Ideas for fears?

[bailey]

I looked around and I didn’t see a thread specifically about fears, so I decided to make one. If there actually is one and I just missed it, we can get rid of this one 😅

I wanted to ask about fears because they were briefly brought up in one of the recently posted dev talks. Alex talked about Paras possibly being able to get over their fears. But I wondered about what other gameplay could be built around a fear.

So, what do people want for fears? I thought about a few possibilities myself, but I’m curious what others would think. I think for Parafolk made in the Paramaker, the player could choose if they had any fear(s) or not. If they didn’t choose one, gameplay choices can cause a fear to develop. As for Paras born in game, that’s where I’m curious what people would prefer. I thought of 2 ideas.

1. Every Para is naturally born with a fear at random. But it can be changed/removed in Paramaker if the player wants.

2. An event must trigger a Para into having a fear. So a Para will never be afraid of fire for example unless a gameplay event causes it.

Personally I think it would be interesting to have random fears, but I also know something like that could conflict with story players/control heavy players that have something specific in mind for their characters. But that’s also why I proposed that a random fear could be changed or removed completely if the player wants.

As for getting over fears, what do people want for that? I was thinking maybe there could be a few ways of working through fears, like a Para afraid of the dark could use nightlights or candles to calm them at night. But a Para afraid of fire might take a lot of work to get over it. And maybe some Paras just won’t be able to get over their fears, after all many people have fears for life and no amount of work will change that, which is totally fine.

Any ideas on what you guys want for fear related gameplay?

[Breedmond]

I would like to see that Paras develop and get over fears based on their experiences AND that they are assigned random fears.

For born Paras: every Para can be born with fears. The amount of fears can depend on the pregnancy. So if a Para mother had a good pregnancy (took care of herself mentally, ate healthy etc) the Para baby will be born with no or less fears. Maybe pregnancy can also affect other traits of the baby. Then as the baby gets older they can either get over the fears or they can become less intense. Because I also think that it would be cool if Paras could have different degrees of fear.

For created Paras:

In PAM the player can select fears or choose for it to be randomly generated.

Developing fears, fears becoming more intense, getting over fears should all be able to happen during gameplay. For example, a Para that does not have a fear for any insects gets bitten by a spider. A fear of spiders develops. The Para tries to avoid spiders and when a spider gets into the house the Para walks away and ask another Para to take it outside. But then the Para goes out to the forest and walks on an ant hill. The Para gets attacked and freaks out. Now there is a fear of spiders and ants. If the Para doesn’t deal with the anxiety properly the fear can get worse. They may avoid the woods all together and constantly have pest control get rid of any insects in the house. It can also go the other way and the Para can get over the fear. Face the fear by experiencing insects at a slow pace, learning about them or talking to a professional.

Another way for a fear to develop could be taught. Parents can tell their children about the dangers in the world which would lead for the children to develop a fear of something that they never experienced.

[bailey]

I love your ideas! 😃 I like the idea that a rough pregnancy could have a chance of resulting in a fearful baby. I also really like the idea of fears being taught by parents. That’s totally realistic and I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. 😅

[Dizzardy]

I’m not against paras being born with fears exactly…..but I do think it should largely be based on what happens to them during their life. I think fears would have more impact that way as well. I think it should be weighted more heavily towards life experience. (like 80-90% life experience vs 10-20% hereditary)

Like it’s the difference between a para being afraid of fire just because and a para being afraid of fire because of a previous fire related incident.

I mean, I don’t think a baby is born really having a fear of anything. They’re largely acting based on instinct aren’t they? I think it’s one thing to be born with a fear of fire…..but it would be weird if a baby was born with a fear of say….being fired from work.

So I voted for “must be triggered by gameplay” though my real answer is more like a mix of the two…just with more emphasis on gameplay.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by  Dizzardy.

[bailey]

I can totally understand that point of view as well. 😃 I guess my mindset with the idea of being born with fears is that I would like the game to acknowledge that many people have fears that didn’t result from specific events/experiences in their lives. Example: Many people have a fear of dogs simply based on hearing of horrific dog attacks, but they have never been attacked. However another person may hear of those attacks but not develop a dog fear. Hence I’d say it’s more to do with the person them self. And I guess I wouldn’t like to see fears “locked” because a Para hadn’t experienced something. But I can get that it may be valid in certain circumstances.

And I agree with your point that there certainly should be some fears that are off limits for certain age groups who wouldn’t have that experience.

[sweetchilli]

I think what you’re describing here is people learning fears from others (like in conversation). If babies are born with fears, I think they should be hereditary fears that they would have learnt from the people raising them.

[bailey]

That’s a nice idea too. I do think it would be cool to see Paras developing fears just from their caretakers.😃