In-Game Character Relationship Development

[Cokeyskunk]

We all know GTA is pretty famous for the "ladies for hire."

Then again, so is the Old West.

Mind you, this is not me saying, "THERE SHOULD BE HOOKERS IN THIS GAME!" I'm totally not.

What I WOULD like to see, however, is the ability to nurture and invest in character relationships. It'd be great to be in town, notice a few different ladies have taken an interest in your character, and then you get to choose which (if any) you wanted to pursue. Hell, maybe even have the option to marry them.

Of course, with Marston, your only real choice would be Abigail, 'cause . . . reasons.

That, I think, would help quite a bit with immersion. If you are able to utilize your character to pursue relationships that interest YOU, that would make the experience all the better.

At least in MY big, fat, hairy, stinky opinion, anyway . . . 

Thoughts . . . ? 

[DarkShark]

I like this kind of concept for some games but not all games. I don't think it would work for RDR2. Not that it couldn't be implemented but it isn't Rockstar's style to focus on relationships between characters unless it is strictly storyline related I know in GTA 4, you were able to go out on a date and depending on how it went, go on more and all that. Is that the kind of thing you are referring to? 

[Archbell]

I doubt there'll be an option to romance women or pursue relationships in Red Dead Redemption II but I wouldn't say it's completely off the table as Rockstar have done that sort of thing in previous games with varied levels of success so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The only Rockstar game where I found the romance/relationship options to be worthwhile was GTA San Andreas, you put in a little effort and in return unlocked special vehicles and outfits from your various girlfriends across the state. If Rockstar were to implement something similar to this where you can unlock special rewards then I believe it would be a worthwhile addition to the game, I'm sure Rockstar have learnt their lesson from the Hot Coffee controversy and wouldn't make that mistake again.

[Cokeyskunk]

9 hours ago, DarkShark said:

I like this kind of concept for some games but not all games. I don't think it would work for RDR2. Not that it couldn't be implemented but it isn't Rockstar's style to focus on relationships between characters unless it is strictly storyline related I know in GTA 4, you were able to go out on a date and depending on how it went, go on more and all that. Is that the kind of thing you are referring to? 

Yes, that's pretty much it. It might be fun to have Marston date a few other women before meeting Abigail. The first ladies could be rather obviously "flawed" for him, then when he meets Abigail, we see why she was right for him. I just think it would make the immersive experience all the better. Life isn't all about missions and money -- John Marston has a wife and child in the first game. As this is the prequel, I'd love to go through that courtship experience with him. I think it'd make it an epic game.

5 hours ago, Archbell said:

I doubt there'll be an option to romance women or pursue relationships in Red Dead Redemption II but I wouldn't say it's completely off the table as Rockstar have done that sort of thing in previous games with varied levels of success so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The only Rockstar game where I found the romance/relationship options to be worthwhile was GTA San Andreas, you put in a little effort and in return unlocked special vehicles and outfits from your various girlfriends across the state. If Rockstar were to implement something similar to this where you can unlock special rewards then I believe it would be a worthwhile addition to the game, I'm sure Rockstar have learnt their lesson from the Hot Coffee controversy and wouldn't make that mistake again.

Oh now wait, I'm not suggesting we get to play mini-games on their wedding night or anything! Nothing even remotely similar to "Hot Coffee." But they can certainly have a tasteful suggestion of "nighttime activity." Even Assassin's Creed has done that, and quite well. I just think it would deepen the players' connection to the characters. That's why I'm hoping for it.

[Archbell]

1 hour ago, Cokeyskunk said:

Yes, that's pretty much it. It might be fun to have Marston date a few other women before meeting Abigail. The first ladies could be rather obviously "flawed" for him, then when he meets Abigail, we see why she was right for him. I just think it would make the immersive experience all the better. Life isn't all about missions and money -- John Marston has a wife and child in the first game. As this is the prequel, I'd love to go through that courtship experience with him. I think it'd make it an epic game.

Oh now wait, I'm not suggesting we get to play mini-games on their wedding night or anything! Nothing even remotely similar to "Hot Coffee." But they can certainly have a tasteful suggestion of "nighttime activity." Even Assassin's Creed has done that, and quite well. I just think it would deepen the players' connection to the characters. That's why I'm hoping for it.

Nah dude, I stated "I'm sure Rockstar have learnt their lesson from the Hot Coffee controversy and wouldn't make that mistake again." It's obvious that they wouldn't include anything like that again, I meant the features that they didn't cut from the game.

You were able to hang out with them like you did with friends in GTA IV and GTA V then you'd be rewarded with special vehicles and outfits.

[Cokeyskunk]

14 minutes ago, Archbell said:

Nah dude, I stated "I'm sure Rockstar have learnt their lesson from the Hot Coffee controversy and wouldn't make that mistake again." It's obvious that they wouldn't include anything like that again, I meant the features that they didn't cut from the game.

I did say, "Nothing even remotely similar to Hot Coffee." That incident was in San Andreas. In GTA V, they had plenty of relationships and "suggestions". I'm just hoping for something similar to that. (Obviously not on the "hook-up" side -- more along the lines of something a bit more romantic than you'd ever see in GTA.)

I highly doubt that because the "dating feature" was where the "Hot Coffee" issue sprung from that Rockstar would never allow in-game dating again. That would be like removing the money-accrual system because hackers found a way to give themselves unlimited in-game funds. Annihilation of an entire function because of one incident is not the answer. The answer is fixing the game mechanics so that similar incidents cannot happen again. 

[Archbell]

5 minutes ago, Cokeyskunk said:

I did say, "Nothing even remotely similar to Hot Coffee." That incident was in San Andreas. In GTA V, they had plenty of relationships and "suggestions". I'm just hoping for something similar to that. (Obviously not on the "hook-up" side -- more along the lines of something a bit more romantic than you'd ever see in GTA.)

I highly doubt that because the "dating feature" was where the "Hot Coffee" issue sprung from that Rockstar would never allow in-game dating again. That would be like removing the money-accrual system because hackers found a way to give themselves unlimited in-game funds. Annihilation of an entire function because of one incident is not the answer. The answer is fixing the game mechanics so that similar incidents cannot happen again. 

Yeah, no one said Rockstar would throw away the idea of dating features in their future games just because they accidently left some extra code in one game back in 2004.

I wasn't denying that you said "Nothing even remotely similar to Hot Coffee", I stated that Rockstar wouldn't make that mistake again in my first comment. I was simply saying that the dating/relationship options in GTA San Andreas were easy and made it worth your while because they offered you special rewards.

I get your point though that you'd prefer something more romantic than the wild west equivalent of going to Burger Shot and returning to their house. I personally wouldn't care for anything more romantic than what's found in GTA, I also wouldn't wanna have to make much effort with side activities like dating as it's a feature that can on occasion be a time consuming drag in real life so I wouldn't wanna go through that on a videogame. The only thing I'd want added if Rockstar were to reintroduce dating mechanics would be more dialogue options which are already confirmed to be in Red Dead Redemption II.

[CMcC]

[YodaMan 3D]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 7:51 AM, Cokeyskunk said:

We all know GTA is pretty famous for the "ladies for hire."

Then again, so is the Old West.

Mind you, this is not me saying, "THERE SHOULD BE HOOKERS IN THIS GAME!" I'm totally not.

What I WOULD like to see, however, is the ability to nurture and invest in character relationships. It'd be great to be in town, notice a few different ladies have taken an interest in your character, and then you get to choose which (if any) you wanted to pursue. Hell, maybe even have the option to marry them.

Of course, with Marston, your only real choice would be Abigail, 'cause . . . reasons.

That, I think, would help quite a bit with immersion. If you are able to utilize your character to pursue relationships that interest YOU, that would make the experience all the better.

At least in MY big, fat, hairy, stinky opinion, anyway . . . 

Thoughts . . . ? 

They kind of did that with Skyrim, and then by the point my character chose a wife and got kids.  I was so busy running missions that it was a huge pain to deal with the family and run missions.  I was never home.

[YodaMan 3D]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 11:04 PM, DarkShark said:

I like this kind of concept for some games but not all games. I don't think it would work for RDR2. Not that it couldn't be implemented but it isn't Rockstar's style to focus on relationships between characters unless it is strictly storyline related I know in GTA 4, you were able to go out on a date and depending on how it went, go on more and all that. Is that the kind of thing you are referring to? 

Once again, it really did cut into the game play for me.  Trying run missions and still make time for the extra stuff.

[Cokeyskunk]

23 hours ago, YodaMan 3D said:

They kind of did that with Skyrim, and then by the point my character chose a wife and got kids.  I was so busy running missions that it was a huge pain to deal with the family and run missions.  I was never home.

23 hours ago, YodaMan 3D said:

Once again, it really did cut into the game play for me.  Trying run missions and still make time for the extra stuff.

LIFE!!!!!!!!!

Edited July 17, 2018 by Cokeyskunk