a small question on popularity

I would most certainly be the asshole, but the thing is that I wouldn't expect SE to make a fifty hour game about me. ;)

EDIT:

The more I think on it, the more I figure how hard it is to balance gameplay, plot, and decent character development. For one, it really makes me appreciate VII for actually managing to do it. For two, it makes me think that the ensemble-type cast of VI (or even XIII - yeesh) is the best way to go about writing an FF game these days. The focusing on one or two characters really seems to stifle a lot of stories (VIII, IX, X), and I would argue no matter how interesting SE make a protagonist, 45 hours is far too long for him/her to remain actually interesting without a very solid cast or setting carrying the extra weight around him/her.

I actually like Squall, I found him very relate-able... so according to some of you, I guess that makes me a quiet jerk. :p

For me, he was the voice of reason in the party and I found it fascinating watching the stark contrast between how he interacts with the world and what he's actually thinking which to me was what made him a character with good personality even if he was really mixed up at times. Does he go down hill once he lets "love into his heart"? Yes, but to be fair, main antagonist are hardly as interesting once there main conflict was over. I felt Cloud was less interesting as a personality once he got his head straight and Terra was also a bit more bland once she found purpose for her life in the WoR. Personally, I felt Squall was likable by default in VIII cause he's the only reasonable character in the story that is actually thinking as opposed to the rest of the cast who can only afford to act on impulse cause they are trained soldiers (which thanks to their personality traits makes this hard to swallow sometimes) or have Squall come and save their sorry ass cause he's the most realistic character in the game's scenario.

I liked him, take what you will but I like snarky bastards cause to me, they are the only people who don't have their heads in the clouds. :p

In all honesty, I loathed Squall while playing the game for the first time. So my reasons were not influenced by other people's opinions. But my reasons have since changed. I look back and hate him for being a brooding whiney social malcontent. But back then I hated him for representing, or even embellishing quite a bit, everything I hated about myself in my complete lack of social skills. He had friends. I didn't. He treated them like :bou::bou::bou::bou:. And they stayed. I treated my friends great and appreciated the hell out of them and they all left during high school. I didn't know how to talk to people to even interest them. And he got it for free and was constantly trying to push it away. I knew what he was going through and what he was thinking. But he was bungling it all up and I just felt that were I in his shoes things probably would have been similar, but for different reasons. But he looked like he was doing it on purpose. And for that I hated him. A good life was basically handed to him and he didn't appreciate a lick of it

>>> Unlike the others Vivi is portrayed like a 6 year old boy or something, thats why its ok for him to be a crybaby..:luca:

I guess the reason why I find Hope a bit annoying is because I've seen his character so many times in other works. It's an entirely clichéd character and I was basically just waiting for him to get over everything and enter the obligatory character growth phase. Maybe I'd feel different if I had played this when I was younger, but I didn't, and at this point I'm getting a bit pickier. The character growth in Hope just feels so forced that I can't enjoy him either before or after the change.

Why Tidus is annoying lies mostly in his voice acting, and he takes up a lot of space in the game.

I don't find Vivi annoying however, not sure why. Might be because there's no voice acting, he doesn't really whine all that much and he spends more time being cute than being angsty about being a clone. The black mages theme of the game is just one of many themes of the game as well, it doesn't spend an overly amount of time on it. Still, I found it to be an interesting side story.

I don't have an opinion about Vaan, don't know that much about him despite being near the end of the game.

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Originally Posted by Vyk

In all honesty, I loathed Squall while playing the game for the first time. So my reasons were not influenced by other people's opinions. But my reasons have since changed. I look back and hate him for being a brooding whiney social malcontent. But back then I hated him for representing, or even embellishing quite a bit, everything I hated about myself in my complete lack of social skills. He had friends. I didn't. He treated them like :bou::bou::bou::bou:. And they stayed. I treated my friends great and appreciated the hell out of them and they all left during high school. I didn't know how to talk to people to even interest them. And he got it for free and was constantly trying to push it away. I knew what he was going through and what he was thinking. But he was bungling it all up and I just felt that were I in his shoes things probably would have been similar, but for different reasons. But he looked like he was doing it on purpose. And for that I hated him. A good life was basically handed to him and he didn't appreciate a lick of it

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I disagree about him having friends cause friendship is a mutual relationship. His comrades forced upon him there friendship despite his protests to the contrary. The rest of the party were a bunch of happy go lucky high schoolers who treated the whole situation like it was a silly school trip as opposed to Squall who was the only one who treated their situations as it was, a military operation.

I feel it is ridiculous to believe that just because you talk to someone occasionally or happen to be thrown into a group experience means that you become friends and that is what I felt Squall was portraying. Connecting to people you vaguely know but happen to chat with or team up with occasionally doesn't mean they have surpassed some social standard and automatically get into the "friend zone". Of anything, I felt that Squall's relationship with the party shows that the bond between two people has to be deeper. As the story goes along, Squall begins to care about his comrades even more and eventually sees them as friends as opposed to teammates or underlings. A bond of friendship is not so simple because its foundation is brittle and shaky if its built on simple circumstances. It can become a deep bond but only after something more substantial is placed there to create a more deep and exclusive union. Zell and Selphie treat Squall like he's there best friend despite only meeting him and maybe knowing him as a child but even then it seemed Squall was anti-social as well. Its only through their experiences together as a team working towards a common goal and seeing both the good and the bad in a situation that Squall begins to see them as more than just people he's mixed up with, but rather as close allies.

Certainly Squall's misgivings about opening himself up to others is a roadblock he has to overcome, but I feel most players of VIII ignore the very childish nature of the people trying to reach out to him. They only start to get through to him when they finally have things in common to relate with him that goes beyond simply being teammates, or classmates, or growing up in an orphanage together. Before their adventure, their only means of reaching him were circumstantial offerings. He may have rejected their efforts to be his friends but I feel their efforts were shallow at best, and Squall was looking for something more substantial but had to face his own inner weaknesses to finally get it. Its why I feel Rinoa works for him, cause he needs someone who is willing to smack him over the head and tell him to get over himself. I feel everyone needs someone like that. ;)

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I feel everyone needs someone like that.

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You had me until the end. :p

Ha, well, a very well thought-out and worded argument. And I'd probably have to agree. But I don't think I'd ever deny I originally hated him due to projection anyway. I imagine it probably does still cloud my judgement of him. But I guess its unfair to say he's a jerk to people, when he never asked to socialize with them in the first place