I have a question, do you guys prefer the main character to have an existing name of for you to give him one? (in RPG's that is) Another question is, have you ever played an RPG where the main character you play as dies? Would it pi** you off? Only reason is, I'm busy fleshing out my story and wondered about this.

Personally id be happy either way.

In Oblivion I enjoy making a new charachter every time the chuffing game glitches and I can't complete a mission (@##!) but at the same time its never bothered me to play a more linear RPG where th charachter is already named, although with games like that its maybe better to give the player a choice of several different main charachters, with different attributes, classes, etc.

As for killing off the charachter you play as, i'd personally love that as an added twist, but I'm a complete nerd that hates generic plots, the masses may not agree with me. it would maybe have to involve a mission that could only be reached once a huge proportion of the game is completed though, so people dont feel cheated out of playing time by finding out their charachter is dead when they bought the game just last Tuesday.

Quote: Original post by S-Dawg
Another question is, have you ever played an RPG where the main character you play as dies?

Fallout 3 - I don't think there is any way to avoid the protagonist dying at the end of the main story arc.

Thanks for the feedback!

Perhaps give the player a choice of what they do and then the resulting action will either kill them or not. And yes, of course it would be pretty much right at the end.

PS: Phat spoiler!!!

/*Final Fantasy X SPOILER
At the end the main character Tidus turns out to be dead and vanishes and...*/
Despite I hated him 'cause IMO he's just little brat who has nothing to do with things in the grander scheme it made the last moments even more epic.
I think if he didn't have much personality like a char you throw together and type sg. into his/her name slot, I'd have been angry that the char I created, leveled, raised, etc. had died.
A pre-named char can be more easily be part of a deep story, which the player observes, and where death can not only be accepted, but may even increase the experience.

An opinion.

It kind of depends on whether you think that character is strong enough to hold as the 'icon' for the game.

Final Fantasy is a series where they can get away with killing off a main character because the next game in the series is always about a new group of characters (X-2 doesn't count).

However, killing a main character people like or have gotten to know can have adverse effects. The best examples in recent years is Halo 2 and Metal Gear Solid 2. Both games introduced new characters as the player character for the majority of the game and a lot of fans got very mad because Solid Snake and Master Chief are the 'poster boys' for their games.

I think it was Baten Kaidos (could be mistaken) where it's like the main character dies or changes dramatically in the middle of the game and I seriously quit playing not long after that because I was so confused. I would advise against finally killing the main character anywhere but the ending.

I used to always leave the characters with their default names so I would have the same experience of the game as other players and be able to discuss it easily. Now I always name the main character after myself because I want people calling me the hero and giving me credit for the 60 hours of effort I'm going to put into the game. So I think the best approach is give characters a name but allow the player to replace it if they want.

Character death, hmm. I guess it would be okay if my character died at the end as long at it was otherwise a happy ending. But it would suck to build up a romance during the story then have to abandon the love interest character to grieve at the end.

I find stories which end with the main's death great. but you know what's even greater? The main guy disappears without leaving a trace.
Seriously, aren't you guys tired of these happy endings? how many games already end with the realm being saved or the enemy getting sealed or the prince getting married ( :P at the last one).
I like games with sad endings, it's a real change. But for those who can't stand it, there is always the alternative of the hero disappearing, remember the exile in KOTOR? That's one epic ending.

And about the name. I prefer leaving the name as it is and not giving the player a chance to change it.
Let's put a story about good Vs bad in a fantasy realm with elves and orcs and stuff. I wonder if you would find a "1337 H4X" there :P
ok that was an exagerated example, but I think that if you wrote a story about one mistic universe of elves and dwarfs and whatever, you would want the name of the main dude to be something fitting. If your main is a prince, I don't think it would be nice to see a dialogue with "By the mighty gods! What are you doing there alone, prince Hashlubasaka?" (believe it or no, that's the sort of names I come up with when I create a character xD)
I think it is important to give the player some freedom, but the player needs to be guided a bit too, otherwise he might blow up a nice part of that univers you put so mucheffort to make.