Originally Posted by Alexandrite
Originally Posted by Try2Handing
Originally Posted by Alexandrite
You are saying you don't want to use Origin characters that are pre-written and pre-integrated into the story - but you don't like NOT having a pre-written pre-integrated character? So, which is it?
That's still not it, Alexandrite. What people are saying is that, they don't like how other things are getting compromised (bland non-origin character, non-existent party banter, narration issues) because the origin system exists and because the devs want to promote that system of theirs.

Party banter exists, it just doesn't trigger often enough, and this is annoying. However that isn't something that is somehow compromised by the Origin character system.
Narration issues - like particular characters' scenes playing out of order, or not triggering at all? Again that is more likely to be an Early Access game issue, where things are still getting ironed out, not related to the Origin system.


Originally Posted by Try2Handing
In DOS2, my constant question for my non-origin character is, "What if I didn't exist?" As a non-origin character all you do is helping the origin characters beat up the bad guys along the way. You can be replaced by any hired mercenary and the story of the origin characters will unfold the same way.

I removed your examples about BG1, DA:O, DA2 and DA:I for the sake of brevity of quotes, not out of disrespect. I hear what you're saying, I did play and enjoy all those games (well except BG1). However, I didn't enjoy them JUST BECAUSE they made me feel special, I enjoyed them for the overall story and the companions. Though these are all single player games, I don't actually care if my character feels special or not, I care about how the story as a whole unfolds - like enjoying a good book but through a different medium. Let's take "Lord of the Rings" as an example of a good fantasy book, just for the sake of argument, and let's say LOTR is basically the story of a party of 9. The question Larian is asking with the Origin system is, what if you approached a story from the viewpoint of each different character? Let's pretend LOTR is our game - we know the story is mostly about Frodo because as the Ringbearer he is special, but what if you saw and experienced the story from the perspective of Aragorn, or Legolas, or Gimli, etc? Now let's pretend we're not playing a single player game where your character is The Chosen One - but we're playing a game of DnD, guided through a story by a GM. We all have our own characters, but why should only one of us at the table get to feel special? IMHO, to capture that DnD experience, the companions represent the other players - and to go through this particular story, you can experience the story as your own character or as one of them. And I enjoy this aspect of BG3!

On this forum and on this particular topic I may be in the minority, but I still feel the origin system ADDS to the game, not detracts from it.

Though I do think the game needs to be played from the point of view of your own character first, before seeing it from the other characters' perspectives and playing as one of them.

You make a lot of good points here. I personally feel though that the story doesn't quite commit enough to the vibe you're describing, which is a vibe that I think would be cool and fun to experience. It's not because of the Origin system itself, but the way things have been written. I think that if the game really wanted to go hard on the feeling of being a party of equals, then it should have gone deeper into the party dynamics to make it feel like the companions really had some kind of bond or interaction going for them. The party banter which exists isn't enough to provide that in my opinion. There should be interactions between everyone in the party. I can't bring to mind a meaningful interaction between Gale and Lae'zel for instance, or Wyll and Astarion.

Furthermore as I said earlier in this thread, the story doesn't feel like it's truly about an ensemble of equals. It feels like you're still meant to be playing a special, central character. It just doesn't give a reason why your character is central beyond the fact that you're the one playing it. I also agree that a game doesn't need to make your character feel special if the story doesn't need that specialness, but I think part of origin characters issue is that they all feel special and have stuff going on while our custom character doesn't. Even if our custom character is going to have opportunities for unique interactions relating to their backstory, I think it was a mistake for those not to show up until after act 1. Halfway through act 1 and we've at least gotten a taste if not a pretty clear understanding of what's going on with all our companions, but our custom character is still just a shell we have to fill mentally, without any opportunity to make the game acknowledge that. I can get behind blank slate characters, but I think part of the problem people are having in this game is that without any way to directly express our backstories, there's always a tension around whether the game will at some point make us contradict the backstory we've created for ourselves.