As someone who got a very bad impression of CoG games in the beginning, I agree with the original poster about stat checks. Nothing sours me on an IF quicker than my MC being “killed” in one of these games because she made one choice that gave her stats in a different skill than her “strongest” one and now she can’t do a damned thing. Even more infuriating is that, sometimes, choices that affect stats make no sense.
A bit more explanation… your character chooses something that makes sense to them (and they are typically more geared to operate a certain way) but then it turns it upped some other stat they don’t normally use. That, in and of itself is fine–people aren’t one-dimensional and well-written characters aren’t either–but it quickly becomes a problem when there are stat checks before the character can become fully defined.
This relates, in part, to one of my problems with many RPG video games, in general. In ME1, you start out as Shepard, this kick-ass war hero (or lone wolf, whatever), yet you don’t know how to use a gun without shooting yourself in the foot. You’re a tech-based or “magic” based character who can only do a tiny little bit without sucking. It causes a disconnect in the story, one that is (supposedly) necessary, but it is still there. In a video game, it is less of a problem than in a text-based game, because player skill can’t mitigate any of the damage (i.e., if you’re a good shot, you’ll mow down everyone in ME1 fairly easily until you hit a boss who hands you your ass, making your lack of skill all too apparent).
Now, this was just an example, but it’s to make a point: having a MC who can’t find their way out of a cardboard box is a bit more palatable in a video game than in a text-based game. Of course, there are people who will complain if it’s too easy, the same way I’ve seen people on various boards whining over such things and wanting the ‘easy’ level to be too hard to get through without dying constantly and the insanity level to be damned impossible. But I think those people are few and far between. In a text-based game, the MC needs to be able to be a badass or be a complete buffoon who can’t do anything or be somewhere in the middle. Since they haven’t lived in a bubble their entire lives, failing to gain any skills or personality, they should have starting stats that reflect that.
In games where there will be stat checks deciding every bloody thing (and even those that don’t have this), let the player choose who the MC is in the beginning, using the text, and give enough of a stat bump to what they already are so that, if they make a “wrong” choice somewhere and accidentally boost some other stat, a strong, barbarian type won’t suddenly, out of the blue, have his ass handed to him by an opponent that weighs 90 lbs while he’s soaking wet and wearing plate mail. Also, instead of having stat choices decide everything, why not give MC character choices that can decide the fight? Good example: In Wayhaven book 1, when your MC fights Murphy at the end, they can freeze when he grabs them or fight back or dodge. The latter two rely on stat checks, but if it’s in character, the MC can fail by standing there and doing nothing. It’s one of the best choice/stat check/results combos I’ve seen thus far.
I agree with this. It is why, typically, you have a team that works with your MC in a game. There are others to pick up the slack, to do the stuff your MC may fail at. They’re there to watch the MC’s back and to pull their ass out of the fire if things get too rough. Or, perhaps, failure doesn’t result in a complete and utter loss and simply takes your MC down a different path.
Again, it’s something that Sera does well in Wayhaven–failing a stat check can often result in something amusing happening or it can result in a moment of closeness with a teammate. You don’t get a “YOU DIED” screen and have to start again.
And that’s where I draw the line in these games and in video games. I don’t like wasting hours of my life playing something and have to start all over again. I play to have fun, not to be tormented to death and waste my damned time. Either make playing worthwhile, and make damned sure that my MC’s screwups don’t result in me being forced to trudge through a redo of the game up to that point, or put in something that will put me back at the beginning of the chapter so I can get it over and done with. Playing a game shouldn’t become a chore. That defeats the purpose.
Edited to add one more thing:
I complimented Wayhaven twice here but there is something I’ve seen in it that bugs the hell out of me that I’ve also seen in other IF games, and that is when stat checks are used for things that anyone should be able to do.
Example: asking/telling a supernatural creature (or anyone, for that matter) who is part of your team to try using their inherent abilities to help achieve an end goal. This should not require a skill check! At worst, it should rely on a skill check if the relationship between the MC and said supernatural(s) is less than a certain level. Like, if your MC has a hate-mance going on with Asher (or just simply has an awful relationship, in general) in the Replica WIP, I could see him telling the MC to suck it. Otherwise, he’s trying to achieve something, too, and would be able to do it regardless of whether the MC has a high people skill.
In other words, make sure your stat checks make sense. Don’t just throw in stat checks for all skills just because a choice may rely on one. Other choices could just happen without the checks. There’s no shame in that and it’s something I think a lot of players would appreciate.
