Attachment to fictional characters - Is it normal? - Games

So I was playing CODWAW the other night, and I played through the entirety of the campaign in about eight hours. Now, as all good stories go, certain major characters died. I expected this. What I did [I]not[/I] expect was such an emotional reaction to their passing. If you haven't played CODWAW and don't want the story revealed, the rest is in spoiler tags. [sp]So at the final portion of the final American mission, Roebuck or Polansky will die, depending on your actions. I saved Polansky, not knowing this, and Roebuck died. I just stood over his corpse for a full 15 seconds, completely stunned. I watch the ending American cutscene, and almost cry as Polansky hands me Roebuck's dogtags. I later went through again and saved Roebuck, because I like him better. (He was voiced by Keifer Sutherland, the guy who plays Jack Bauer in [I]24.[/I]) I play the final Soviet missions, and in the 2nd to last one dies, Pvt. Chernov dies via flamethrower-wielding Nazi. Once again, I'm stunned, and just stare as he takes his last breaths. Sgt. Reznov takes his diary, which he berated Chernov for writing earlier, saying that nobody would read it, and says "Somebody... should read this.". At the end, Reznov gives an inspiring, but short speech, and I just want to say to him "I agree completely!".[/sp] Anyways, I also get attached to awesome characters who don't die, such as Sgt. Reznov, or Alyx Vance, or even minor characters such as Griggs and Sheckley. My question is, is this normal? Is anyone else like this?

We do it all the time in books and movies, so why not?

I did the same thing in Mass Effect and the KOTOR's.

It's normal, but I find it weird to get attached to anyone on in any CoD game besides 4, the character development is like 5%

Yeah I get attached to characters in game. Niko. Dog from Fable 2. Jack Walters from Call of Cthulhu. My first spore creature.

i feel bad in RTS games when my infantry get killed i also feel bad for minor npc soldier guys that follow me around or just stand around and shoot things that get killed in terrible, painful ways :ohdear:

As hard as game designers try to make them relatable I don't get attached to them at all. Is that abnormal?

[QUOTE=T_T crai2;15745177]i feel bad in RTS games when my infantry get killed i also feel bad for minor npc soldier guys that follow me around or just stand around and shoot things that get killed in terrible, painful ways :ohdear:[/QUOTE] same here

In the first COD I always made sure Pvt. Elder survived. I get attached to my men in RTS games as well.

[QUOTE=Sam Tilgan;15745083] [sp] I play the final Soviet missions, and in the 2nd to last one dies, Pvt. Chernov dies via flamethrower-wielding Nazi. Once again, I'm stunned, and just stare as he takes his last breaths. Sgt. Reznov takes his diary, which he berated Chernov for writing earlier, saying that nobody would read it, and says "Somebody... should read this.". At the end, Reznov gives an inspiring, but short speech, and I just want to say to him "I agree completely!".[/sp][/QUOTE] [sp]During the last level Reznov doesn't shoot much, instead he follows behind the group and reads Chernov's diary out loud. It was sad listening to it.[/sp]

[QUOTE=Sam Tilgan;15745083]So I was playing CODWAW the other night, and I played through the entirety of the campaign in about eight hours. Now, as all good stories go, certain major characters died. I expected this. What I did [I]not[/I] expect was such an emotional reaction to their passing. If you haven't played CODWAW and don't want the story revealed, the rest is in spoiler tags. [sp]So at the final portion of the final American mission, Roebuck or Polansky will die, depending on your actions. I saved Polansky, not knowing this, and Roebuck died. I just stood over his corpse for a full 15 seconds, completely stunned. I watch the ending American cutscene, and almost cry as Polansky hands me Roebuck's dogtags. I later went through again and saved Roebuck, because I like him better. (He was voiced by Keifer Sutherland, the guy who plays Jack Bauer in [I]24.[/I]) I play the final Soviet missions, and in the 2nd to last one dies, Pvt. Chernov dies via flamethrower-wielding Nazi. Once again, I'm stunned, and just stare as he takes his last breaths. Sgt. Reznov takes his diary, which he berated Chernov for writing earlier, saying that nobody would read it, and says "Somebody... should read this.". At the end, Reznov gives an inspiring, but short speech, and I just want to say to him "I agree completely!".[/sp] Anyways, I also get attached to awesome characters who don't die, such as Sgt. Reznov, or Alyx Vance, or even minor characters such as Griggs and Sheckley. My question is, is this normal? Is anyone else like this?[/QUOTE] I think it's completely normal. feeling attached to the character is a sign of good writing on the developer's part. It means they did a good job of immersing you in the universe and making you care about it. I remember, I was saddened in CoD 4 [sp]when Sgt. Griggs and Gaz are shot and Captain Price is nearly killed.[/sp]

Video game characters are meant to do that. For example, with Alyx, [sp]When the hunter impaled her, it was a shocker. Same goes with Eli Vance when he got his brains sucked out at the end of Ep 2. Amazingly, the death of Sgt. Major Johnson at the end of Halo 3 was also another sad moment.[/sp]

I always feel a bit bad for my soldiers in COH, screaming and crying, breaking under stress and death.

[QUOTE=Bredirish123;15745150]I did the same thing in Mass Effect and the KOTOR's.[/QUOTE] Was it the main character (the one you play as)? I've heard this other guys saying he got attached to the main character, but it never made sense to me. I never understood how you connect to characters that you create yourself, that are already [i]you.[/i]

I cried manly tears when [sp]Solid Snake (Old Snake) died, and when Eli died.[/sp] MANLY FUCKING TEARS.

Bastilla from KoToR [img]http://d2k5.com/sa_emots/emot-crying.gif[/img]

Solid Snake doesn't die in the story. Hell you on about

[QUOTE=gbtygfvyg;15745297]I cried manly tears [sp]when Solid Snake (Old Snake) died, and when Eli died.[/sp] MANLY FUCKING TEARS.[/QUOTE] Umm... spoiler tags, please? [sp] He never dies. If you've played the game, you would have (hopefully) noticed a little cutscene at the end where you learn Snake survives the bullet (by some miracle). Go watch it on youtube or, better yet, go play the game if you can.[/sp]

When [sp]Ashley shot Wrex[/sp] in Mass Effect, I was PISSED.

I was sad when [sp]they killed Jack Bauer in CODWAW.[/sp] Then I got over it.

[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;15745259][sp]During the last level Reznov doesn't shoot much, instead he follows behind the group and reads Chernov's diary out loud. It was sad listening to it.[/sp][/QUOTE] Really? He followed me and shot the hell out of everything. He actually tanked a bit. I don't recall any [sp]diary reading[/sp]. What difficulty you on, man?

[QUOTE=doommarine23;15745281]I always feel a bit bad for my soldiers in COH, screaming and crying, breaking under stress and death.[/QUOTE] Yeah. Some of the voice acting is really pretty good, I frown whenever I send a squad in to die and free up pop-cap and they end up going from confident, non-chalant soldiers to humans (Sort of) curled up in the fetal position screaming, "Men are dying under your command!" while getting raked with machinegun fire in a hole.

I become attached, but only to characters that are around me a lot. I remember, One time I was playing Red Alert 2, And sent in some paratroopers, of which 1 survived. He was stuck behind enemy lines, and I spent a good hour rescuing him by slowly sneaking him out and sending people in, going "Dammit, you have a family, you have to survive! You have a fucking story to tell!" the entire time. Sgt. Jackson (what I named him) is a mother fucking HERO in my book.

[QUOTE=Letters;15745496]I become attached, but only to characters that are around me a lot. I remember, One time I was playing Red Alert 2, And sent in some paratroopers, of which 1 survived. He was stuck behind enemy lines, and I spent a good hour rescuing him by slowly sneaking him out and sending people in, going "Dammit, you have a family, you have to survive! You have a fucking story to tell!" the entire time. Sgt. Jackson (what I named him) is a mother fucking HERO in my book.[/QUOTE] Well of course it's only the recurring characters that people get attached to. If someone gets attached to the characters that don't show up hardly at all, then they're somewhat screwed up in the head.

[QUOTE=Markntosh;15745325]Umm... spoiler tags, please? [sp] He never dies. If you've played the game, you would have (hopefully) noticed a little cutscene at the end where you learn Snake survives the bullet (by some miracle). Go watch it on youtube or, better yet, go play the game if you can.[/sp][/QUOTE] [sp]Big Boss stops him before he commits suicide[/sp]

[QUOTE=Letters;15745496]I become attached, but only to characters that are around me a lot. I remember, One time I was playing Red Alert 2, And sent in some paratroopers, of which 1 survived. He was stuck behind enemy lines, and I spent a good hour rescuing him by slowly sneaking him out and sending people in, going "Dammit, you have a family, you have to survive! You have a fucking story to tell!" the entire time. Sgt. Jackson (what I named him) is a mother fucking HERO in my book.[/QUOTE] Reminds me of the unofficial "Rescue Riviera" mission on Fallout 3. After commanding a small fleet of Sporktroopers, our squad of 30 was ambushed by a lot of super mutants and deathclaws, in which all but 2 people died, and that was a soldier I nicknamed Corporal Riviera, and me. So Riviera was trapped in the middle of this battle, so then I spent a good half an hour trying to get to his position (MM Enhanced Spawns MAX was on) at the top of a mountain, so that meant I had to fight and climb my way up to the mountain, which then I was encountered by some really pissed Enclave who shot Riviera and caused him to fall off the side of the mountain. Then I pulled headfirst into the group, jumped off the side of the mountain, and then gave Riviera a stimpack because he was in critical condition. He got up and started going insane on the Enclave, brutally murdered them, and got home with me safely. [editline]11:53PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Markntosh;15745566]Well of course it's only the recurring characters that people get attached to. If someone gets attached to the characters that don't show up hardly at all, then they're somewhat screwed up in the head.[/QUOTE] There was some game where [sp]you meet your brother in the first chapter, and then your brother is killed literally 5 minutes later.[/sp] It isn't a story plot if it's a character that's important to the player for 5 minutes. (The story was built around it)

The first time I felt saddened by a character's death was in Episode 2 when [sp]Eli gets probed in the spine by an Advisor[/sp] I have felt rage against enemies in all sorts of games, but that's probably just the adrenaline talking.

Get attached to my squads in Company Of Heroes. Had a infantry squad stuck behind enemy lines pinned down. I went fucking Black Hawk Down mode.

I just had this crazy image of a BOS guy falling of a cliff backwards, and you ju,ping off after him, and injecting him with the stimpack right before you both make a giant crater at the bottom, then charge out of it guns blazing... wow.

[QUOTE=Spork-Juct;15745623]There was some game where [sp]you meet your brother in the first chapter, and then your brother is killed literally 5 minutes later.[/sp][/QUOTE] Is this game Resistance: Retribution?