The Pitfalls of Player Avatars

The word 'avatar' has been getting a lot of use in the modern gaming world as of late. It's primarily used to describe a character that is created at least in part by the player. We see more of them popping up as games take a turn away from established protagonists to the much more flexible avatar heroes. I can see why we're taking this turn, it's easy to get into a character that is literally whatever you want it to be. You appeal to nearly any demographic by having these play-dough heroes and it's hard to do them wrong, they're just a blank slate for the players to color in. This may not sound inherently evil or wrong but there is a rather disheartening trend emerging as a result of their popularity. We have no more heroes.

That may sound like a dramatic exaggeration (Okay, it kind of is) but it holds up fairly well when it comes down to it. Don't get me wrong though, there are certainly situations where you want players to  have control over their character designs i.e. D&D and anything formed of similar components. Those games allow players to draft up their own heroes, limited only by their imagination or how stingy their dungeon master is. That's where we want avatars but I would contest their inclusion in anything meant to be played alone. By its very nature the avatar hamstrings your ability to tell a story as a developer simply because everyone will have their own character, make their own choices, etc. How do you develop content for literally every character archetype? Answer is, in short, you don't! You make the most neutral and exploratory content that has no real grit to it so that everyone can run their own creation through it. I think that's why we see such a short main story in games like Skyrim and why, down the road, our content will become more same-y and bland.

Another interesting effect of the avatar nonsense is the dilution of the rest of a game's cast. Example, Fire Emblem Awakening! Now, there will be some major spoilers here so if you still haven't played the game and intend to, don't read on. So, in Awakening you can make a full-on, totally usable in combat unit of your very own and it's pretty cool. You're basically one of the most potentially powerful units in the game and that's kind of  okay. What isn't okay is that you totally overshadow the game's Lord character, Chrom. Now, in true Fire Emblem form you have access to a couple of Lord characters that are supposed to be integral to the story and be your anchor points/protagonists. However, once you reach the game's finale and confront the dragon Grima you are presented with an option; the player can choose to kill Grima with Chrom and seal him away for thousands of years, leaving the problem to resurface and be deal with by your descendants OR you can have your avatar kill it for good. Now, in nearly every other Fire Emblem game you are confronted with a similar choice but it's almost always the Lord who determines everyone's fate. This time, however, Chrom's role is literally...nothing. He is sub-par compared to your avatar in combat, characterization, and even story impact. You literally invalidate his entire character and purpose to the point of irrelevancy. Honestly, they could have just let you design your own Lord and have been done with it, but they didn't you get an avatar and his best skill is watering down literally everything around him/her.

--Spoiler Alert Has Ended--

This whole avatar dilemma stems from an attempt to further player immersion into games, which isn't a bad goal to pursue. I think that, while the goal may be noble, we're taking too many shortcuts in an effort to make it happen. I don't want to see watered down content meant to appeal to anyone who can hold a controller, you should be able to reach out to those demographics without compromising a story's integrity or pandering to people. We need to shift the focus back onto creating solid, compelling characters involved in a narrative that people actually want to watch unfold as they play. Even if we do refuse to let go of the wishy-washy avatar characters we need to design more dynamic supporting characters that aren't just completely overshadowed by the almighty player. Dark Souls does this through recurring characters interacting with you across your journey, often betraying or misleading you in some way for personal gain. It becomes less about what your avatar is doing and more about you being mindful of who you put trust in and they don't compete with your avatar in any way, shape, or form.

So hopefully the takeaway here is that while avatars may seem to be simple enough to incorporate in a game's narrative, be careful how often you use such a tool and be mindful of how it'll shape the rest of the experience. Most of the issues mentioned here are ones not bred from intention but by a passive ignorance towards character development and importance.

Stay sharp.