RPG Maker Forums

   Ok, so yeah, I've finally gotten around to working again after a fairly long hiatus and one thing I've started to do is work on a sort of affinity system. On the surface something similar to dragon age: origins but with two specific differences.

1. There are no gifts to earn by 'improving your relationship' and no items that you can use to 'buy affection'

2. It is not the various party members who's opinion is likely to change, but rather the protagonist.

   I've been thinking about this for a while now but have been reluctant to actually implement it into the game so far. The thought came up because I've been implementing a camping scene as a part of the game and one of the main things to do in it is to converse with everyone who is traveling with you, I've loved these kinds of mechanics in games since playing legend of Legaia 2 and similar games and found it an interesting way of naturally having characters speak of none specifically plot related matters that add to their development as well as the world without using required playtime. However, the camp scene has gotten a bit of criticism already from players that utilized it with the expectation of gaining something out of it and were then disappointed to learn that there are no rewards, no affinities to garner favor with and no real effect on the game beyond the interest of the conversations themselves and the information that they reveal.

   At the same time, I don't want to turn it into some cheezy 'mimic the npc's opinions and get prizes' kind of thing either, not to mention the fact that the protagonist is a sheltered child in the company of mostly experienced adults who aren't likely to really be swayed by any of her opinions to begin with and the idea formed. What if these interactions influenced the protagonist rather than the one she was talking with. Just as an example, converse with a party member who is unusually cruel and agree with his stances often enough, and the pc's speech and choices start becoming more and more ruthless and cutthroat. On the other hand, if you speak to the scholar with a distaste for violence then she will start looking for non violent solutions to some of those same situations, potentially changing how certain parts of the game play out based on who she is influenced by the most.

   Mechanically it would play out similar to dragon age: origins in that you would engage in conversation with a party member when camped, and periodically within the conversation you get a chance to respond. The responses would basically be accepting the member's opinion completely, agreeing with it, disagreeing it or completely refuting it. I thought about having a neutral option as well, but the more I think about it the more I think that as a child the pc should be impressionable to every conversation one way or the other. So basically instead of having to play favorites and being a two-faced little fool trying to make everyone like you to get goodies, the pc is free to whatever opinion they want to have on such matters without the feeling of penalties, then the pc will lean towards solutions to future problems along the line of thinking that the player agrees with the most.

   The last link to this idea is that it won't be a 'good/evil' meter or anything of the sort. The characters involved all have diverse beliefs and habits and won't all respond to every topic the same way. Even the most pacifistic peace-loving party member might have a reaction to a certain experience that when spoke of could influence the pc to become a more ruthless killer, likewise the sadistic assassin might show a glimpse of a tragic fate that causes her to find sympathy for her enemies. Basically I'm thinking of using several different ideologies (or approaches might be a better term) that each lean towards a different kind of thinking, and the player's choices in later missions would basically be chosen along the lines of the ideologies she most strongly agrees with regarding them. Not all ideologies will have solutions to all missions, meaning that if the pc isn't developed as a somewhat healthy, well-rounded individual than she may be rendered unable to make appropriate decisions at key times, adding a little more thought to the process than merely selecting the same ideal each time. (not to mention that a maximum of 3 out of what as of now will be 7 ideologies will be represented in each conversation branch, making having a pure zealotlike character impossible to begin with.)

   So my question now is what are your opinions on this? Is it interesting and do you think you might enjoy it, or is it a tedious-sounding mechanic that would cause you frustration when you'd rather just the pc be a blank slate (when pertaining to in game choices) that you choose for completely? Since it doesn't technically get you gifts and whatever I'm worried that it might be better to just leave the conversations as completely detached from the main game as is or consider leaving them out if enough people find world building for the sake of world building a misleading gimmick and an annoyance. Thoughts please?