freedom.
But honestly, despite how much I loved the game (in large part because of the work I did in my head), it was meh in games like DA:O, KOTOR or Jade Empire. Everything I imagined, while great and fun, is irrelevant as the game doesn't react to it and with Bioware specifically, I realized that it was an excuse for their crappy writing. That plus no matter how much I RP, the Warden / Revan / Spirit Monk had to be idiots on several occasions (Shepard, while not a blank slate but an awkward hybrid, was an imbecile most of the time. And don't get me started on Hawke).
I have come to vastly prefer a set protagonist, one which the game, story and characters react to.
For Cyberpunk, I would prefer the Michael Thorton from Alpha Protocol formula except with gender choice. Thorton was kind of a hybrid, but it was executed well because the game, story and characters actually reacted to your choices and background (even your freakin armor! Just dialogue but it was a nice touch). But I admit, I am worried about this as they could end up with a Shepard or worse Hawke, both of whom I could not identify with or care about, nor could I enjoy playing as them.
I can accept silent PC if I do not get the impression that they are being lazy and expecting us to write most of the story in our heads for them.
KnightofPhoenix said:
The Witcher games are based on series of novels, and you play the famous protagonist of a somewhat linear story with some interesting branching choices along the way that affect the details of the ending.
Cyberpunk, on the other hand is based on a big open world pen and paper RPG with a huge sandbox, I mean the sandbox is the size of the Earth. In CP2020, there are many different kinds of characters you can create and it's all about role playing, thinking about your character's point of view, choosing to do whatever you think your character would want to do, go where your character would want to go, interact with whichever NPC faction, etc.
There is a very detailed backstory about the game world setting, but the actual narrative of each adventure develops more organically out of the players choosing to do what they think their character would do, and the GM playing the part of the NPCs in the world, often improvising to accommodate unexpected player choices and interests. It's more of an "emergent narrative" rather than a rigidly structured pre-defined cinematic story.
I think we all anticipate that Cyberpunk will have a narrative structure somewhat similar to Witcher, but we know from the Q&A responses at least that CDProjekt hopes to keep the CP2020 role system, which means very different kinds of character classes and backgrounds. The central narrative of the game is going to have to play out somewhat differently if your character is a cop, journalist, wealthy corporate executive or a rockstar musician, etc., because you are going to have a different perspective on the world, different social status and probably different relationships with NPC factions, etc.
Wildly different branching dialogue options in a brilliant game like Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines are probably only possible with a silent protagonist, as it would be prohibitively expensive to record so many different protagonist voices and so many variations on every line, not to mention the problem of not being able to edit or improve upon the dialogue once it has been recorded.
Personally, I would be looking forward to replaying the game several times, playing a very different sort of character each time. If the protagonist is voiced, either it's going to be ridiculously expensive or they would probably have to ditch most of the class options, greatly reducing the replay value. A silent protagonist also makes it easier to implement systems for sandbox gameplay and emergent narrative, which I'm hoping will be a central feature of Cyberpunk.
Knight: Replaying DA:O I realized the Warden is just as idiotic as Shepard and Hawke are actually, if not more so depending on what options you are talking about. I just think it's possible to ignore that in the Warden's case because you just select the dialogue option whereas with DA2 and ME you have to listen to idiotic dialogue. However if you read the dialogue and then pause to consider how it would sound out loud you realize just how pathetic and moronic it is.
Personally while I was very much attached to the idea of what my Wardens are, as in terms of headcannon, I did not give a shit for the Wardens as characters without it whereas with Shepard and Hawke I did actually care about them even if I thought the other characters and the story in general was shit.
WhatATwist: If the characters in the story do no react to our character backgrounds, our beliefs, our character gneder etc. then the game is a piece of crap compared to one where the characters do react to such stuff ( Witcher 1+2 and Alpha Protocol ).
Furthermore voice actors are not that expensive as one might actually think.
Personally while I was very much attached to the idea of what my Wardens are, as in terms of headcannon, I did not give a shit for the Wardens as characters without it whereas with Shepard and Hawke I did actually care about them even if I thought the other characters and the story in general was shit.
WhatATwist: If the characters in the story do no react to our character backgrounds, our beliefs, our character gneder etc. then the game is a piece of crap compared to one where the characters do react to such stuff ( Witcher 1+2 and Alpha Protocol ).
Furthermore voice actors are not that expensive as one might actually think.
I used to think that I wanted to create my character, because I like creating. TW1 showed me how much richer the interactions with NPC's can be if those NPC's are reacting to a specific person and not to Some Generic Hero. Geralt is pretty damned far from who I am in real life, but playing him was way more satisfying than playing anybody else. I've become a convert to the specific-character school of thought -- you just get a much better story and much better interactions with the NPC's that way.
I think it depends on the company creating the blank character and the specific character because there are a lot of games that kinda suck with specific characters, for example Final Fantasy X, XII, XIII, Risen, Arcania: Gothic 4, Game of Thrones: The Game etc.
In my opinion everything can work if you know what you doing, of course it is way more easy do the linear approach to the main character but I do not think CDprojekt like easy things but I can accept a specific character, really hope it is female.
In my opinion everything can work if you know what you doing, of course it is way more easy do the linear approach to the main character but I do not think CDprojekt like easy things but I can accept a specific character, really hope it is female.
Please tell me at least SOME inspiration is going to come from the original Shadowrun. The whole universe got 5h!t on so hard when FASA made their junk shooter version in 2007, and it is such an incredible wellspring of awesomeness. CDPR is a fountain of awesomeness, so let's link the two up and drink in the awesome!
I'm really interested in learning how they're going to handle netrunning (aka hacking) in the game. It was a touchy subject in the pen-and-paper game, as the netrunner characters required so much Game Master attention that it could cause other players at the table to become bored. This being a single-player video game, those same issues shouldn't arise. Still netrunning in Cyberpunk 2020 left something to be desired.
I hope the design team draws some inspiration from other titles beyond System Shock when it comes to netrunning. I would suggest looking at other Cyberpunk inspired games such as Uplink and Netrunner the Cyberpunk 2020 based CCG from Wizards, which was such an excellent game that it's been picked up and republished by Fantasy Flight for their Android setting in an LCG format. These games provided excellent hacking simulations mixed with great gameplay.
@HarryMannbach
Keep those filthy dragons and magic cyber-faeries off my city grid.
@Mihura The chance of getting a female specific character is quite high. My guess is it'd be like Molly from Gibson's Neuromancer. Me, if forced into a role, I'd rather play Case from the same story. But I'd rather be able to create a character a la Fallout, Baldur's Gate, or even Knights of the Old Republic.
I hope the design team draws some inspiration from other titles beyond System Shock when it comes to netrunning. I would suggest looking at other Cyberpunk inspired games such as Uplink and Netrunner the Cyberpunk 2020 based CCG from Wizards, which was such an excellent game that it's been picked up and republished by Fantasy Flight for their Android setting in an LCG format. These games provided excellent hacking simulations mixed with great gameplay.
@HarryMannbach
Keep those filthy dragons and magic cyber-faeries off my city grid.
@Mihura The chance of getting a female specific character is quite high. My guess is it'd be like Molly from Gibson's Neuromancer. Me, if forced into a role, I'd rather play Case from the same story. But I'd rather be able to create a character a la Fallout, Baldur's Gate, or even Knights of the Old Republic.
While the arguments for set protagonist are compelling, I still like playing a female character better than male. I just relate better. I'm sure the reverse is true for many guys.
I liked playing as Geralt, but he was always Geralt, never me. When I mishandled the game controls, I'd frequently berate Geralt for being such a dumb f___, lol.
I think in games it is rather refreshing to play as a female that can not have to worry about all that crap we deal with in everyday life. That people are just people no matter what they've got in between their legs. Nice dream, huh?
There are stats that show the number of females in gaming is on a sharp rise, so the developers that embrace that are going to be the winners in the long run, unless of course they like the number of sales, etc., their company currently has.
Just my opinion, you don't have to go spreadin' it around or anything.
I liked playing as Geralt, but he was always Geralt, never me. When I mishandled the game controls, I'd frequently berate Geralt for being such a dumb f___, lol.
I think in games it is rather refreshing to play as a female that can not have to worry about all that crap we deal with in everyday life. That people are just people no matter what they've got in between their legs. Nice dream, huh?
There are stats that show the number of females in gaming is on a sharp rise, so the developers that embrace that are going to be the winners in the long run, unless of course they like the number of sales, etc., their company currently has.
Just my opinion, you don't have to go spreadin' it around or anything.
bbk4114 said:
The devs have already confirmed they intend to keep CP2020's roles system, which means there will certainly be different classes you can play (for example, Corporate, Nomad, Hacker, Techie, Fixer, Journalist, Rockerboy, etc.) and they each have very different backgrounds.
The devs haven't mentioned anything specifically about gender yet, but it seems likely if you can play such different character classes, probably there will be significant appearance customization as well, since a wealthy executive is probably not going to appear similar to a member of a biker gang, or a smuggler.
something inside me hopes it has king fu like matrix combat sections.
deus ex will be tough to top, but if anyone can do it, its cd projekt red.
deus ex will be tough to top, but if anyone can do it, its cd projekt red.