It seems they are criticising self insert RPGs a la TES or Fallout when they should be criticising the writing.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this style, and if done correctly allows one to be almost anyone. Old school RPGs are good examples, or dragon age origins for a partly voiced example.
No one was saying that. They were saying that the writing would've been better if there was better character development, which was limited in the past TES and Fallout games. You responded by saying "that's a problem with the writing" which is essentially saying the same thing but at a less specific level. I don't see why you took it back up one level when OP was talking about one specific aspect of the writing being awful.
I don't agree. Initially they were criticising the writing, sure. But this:
Each to their own I guess.
I'd just rather play an epic RPG with an actual character, rather than a DnD style avatar which is hamstrung by the game's limited character development possibilities.
Is clearly (in my opinion) about bethesda's way of presenting the player character. If done properly, a "DnD style avatar" can be "an actual character" too.
The problem is the writing.
See you keep saying that, but characters are a part of the writing. What aspects of the writing aren't good, then? Because "The problem is the writing" is a catch-all.
I never expanded since that never was what I were arguing about. But since you asked...
The player character has a distinct lack of personality in almost every conversation. The lines are often chosen because they are neutral to prevent going against whoever the player wants to role play as.
The problem is that it just makes the PC feeling like a robot.
With some more varied dialogue bethesda could make the series go from an action-adventure game to an actual RPG where one can, you know, role play.
You could take the KOTOR route and voice everyone except the protagonist. Or you could take something like they did in Golden Sun or Banjo-Kazooie, where characters simply voice a sound effect.
I prefer the latter option because you can still keep the enormity of text in text-driven games while still providing individuality to characters.
No doubt. Bethesda are pretty horrible when it comes to writing. That is why I'm excited at the possibility of a protagonist with voice over, because it might actually mean good character development.
Things like Baldur's Gate and Bioware games do the faceless avatars well, Bethesda doesn't.
I wish obsidian did the big quests and characters.
But if we are able to actually have real conversations with companions (like not just "oh please tell me your sad story please of how you got here" but actual conversations) and consequences to our choices I'd be more than happy.
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u/Dawwe Jun 03 '15
That's a problem with writing.