Postby LittleSoul » Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:21 pm
The only reason I want to play any kind of character these days is because I haven't seen them yet, or at least not in a long time.
I want to play a servant who is utterly loyal, who has a master that will actually tell them what to do and not be a wuss about it. I'm currently working on this, but as usual it will probably fail.
I want to play the head of a overzealous religion who is opposite, or clearly different from the "be good to us and we'll be good to you" attitude in most other organizations in cantr.
I want to see kings and queens who act like kings and queens (or emperors/empresses whatever). But, as previously mentioned, I suspect the population issue has a lot to do with this, among other things.
I want to see a community that harbors criminals as the normal citizen. Sort of like Bloodstone from Fable 2.
I want to see more opportunities for intrigue, and scandal that is laced with cooperation between characters instead of just rogue individuals who can't accomplish much on their own, or pirates who tend to group but do not make their plans elaborate (or by any stretch of the imagination fun for anyone but the pirates player-wise) or meaningful with a lasting end goal other than hoarding (which is not meaningful at all).
I do feel like almost every town I come across is the same, the only exceptions are towns with exceptional, active characters inhabiting them that really add the little bit of culture, and feel to the town they're in. Which still isn't much but it's definitely something worthy of mention.
But I'm not complaining.
Also, regarding the blank-slate characters, that's perfectly reasonable to do within a society simulator; it actually just plain makes sense. But this is also a game, and if everyone did that most people would just come out the same as the majority (nice, and good with their own little quirks). A few might be influence positively by the elusive, well roleplayed pirate but that would be rare and those well roleplayed pirates are apparently nearly non-existent. Plus, if we're going to ignore the fact that characters start out at 20 years old and are like babies with no knowledge of any common customs such as weddings, we might as well start them all off at year one. There needs to be some kind of basis to go off of, otherwise it will take too much time to relearn and it's simply tedious, just like characters "learning" a new language because it's required if they start out with only one language but the player knows another. I'm sure hardly anyone actually goes through that learning process just because it's realistic and it makes sense.
So, as a game, I am not against having pre-determined ideals, values, or common knowledge with newspawns. Their personalities change over time, that's all I care about, but the point is that, in my opinion, without them the game won't be as fun because more characters would be dull copies without much hope of an influence of change or the introduction of new ways of thinking.