I offended a dwarf...

Having recently acquired a new PC, I started playing some games I’d be meaning to. One of these was The Witcher. Now, it’s not a great game, I’ll admit (it's pretty good though); but something happened, which got me thinking.

I offended a dwarf.

Okay, I’ll explain. Put basically, The Witcher is an RPG set in a typical fantasy world (elves, dwarves, fairytale monsters. No orcs or goblins), except it’s more ‘mature’. What this generally means is it will explore more adult themes as regards to sex, violence and race. The finer details aren’t important but you get the sense that there are ‘shades of grey’ to a lot of the things you’ll see. Being a game made very much in the BioWare mould (it even uses the BioWare-developed Aurora Engine) you are presented with moral choices at certain points in the game. The difference here is that the consequences aren’t always so clear-cut and the repercussions may not be felt until later in the game (so you can’t always reload straight away and choose differently).

But that’s not what I’m really going to talk about (not yet anyway. This game inspired a few forthcoming articles) but it is related to RPGs.

Having done the opening section, I was put into the outskirts of a large city. Here’s where you get to put what you’ve learned into action. You start by an inn and nearby is a blacksmith. A dwarven blacksmith (shock horror!). He seems to serve a role as a shopkeeper, I presume, so I start talking to him and asking about the area. Geralt, the main character, while well-travelled, has plot-convenient amnesia. He starts mentioning a group called the Scoia'tael, an anti-human movement mostly made up of elves (they have dwarven members too), who hide out in the woods and attack travelers. Being curious, I ask him if he deals with them. Then he gets angry with me, tells me he’d never do such a thing (it's, understandably, illegal), ends the conversation and won’t speak to me again. He won’t even serve me. A goddamn shopkeeper in an RPG won’t serve me. It turns out I wouldn’t have needed his services, or have been able to afford them, right away but that’s beside the point.

What stood out was that through ignorance, or just the natural habit during RPGs of asking everyone their life story, I had ended my exchange through a poor choice of enquiry. But it didn't stop there.

I upset a barmaid.

Not quite the same, but still along similar lines. I spoke to her in the inn and there were a couple of flirtatious dialogue options. Having heard about the game and read the books translated into English (so, two), I presumed all the women were sluts (they pretty much are) and that Geralt was somehow an unstoppable chick magnet (he pretty much is). Still, a direct enquiry as to whether her claim that she was 'decent while at work' meant she was open to certain indecency outside was not the correct choice. After that, she would not speak to me. Reloading, I decided to try the alternative option to see the outcome: she did not tell me to get lost. I think from them on, it was easy to spot the correct response in these situations (the first option, I believe).

Which segues into my thoughts on the dialogue wheel used in Mass Effect. I'm not going to go into a whole thing about Mass Effect (love the series so far) because we could be here all day. But what the wheel does, once you're used to how it works, is remove any real ambiguity from a conversation. It is based around short-hand for the gist of what you want to say; facilitating quicker and easier communication. Want to know more about something? Pick stuff on the left side of the wheel. Want to be a bit of a dick? Go for options on the bottom part of the wheel, usually on the right.

I'm not saying this should change for Mass Effect. Although, it's amusing to think of a different game where the heroic Shepard, humanity's most prominent figure among the many alien races, is a bumbling diplomatic disaster. The game is designed around making you a hero/badass and the dialogue system is tailored so that you are always in control and never look a fool even when 'wrong'. You won't find characters chastising you for not knowing what's considered common knowledge, or asking them the same things again and again; they'll just repeat it (usually verbatim). Any important information received is automatically remembered/logged/marked on a map, people's names even show up before you meet/approach them. This goes for a lot of RPGs. It just makes things easier/simpler.

What I'd like to see is an RPG world with a bit more mystery. Maybe you have to watch what you say, where you go. But make it possible to learn about your surroundings or the people you meet.

A simple example would be here, with this writer's memory of Karateka and how, having fought through many hardships to rescue a princess, approaching her at the end in 'combat stance' meant she attacked you.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/120198-love-is-a-backwards-kick-the-romance-of-karateka/

It's not an RPG, but the principle's the same (if perhaps less forgiving here). The game has its own internal logic. You are a stranger and approaching a woman looking aggressive; makes sense that she'd attack you. How many games allow you to wander round civilised towns, weapons drawn, with no one batting an eyelid?

Which is something that bugged me about the Assassin's Creed games. You're meant to be a sneaky guy but you walk around in plain sight, and in bright white (usually), carrying all manner of life-taking instruments; the enemies forget you in an instant and you don't even really need to put any preparation into a mission. Just turn up and climb on stuff, killing anyone standing in your way. It's a fun game but I almost wish some of these basic things, so integral to what the game is about, were given more attention.

Going back to The Witcher, what I like is that there is a Journal. Not your usual 'Do these quests/you've done these quests' one (although that is obviously part of it) but it also keeps a track of all the characters you've met, places you've been and the types of monsters you might encounter. It' s possible to wander off into the world and start twatting monsters with your sword but you can also learn which type of sword and fighting style works best. If married to a deeper more varied combat system it would be great fun. And as for the characters, their profiles not only tell you who they are as such but also offer Geralt's thoughts on them. Much like the Codex in Mass Effect, you can gradually gather information on nearly all aspects of their respective imaginary worlds. But while Mass Effect usually gives these away for looking at things or talking to certain people, The Witcher gives it a more organic slant.

In an RPG, you can usually just go around asking people things and they'll tell you, but in The Witcher you might see an old lady who claims she has stories to tell. By giving her a gift (food, drink, flowers etc.) she might then tell you a tale about a particular monster which will then be added to your glossary. But that isn't your only option. Alternatively, you can find this information from a book you buy (or pilfer)

I'm not done on this topic as such (it branches off into many areas) but for fear of rambling on too long I shall leave this as is for now.

Put simply, I would like to see, particularly in an RPG, a world where the way you interact with people is a little more versatile and impactful. Where maybe you can earn people's trust or even ire in surprisingly subtle ways, or you're rewarded for paying attention to the world around you, encouraged to immerse yourself into the fictional landscape rather than passing straight through it.

Gregg
fullydeconstructiblescenery@googlemail.com

Note: if anyone cares to enlighten me as to examples within other games, I'd love to hear it.