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Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

I'm working on a (relatively) quick story while still working on my tech forecasts for .topia. It's set in modern Southern Africa, during a rise in Private Military Contractors (think modern day mercenaries). In the second act of my game, guerrilla fighters attack a facility guarded by a PMC.

Which perspective would you be more interested in playing, and why?

Guerrilla - Aggressor: Get to blow things up / take hostages / negotiate for demands / needs to escape, preferably along with team mates / may find allies among the site employees / may not have high tech tools but will have a larger team / chooses when to attack and how / will get rewarded through colorful descriptions of violence and promises of promotion in the militia's ranks if attack is pulled off well

PMC - Defender: Have to anticipate the attack (it's known that tensions have been simmering) / have to help people evacuate / have to fight off the attackers, and prevent hostages from being taken / if hostages are taken, consider whether to get them back without external reinforcements / may get help from friendly people at the site they're guarding / has to justify the size of the defense team (their bill isn't cheap, and suffer consequences if no attack happens) / will have access to drones and modern tools / troops will tend to have more experience and more colorful personalities, but less in number than guerrilla forces / will get hugs and thanks if you pull it off well but a lot of scorn for not magically 'preventing it'

I won't have the time to write both paths, because the actions and situations of the third path depend on the second, so I'm asking for your thoughts.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

Aggressor obviously.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago
I'm guessing you liked the 'No Russian' mission back in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

I agree with End. The Aggressor is the more desired selection most people would have. It's probably more fun with that path, and no typical cliche 'defend the base' moment. Although, if you ever do feel the motivation to write two paths, that would make an interesting out come for two alternate versions of the third part. If it wasn't obvious before, I vote Aggressor. 

#teamaggressor

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago
Oh, on defense there'd be no 'dramatic rally' unless you worked towards it and chose smartly (similar to how you could end up with every crew member in the Mass Effect 2 suicide mission dead, including Shepard). Abject failure was a very real option, up to and including the Point of View character's death, the story would have moved on regardless into Act 3 and a different PoV character. I'll wait for atleast one more vote before locking this in.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

True. Man, you just brought back so many beloved memories of the Mass Effect series. I always went with Tali, lol.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago
I really feel bad about the ME series. I was mad for it when it was out, bought ME2 and ME3 back in the days when I didn't usually buy games, and now, for some reason, the game doesn't really stand out as much in my mind as it did. It's no doubt a phenomenal game, but for some reason I just don't go all starry eyed over it as I do over other exceptional works like Valkyria Chronicles. Maybe I just got jaded after the ME3's non-ending, or perhaps The Witcher 3 just outdid it too well. I believe I went Liara.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

I wound up with Liara in the first game because Ashley walked out on the attempt at a three way. When Liara wasn't around for the majority of the second game, went with Tali, then went back to Liara when she came back in the third game.

The trilogy was okay, though they really dropped the ball on the third game. Not even talking about the ending so much (That didn't help though) but more of the case that they just turned Cerberus into a pointless secondary faction you had to fight. Would have been a lot better if you had been given a whole path where you could have gone back to directly helping them.

From what I've heard the Mass Effect series is on hiatus until further notice. Probably due to how much the recent one sucked.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

Lol, yeah, Mass Effect 1 wasn't built in a time when Human / Human / Suspiciously Human looking Alien threeways were socially acceptable, I'm amused you went looking for that.

I don't remember where Liara was in the 2nd, but I do believe she did join in via The Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC. I'd love to play the trilogy again with ALL the DLC included, but EA still charges eye-watering prices for it (something like 40$ today, and no sales). Jerks.

Yes, Cerberus became a really small player where they should have had a much more significant presence. Production on the next Mass Effect has not started, which for all purposes means yeah, it's in limbo. Well, you reap what you sow, make a game known for being quality story driven, and reduce it to just another shooter with jetpacks (Call of Duty: Advanced Whining, Borderlands The Pre-Sequel), well, duh.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago
Aggressor, of course. Every CYS story is just a little bit better if you can blow shit up. But if you ever choose to write both, that's even better.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago
Aggressor locked in, starting the writing now. May come back to the story later and write the other half, but later. Trying to beat my procrastination and finishing this one ASAP, it's been too long since my last game.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago

Strange how you describe PMCs are modern day mercenaries, as if mercenaries are something confined to the past. Anyhow, yeah, definitely guerilla, they're always a far cooler side to follow, not that it matters at this point. Sounds worth playing so far, anyhow.

Aggressor or defender?

6 years ago
Well, the past forty years were a strange aberration regarding mercenaries, they did not get much business when compared to nearly any other point of time post the formation of nation-states. PMCs as corporations are the latest incarnation of mercenaries, just wanted to point that out to anyone reading.