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This topic has moved here: Subject: Do you want another silent/faceless protagonist in Destiny?
  • Subject: Do you want another silent/faceless protagonist in Destiny?
Subject: Do you want another silent/faceless protagonist in Destiny?

TSIA, do you want another silent/faceless protagonist in Destiny or no?

  • 12.02.2012 7:24 PM PDT

No, not really. IMO it only really works when you're playing a game like Portal 2 where the story is driven entirely by personal reactions or Skyrim or Half Life where it's being told at you. However you can get a lot more out of a game if you stick to the traditional narrative experience (see books, epics) when you're involved in some way because you can leverage your point of view as an involved participant to work you way into the fiction. See Deus Ex:HR which for all it's boss-fight-faults did drive a very compelling narrative. And Halo 4's campaign rose straight up there when 343 decided to do more with the chief character than Bungie. Hell I can even cite Captain Titus in Space Marine as a pretty good example of how even a little introspective personality can take the mundane "Me smash orks!" and make it heartfelt.

Anyway, no silent pro's. At this point it's cliché and we can certainly do better.

  • 12.02.2012 7:37 PM PDT

No. Silent protagonists make for limited story telling. Half Life is a special case. Characters talk. The Chief talked, even if it wasn't his strong suite.

I'm thinking from the info we have that Destiny might give you room for customization anyway.

  • 12.02.2012 9:40 PM PDT

Half Man.
Half Horse.
Half Machine.
All "Jerk Who's Really Bad at Math."

PS
No, I do not want to join your clan/group.

I'd rather the character have a face than just a helmet or visor to look at, though I'm hoping we have some control over the look of that face, much like Mass Effect gave players.

  • 12.02.2012 9:57 PM PDT
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Unpopular opinion time:

I do. I really really do.

This is the only time I feel like a character is mine. A large amount of people don't realize the value of this allegedly lazy technique.

I can make my own story for my character. This is why I like Noble Six as a character. He was a blank slate and I could go in and fill out his past.

  • 12.02.2012 10:26 PM PDT

Warning: You may find that my, or someone else's opinion does not comply with yours. Side effects of disagreement may include (but are not limited to): flaming, irrational behavior, broken keyboards, and/or nervous sweats. If you experience any of these symptoms refrain from communicating with others until the symptoms have subsided.

So, I like the strong silent type of playable character, but only when I'm inside that charact-- I mean, when I'm playing as that character.

Visual and audible cues often dictate player response to characters. When players can both see and hear the character speak they create a connection between the two. However, in first-person, you can't get this sort of player reaction to the played character because the player doesn't see the character speak.

I don't think player characters need to be toned down so that players can become that character, I think that elements within the game should allow the player to take control of a character, make the player really feel like he/she is this person that's talking.

What I think would work best:

We should be able to see the character's face, be able to see him/her talk, but introduce the third, and quite possibly most important factor, player input. Player input is what can turn these two things from seeing and hearing a character to becoming a character.

It would be really cool to see something like an interior helmet shot in the corner of the screen that showed the character's face while he/she talked, because as the character spoke the player could be playing, shooting, using the right stick to look around, but the character would keep talking; you would be able to see him/her talk, hear him/her talk, and most importantly see his/her eyes move around in the helmet (a direct action of the player). That is reinforced player-character interaction.

  • 12.02.2012 11:04 PM PDT

Per Audacia Ad Astra!

No, silent character limit the emphasis of story, we need to have a strong connection with our character and being silent will affect our perception again (you're not only a badass, you are human too, with feeling, an opinion, character can suffer too...). Did Shepard in ME is silent ? or Jason Brody in Far Cry 3 ? No.
Bungie should avoid this bad habit wich is definetely negative for building a character.

  • 12.02.2012 11:51 PM PDT

Waffles > Pancakes. End of story.
I <3 Bungie :)

Not completely silent, but still reserved.

  • 12.03.2012 12:30 AM PDT

1 P17Y 7H3 F00L

KOTOR

I'm not quite keen on the silent protagonist, especially Noble 6 in Reach. I understand that Noble 6 is supposed to be special in that he/she helps to transpose the player's actions into the legacy of Reach and also jive with the whole augmented customization and personal appearance preferences feature in Reach, but I'm still not quite a fan of it.

[Edited on 12.03.2012 1:04 AM PST]

  • 12.03.2012 1:04 AM PDT

A Bungie fan from the far cold north.

Not silent, but I think I would prefer a faceless character. The other option is to give customisation options, Mass Effect style. But what is known about Destiny so far, I'm pretty sure we can at least choose the gender of the character like in Reach.

  • 12.03.2012 1:38 AM PDT

Haters are going to hate.
Praisers are going to praise.

The Bungie Forums are what keeps my mind sharp and my fingers active, between writing my own movie scripts, drawing, and studying industrial design. At the moment I'm working on miniatures for a short movie that I'll hopefully be able to film once I've saved up for a camera... That's me, with the mug, trying to have a conversation with Konoko.

Are we even sure that the player will control the story's protagonist? Couldn't the adventure be surrounding all of the colourful characters that were mentioned in the leaked sheets?

If it's anywhere near a MMO, in the sense that it's built for multiplayer, that it's ideally played online, how would a main character work, who would be it, would we all be it but separately?

Sounds weird to me..

We're young knights, I think we're somewhat anonymous in the story, not silent, not without character, but at first not a defined character, that's something we'll have to become.

I've had an idea for quite some time now, that one of the things Destiny will try to do, is be the next step in machinama; that we'll get the tools to act, in-game. This would also allow the community to take over the story, as hinted towards by Bungie/theorised.

[Edited on 12.03.2012 1:48 AM PST]

  • 12.03.2012 1:45 AM PDT

"Moooooooo"
-Ghost cow

I'm fine with anything. I'm sure Bungie can pull this off.

  • 12.03.2012 3:46 AM PDT

This world wants to drag you down... And the weight, that guilt they want to hang around your neck, you don’t have to carry it one more step. You think they won’t let you rest, but it’s not up to them. It never was.

Posted by: Gamma617g
I do. I really really do.

I can make my own story for my character. This is why I like Noble Six as a character. He was a blank slate and I could go in and fill out his past.
Noble 6 wasn't a silent protagonist, but I can see what you mean. He still talked (somewhat), but he was characterized in a way in which you could make him your own. His past was covered in "black ink", and his face was never shown, so you could make his face and his story your own.

I wouldn't mind if they went this way with Destiny, as long as the other characters are strong enough to carry the story. I don't want the protagonist completely silent though, like the Rookie.

  • 12.03.2012 4:17 AM PDT
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  • Senior Legendary Member

I wouldn't mind it. Noble 6 was a pretty good protagonist. Bungie's been getting way better at single player (loved Reach and ODST)

  • 12.03.2012 3:38 PM PDT

Yeah actually, straight up silent, give me a helmet and extra customization I'm good.

  • 12.03.2012 4:26 PM PDT

On Waypoint I'm rocketFox;
http://halo.xbox.com/forums/members/rocketfox/default.aspx

Old GTs; RebelRobot, Flamedude

Perhaps not entirely silent like the Rookie, which was weird, but silent/faceless like the Master Chief or Six is fine by me.

Certainly needs to be faceless, so I can project myself into the game.

  • 12.03.2012 4:59 PM PDT

Shirtless protagonist? No, but really, it depends on how the game plays. If it is a game like some have speculated that is heavily based on player interaction everyone will probably build their own characters. However if this isn't the style of the game I would like a character that has more of a personality, possibly an option at the beginning to choose one of a few characters that play through the story from different perspectives. That'd be cool...

  • 12.10.2012 8:34 PM PDT

Old School

Definitely shirtless.

maybe quiet and faceless, but AI interact with you based on rank and status. keeps it consistant throughout.

  • 12.10.2012 9:32 PM PDT

For Carnage Apply Within BEST GROUP EVAR!!!

Yes

  • 12.10.2012 10:03 PM PDT

Posted by: AngryBrute1
Oh yeah, since somebody does not believe what YOU believe; that makes us vapid...
I cannot grasp that what you call "Something happened to nothing, and that nothing became something, and it was smaller than than a period."

I would like if the main character has a little more dialog, because I do think character development is good.

  • 12.11.2012 7:07 AM PDT