Mechanic suggestion for season 3
This is way too late for S2E5, but one thing I thought would be awesome is if season three had an internal 'ruthless-merciful' meter, by which the decisions available to you depend on it - IE, if you start ranking too merciful, you can't suddenly take a leave no prisoners option and if you're too ruthless, you can't suddenly spare somebody who would otherwise try to kill you (thinking of Carver in this case). Obviously there would need to be some decisions in between the two, where you gain a little bit of ruthless/merciful points even if the most ruthless/merciful option is crossed out, just so you don't end up pidgeonholing yourself into one or the other two early.
I partly say this, because I'm replaying episode 3 to do things I didn't do before, and it seems a bit counter-intuitive to ask Kenny not to kill Carver and then chop off Sarita's arm...
I'm partly thinking of the game 'Depression Quest' on this, where if you get too depressed some of the more outgoing or engaged options get crossed out (granted, that game is mostly to teach about depression, but I still think it's an interesting mechanic).
Comments
Too Infamous for my taste.
Eh, that's getting pretty close to the classic good-evil meters in most RPGs and that just makes things end up being a numbers game with little nuance between the two extremes. It establishes too clear of a divide between the "right" decision and the "wrong" decision, something that Telltale has said that they are trying to move away from.
Well, I was sort of thinking Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. I forget if they actually crossed out options though. I just thought it would add in for more consistent characterization.
Btw, do people disagreeing with me or are the downvote trolls out? Feel free to disagree, I'm just not sure which is which.
Edit: To reply to Domewing, I mentioned Star Wars KOTOR, and I agree Bioware has that problem in spades. It would require a bit more nuance.
Well, the thing is that people's consistent characterizations of Clem might not be bound by things like mercy or ruthlessness. Maybe a person's consistent characterization of Clem is someone who takes care of those in her group at the expense of those outside her group. Maybe Clem just really likes being on a certain character's side and will side with that character regardless of whether their decision is ruthless or merciful. Maybe Clem is a sweet and friendly person up to a particularly point where she gets screwed over by someone she trusts and from that point on she just doesn't trust anybody. Your mechanic would get in the way of these characterizations of Clem.
This. If anything, the karma meter should just change dialogue the characters give you, if they add it, which they shouldn't.
Wow, that's a really good point.
I think you have me convinced. I mentioned cutting off Sarita's arm versus killing Carver because I was thinking pragmatism vs. mercy, but there are a lot of different ways of looking at it which would legitimize the decision (or many others).
Dang, good point.
Look at Dragon Age: Origins for a look at why karma meters aren't useful, DA:O has none, and instead each party member has an approval bar and their own priorities, so many decisions are less "Do I want to be good or evil?" and more "What is more beneficial for me?", which I believe is a much better system.