Recruiting the New NPCs
deltago
Member Posts: 7,811
I have been thinking as to why a game like Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate two has so much replay value. One of the main reasons I believe is how the Player recruits characters. None are generally forced on the player like later games.
This became obvious to me while I was playing NWN2 and PoE and how the NPCs seem to be just plopped down in your path for you to recruit, and regardless of your intentions, want to travel with you regardless.
Compare that to Baldur's Gate where you cold have gone multiple play throughs without knowing about Alora scoping out the museum at night, or ever entering Kaigan's shop. You needed to explore to find these colourful characters and besides Imoen (and a lesser extent Minsc) none are forced on you. Depending on your Rep, some will jist simply walk away from you, knowing that you are not a character they want to associate themselves with.
BG2, there are more NPCs forced on you, however each one helps drive the plot when it happens. You still need to explore or take quests to find many of them and they all have their own motivation or reasons to help you. If you do not do all the quests, you can miss NPCs like Haer, Mazzy, Edwin, Cernd and Keldorn.
I hope SoD follows these models of recruitment for the new NPCs. I hope we need to explore the world to meet these colourful characters and they aren't just standing outside the first tavern. It is getting a bit cliche of stumbling towards a tavern and rescuing someone from a drunken brawl only having that person want to join up with you, no questions asked. Can it not be more like recruiting Garrick where if you do not wish to participate in the fight he will be willing to join you?
Just my hopes on the subject.
This became obvious to me while I was playing NWN2 and PoE and how the NPCs seem to be just plopped down in your path for you to recruit, and regardless of your intentions, want to travel with you regardless.
Compare that to Baldur's Gate where you cold have gone multiple play throughs without knowing about Alora scoping out the museum at night, or ever entering Kaigan's shop. You needed to explore to find these colourful characters and besides Imoen (and a lesser extent Minsc) none are forced on you. Depending on your Rep, some will jist simply walk away from you, knowing that you are not a character they want to associate themselves with.
BG2, there are more NPCs forced on you, however each one helps drive the plot when it happens. You still need to explore or take quests to find many of them and they all have their own motivation or reasons to help you. If you do not do all the quests, you can miss NPCs like Haer, Mazzy, Edwin, Cernd and Keldorn.
I hope SoD follows these models of recruitment for the new NPCs. I hope we need to explore the world to meet these colourful characters and they aren't just standing outside the first tavern. It is getting a bit cliche of stumbling towards a tavern and rescuing someone from a drunken brawl only having that person want to join up with you, no questions asked. Can it not be more like recruiting Garrick where if you do not wish to participate in the fight he will be willing to join you?
Just my hopes on the subject.
1
Comments
I agree with you that it is fun to explore and find things on your own, but since people already know these 4 new NPCs exist and many will want to be able to use them when they want, having to go hunt for them wouldn't be best for those players.
Also, I think that more or less, the EE companions plopped down in your path in BGEE. But with SoD it could be different.
But one thing has to be considered: if NPCs are long to be acquired, it can be bad: think about Tiax and Alora in BG1, Imoen in the Spellhold in BG2. When your party has been fully formed, it's hard to take place for a new NPC and to order one of your party members to go.
You can't avoid Yoshimo as his plot is central to the game, however you can tell him to buzz off as soon as you see him.
You can't tell Neera to buzz off. You are forced into a fight regardless of how you role play the situation. It is different than a Nimbul or another assassination since those assassins are after you and not some random person your character may not give a care about.
If the bear isn't enough of a comparison, then take Zordral, the crazy mage in the carnival. He attacks you pretty much no matter what choice you make in dialogue, and he's not doing it because he's after you. He also takes up residence in an optional area, but again, so is that road in Beregost. There's no reason to go down that way, save exploration, which is what leads you to those other encounters I mentioned. Perhaps people consider that road more important than I think it is, but I just don't see why.
I think the real problem is that Neera wasn't in the vanilla game, and some people don't like the new content, so they complain about the way her intro was done, which is, in fact, not all that different from how several encounters were made in the original, and that's perfectly fine. Why make excuses, though? If you don't like the new content, just say so.
It has also occurred to me that maybe the reason why Garrick doesn't approach the party is because he's in the very center of town, and the devs likely didn't want to force side quests on the player in such an obviously well-traveled area, at least not that early into the game.
Its more of a BG2 thing.
The real problem with Neera is in BG2:EE - she turns up smack-dab in the middle of the Skinner quest. Rather inconvenient.
In BG1, there're even more options. Shar-Teel, Eldoth, Safana, Faldorn...
I think not the fact Neera, Rasaad and Dorn could be first met on the main path is a problem. The fact that all of them could be first met on the main path is a problem.
In this context, Baeloth's meeting is exactly what we need, I think.
To me, it would be excellent if one or two of new NPCs in SoD should be searched for because they're not presented in places you 100% visit while going through the main line.
Perhaps combining the two situations somehow made the encounter intolerable for some, but I certainly have no problem with it.
Edited for lack of relevance.