Why are lifepaths so disappointing?

[AikoHayashi]

I think it is left overs or a quick fix from the initial design, when it was going to be an RPG. But as the game turned to an adventure game, it didn't really make sense with all the choices in the character creator. But now that they had already shown it and told people that it was an RPG first, it would have really pissed off people had they completely removed it.

So I think they threw it in there as a quick bandage trying to cover the fact that the game weren't really going to be the RPG game people thought, but telling people that they turned it into life path, which would play into the game would seem like the feature hadn't been removed, but simply "improved". Also I think it's fairly obvious from the lack of content that relate to life path, mostly it's a few dialog options which doesn't make any difference or its a couple of missions.

If you compare the current life path options, with the amount of different options you had in the initial design of how to create your character, it's pretty clear that a lot more thoughts and options had to go into this and in making the game more of a player choice driven experience with a reactive world, rather than the player being forced on a linear path.

Also my guess is that the first mission they presented with the Maelstroms was how they intended the missions to work originally. But when Keanu and Silverhand got added, the whole game turned from the initial player choosing their "life path" as in the initial design. To just choosing some generic life path as it is now and everyone forced into the Silverhand life path and everything had to revolve around Silverhand and in the case life path didn't matter, because the game is not really about the player, but Silverhand.

The player is at no point involved in the Adam Smasher story, it's about Silverhand. The Heist is just a generic mission where the player does something wrong against the Arasaka, and then it's somehow weirdly turns into the Araska being the bad guys and Silverhand and his old crew want revenge, V have nothing to do with it, except being stuck with Silverhand. Imagine Silverhand was removed straight away after the Heist and there would be absolutely no motivation for V to get involved in the main story at all and hold a grudge again Arasaka or Smasher.

I start as Corpo kicked out from Arasaka, so for me, they are the bad guys anyway. Learning how they use the engrams for their own egoistic purposes and against the rules doesn't improve my opinion about them. But I really played the game and tried to understand what it is all about.

 

[Mobster100]

Cool theory. Except for the fact that there's no "Silverhand path" in the game (you don't seek Evelyn, Brigitte, Hellman or Hanako because Johnny wants to, but because V's life is at stake). And the fact that lifepath in Cyberpunk PnP RPG amounts to customizing your character's origin story and background (exactly like in CP2077), not choosing which storyline you want to experience.

In the original design there was (Childhood hero):

My point was that choosing between these options when you created your character in the original design, one would assume that they added them for a reason. Mixing and matching them obviously would have given a lot more options than the 3 generic ones that are there now. And again, after Keanu I think they scrapped all this and just went with a Silverhand story, probably completely different than what was originally intended, but obviously just a guess.

Post automatically merged: Jul 7, 2021

I start as Corpo kicked out from Arasaka, so for me, they are the bad guys anyway. Learning how they use the engrams for their own egoistic purposes and against the rules doesn't improve my opinion about them. But I really played the game and tried to understand what it is all about.

I chose the badland ones, can't remember what they are called. But that was cool with the border and all, in my opinion the most interesting one of them.

 

[Didacgomez]

In the original design there was (Childhood hero):
View attachment 11234110

My point was that choosing between these options when you created your character originally, one would assume that they added them for a reason. Mixing and matching them obviously would have given a lot more options than the 3 generic ones that are now.

They just changed from standard lifepath questionnare to 3 pre-packaged ones(Starcrawlers,Vampire Bloodlines-unofficial patch I think-,old Traveller computer RPGs from the 90s),because I think not many players would have known who is Saburo,Johnny or Morgan...lifepath as mechanic in a RPG is always related to the character past story. It doesn't influence the main story...just some dialog options,background,some quests and depending on the system some bonus/malus.
https://www.dampfkraft.com/games/lifepaths.html

 

[wyzman001]

Lifepaths are only issapointing for people who never looked/played to Cyberpunk tabletop.

I don't understand your point...tabletop relied on the referee/judge to be a creative story teller for the narrative,poor judge poor story

 

[Guest 3847602]

In the original design there was (Childhood hero):

My point was that choosing between these options when you created your character in the original design, one would assume that they added them for a reason. Mixing and matching them obviously would have given a lot more options than the 3 generic ones that are there now. And again, after Keanu I think they scrapped all this and just went with a Silverhand story, probably completely different than what was originally intended, but obviously just a guess.

I know. It was still a part of customizing your character's backstory (as it clearly says at the top). Nothing about it implies anything more than having unique dialogue options from time to time and few extra quests. Nothing even close to indication of separate storylines for each choice.
Edit: Oops, ninja'd by @Didacgomez

 

[lyin321]

I don't think the different stories in the SWTOR (at the beginning) were bad. I find it kinda of single player RPG inserted into MMO

Out of curiosity, would it be possible if you could give some examples of such games with multiple main stories? I don't know many games and would be nice to maybe try some of these. Thank you.

The only other game I can think is Elder scrolls online...and while I think the stories are not bad, don't expect multiple choices. There are some, but not often

A question for you that consider DAO origins to be so much better.....why? What creates the big difference is the races and not the origins. While here V can be only human

 

[Mobster100]

They just changed from standard lifepath questionnare to 3 pre-packaged ones(Starcrawlers,Vampire Bloodlines-unofficial patch I think-,old Traveller computer RPGs from the 90s),because I think not many players would have known who is Saburo,Johnny or Morgan...lifepath as mechanic in a RPG is always related to the character past story. It doesn't influence the main story...just some dialog options,background,some quests and depending on the system some bonus/malus.
https://www.dampfkraft.com/games/lifepaths.html

I know. It was still a part of customizing your character's backstory (as it clearly says at the top). Nothing about it implies anything more than having unique dialogue options from time to time and few extra quests. Nothing even close to indication of separate storylines for each choice.
Edit: Oops, ninja'd by @Didacgomez

You might be right, im just guessing based on what they showed and told us.

I think they were originally aiming for a lot deeper RPG experience than an action / adventure game. So many times have they highlighted and pointed out, that it was RPG first, choice matters etc. and action second.

But to me, it's obvious that the game is not like that. Not taking away from the game, it's still very enjoyable (at least for us which had a more or less bug free experience).

Personally from what they said, my guess was that it was more like Fallout/Skyrim than GTA, but simply expanding on the choice matter compared to them.

You have you stats and skills etc. you earn experience, loot gear etc.

 

[Didacgomez]

I don't understand your point...tabletop relied on the referee/judge to be a creative story teller for the narrative,poor judge poor story

I think you are thinking about interactive storytelling, where player actions with GM(help?,passive stance?) might modify part or the whole of a story(in computer i can think maybe about AI dungeon, but any game with pre-scripted branching points and ends is not interactive storytelling).
But lifepath its before the start of any story. If you are directing a party of 6 player characters,each one with its independent lifepath how do you craft a single story that matches 6 different pasts?-specially if the story was written in advance of character creation-

 

[Guest 3847602]

A question for you that consider DAO origins to be so much better.....why? What creates the big difference is the races and not the origins. While here V can be only human

Main thing that comes to my mind is the feeling you get when you revisit Circle Tower as a mage, Orzammar as dwarf or Brecilian Forest as elf and see familiar faces. Connection to places and people from your character's past.

 

[KakitaTatsumaru]

Lifepaths are only dissapointing for people who never looked/played to Cyberpunk tabletop.

I played it, and they are disappointing.

 

[Didacgomez]

I played it, and they are disappointing.

How can be if you played the tabletop? That they could have put some extra bonus/malus,some extra dialog or instead of 1 or 2 quests dedicated to the lifepath a few extra ones I can agree... but the lifepath is not the archetype in tabletop. Naming two lifepaths as tabletop archetypes for me is a bad design decision by CDPR, it can lead to confussion I think and that they went to a classless system was not also my favorite design decision, but I can imagine that some archetype unique abilities are not very suitable to be implemented in a computer game without a AI GM (comes to mind Rockerboy special ability).