Comments on: Reminder: You Are Not the Hero

By: Of Foot Soldiers and Heroes at Kill Ten Rats

Of Foot Soldiers and Heroes at Kill Ten Rats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:35:02 +0000

[...] I criticized The Lord of the Rings Online™ Volume 1: Shadows of Angmar™ for this. I stand by that, but I like what Warhammer is doing. Warhammer does not create the expectation that you are The Hero of The Realm. You are one of many. You do not solve problems; you beat back the enemy for a while. There is not an epic story going on, one that logically has a beginning, middle, and end. There is endless war, and you are taking part in it. It does not declare itself the most epic fantasy ever and then force you to watch instead of being the protagonist. [...]

By: Openedge1

Openedge1 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:28:06 +0000

@Scott
A better point I think…to be “A” hero is cool also. I know the world is full of them, and there is no need to be “THE” hero.
I just also do not want to feel like a nobody, and LOTRO made me feel like that.
My main mission besides Bear and Boar extermination did not feel too Heroic is all. I helped but never had a chance to show my abilities.
Having control taken away also like what happened to our OP is just …YUCK!
But, LOTRO just irks me I guess. I hope MoM is so much better!

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:55:54 +0000

That’s a difference between a single-player RPG where you are playing The Hero who saves the world vs. being in a massively multiplayer RPG where we play A Hero, not The Hero.

Guild Wars blurs the line for a bit with its story-based instanced missions and cut-scenes, where you and your group *are* the stars of the show. But once you return to town, it’s just like an MMO where everyone else has done that mission and everyone else has been “the star” of their own show.

LOTRO is no different. It’s not a single-player game where we’re playing the role(s) of The Fellowship. We have our own stories which occasionally intersect with that of The Fellowship, so at least in those occasions it brings us more into the LOTR story than merely seeing the NPC’s scattered about the landscape with wasted potential (looking at you, SWG).

By: Thallian

Thallian — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:21:14 +0000

:D well who says there only has to be one story, with a hero? You bring up a good point. I think you just misunderstand my intentions. I enjoy being a normal joe instead of a “hero” with main character powers. The invincible main characters, frodo and sam are off to do their thing, along with aragorn and the gang. Sure hanging out with them is ok and all but I enjoy writing my own stories and Lord of the Rings Online lets me do that with my friends in middle earth, though were just now going to be able to go to places that are really scary and interesting (other than the few dungeons in the game :))

By: Openedge1

Openedge1 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:21:59 +0000

@Thallian
Ok then…why play even. We know how the story ends, so you cannot affect any part of it.

Personally I like the Guild Wars dynamic, where the cutscenes are all about YOU, and your actions DO affect the world for that character. (I like the fact I even talk, and “surprise”…my voice acting is TOP NOTCH…lol)

I play games with heroes to be the hero…not the janitor who cleans up after the hero.

By: Thallian

Thallian — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:10:53 +0000

:) personally I much prefer not being “the hero” because every other game has already done that to death, and if those games are so full of “heros” how come nothign ever changes? The “heros” must be pretty inept.. :P (either that or their powerful actions just get reset every few minutes)

By: BugHunter

BugHunter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:18:24 +0000

That’s how I felt every time in WoW, when I picked up a piece of armor or weapon in an instance that not a single person in the group were even allowed to wear! “Oh, this must be equipment for the real heroes of this adventure. I’m sure they’ll be along in a minute. I’ll just tidy up until they get here.”