Stereotype and NPC Contribution!

In this game, the main heroine will be mute. Luckily, she have two fairies representing her. It's kind of like the typical devil and angel thing floating around one's head representing good and evil, which the player gets to chose between when interacting with an NPC. Only, these fairies doesn't represent good and evil at all. One is a very optimistic character who sees good and beauty in everything, while the other is a really sarcastic and cynical character who sees flaws and stereotypes. However, neither of them are good and evil, and I'm specifically trying to create scenarios with NPC interactions where both of these characters will have a very good point.

An example would be a ghetto rapper making music about his childhood and how hard life is. The optimist fairy would focus on the importance of the message in the music, while the cynical fairy would focus on the fact that this NPC was raised in a quite nice area and had OK parents, and that the ghetto image doesn't go well with that.

Another example is a positive thinking NPC. Now, neither of the fairies believes that anything can be achieved through positive thinking (as they generally have the same basic opinion). The optimist fairy would point out that she's no "positive thinker", but still puts the focus on how some of the things in the philosophy can have some truth in it. The cynic would more focus on the bad consequences of it, like if one's success in life does only depend on how they think and is unrelated to circumstances, it's easy to blame anyone for their own misfortunes and tell them to think more positively, rather than helping them out. (She'll say it in a very sarcastic way.)

So, the fairies are definitely not good vs. evil. They just represent two very different ways to look at things. Of course, this is a smaller thing in the game, the dialogue between characters will be short and I'll do my best to make every conversation fit into three or four short sentences. What I want to do is to avoid it to feel like a propaganda game for any opinion, I specifically want to create scenarios where there's no obvious right answer, because this is a lot about how I think too; when I meet a person who belong to a specific group (religious, activism, political, idealism) I rarely see a good or evil person. I usually see someone who probably got some answers right, but I also see a stereotype that I can sometime take a cynical approach toward (though I try not to attack a person).

I've wanted to reflect that in a game for a while, and this is the right game to do it with, as even the main quest have room for two very different ways to look at it.

So, what NPC's should the player meet? They'll all need help with something (which will make the game's quests) and the player will agree to help them all no matter standpoint. It can be stuff like a "the end is near, repent" guy, or a child with an imaginary friend (though this child is a bit too old to have imaginary friends) who fell down a pit, so the player must go and bring it back. Basically, stuff that you can look at differently.

Some ambiguous situations from this side of the globe:

Helping beggars on the street. It could be a girl with a baby, for example.
Optimist: You gotta help out a fellow human in dire need! It could be you next, who knows?
Pessimist: it's all fake. You'd only sponsor the beggar mafia and made it profitable for them to exploit these people (the baby is probably rented too).

Freeing birds/fish in a temple (an Asian thing AFAIK, but maybe you can use it...)
Optimist: The trader gives you an opportunity to make merit by giving freedom back to an imprisoned creature!
Pessimist: you support the capture of animals for profit, and encourage the trader to capture more animals to get more money.

Feeding stray dogs
Optimist: you save an animal from starvation by sharing food with it.
Pessimist: you make an animal dependent on human contact. These mangy dogs spread disease and are a source of nuisance and danger among humans. Let nature sort it all out.


More later. :-)

-Got this idea from a book: A delivery "boy" that is an adult. He loses a package that you need to find, or he needs you to deliver something for him.
   Pessimist = He should get a better job :\
   Optimisit = Helps him deliver faster.
-A passing-by alchemist that needs help crossing a lake ;P
   Pessimist = Might drown, find bridge, etc.
   Optimist = Helps the guy out, maybe he'll do a favor back.
-A teacher that needs students and a parent who needs somewhere to put her kids.
   Pessimist = Not get along, not a good teacher/parent.
   optimist = Helps the younger generation get smarter.
-A mountain climber that falls down a cave and needs your help climbing back up.
   Pessimist = Just fall back down again
   Optimist = Helping out the guy, same as alchemist
-An author that needs you to bring him on some of your travels to write about.
   Pessimist = Not good book, not good scenerio, not good idea
   Optimist = Good book, good experiance
-A collecter that needs something for his collection.
    Pessimist = No point collecting it, not a good collection, maybe it'll make him rely on you too much
    Optimist = Good collection, helps him out, he'll return a favor
-A boy in love and needs you to convey the message to the girl.
   Pessimist = Love isn't that good, he can't face her himself, he needs to face his fear.
   Optimist = ? (can't tell)

A kid wants to leave his hometown and have an adventure, but his parents are worried he might get hurt. He asks you to tell him about your tales.
 +Optimist: Look at all the fun you've had on your adventure! You should tell him how great you have it so he knows the joys of living freely.
 -Pessimist: Think about how dangerous it is to be on a so-called 'adventure.' Look at him! He wouldn't last ten minutes! Tell him about how harsh the world is so he doesn't do something stupid.

A guard and a famished kid are standing by a food stall. The kid asks you to distract the guard so he can steal something to eat.
 +Optimist: We have to help him get something to eat!
 -Pessimist: Literally stealing the fruits of someone's labor? That's pretty low.

A librarian asks you to run around town and retrieve some overdue books for him.
 +Optimist: This would really help keep the library more organized!
 -Pessimist: What kind of librarian can't even keep track of overdue books? He needs the practice.

A team of scientists wants you to persuade some people living in a forest to move somewhere else so the forest can become an "ecological preserve" open only to scientists and ecologists.  The "optimist" thinks it's a good idea to preserve the forest.  The "pessimist" thinks it's wrong to make the people living there leave their home.

What about a pathetic creature asks you to kill him because he can't do it himself.

A vigilante trying to catch an elusive criminal on their own. Optimistic view: working alone will give them enough flexibility to succeed where formal law enforcement can't. Pessimistic view: working alone will make things even harder for the police, and if they do manage to catch the criminal, they might punish unfairly.