Quote: Posted 12/14/07 22:24 (GMT) by David Gaider

I'll ask a question, here, because I'm curious:

Is being able to ask your party member anything at all and strike up conversations with them really that important?

And I don't mean this from the perspective of "oh they don't want to read all that!" or anything of the sort. Naturally I love dialogue. I do wonder, however, if having all these discussions with a party member really doesn't offer diminishing returns.

Now, before you scoff and knee-jerk to "but more is better!" think about it. In Baldur's Gate 2, the only party members you could speak to directly outside of directly quest-related conversations were the romances. And even then they initiated on their terms. Did that make you feel less close to them? Did you feel less close to the non-romance characters?

Part of the issue is that I think you get a lot more characterization out of doing than simply talking. When you're talking about something immediately relevant, like the quest at hand or the statue that's in front of you, you're getting characterization in context. But just talking to them seems like the dialogue equivalent of exposition, at times.

Another possible issue is one of expectation. If you can chat with the party member at any time about anything, wouldn't that build up the expectation that you should be able to talk to them about anything?

I'm all for having some flavorful dialogues, and it certainly seems like talking to your party member should just be like dialogue in a book or a movie -- but you have to remember that in those other mediums it's always staged. It's always at the perfect moment, or with the proper sub-text. Not to mention that sometimes I think we almost get more bang for the buck with things like banter between the party members themselves, or the little comments they make at random (the pop-up comments in Hordes of the Underdark were wonderful, I thought, compared to how much work they required).

Maybe the responses I will get will suggest that maybe we're just not doing it right, and maybe we're not, but I find this is one area where my experience says that expectations of what should work do not always match reality.

Edited By wanderingswordsman on 12/14/07 23:03

Quote: Posted 12/14/07 22:24 (GMT) by David Gaider

I'll ask a question, here, because I'm curious:

Is being able to ask your party member anything at all and strike up conversations with them really that important?
.

Edited By imported_beer on 12/14/07 23:01

Quote: Posted 12/14/07 22:24 (GMT) by David Gaider
Is being able to ask your party member anything at all and strike up conversations with them really that important?

Quote: Did that make you feel less close to them? Did you feel less close to the non-romance characters?

Quote: Part of the issue is that I think you get a lot more characterization out of doing than simply talking. When you're talking about something immediately relevant, like the quest at hand or the statue that's in front of you, you're getting characterization in context. But just talking to them seems like the dialogue equivalent of exposition, at times.

Another possible issue is one of expectation. If you can chat with the party member at any time about anything, wouldn't that build up the expectation that you should be able to talk to them about anything?

Edited By senduran on 12/14/07 23:20

Quote: Posted 12/14/07 22:24 (GMT) by David Gaider

I'll ask a question, here, because I'm curious:

Is being able to ask your party member anything at all and strike up conversations with them really that important?

Quote: Posted 12/14/07 23:17 (GMT) by DigitalOrigami
So, I guess, yeah, for the most part conversations nearly anywhere are pretty important to me.

Quote: Posted 12/14/07 22:24 (GMT) by David Gaider
I'll ask a question, here, because I'm curious:

Is being able to ask your party member anything at all and strike up conversations with them really that important?

And I don't mean this from the perspective of "oh they don't want to read all that!" or anything of the sort. Naturally I love dialogue. I do wonder, however, if having all these discussions with a party member really doesn't offer diminishing returns.

Quote: Now, before you scoff and knee-jerk to "but more is better!" think about it. In Baldur's Gate 2, the only party members you could speak to directly outside of directly quest-related conversations were the romances. And even then they initiated on their terms. Did that make you feel less close to them? Did you feel less close to the non-romance characters?

Quote: Part of the issue is that I think you get a lot more characterization out of doing than simply talking. When you're talking about something immediately relevant, like the quest at hand or the statue that's in front of you, you're getting characterization in context. But just talking to them seems like the dialogue equivalent of exposition, at times.

Quote: Another possible issue is one of expectation. If you can chat with the party member at any time about anything, wouldn't that build up the expectation that you should be able to talk to them about anything?

Quote: I'm all for having some flavorful dialogues, and it certainly seems like talking to your party member should just be like dialogue in a book or a movie -- but you have to remember that in those other mediums it's always staged. It's always at the perfect moment, or with the proper sub-text. Not to mention that sometimes I think we almost get more bang for the buck with things like banter between the party members themselves, or the little comments they make at random (the pop-up comments in Hordes of the Underdark were wonderful, I thought, compared to how much work they required).

Maybe the responses I will get will suggest that maybe we're just not doing it right, and maybe we're not, but I find this is one area where my experience says that expectations of what should work do not always match reality.