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I hate dialog choices in games that end up being something different than what you select

  • Thread starter Deleted member 31817
  • Start date

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
So here I am playing KC:D and I have a quest to get a ring off a dead convict's finger. I start asking the executioner about it and the prompt "get straight to the point" pops up. Here I am thinking oh ok, well I don't wanna lie so I'll just tell the truth and that I need a ring to pay back a debt and if he gets mad at me so be it.

My bumblefuck of a main character INSTEAD asks the executioner if he has the ring and the executioner gets mad because I accused him of grave robbing and then starts punching me :/

I assume they do this to avoid being redundant and to help people who don't want to read a lot but good god I hate it
 
defaltoption

defaltoption

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
11,486
Austin
Literally one of the worst things any rpg can do, btw that's hilarious that he just started punching the crap outta you. I remember having to dig for it myself.
 
TheMadTitan

TheMadTitan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,236
Unless it's a game where the dialog isn't voiced for the main character, I don't even pay attention to the line. I'll glance at it, infer the tone it's going for, and simply pick it. If that results in my character getting punched in the face, then they just get punched in the face and the NPC gets murdered.
 
Zeno

Zeno

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,150
Psychoward said:
So here I am playing KC:D and I have a quest to get a ring off a dead convict's finger. I start asking the executioner about it and the prompt "get straight to the point" pops up. Here I am thinking oh ok, well I don't wanna lie so I'll just tell the truth and that I need a ring to pay back a debt and if he gets mad at me so be it.

My bumblefuck of a main character INSTEAD asks the executioner if he has the ring and the executioner gets mad because I accused him of grave robbing and then starts punching me :/

I assume they do this to avoid being redundant and to help people who don't want to read a lot but good god I hate it
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Yeah. That's one of the factors that led me to just install a save game mod for KC:D.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
Zeno

Zeno

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,150
Psychoward said:
I like the idea of the save game restriction because interesting things can happen when you play through consequences but like... I didn't even want to do what I did.
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I agree, but for me, it was a mix of that and just glitches that got me stuck. Happened one too many times.
 
Pau

Pau

Self-Appointed Godmother of Bruce Wayne's Children
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,847
The example that comes to mind is Telltale Batman where the game is literally only about the dialogue choices, and even then this shit happens! At least it's not game breaking and sometimes amusing.
 
Elfgore

Elfgore

Member
Mar 2, 2020
4,578
vestan said:
Fallout 4

Good thing this mod is a thing
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Isn't that mod what revealed that one certain discussion was just the same option copied and pasted four times with different descriptions? Great shit!

Yes, this is bad and drives me crazy. I know if it's an entire paragraph you can't put it all in there, but maybe start including the way it's going to be conveyed. Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect: Andromeda had this going on and it worked pretty well from what I can remember.
 
poptire

poptire

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,979
The Monkey Island series is great about giving you exactly what you want when you choose a dialogue option.

Oh man when Guybrush introduces himself as "Hearty Beef and Potato" just as I hoped for lmao
 
InstantN00dles

InstantN00dles

Member
Nov 2, 2017
481
There was an choice like this in The Witcher 3. You choose to "push" someone aside but instead the moment goes way differently. Ends up being really funny though.
 
Siggy-P

Siggy-P

Avenger
Mar 18, 2018
11,865
Most insane version of this I ever came across was in Vampyr. For context, this is the love interests daughter. The option is simply "be very careful".




(Ignore the dumb meme music and stuff. It was the only isolated clip of the moment I could find).
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,421
poptire said:
The Monkey Island series is great about giving you exactly what you want when you choose a dialogue option.
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Most games are
Its mostly Bethesda, Bioware and Telltale that have cryptic options for some reason

I had just watched this video that popped up on recommendations so this thread is oddly scary to me



I don't know the channel before anyone tell me the guy is a puppy killing nazi. Hopefully he isn't.
 
Bizzquik

Bizzquik

Chicken Chaser
Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,506
Siggy-P said:
Most insane version of this I ever came across was in Vampyr. For context, this is the love interests daughter. The option is simply "be very careful".




(Ignore the dumb meme music and stuff. It was the only isolated clip of the moment I could find).
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I was also thinking Vampyr, but I was thinking the moment when "Charm" an important NPC meant "Turn them into a husk of a human being such that they are more zombie than human and all fabric of society around them falls to ruin due to their plot relevance."
 
Morrigan

Morrigan

Spear of the Metal Church
Member
Oct 24, 2017
34,357
Siggy-P said:
Most insane version of this I ever came across was in Vampyr. For context, this is the love interests daughter. The option is simply "be very careful".




(Ignore the dumb meme music and stuff. It was the only isolated clip of the moment I could find).
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LOL, I picked this on a replay, I actually thought it sounded vaguely threatening (in a "be very careful what you wish for..." kind of sense) and I was curious to see what he'd say, and then he said this and I was like "whoaaaaaaa". The ending of that line is nice though.

I love that game.

TeenageFBI said:
Er, what is KC:D?
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance I take it
 
Amauri14

Amauri14

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,696
Danbury, CT, USA
Yeah, that was one of the main reasons I stopped playing Fallout 4, as I got it on PS4 first, with L.A Noire that also an issue as when I selected doubt I wasn't expecting the protagonist to accuse the person of being a fucking liar. The other reason for me stopping Fallout 4 is that the main quest story looks way too predictable for me to do it.
 
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CaviarMeths

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
I don't usually have a problem with this. Context clues in the dialogue are usually pretty apparent.

Unfortunately, the OP contains zero context clues for what "KC:D" stands for.
 
Rodney McKay

Rodney McKay

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,205
InstantN00dles said:
There was an choice like this in The Witcher 3. You choose to "push" someone aside but instead the moment goes way differently. Ends up being really funny though.
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Yeah, I'm replaying Witcher 3 and there's definitely times I wish they'd spell out the choice options a little more.

I made a choice like "Shit up" and it ended up ending the whole conversation and making it a fight which basically ended the quest early.
(it was the Vampire serial killer quest).
 
adamsappel

adamsappel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,503
I dislike dialog trees and Press X for Doubt gameplay. Just show me the story you want to tell; you're wasting my time if I'm making the "wrong" choice (and I'll always think I'm making the wrong one).
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,421
CaviarMeths said:
I don't usually have a problem with this. Context clues in the dialogue are usually pretty apparent.
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Unless you're psychic there's no way [sarcasm] is pretty apparent, specially because many of the times you're not even being sarcastic or funny but downright aggressive.
Or the example in the video i posted above where "(sigh)" turns into a full blown rant
 
Chaserjoey

Chaserjoey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,626
Fully agree. Pissed me off so much in telltale games where the written choice is harmless but then the dialogue has your character rip everyone's assholes so they all hate you and "remember that."
 
flyingsaucer

flyingsaucer

Member
Feb 28, 2020
151
InstantN00dles said:
There was an choice like this in The Witcher 3. You choose to "push" someone aside but instead the moment goes way differently. Ends up being really funny though.
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Witcher 3 had two bad ones, I'm glad I chose neither. One is the one you mentioned, and the other is
"Stopping" Keira or whatever it said which ends with you killing her. I would definitely not be happy with that outcome
 
Chopchop

Chopchop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,171
I imagine it's a development thing that lets the game writers polish the writing of their interface a little without needing to call the VAs back in to record new lines. It's okay as long as the writing is still tonally similar to your choice, but it does suck when your character acts totally differently from what you expected.
 
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