character-goals
Latest
Storyboard: Go for the goal
We've all got goals. Some of them are short-term objectives (get lunch, figure out how to get home early today, don't get eaten by that tiger) and some of them are larger in scope (cook better lunches, work on a flexible schedule, develop an anti-tiger field), but they're an important part of our day-to-day activities. Knowing a character's goals is a clear way to make it pretty clear what your character wants out of any given exchange. If it weren't already obvious, today I want to spend time talking about goals. We've talked about motivation before, but goals are the tangible results of what keeps your character motivated in the first place. And while I was originally going to use one of my characters as a model for mapping goals, I realized that I've got a much better example I can use, one that helps demonstrate just how relevant goals are to real people. So I'm putting myself under examination as we talk about the many, many aspects of goals as they apply to characters.
Storyboard: In your own words
I really should have learned by now to not promise anything for a given week's column other than the fact that it will be there, as I got halfway through the original draft of this particular new featurette before deciding that I hated it. So while I still want to delve a bit deeper into specific game lore and backstory, that bit is going to have to wait for just a little bit while I wrestle with the concept a little more thoroughly. (It'll be worth the wait.) Instead, this week I'm going to focus on an aspect of roleplaying that I've discussed before in passing but never in any real depth: finding a character's voice. That's more than just consistent characterization, although that's a part of it. Strong characters have distinct voices and behaviors, unique outlooks, and hangups, things that help an individual stand out from the crowd. It's the trick of finding that voice and having a distinct tone from other characters that makes starting a new character at once engaging and mildly horrifying.
Storyboard: Archetype discussion - the Errant
If you've seen The Princess Bride but haven't ever read the book, you have excellent taste in movies but you're missing out. There's a lot that by necessity had to be cut from the film, but the lost detail that stands out is just how much time Inigo Montoya spent training and preparing to hunt down the six-fingered man. It's one thing to be told that he strove to kill this man for years; it's another to be told in detail how hard he fought, how long he quested, and how much effort he poured into his goal until there was almost nothing left. Today's archetype is Inigo Montoya. He is Roland Deschain, he is Alessan di Tigana, he is Captain Nero and James Ford and Depth Charge. He is the Errant, and he is anyone devoted to a singular purpose that drives every second of his actions. And he's probably the most problematic of the archetypes out there, because sooner or later he's going to have to deal with what it means to complete that purpose. So take a seat, and let's go on a single-minded journey.
The Daily Grind: When have you felt a sense of completion?
By their very nature, MMOs discourage being done. Not necessarily in an insidious sense -- but when your game relies upon people playing it for months on end, there's a natural emphasis on letting tasks stretch off to infinity. But while it's certainly possible to wind up with almost astonishingly long-running tasks, such as assembling the Relic Weapons in Final Fantasy XI, with enough persistence you eventually arrive at the day when you have your brand-new Excalibur. It's almost enough to just kill something with it and then declare yourself done. Even with an emphasis on long-term goals, there come certain points when you feel that your character has finished everything you want to do -- or perhaps points when the player behind the character just feels done. You are at the apex of power and knowledge, and there's no new challenges that won't be more of the same. In what moments have you felt a sense of completion and finality? Has that been your signal to quit, take a break, or just set a new goal for yourself? Are you happier with games that let you achieve several smaller goals, or one huge goal that feels more significant when you hit it?
