Algonquin Assassin Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Whilst there have indeed been other discussions about what kind of protagonist we'd like to see I just want to get everyone else's thoughts on this. How about a protagonist with no criminal background whatsoever and we get to see them transforn into one? I can't think of many games (particularly open world) where we start off as some blue collar kind of guy and turning to a life of crime for some reason like Walter in Breaking Bad. I always thought it would've been cool to play as Tommy when he was a young mafiaoso during the 70s before he was thrown in prison. I also think this would be a good way basically starting off with a fresh slate to have a GTA story finally span over a number of years to really developed the protagonist on his rise. Instead of his criminal background being already established we get to see it unfold ourselves and how he came to be. To me I think it's the change of pace the series needs. What about you guys? Edward Nashton, Maxxeine, theGTAking101 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOUGL4S1 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 (edited) Vic Vance has no known criminal background as the begining of VCS, all we know is that he joined the army sometime before the game starts. This would be cool in some ways: for one, it would make stats and RPG elements like weapon and driving skill more rewarding to get. Someone with no criminal background probably has very few, if any experience in firing an assault rifle or driving a car at 200km/h through town. However, some things like the Freeroam after the first mission would be kinda weird, since a person with no criminal past would either refuse or feel horrible about stealing a car, for example. Unless, of course, this introduction to crime is done in sort of a prologue mission/set of missions, and, of course, it would mean that this no criminal background thing would be very short. Edited September 5, 2017 by DOUGL4S1 universetwisters, H-G, Ronskie and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algonquin Assassin Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 Oh yeah. I forgot about Vic's lack of a criminal background so I guess it's not really a new idea per say and being a civilian early on I guess too presents its problems as it would have be pretty brief. However it would make doing those "drive here, do this" kind of missions at the start of GTA games feel more appropriate for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Time Ranger Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 It's a unique angle to take for a protagonist, it could be very interesting watching this law abiding citizen who loses everything dipping their toe in crime, gradually rising in the criminal underworld. There are several different directions to take this character in, somebody who is fighting with their moral compass while becoming more submerged in crime, making money but at what expense to their soul and mental state. Or maybe somebody who finds that they have a knack for this lifestyle, but whose cockiness gets them into deeper trouble than they were prepared for. If they have zero experience a slow build up in the early part of the game would make sense, similar to the start of IV, small jobs gradually building up. It's an idea I'd like to see. Algonquin Assassin, Maxxeine, Ronskie and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonaldVegan Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Very Fargo-esque. Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB1982 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 I think this would be quite a cool idea. You could have the opening mission be some incident completely out of the norm for the character and watch as their life spirals out of control. For example, the protaganist's car is hijacked after a robbery and they are forced to drive the robbers to their safe house and thusly you become an unwilling accomplice who at that point is just trying to get your life back on track before eventually succumbing to that lifestyle and embracing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA-Biker Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 (edited) I think this would be quite a cool idea. You could have the opening mission be some incident completely out of the norm for the character and watch as their life spirals out of control. For example, the protaganist's car is hijacked after a robbery and they are forced to drive the robbers to their safe house and thusly you become an unwilling accomplice who at that point is just trying to get your life back on track before eventually succumbing to that lifestyle and embracing it. That actually sounds similar to the first mission in Mafia 1: On topic,I think it would be interesting to see a protagonist who has no experience in crime,and would be nervous when committing crime for a first few missions,would have to learn how to properly use a gun,make connections in the underworld... Edited September 5, 2017 by GTA-Biker WanteD1, The Tracker, H-G and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB1982 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 I think this would be quite a cool idea. You could have the opening mission be some incident completely out of the norm for the character and watch as their life spirals out of control. For example, the protaganist's car is hijacked after a robbery and they are forced to drive the robbers to their safe house and thusly you become an unwilling accomplice who at that point is just trying to get your life back on track before eventually succumbing to that lifestyle and embracing it. That actually sounds similar to the first mission in Mafia 1: On topic,I think it would be interesting to see a protagonist who has no experience in crime,and would be nervous when committing crime for a first few missions,would have to learn how to properly use a gun,make connections in the underworld... Never actually played Mafia 1. Played 2 and 3 but not the first one. Thinking I should check this out now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA-Biker Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 I think this would be quite a cool idea. You could have the opening mission be some incident completely out of the norm for the character and watch as their life spirals out of control. For example, the protaganist's car is hijacked after a robbery and they are forced to drive the robbers to their safe house and thusly you become an unwilling accomplice who at that point is just trying to get your life back on track before eventually succumbing to that lifestyle and embracing it. That actually sounds similar to the first mission in Mafia 1: On topic,I think it would be interesting to see a protagonist who has no experience in crime,and would be nervous when committing crime for a first few missions,would have to learn how to properly use a gun,make connections in the underworld... Never actually played Mafia 1. Played 2 and 3 but not the first one. Thinking I should check this out now... You should check it out.It's a great game,it has interesting setting, well written story and very realistic gameplay. JB1982 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceOfLiberty Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) Not if they're the only protagonist (or group of), because ultimately they would only be motivated to do things that were part of the narrative. It wouldn't make sense for them to take part in a huge variety of lucrative criminal acts within a short span of time if they were pulled into it on some kind of moral ground. Why would a dude who finds a briefcase of money pimp hookers, sell drugs, do mob hits, own fronts for rackets, join gangs, work for corrupt cops, serve shady corporate figures, steal and export cars, go on vigilante rampages etc. ? The only way this would work is if he had a given amount of time to get some money to pay someone very dangerous and became desperate.We need a character who you can't put all of that past and who doesn't need some detailed explanation as to why they're involved in all that stuff. It complicates things and narrows the scope of the game to nothing more than a narrative, which in turn limits the variety of free-roam activities. We saw this problem with V.I wanna see a character who is out on parole after like 20 years and hasn't seen the street since the 90's. One of the first characters can be some crooked asshole P.O. that you beat the sh*t out of because he tries to set you up with a crackhead's piss or something. You evade the cops and hit the streets. All you care about is bitches, money, and power. You get caught up in warring gangs old and new and play the politics to build yourself up as a kingpin. Dude still uses a payphone and sh*t to set up deals and hits because he's "oldschool". Haha. That would be raw. LIke a Dwayne type character from GTA IV.Imagine instead of one of your friends calling and asking you to hang out you had your P.O. calling and asking where the f*ck you're at while you're doing a drive-by or beating up a shop owner. Lmao. *Gunshots in the background* "HEY! WHAT'S THAT SOUND? WHERE ARE YOU? YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS IN FOR THIS PISS TEST!". You end up offing the P.O. in the first act and one of your corrupt pig contacts cleans you off the record since you play your cards right with some blackmail. Then you off HIM! Honestly, the way I would do the next game is to make the game a set of 5 relatively short narratives of equal length. Similar to the Episodes of Liberty City, each showcases a different element of the criminal underworld. You select which story you want to play at start-up and can go back and forth between them via the start menu at anytime. Then in addition to that, we would create our own free roam character who can take part in whatever we decide we want to associate ourselves with ala GTA2 and then some. These things can be unlocked by completing milestones in the story modes. This can also be our online character. With things like that, we don't have so much invested in just one narrative. There will be a collection of them for consumers to play through and find something that suits them, then they can use the basis of that story to decide what they want to do as their own character. No gimmicks or forced plot webbing between co-protagonists, just straight up stories like Aesop's Fables from the criminal underworld, interlocking with pure freedom to be yourself in the world that you previously explored through the eyes of the other characters. I need a job, Rockstar. I'll put The Benz to shame. Edited September 7, 2017 by ViceOfLiberty H-G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sombra Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 it'd have to be some pretty crazy extenuating circumstances to have a character with no criminal/army/etc background - maybe if it took a goodfellas approach and showed the progression from a young kid to full mobster although i can see that causing some complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm1 Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) what you ask and what you are describing are in contradiction. thus i hope my answer won't be off topic. my dream is a GTA with no criminality at all. a freeroam world like IV was. pure contemplative and realistic. this doesn't prevent from having adversary modes with duels races etc. but i want to be able to roam the city with my cabriolet and my dog. eat a hot dog, buy clothes. go to the pier watch the sunset. then go home look at my cat, then lay on the bed. for me this is what freedom and GTA is all about. if such thing happens GTA would have to be renamed though, and this is not the simpliest problem Edited September 10, 2017 by jpm1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoGamer Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 what you ask and what you are describing are in contradiction. thus i hope my answer won't be off topic. my dream is a GTA with no criminality at all. a freeroam world like IV was. pure contemplative and realistic. this doesn't prevent from having adversary modes with duels races etc. but i want to be able to roam the city with my cabriolet and my dog. eat a hot dog, buy clothes. go to the pier watch the sunset. then go home look at my cat, then lay on the bed. for me this is what freedom and GTA is all about. if such thing happens GTA would have to be renamed though, and this is not the simpliest problem Are you good, bro? Yes or No? Its Grand Theft Auto and not the Sims... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sombra Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 what you ask and what you are describing are in contradiction. thus i hope my answer won't be off topic. my dream is a GTA with no criminality at all. a freeroam world like IV was. pure contemplative and realistic. this doesn't prevent from having adversary modes with duels races etc. but i want to be able to roam the city with my cabriolet and my dog. eat a hot dog, buy clothes. go to the pier watch the sunset. then go home look at my cat, then lay on the bed. for me this is what freedom and GTA is all about. if such thing happens GTA would have to be renamed though, and this is not the simpliest problem nah that game already exists real life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 would have to be an ex-military/police for it to be both not criminal and have weapon training. How does this character enters the criminal life, that'd be fun to develop. Whatever it is besides moving the plot I guess could also serve to include elements in gameplay, like being watched, or history elements like remorse/guilt from the protagonist. Though doesn't sounds very GTA-ish I must say. idk I think it sounds cool because it would include something they haven't done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm1 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 what you ask and what you are describing are in contradiction. thus i hope my answer won't be off topic. my dream is a GTA with no criminality at all. a freeroam world like IV was. pure contemplative and realistic. this doesn't prevent from having adversary modes with duels races etc. but i want to be able to roam the city with my cabriolet and my dog. eat a hot dog, buy clothes. go to the pier watch the sunset. then go home look at my cat, then lay on the bed. for me this is what freedom and GTA is all about. if such thing happens GTA would have to be renamed though, and this is not the simpliest problem Are you good, bro? Yes or No? Its Grand Theft Auto and not the Sims... i'm talking of freeroam mode. you can create a background plot and adversary and/or coop modes if you want. even if i'm pretty bored with these stupid mafiosii heroes. i mean trevor? next what manhunter. nah this is for kids, really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfficialTwiggz Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 It's more so Online-ish taste to it. But like level 1-5 you're a Joe blow nobody, completing random missions for your family, going to work, getting yelled at by your boss for not making ends meet, getting fired for not meeting quota and getting replaced with the younger generation, and you're laid off. You drive home to your family and break the news, but come to find out your brother who is a cop was shot and is in critical condition on the same day. So you race to the hospital, only to find a random man was trying to assasinate your brother via hospital by claiming he was YOU. Man escapes, dropping his cell phone and leaving the only evidence he left behind. A few days later, you get a call from the hospital saying that your brother has died due to poison. You were the last person that seen him alive. Your name was last on the visitors list. YOU poisoned your own brother. The only evidence you have is the cell phone the assassin left behind. Check browsing history, check recent calls, text messages and emails. Find ANY lead that can put this man, and his boss 6 feet under. After all that introduction and yadda yadda yadda, you start to get connections through small networks into the underground scene. Change your appearance, your address to protect your family, meet higher ups, team up with them or take them out. Once enough evidence towards end game is completed, you can turn the antagonist in, or murder him and run the game yourself. I think that'll be a cool story line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoGamer Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 All this leads me to believe Tim Neff was contacted by R*, once again to develop GTA 6. He says he worked on GTA 5 but wasn't credited on the game. So it must've been for PS4 Gta Online DLCs, cause I've never seen credits in the Newswire and never in the patch notes either. He definitely will fit the no criminal background like obviously damge control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenusianDream Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 On 9/5/2017 at 8:27 AM, DOUGL4S1 said: Vic Vance has no known criminal background as the begining of VCS, all we know is that he joined the army sometime before the game starts. Actually, Vic was a small-time criminal before he joined the army. He has limits and high morals but he's no stranger to commiting crime especially if it gets him paid, this is most obvious in the first mission when he quickly (yet reluctantly) agrees to do illegal work for Martinez. He agrees with Phil's statement about not wanting to be around cops and the police station, implying that he has a dislike for law enforcement. He has enough street experience to know how to extort businesses and intimidate people for Marty. IIRC he has a lot of dialogue in missions/combat/police shootouts that further alludes to his criminal background. Vic enjoys killing people and stealing things just as much as the other protagonists, he just hates drugs (probably has a bad history in dealing with them) and isn't a crazy psycho/sociopath. I always had the impression that he joined the army in an attempt to get out of his criminal lifestyle for Pete and his aunt Enid, who wants him to keep out of trouble and not end up a lost cause like Lance. He might not have had a police record or did any time but he's most definitely a criminal, albeit a naive and hypocritical one. On topic, I think it would be a nice change for us to play as someone who's never partaken in any illegal activities before, if written correctly. We'll get a proper introduction to the criminal underworld as we start at the very bottom and work our way to the top, unlike the rest of the GTA games where we're already an established criminal who's been placed smack-dab into the center of organized crime. Their story will feel more personal to us, allowing the protagonist to be more relatable and likeable to most players while also having the potential for showing incredible character growth and development as we watch them go from being an average joe to a badass killer. Some good examples of this particular trope are Tommy Angelo (Mafia) and Jason Brody (Far Cry 3). Thomas Cavendish 1 Mr. Bogey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zello Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 (edited) No thanks it would be corny. I'm not against it completely but I don't want it. Edited April 12, 2022 by Zello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DexMacLeod Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 I think, like most other ideas, it really just depends on the execution. Personally, I'd rather our main character be a low level criminal who gradually gets pulled deeper than they're comfortable with as opposed to a straight up civilian from the start. VenusianDream and Patrizio 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Smaher. Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 On 9/10/2017 at 7:02 PM, jpm1 said: my dream is a GTA with no criminality at all. a freeroam world like IV was. pure contemplative and realistic. Anyone that says this has obviously never played GTA IV at all. The Tracker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
String Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 I'd like to see a celebrity turned criminal protagonist. A protagonist who is famous and has ties with the underworld but isn't a criminal at first but eventually gets sucked in and how they deal with the allure of crime along with handling their fame and it turning to infamy The Tracker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhettoJesus Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Honestly, I feel like it works out better if the character already has a criminal background. Rockstar's writing has become sloppy and while no one plays GTA games for their stories, at least not first and foremost, I feel like R* would have an easier time with writing someone who has already committed crimes before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racecarlock Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 (edited) On 9/10/2017 at 5:02 PM, jpm1 said: what you ask and what you are describing are in contradiction. thus i hope my answer won't be off topic. my dream is a GTA with no criminality at all. a freeroam world like IV was. pure contemplative and realistic. this doesn't prevent from having adversary modes with duels races etc. but i want to be able to roam the city with my cabriolet and my dog. eat a hot dog, buy clothes. go to the pier watch the sunset. then go home look at my cat, then lay on the bed. for me this is what freedom and GTA is all about. if such thing happens GTA would have to be renamed though, and this is not the simpliest problem So you want to take the crime out of a game that has crime as the primary selling point? Genius, absolute genius. While we're at it, how about a street fighter game with no fighting? How about a fifa game without soccer? Why not a halo game without shooting? Edited April 15, 2022 by Racecarlock forgot the of in out of H-G, Zello and Acehilm 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tracker Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 On 4/15/2022 at 3:15 AM, Racecarlock said: So you want to take the crime out of a game that has crime as the primary selling point? Genius, absolute genius. While we're at it, how about a street fighter game with no fighting? How about a fifa game without soccer? Why not a halo game without shooting? A Mario game without jumping, a Sims game set in the pandemic, a Bethesda game without bugs, list goes on and on. H-G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
