Personality

One of the biggest appeal of RPG games is that players can create their own characters with their own fighting style, aesthetics, and of course personality. In terms of personality, RPGs allow players to express it primarily though dialogue options. Problem with that is that the dialogue options are often boring and limited. People like to make fun of modern RPGs dialogue options of "Heroic goody two shoes, sarcastic jerk, evil butthole" but if you ever played old RPGs like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights, most dialogue options tend to fit into that 3 archetype. If I were to roleplay as a snobby aristocrat using fancy words (a pretty common fantasy character), there aren't consistent dialogue options I could choose to express my character.

There's also the fact that most RPGs don't actually track the dialogue you choose. There's no personality system. You can pick the butthole dialogue for your entire playthrough in Dragon Age: Origins and people won't comment on it neither is there a special dialogue you can unlock. Now some RPGs actually do have some sort of system that tracks how you shape your character in the game. Pathfinder has the classic DnD alignment, PoE and D:OS 2 has the tag system, and M&B Viking Conquest has the four humors.

Now its understandable why RPGs have limited dialogue options and most can be summed up as nice, funny and evil, its because it would take too much effort to create a dialogue for every personality. But technology has progressed and there should be an incentive for developers to create a more complex system for players to express their characters. Especially now with the rise of AI which would be a big help. How do you add personality in player created characters? What are your ideas?

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  1. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    most RPGs that try to actually do this kind of thing treat the player like a fricking moron and just put shit in like [SPEECH 100] [MERCENARY] [CHAOTIC] [GOOD] next to the dialogue option as if you're too fricking stupid
    putting those tags next to the option shoehorns you into choosing it. most players are going to pick the option that has their character trait next to it because they want to feel like the choices they made during character creation matter.
    I don't know. Dialogue in games seems kind of doomed. RPGS since the beginning of the genre have struggled immensely with making the shit you choose at character creation actually matter.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      If your point is that having labels next to the dialogue option causes people to pick those instead of choosing organically, that's a good observation
      But I like knowing when an option is available because of this skill or that trait. I like knowing my skills are being used and getting insight for future builds

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      The labels are important when there are mechanics involving alignment. Choosing a neutral good option as a paladin at a bad time can force you to reload.

  2. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Unironically Kingmaker's dialogue system was really good. Always felt like there were varied responses for every situation. Wrath was a bit of a letdown in that regard.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      It's horrible.
      What makes you feel its good?

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      agreed, played it as Lawful Evil and choices to stay in the character never felt moronic.

  3. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Your PC's personality is irrelevant, your actions as a player are what defines the PC's personality, you don't need a prebaked dialogue prompt to announce to yourself that the PC you're playing is a scumbag when you're actively stealing, killing and tricking NPCs.
    You can, and are largely supposed to fill the gaps with your own imagination in case you're not satisfied with what you're actually doing, what is actually important is giving players reactivity when it comes to actual gameplay, speech prompt should be kept to the bare minimum.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      the social/dialogue/reactivity part of rpgs is an important part of the experience and gameplay, so yes it is important for people to react to you doing bad things
      and if they fail to react and just talk to you normally when you're a complete monster, goodbye immersion

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        >expecting a video game to react meaningfully to all possible player interactions
        It's the one thing tabletop is good at, just go play those instead.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        Not really, it depends on what kind of game you're trying to make in the first place, dialogues aren't particularly important in a game focused on questing and dungeon crawling, if you're doing something that is more focused on NPC interactions things are a bit different, but even there you won't see much of a focus on dialogues because the general reactivity will be low in order to accomodate the usual route and branching systems.
        The concept of reactivity is also not as shallow as you make it out to be, your PC might be a serial killer but if in gameplay terms you get away with it and are never found out why should any NPC react to your character in the first place? Hence we go back to the main point, focus on expanding reactivity in the first place is what must be prioritized, dialogues are merely a byproduct of reactivity in the first place and not the other way around, having npcs bombard you with walls of text for a Yes/Yes(ironic)/Yes(better reward)/No(AKA yes but later) isn't exactly riveting, let alone good game design, and AI isn't going to change any of that, if anything it will allow designers to get even lazier.

        Basically what I'm telling you is that you should stop being a damn hermit nerd and go to an actual table if you really want that sort of shit because it's not a priority in videogames and will not fundamentally alter the experience they give you.

  4. 11 months ago
    Anonymous
    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Nice meme,redditor

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        Have you tried not playing D&D?

  5. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    One idea to make use of AI is that during the character creation phase, you can describe to the AI what your character is like and it will generate dialogue options appropriate to your description. Already tried it and here is the result in chatgpt.

    Insulting a lower-class NPC: "Your attire leaves much to be desired, my good man. I suggest you visit a tailor, posthaste."
    Passive-aggressive remark to a less intelligent NPC: "Ah, I see you are not familiar with the nuances of this particular topic. Perhaps it would be best for you to listen and learn, instead of attempting to contribute to the conversation."
    Flaunting superiority over another noble: "I must say, your family's title is quite modest. I fear you will always remain in the shadow of the truly distinguished and cultured."
    Refusing to dirty his hands: "I'm afraid that task is beneath me. I will leave it to the common rabble to attend to such trivial matters."
    Suggesting a commoner knows their place: "Your kind should know not to meddle in the affairs of the nobility. It would be wise for you to mind your own business."

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Forget it. In 10y maybe, but likely no.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        5 years and ChatGPT like AI will be in majority of video games.

        • 11 months ago
          Anonymous

          Bet accepted. Chatgpt is a bullshit generator and a very desperate attempt to monetize their ai.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      5 years and ChatGPT like AI will be in majority of video games.

      You make a valid point that developers need to ensure that players are able to complete the game regardless of their actions, which can make it challenging to create a system that tracks personality and affects the game's story and outcome.

      In terms of creating multiple personalities for the player to choose from, it is true that it would require a significant amount of work from developers to create and code a large number of unique dialogue options and reactions for each personality. However, by using AI to generate dialogue options based on the player's character description, as I mentioned earlier, developers could potentially streamline the process and create a more personalized experience for players without the need for a vast amount of pre-scripted dialogue options.

      >muh AI
      Way too stupid and context-insensitive to write anything of value, and that's before getting to problems specific to NPC dialogue such as the need to track player choices.

  6. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    RPGs need to stay away from D&D brain rot and actually have roles outside dungeoneering/adventurer. It would be really nice to see the downtime be actually about socioeconomic class/living a normal life and stuff instead of grinding for numbers-go-up.

  7. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >most RPGs don't actually track the dialogue you choose
    I find it deeply ironic that the only games that did that were DA2 and that ASIA-Rpg Bioware made.
    Amazing if you think about it: In those heaps of dogshit there was a silent scream of someone trying to be creative.

  8. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Look at this shit. And oldgays actually think their old school CRPGs had better dialogue options. There is zero roleplaying option in these dialogues.

  9. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    The big problem is that the player needs to be able to complete the game no matter what they do. So you can't have NPC's refusing to help because of how the player has acted. This is why personality usually isn't tracked.

    Regarding personalities each one creates a huge amount of work for the developers. For example if each personality has 1,000 lines of dialogue and reactions that need to be coded then 3 personalities create 3 times the work, while 9 personalities create 9 times the work. Given how most personalities won't be used the developers would be better spending their time polishing the combat, which will be used more often.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      You make a valid point that developers need to ensure that players are able to complete the game regardless of their actions, which can make it challenging to create a system that tracks personality and affects the game's story and outcome.

      In terms of creating multiple personalities for the player to choose from, it is true that it would require a significant amount of work from developers to create and code a large number of unique dialogue options and reactions for each personality. However, by using AI to generate dialogue options based on the player's character description, as I mentioned earlier, developers could potentially streamline the process and create a more personalized experience for players without the need for a vast amount of pre-scripted dialogue options.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      >The big problem is that the player needs to be able to complete the game no matter what they do.
      This needs to change. Just give a big warning during the tutorial that being a massive c**t to people who you rely upon is one sure way to frick up your quest. When they finally lock themselves, just make it a game over.
      >You have isolated yourself. Without allies, you can not stand against the coming storm. Whether you fought or fled, does not matter. You are forgotten and also a homosexual.

      Morrowind had no problem with the "you severed the threads of fate" ending for a player who just goes on a mindless murder spree.

  10. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >In terms of personality, RPGs allow players to express it primarily though dialogue options
    In that case your "personality" is preset by the dialogue options, and not your creation at all.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Exactly. Old CRPGgays pretend that modern RPGs have less roleplaying options for some reason.

      Look at this shit. And oldgays actually think their old school CRPGs had better dialogue options. There is zero roleplaying option in these dialogues.

  11. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Play Alpha protocol.

  12. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >There's also the fact that most RPGs don't actually track the dialogue you choose.
    and you posted one that does. WotR often cites your past dialogue or moral choices, especially when interacting with party members

  13. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Good vs Evil personality axis or morality is not a good description of personality. It even has the tendency to even punish you for having character nuances.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      The real problem is that people tend to take the D&D alignment system as a morality system. It's close, but it's really just used to indicate what side you're on and in the case of divine casters, where your power comes from.

  14. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

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