Poll: Would you play an mmo where your character is ordinary?

BrucyBonus

What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world.  There may well be an all-encompassing threat and you may well be a foot soldier or archer in the army or a sailor in the navy that fights it.  You would see everything that happens but the npc's would not be hailing you once victory is achieved, rather you might get a pat on the back from a fellow soldier and a ration of rum.  

Given the massively part of mmo's this would strike me as slightly more credible than most 'every-player-the-hero' stories.   

WhiteLantern

Nope. I can do that for realz, but I'm too fragile (not to mention cute and fuzzy) to be a hero. 

 

Escapism, FTW.

botrytis

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world.  There may well be an all-encompassing threat and you may well be a foot soldier or archer in the army or a sailor in the navy that fights it.  You would see everything that happens but the npc's would not be hailing you once victory is achieved, rather you might get a pat on the back from a fellow soldier and a ration of rum.  

Given the massively part of mmo's this would strike me as slightly more credible than most 'every-player-the-hero' stories.   

There is already a game published like that - GW2. That is what the whole story is about  (going through your PS - especially from the Human perspective in the game) and people are complaining that they want to b e a Hero (like Hercules).

BrucyBonus

Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world.  There may well be an all-encompassing threat and you may well be a foot soldier or archer in the army or a sailor in the navy that fights it.  You would see everything that happens but the npc's would not be hailing you once victory is achieved, rather you might get a pat on the back from a fellow soldier and a ration of rum.  

Given the massively part of mmo's this would strike me as slightly more credible than most 'every-player-the-hero' stories.   

There is already a game published like that - GW2. That is what the whole story is about  (going through your PS - especially from the Human perspective in the game) and people are complaining that they want to b e a Hero (like Hercules).

What?  I've had npc's standing around applauding me and hailing me as some kind of super human (well, little furry thing) during the GW2 story.  

TwoThreeFour

I am very much liking the result of the poll . The "hero" paradigm seems to not be necessary.

[Deleted User]

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maplestone

My characters are ordinary.

TheLizardbones

I think if it didn't fall into the part time package delivery trap it would be fine.

Siris23

I thought at one point we had already established no one wanted to play Uncle Owen?

botrytis

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world.  There may well be an all-encompassing threat and you may well be a foot soldier or archer in the army or a sailor in the navy that fights it.  You would see everything that happens but the npc's would not be hailing you once victory is achieved, rather you might get a pat on the back from a fellow soldier and a ration of rum.  

Given the massively part of mmo's this would strike me as slightly more credible than most 'every-player-the-hero' stories.   

There is already a game published like that - GW2. That is what the whole story is about  (going through your PS - especially from the Human perspective in the game) and people are complaining that they want to b e a Hero (like Hercules).

What?  I've had npc's standing around applauding me and hailing me as some kind of super human (well, little furry thing) during the GW2 story.  

It is about an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. This is especially true in the Human PS line.  Really listen to it, it is pretty interesting.

BrucyBonus

Originally posted by Mtibbs1989
 yeah, I'll pass on playing the average character. However there's a game for that. It's called Second Life and no thanks.

I tried Second Life once (at the time of all the hype) and it was utterly beyond me.  I just couldn't work it out; why anyone would spend time or money on it.  I assumed it was a mixture of 1) a regular rota of people like me poking their head around the door out of curiosity before immediately uninstalling, and 2) morons who had found a home with their fellow morons.  

I think the label 'game' is a little grandiose for Second Life.    

flizzer

I have no need to be the hero.

 

Also, in the GW2 personal story YOU ARE THE HERO.  You are congratulated and praised constantly. It actually is a bit irritating in my opinion. 

Roguewiz

It's no different than it is now then.  You're portraying a character that is nothing more than a "hero" for a generic/crappy story, or someone that is second fiddle to the NPC "heroes".

Four0Six

To quote Patton:

"Every Goddamn Day"

He was talking about prayer, and I am talking about doing ordinary things. That is what I do, "ordinary things".

I guess many play 2ndLife, but I hear they don't do what most consider "ordinary".

TwoThreeFour

Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world.  There may well be an all-encompassing threat and you may well be a foot soldier or archer in the army or a sailor in the navy that fights it.  You would see everything that happens but the npc's would not be hailing you once victory is achieved, rather you might get a pat on the back from a fellow soldier and a ration of rum.  

Given the massively part of mmo's this would strike me as slightly more credible than most 'every-player-the-hero' stories.   

There is already a game published like that - GW2. That is what the whole story is about  (going through your PS - especially from the Human perspective in the game) and people are complaining that they want to b e a Hero (like Hercules).

What?  I've had npc's standing around applauding me and hailing me as some kind of super human (well, little furry thing) during the GW2 story.  

It is about an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. This is especially true in the Human PS line.  Really listen to it, it is pretty interesting.

The moment an ordinary person does extraordinary things, he is no longer ordinary. Hell, a lot of rpgs are based around an ordinary person doing extraordinary things and thus becoming something that is not ordinary.

 

The thread opening post is pretty specific about it. "What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world." implies that you won't be portrayed as someone that does extraordinary things. 

jmcdermottuk

I'd say SWG was of the ordinary character kind and that was great fun. Planetside and PS2 are also of that kind, just a cog in the war machine. Yeah being ordinary doesn't bother me at all if I'm having fun and that's they real issue. Not how many NPC's hail you a hero.

 

And really we're all ordinary regardless of which MMO you play. It doesn't matter if you defeated the dragon and get praise from the king because so are the other 20 guys handing in that quest.

Gishgeron

  I need to amend my vote.  I would be fine as a normal dude.  But only if everyone was too.  The second one person gets to be a hero...well...the system falls apart (SWG, I'm looking at you.)  IF everyone is normal and has to really work at being effective instead of fireblasting the world to shreds...then its cool.

SpottyGekko

As it so happens, in my two alltime favorite MMO's (EVE and SWG pre-NGE), I played an ordinary person. My character wasn't even remotely "the hero", but that was utterly irrelevant to my enjoyment of the game.

 

As hundreds of other people have said before me, I find the concept of being "The Chosen One" in a game with 1 million other players who are also "The Chosen One" to be rather difficult to swallow.

 

In a SPG like Skyrim, I can become "The One" or the leader of the Thieves Guild. In my game world, there IS only one leader of that guild at any time.

botrytis

Originally posted by flizzer

I have no need to be the hero.

 

Also, in the GW2 personal story YOU ARE THE HERO.  You are congratulated and praised constantly. It actually is a bit irritating in my opinion. 

They call you hero but you say you are not. That was how was in my PS.

“The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.”  ? Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality

“Nobody who says, ‘I told you so’ has ever been, or will ever be, a hero.”  ? Ursula K. Le Guin

"I am convinced that a light supper, a good night's sleep, and a fine morning, have sometimes made a hero of the same man, who, by an indigestion, a restless night, and rainy morning, would have proved a coward."   -Chesterfield, Lord

 

BrucyBonus

Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by flizzer

I have no need to be the hero.

 

Also, in the GW2 personal story YOU ARE THE HERO.  You are congratulated and praised constantly. It actually is a bit irritating in my opinion. 

They call you hero but you say you are not. That was how it is my PS.

“The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.”  ? Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality

“Nobody who says, ‘I told you so’ has ever been, or will ever be, a hero.”  ? Ursula K. Le Guin

"I am convinced that a light supper, a good night's sleep, and a fine morning, have sometimes made a hero of the same man, who, by an indigestion, a restless night, and rainy morning, would have proved a coward."   -Chesterfield, Lord

 

I think you might be over-analyzing this a little.  It doesn't matter how you get to be a the hero or what Umberto Eco has to say about it, we all know what the hero in an mmo personal story is.      

centkin

Actually in most MMOs you are a hero in your own mind, a special snowflake in the middle of a snowstorm.  See that level 60 monster when you first start playing.  CHOMP -- hurts didn't it?  Actually there are far too many fair fights in recent MMO's.  NPCs above the level cap put you in your place.

Burntvet

Original SWG - "The greatest story ever told - yours."

Reklaw

Originally posted by BrucyBonus

What I mean is that your character story would not portray you as the hero saving the mmo world.  There may well be an all-encompassing threat and you may well be a foot soldier or archer in the army or a sailor in the navy that fights it.  You would see everything that happens but the npc's would not be hailing you once victory is achieved, rather you might get a pat on the back from a fellow soldier and a ration of rum.  

Given the massively part of mmo's this would strike me as slightly more credible than most 'every-player-the-hero' stories.   

To be honost the only games that make me feel like a hero are singleplayer games. While certain instanced story driven missions/quest can have epic moments but that feeling is quickly gone when you complete the mission/quest over at the NPC seeing 10, 20 if not more players standing around that same NPC.

Sandbox games give players a change to make a name for themselfs which is different then having your name on some leaderboards.

So I actually and mostly feel avarage in themepark games and being a foot soldier finding his way's or archer in some army makes allot more sense in themepark MMO's then this so-called being the hero.

I was told in SWtOR I saved a whole planet, I got 150 credits for it. Seemed to me like a small foot soldier salary and not something a saviour of a whole planet aka the "HERO" would have gotten. So yeah average would suit today's themepark allot more.

jdlamson75

The way MMOs are designed, everyone is "The Hero", and when you're running around a world with thousands of "The Heroes" all at once, you kind of become ordinary anyway.  I know that's probably not what the OP meant in his question, but that's the way it feels for me. 

 

I don't need the story to tell me I'm a hero - I just want to have fun. 

Attend4455

 

Indeed, there are MMOs where you aren't the hero. Or even where there are no heros.

 

There are many where you are, I think you know which games I'm talking about ^^

BrucyBonus

Originally posted by jdlamson75

The way MMOs are designed, everyone is "The Hero", and when you're running around a world with thousands of "The Heroes" all at once, you kind of become ordinary anyway.  I know that's probably not what the OP meant in his question, but that's the way it feels for me. 

 

I don't need the story to tell me I'm a hero - I just want to have fun. 

When I was writing it I was considering that in a world full of heroes every hero is ordinary; but thought that stating it would just confuse issues.