Named MC?

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SwingAndToons
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Named MC?

#1 Post by SwingAndToons »

Hello there!

I am currently working on a game. In truth it is the first time I am this excited and motivated to get a story out. Ultimately, I know I want to release the game because I enjoy and am proud of it. But I thought it may not hurt to get some perspective on some recent questions that have been popping up in my mind. In order to keep the topics somewhat separate, I am going to break it up into a few posts. So my apologies for the spam!

What are your thoughts on a named MC? I know the point of an MC is to insert yourself in the story to a degree. However as I work through this concept, I realize that I can't really be particularly generic. Does playing through a character's story rather than it being a self insert detract from your experience?

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Re: Named MC?

#2 Post by MapletreePaper »

By "named MC" do you mean a fully developed character whose purpose isn't to act as a blank slate? In that case, go for it! There are many VNs with such a protagonist (including my own) so it's anything but strange.

However, if you talking about a blank slate MC who simply has a pre-selected name, then I'd advise against it. I go into more detail in the linked thread, but to summarize, having a pre-selected name goes against the whole point of projecting onto a blank slate main character. I suppose you could copy what The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon do by giving the MC a canonical name, but the player should still have the option to change it in game. This is all my opinion though, reasonable minds may differ.

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Re: Named MC?

#3 Post by Elsa Kisiel »

I definitively prefer a fully-fledged main character, with a name, a past, a personality, an impactful design, ...

I know a lot of players prefer a blank slate MC. I think both paths are fine as long as you really commit to it. Don't do things half-way.

If you give a name to the MC, make sure that the MC is one of your most interesting characters.

If you want to favour the players' immersion, let them choose the name of the main character. (And if possible, their design and personality.)
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Re: Named MC?

#4 Post by SwingAndToons »

MapletreePaper wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 1:15 am By "named MC" do you mean a fully developed character whose purpose isn't to act as a blank slate? In that case, go for it! There are many VNs with such a protagonist (including my own) so it's anything but strange.

However, if you talking about a blank slate MC who simply has a pre-selected name, then I'd advise against it. I go into more detail in the linked thread, but to summarize, having a pre-selected name goes against the whole point of projecting onto a blank slate main character. I suppose you could copy what The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon do by giving the MC a canonical name, but the player should still have the option to change it in game. This is all my opinion though, reasonable minds may differ.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60728&p=536783#p536783

I mean fully developed character for sure.

That's a fair point too. I think if I made her more of a blank slate then I really wouldn't do a pre-selected name rather a canonical name but the option to change.

I am heavily leaning towards fully fledged character

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Re: Named MC?

#5 Post by SwingAndToons »

Elsa Kisiel wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:17 am I definitively prefer a fully-fledged main character, with a name, a past, a personality, an impactful design, ...

I know a lot of players prefer a blank slate MC. I think both paths are fine as long as you really commit to it. Don't do things half-way.

If you give a name to the MC, make sure that the MC is one of your most interesting characters.

If you want to favour the players' immersion, let them choose the name of the main character. (And if possible, their design and personality.)
Haha. The Don't Do Things Halfway is really impactful. You have a point.

I do worry that my writing isn't good enough and that I will mess up making someone who fills that role. But that may be stuff to work on my own

Back to the Halfway thing, I wonder if trying to cater specifically to immersion may end up losing some of the weight behind what is going on. There is an unavoidable aspect to MC and maybe it would be best just to focus on making that fit

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Re: Named MC?

#6 Post by Chronocide »

SwingAndToons wrote: Mon Aug 23, 2021 9:45 pmWhat are your thoughts on a named MC? I know the point of an MC is to insert yourself in the story to a degree. However as I work through this concept, I realize that I can't really be particularly generic. Does playing through a character's story rather than it being a self insert detract from your experience?
There should be a "default" name, yes. Makes it easier to talk about the MC if you have a name for them. This is especially true if there are scenes where the MC isn't the MC.

But I really like being able to name my character. And sometimes my character name choice doesn't make as much sense as the default name, but that's okay by me.

It's also helpful if you are going through the game multiple times, if you can give each play-through version of the MC a different name.

PS: I have had issues in games where they don't tell you enough about the MC before they want me to name them. Like when they don't tell you that the protagonist is a particular gender...

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