This is really more of a fundamental design argument(what do you value more, immersion/roleplaying or having tactical options) but really - if you just want optimal characters, why not simply make an entire party for yourself?
This is a false dichotomy. I don't want optimal characters, I want flexible characters. Sometimes I will use that flexibility in optimal ways. Sometimes I will use it in non-optimal ways.
Either way, the more "flexible" character is, the less well defined it is by definition and the more subservent it is to you, the player, instead of being an actual person within the context of the game world.
This is absolutely a dichotomy, it's one or the other. I mean... you can't just say it isn't without any argument or proof(not that one exists)
Also, none of those choices really broke my immersion with her. In all runs, she was still a LG Halfling Truesword of Avoreen spreading justice through the realms. The shortbow pips certainly give her a unique flavor, but at the end of the day, her weapons don't make her who she is.
Right back at you then - if "her weapons don't make her who she is", why do you care if you can pick them for her or not?
Either way, the more "flexible" character is, the less well defined it is by definition and the more subservent it is to you, the player, instead of being an actual person within the context of the game world.
This is absolutely a dichotomy, it's one or the other. I mean... you can't just say it isn't without any argument or proof(not that one exists)
A person's personality defines who they are as a person more than any other fact about them. Their class probably ranks second, especially insofar as it interacts with and defines their personality. Keldorn's "paladin-ness" is inseperable from who he is as a person, as is Mazzy's Fighter-but-not-Paladin-ness, Cernd's Druid-ness, Edwin's Mage-ness, (though not necessarily his Conjurer-ness), and Haer'Dalis' Bard-ness, (though not necessarily his Blade-ness).
To a great extent, for some NPCs like Nalia, Jan, and Valygar, their class is almost incidental to who they are as a person. You could make Valygar a Wizard Slayer and he still scans just fine to me. Jan would make just as much sense, (or more!), as a Jester, and Nalia could easily be a Bard.
By and large, where these NPCs allocated their proficiency points ranks way, way down that list of what makes them "an actual person within the context of the game world". Unless it's actually tied to their story in some meaningful way, like Anomen's proficiency points in spears, or unless they come with unique gear like Haer'Dalis and his short swords or Valygar and his Katana.
And if "proficiency points" is way down the list, then "what HP rolls they accepted" ranks even lower still!
I mean, take Cernd as an example. If you recruit him at level 10, he comes with 62 HP. If you then level him up to 13, he winds up with 68 HP. If, on the other hand, you wait and recruit him at level 13, he joins you with 80 HP, somehow magically gaining 12 extra points of HP for no discernable reason, (or no disCERNDable reason, am I right?)
If I were to ask you to tell me about Cernd in 100 words or less, to distill his very essence down into a quick summary, are you putting "and also his HP magically and illogically fluctuate depending on when you recruit him" in there? Is this a defining feature of who Cernd is as an NPC?
If you import a character into BG2 and get a higher-level version of Minsc as a result, he puts proficiency points into axes. Does anyone think of axes as some key part of Minsc's personal identity? And more importantly, if you *DO* think that the fact that he puts points into axes is a key part of who he is, then do you feel like we're essentially cheating by getting the lower level version of him with no axe proficiencies and allocating those proficiency points elsewhere? By putting points in Two-Handed Weapon Style, are we preventing Minsc from becoming the person he was destined to become?
Mazzy is clearly designed to go Shortbows > Short Swords. She starts with her pips there, she keeps putting pips there if you recruit her at a higher level, and she has magical versions of each in her starting equipment. So is recruiting Mazzy at level 8 instead of level 9 somehow fundamentally changing who she is as an NPC?
Right back at you then - if "her weapons don't make her who she is", why do you care if you can pick them for her or not?
Because her weapons determine what she can do and how she can do it. That's not the same as determining who she is. Her weapon choices don't help her draw out Korgan's past, teach Valygar the path of virtue, or swap war stories with Keldorn. They are entirely incidental to who she is as an NPC.
Wanting to pick her weapons in my mind is the same was wanting to pick her actions in combat. Would you prefer it if every NPC came with a preloaded script that we couldn't deselect and just controlled themselves in battle? By your reasoning, this would make them better defined and less subservient to me, the player, which somehow makes them an actual person in the context of the game world.
Do you want them to select their HLAs automatically when you reach that point? Or are automated level-up decisions only relevant when the game does it to the level 8-12 version of a character, not the level 20-30 version?
Do you perhaps like being able to make choices regarding what your NPCs do and how they do it, and can you somehow manage to do so without breaking immersion that they're actual individuals who exist independently from you?
Would you prefer it if every NPC came with a preloaded script that we couldn't deselect and just controlled themselves in battle? By your reasoning, this would make them better defined and less subservient to me, the player, which somehow makes them an actual person in the context of the game world.
Do you want them to select their HLAs automatically when you reach that point? Or are automated level-up decisions only relevant when the game does it to the level 8-12 version of a character, not the level 20-30 version?
Do you perhaps like being able to make choices regarding what your NPCs do and how they do it, and can you somehow manage to do so without breaking immersion that they're actual individuals who exist independently from you?
That would, actually, pretty much be Fallout (1 and 2 anyways) NPCs. You can give them a weapon of choice, you can give them a general battle plan, but then the rest is up to them. ALL their levelups are already predefined and unchangeable (well, except for modding the game).
And they (the NPCs) get a LOT of hate for their sometimes brainless actions, such as running up to a supermutant with a gatling gun to punch them. Or spewing a ton of rounds on full auto at a rat.
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This is absolutely a dichotomy, it's one or the other. I mean... you can't just say it isn't without any argument or proof(not that one exists) Right back at you then - if "her weapons don't make her who she is", why do you care if you can pick them for her or not?
To a great extent, for some NPCs like Nalia, Jan, and Valygar, their class is almost incidental to who they are as a person. You could make Valygar a Wizard Slayer and he still scans just fine to me. Jan would make just as much sense, (or more!), as a Jester, and Nalia could easily be a Bard.
By and large, where these NPCs allocated their proficiency points ranks way, way down that list of what makes them "an actual person within the context of the game world". Unless it's actually tied to their story in some meaningful way, like Anomen's proficiency points in spears, or unless they come with unique gear like Haer'Dalis and his short swords or Valygar and his Katana.
And if "proficiency points" is way down the list, then "what HP rolls they accepted" ranks even lower still!
I mean, take Cernd as an example. If you recruit him at level 10, he comes with 62 HP. If you then level him up to 13, he winds up with 68 HP. If, on the other hand, you wait and recruit him at level 13, he joins you with 80 HP, somehow magically gaining 12 extra points of HP for no discernable reason, (or no disCERNDable reason, am I right?)
If I were to ask you to tell me about Cernd in 100 words or less, to distill his very essence down into a quick summary, are you putting "and also his HP magically and illogically fluctuate depending on when you recruit him" in there? Is this a defining feature of who Cernd is as an NPC?
If you import a character into BG2 and get a higher-level version of Minsc as a result, he puts proficiency points into axes. Does anyone think of axes as some key part of Minsc's personal identity? And more importantly, if you *DO* think that the fact that he puts points into axes is a key part of who he is, then do you feel like we're essentially cheating by getting the lower level version of him with no axe proficiencies and allocating those proficiency points elsewhere? By putting points in Two-Handed Weapon Style, are we preventing Minsc from becoming the person he was destined to become?
Mazzy is clearly designed to go Shortbows > Short Swords. She starts with her pips there, she keeps putting pips there if you recruit her at a higher level, and she has magical versions of each in her starting equipment. So is recruiting Mazzy at level 8 instead of level 9 somehow fundamentally changing who she is as an NPC? Because her weapons determine what she can do and how she can do it. That's not the same as determining who she is. Her weapon choices don't help her draw out Korgan's past, teach Valygar the path of virtue, or swap war stories with Keldorn. They are entirely incidental to who she is as an NPC.
Wanting to pick her weapons in my mind is the same was wanting to pick her actions in combat. Would you prefer it if every NPC came with a preloaded script that we couldn't deselect and just controlled themselves in battle? By your reasoning, this would make them better defined and less subservient to me, the player, which somehow makes them an actual person in the context of the game world.
Do you want them to select their HLAs automatically when you reach that point? Or are automated level-up decisions only relevant when the game does it to the level 8-12 version of a character, not the level 20-30 version?
Do you perhaps like being able to make choices regarding what your NPCs do and how they do it, and can you somehow manage to do so without breaking immersion that they're actual individuals who exist independently from you?
And they (the NPCs) get a LOT of hate for their sometimes brainless actions, such as running up to a supermutant with a gatling gun to punch them. Or spewing a ton of rounds on full auto at a rat.