Character Concept vs. Efficiency...

[The Necris Process]

Which thing takes priority for you? An example of concept vs. efficiency clashing would be...

-The player's character design/idea might be something like a warrior that only uses a particular sword, or a guy with only Ice-type weaponry, or a say a Force that specializes in all the Fire spells. Even when fighting the same element, he won't switch out to something that counters because...that's not in the character-concept to do so...like how most writers today wouldn't have Batman pull out a gun to simply shoot the badguys. Another example---a person makes Lion-O from Thundercats. Obviously, there are certain boundaries there if you want to stay true to the character concept. He's not going to be a Ranger with an arsenal of guns, unless you're doing a different take on the character.

-Efficiency side-->Obviously, it's better(*or I should say...some would consider it better) to be more well-rounded than that if you're concerned with doing the missions quickly, or doing the most damage, and being a better partner in a co-op/multiplayer session.

Most modern Phantasy Star fans probably have a mix of these things... I lean a bit more towards the character concept taking priority (*at least in single-player. In a multiplayer situation, of course I'd care more about efficiency, at least for the sake of being on the same page with teammates). Which is more important to you guys?

Discuss.

[DeinoK]

My priority are Sabers, i love them, in all games i play if there is any class than can use them, thats my Class jejej. Here i own a Acromaster/Fightmaster Human and i got all the best Sabers and Twin sabers of the game.

So my idea is a stylish warrior using sharp sabers with elegance (like Dante in Devil May Cry) ^^
I have the luck that Phantasy Star is Japanese and we all know they have cult to katanas and daggers, so i have noticed in their games always the sacred/evil/powerfull/soul linked weapons are sabers, swords and so. Thats a point i love too, weapons with personality. Look at the names of shipunjinlai, gekkavijin, or hyakkaryolan , translations are so nice.

^^ Thats my Char

[The Necris Process]

^cool. My character Gevurah is a "nephilim", and considers his beastly alternate form(Boggo Val) to be a physical manifestation of his angelic side. Of course, he has a specialization with light and fire element weapons, mostly swords, sabers, spears and single-daggers...so I prefer his weapons to be light or fire, no matter what the situation is.

ah, this also reminds me that I miss that cool option to name your own s-rank weapons in the old PSO. I'd love to have special, named weapons for all my characters....they could be mystical weapons that have a connection to the character's soul, similar to the concept of a zanpakuto in the Bleach anime/manga.

[Dragwind]

For PS:P in particular, I prefer efficiency although it hardly matters since the game is genuinely easier than PSU in my opinion. I do however have a backstory for my CAST in a way, which is somewhat related to my CAST in PSU. I'll be sticking to efficiency due to wanting to contribute data faster in the future towards the item database.

My main character in PSU though originated as a specialist in daggers and techs for my fanfic. I tend to stick mostly to efficiency with other characters however purely to accomplish the most I can within a shorter amount of time.

[DarkRealm]

My character's personality/concept is being effective.

[Infinite Eternity]

I prefer concept and design over efficiency. I don't really like to use something that I don't think looks good or looks good with my character even if it is really strong.

I honestly don't care if something has a low percentage or is weak against the monster, I tend to not like to use something or my character even if something doesn't look good on him. ^^; (I made a new character when I was level 70 something because I didn't like the height...)

[panzer_unit]

For me, doing the problem-solving to play my character efficiently is what makes the game enjoyable.

There wasn't enough storage space for me to have a full set of skills and gear for my human character in every job in the game, I went with the "concept" of playing an asskicking human PT more than any other job (though keeping all the must-have rares for farming weapons as a Master type) and focused on farming stuff to use as PT since it's my favored job for that guy.

Afterwards I started CAST and Beast characters in order to have equipment sets specifically set-up for GunMaster and FighMaster, with collections of A-ranks for weapon categories they only have A for and so on. When they need to multi-class they can bite the bullet and use whatever gear they own instead of top-of-the-line gear for their type. That's as close to "roleplaying" as I'll get. That and maybe favoring or avoiding some S-ranks because I do/don't like how they look like Gur Hanab over RoboPitch or Shigga Baret over Shigga Pakuda.

[Tolly7249]

Concept, every time. *Looks sideways at Adan, her Beast Masterforce*

I'm currently working on Briony, an Albino Newman who uses mostly Ice and Light stuff. Or at least... she will once I collect enough Ice and Light equipment and TECHNICs.

[ZyphNeko]

Character concept and design, by all means. I find it more fun to look different and stand out more than looking like freakin' everybody else. Besides, that's what makes the game too easy, because you have all of the "UBAH RARZ" to obliterate everything. By going with this, it gives me a more lovely challenge (to an extent).

There's that, and also,



I prefer concept and design over efficiency. I don't really like to use something that I don't think looks good or looks good with my character even if it is really strong.

This, and



There wasn't enough storage space for me to have a full set of skills and gear for my human character in every job in the game

This.

On PS:P, however...meh. I sort of went through a random jumble of weapons in the beginning, even though I mainly only stuck with a few through the whole time (Sacred Dusters...freakin' epic win). But then later as I got rich 'nuff and more better things were available, I finally went with concept and have less of a silly jumble of weapons. My PS:P character is Kiriara, the mysterious yet-to-be-seen older sister of Kiliaro. Then I have my four lovable kitty-cat characters on PSU itself with their own unique styles...

So meh. Concept ftw. If people don't like the fact that I don't have an entire pallette of "UBAH RARZ" or "UBAH 50% WEAPONZ", whatever. Too bad for them. I don't want other folks to change my comfy, fun style of playing the game. Just as long as I can kill things effeciently 'nuff. This is also why I tend to stray away from missions that have enemies far stronger than my character... (like, 20 or 30+ levels above. Blech.)

Phew...well, that's my lovely big post of two Mesetas.

Neko~

[Zivilyn Bane]

I prefer concept and design over efficiency. I don't really like to use something that I don't think looks good or looks good with my character even if it is really strong.

Agreed. I ran into this problem in a very major way when PSU first launched. I must admit that my original prime was a stolen character, something I don't typically do. It worked out in PSO because of the Slicer ( throwing knives ) and Rafoie ( Burst! ). In PSU, Hunters couldn't use TECH discs at first, and Slicers were none to be seen. Fortunately the Acro classes came about, and I could continue their use.

Max.1x11, my original HUcast was also kind of a problem at first. Rangers seemed like a decent fit, but it wasn't a perfect match. Protransers however fixed that. He has a decent range of specs, the right weapon selection, and he can see traps again. I always like trying to find a way to fit remade characters in to new games, even if it means they'll suffer somewhere.

PS:P fixes both of these problems because the multi-play weapon availability are the same as the offline stats, something I'd love to see adjusted in PSU network play.

[Akuno Ayanokoji]

I never really try to play games with efficiency. I think I'm like DeinoK in a way. I lean towards more sabers, swords, dual swords/twin sabers or just plain dual weapons of the sort.
I like to use unique weapons in my gameplay, sure they might end up being like t3h UB4R 4w3&0m3 R4RZ, but that isn't always the case.(sorry for butchering that last bit)

I take pride in my character's appearance in this game. I don't necessarily look for the strongest weapons, but I do look for weapons of uniqueness. or that cathes my interest. Which is why I busted my ass trying to get a sangeyasha(dont believe me, check the sig) My idea of when I make my own character is one of pride, I want to be able to feel comfortable playing as my character and sticking with it. I don't try to make a character based on efficiency, I make them how I want to. Of course, one could argue that being efficient is better, whether in single or multi-mode. I rather play my own way, even if that means using a attr. weapon against a monster witht he same attr.

[Zivilyn Bane]

I take pride in my character's appearance in this game. I don't necessarily look for the strongest weapons, but I do look for weapons of uniqueness. or that cathes my interest.

I agree. Otherwise the game gets boring. If we were all only going to play to the most powerful specifications possible, there'd never be a CAST Force type, or Beast Ranger, or Newman Hunter. No one would ever play a Human.

Math crunching in games, especially Massives, takes the fun out.

[panzer_unit]

I agree. Otherwise the game gets boring. If we were all only going to play to the most powerful specifications possible, there'd never be a CAST Force type, or Beast Ranger, or Newman Hunter. No one would ever play a Human.

Math crunching in games, especially Massives, takes the fun out.

Actually math crunching is a large part of the fun in roleplaying games for a lot of people.

One great thing about PS:P as opposed to online is that there's more than enough to make even hardcore min/maxers spend lots of time with every job in order to earn all the titles for skills and drop rarity bonuses, unless you're only interested in one Master type you're going to spend ages as random jobs hunting down the top-tier rares you need as well. If anything it bugs me I can't spend MORE time as a Protranser, but I want another Agito Repca for using on Ice enemies so here's more time spent as a Human FM again.

[Zivilyn Bane]

Actually math crunching is a large part of the fun in roleplaying games for a lot of people.

That's very fair. D&D v2.5 springs to mind.


...unless you're only interested in one Master type you're going to spend ages as random jobs hunting down the top-tier rares you need as well.

This is also true. One of the things that I have bouts of like and dislike with is the elimination of the randomized badges. The ability to effectively switch which rares you find by changing your type is very keen, but for my experience this does lead to a lot of grinding and leads more into the efficiency aspect than character concept.

[Ragol Sinner]

Awesome thread

Okay, as a character designer myself, the look and 'role' of my char is always first, then comes efficiency. I actually began that route to in game character designing from the original pso, which i played for 4 years.

My character has always been based off of the 'idea' of Alis Landeel, as some of you may recognize as the original charter from phantasy star I. For me that game was a landmark, and began my fascination with worlds(characters them selves i picked up from marvel comics.

I married Alis to my web name- madux- and called my character Alismadux. Madux as an addendum would mean almighty, all-powerful, god-like.

As far as the PSO game, it ended up, became enthused with a character that carried a big sword (no cloud envy) and used techs- alismadux should be bad-ass, and theouretically shoudlnt be weak in any area that i dont choose her to be. To make the concept simpler, basically she can smash you with an overhead sword swing then tech-firebomb you in quick succession. In essence, a death bringer through and through. Since evil itself originates from the concept of good, its already ironic that a heroine is trained to dismantle her enemy in such a spectacular fashion. But thats what we like, right? Rain fire on them!

Alismadux. Blade. Tech.

Death (to SEED)

:)

ill have a drawing of her soon

[panzer_unit]

So, human PT?

Also I told a horrible lie about not needing to spend time as alternate jobs if you're going full-on for a single Master type. Even the 9* weapons you'd want to farm only drop for other classes... right now I'm trying to farm Alseva Borega twin sabers for my Cast GM as a Fighter and, then have to switch to Force for Seva Borega.

[furrypaws]

In the games I play online/with other people, I normally keep two sets of gear; one for performance, and one for one. I've generally found that if I don't have top end equipment, people don't want me in top-end missions, which leaves me left out. So, I pull out that high performance stuff when it's absolutely needed and for everything else I use what looks coolest...to an extent. Obviously if I'm going to be doing 0-10 damage with it constantly it's not something I can use that often. >_>

[Zivilyn Bane]

The synthesizing equipment has also helped a lot with that sort of thing too. Now I can have cool looking equipment at the right color, as to before where there was a specific color progression to the level of power. Woo, go super strong pink weapons and lousy blue ones... yeah... awesome.