[:plant:] "If _I_ were a game designer"

Like people have said before, I'd like to see an RTS game where winning isn't memorizing the tech-tree and all of the hot-keys but instead involves troop placement and, you know...strategy! I guess that's why people play Civ IV instead of Starcraft but I'd like to see the story and the pacing of an RTS game like Starcraft with more strategy-minded combat (kind of what the Total War games tried to do with varying degrees of success).

And as much as I love RPGs, the stories do get a bit predictable on occasion and I would like to see more gameplay-story interaction in less arbitrary ways than "Choose to kill/save this character, go down left/right path".

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

I'm fully aware that it'd be a dick move. Especially for anal-retentive grinders who like to be ludicrously beefed in order to avoid any true challenge.

But it'd also be kind of an epic move since nobody's actually permanently killed off the main hero before the game's conclusion. At least not that I can currently think of.

I'd handle it tastefully. You know, have the protagonist's younger brother - or something like that - step in to fill the shoes, make his motivation revenge and show him becoming increasingly twisted and merciless as the story draws to a close, until finally, right after defeating the end boss, the new hero shows his true colors and steals all the power of the fallen enemy for himself. You'd only have the rest of the party to fight him in one last battle. So if you used all the stat-boost items on the hero, sucker.

I would never claim that it'd sell like hotcakes but it sure would break as many conventions as I could.

That would actually be pretty fucking awesome, if it was handled tastefully and foreshadowed at least a bit (having a character the player is aware of and probably likes taking over as opposed to some unknown) and like you said having some sort of stat bonuses and new skills/different character direction.

I like this idea. I suppose making a game with this in mind is a bit of a cop out though

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Shin

I think you guys are also all forgetting that

Spoiler:

Aeris dies

Not if disappointed fans and their fanfiction have anything to say about it.

It's a good point about COD4, it was kind of shocking, but because I didn't really get a great sense of character development in Call of Duty other than "you are a soldier, and your name is this...now go do this stuff. KILL THAT GUY!" the death of the main character just means that eventually I'll be stepping into some new drone's shoes to go shoot terrorists, it doesn't fundamentally change the way I play or perceive the game.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.