Comeback for Shephard

[kupocake]

I want it that way
Tell me whyyyy...

Every little thing that you have said and done
Feels like it's deep within me
Doesn't really matter if you're on the run
It seems like we're meant to be

I don't care who you are(who you are)
Where you're from(where you're from)
What you did
As long as you love me(I don't know)
Who you are(who you are)
Where you're from(where you're from)
Don't care what you did
As long as you love me

Strangely relevent if you ask me

 

[Rizzo]

Do i sense a co-op mod with Gordon AND Shepard?

 

[Asknoone]

No.

 

[Rizzo]

Ah okay. Maybe not.

But tell me, where you guys ever worried when i didn't post for a cupple of days? Ah? Come on.

 

[Asknoone]

No.

 

[Rizzo]

I knew you whould say that. Damn you cold Samon.

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

*Shrug* I feel there's potential in Shep's character. Not necessarily on his own, but rather as a foil for Gordon. Sort of where Gordon would be if the Vortigaunts didn't rescue him from the Citadel. -Performing a mission for a being he knows nothing about, in a totally alien situation, with no hope of support or rescue 'ere his task is done...

Okay, I admit it. I want to see Gman take him out of cold storage to seek out Gordon. No, playing as Shep in the HL2 chronology would just be silly (IMO), in a similar vein to playing as Alyx. But having Shep as a sort of anti-barney? An ocassionally recurring character who can be used to illustrate things about Gordon's own situation/character/story? As a sort of counterpart to Freeman, tragically bound to Gman's will because, unlike Freeman, he just follows orders? (And because he doesn't have friendly neighborhood vortigaunts to help him out of tight places. ) There is potential for a good writer (which I feel that Marc Laidlaw is) to enrich the story significantly if he makes good use of Shep. Plus, we could hear of the Black Mesa incident through another character besides Barney, Kleiner, and Eli. I feel the story would benefit from hearing Shep's perspective, how he was part of the military strike team sent in to capture Freeman by any means necessary. Now, they might have to play fast and loose with some aspects of OPFOR's established SP game (ie HL2 shep would have followed orders and silenced any non-marine personnel he came across), but I honestly don't mind that. There's a lot of room for character expansion there, and Valve doesn't even have to detract from Gordon's everyman appeal to do it.

Now, some people say, 'why not simply make a new character? Why drag poor beaten-horse Shep out of his blissful state of Xen?' Well, in my mind the answer is simple: He's already been set up. Which would make more sense to you? Gman taking Shep out of storage to recover Freeman (as he was a second best candidate, compared to Freeman,) or Gman taking some random no-name schmoe out of storage to recover Freeman?

But why does Gman have to take anyone out for a mission? Why can't he simply do it himself? Well, I feel that is more in line with Gman's psychology as shown thus far. He doesn't seem to enjoy making changes directly, he prefers to use agents, like Gordon. Only when something big comes along (like a Citadel explosion, or Nihilanth's death, ensuring the BMRF nuke goes off) does he get involved directly. I honestly can't see Gman just showing up as soon as he has pwned those damn Vortigaunts and saying "Back to work... Doctor Freeman." -Why? Because Gman doesn't manipulate things directly like that. He has pawns which do that for him, so he doesn't have to get his hands dirty. The closest he ever gets is to give Cubbage an RPG (maybe), and arm the nuke at the end of OPFOR. And neither of these are monumentous tasks like recapturing Freeman would be.

Anyway, they don't even have to say that it's Shep. They can just show any persuer who partially resembles a guy in HL1-style Marine BDUs and let us, the players, infer from there. So long as he isn't wearing a Combine uniform and doesn't have a mask, I think the unwashed masses will be able to understand that he isn't working with the Combine.

Also, something else that I think of as I type this: Shep can be used as a sort of catalyst for the Vortigaunts to start talking. How? I'm thinking that before Shep's arrival, they would be rather cryptic and almost random with their answers, like they are in vanilla HL2 (when you randomly 'use' them.) But after, they could drop little hints as to Shep, the Gman, and how it all fits into the big picture with less randomness.

And something else I thought of as I was typing this: Yes, I suppose I'm letting my personal feelings get in the way. I liked OPFOR, even if I didn't think it was as jaw-droppingly awesome as the original HL. And quite frankly, I feel that Shep floating in Limbo is a loose end that should be tied up, rather then just sort of pushing that under the rug and coming up with a whole new character to perform his function.

Edit: Also, there doesn't necessarily have to be anyone persuing Freeman on the behalf of Gman, but I feel such an action would make the most sense given Gman's previous actions.

 

[kupocake]

Which would make more sense to you? Gman taking Shep out of storage to recover Freeman (as he was a second best candidate, compared to Freeman,) or Gman taking some random no-name schmoe out of storage to recover Freeman?

Way to limit the options! GMan doesn't have to have a shred of anything to do with the character whatsoever. Yes it makes sense to use Shepherd over any old GMan-imprisoned nobody. But does it make sense to use any GMan prisoner over absolutely anything that Valve can come up with of the top of their head? That could be an interesting way to explore the GMan mystery, but the Episodes are already promising to do that, so why not just have something else explained through some other character entirely?

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Way to limit the options!

Well, I can't really imagine Gman just letting Freeman be, and I can't imagine him simply popping up randomly and imprisoning Freeman again, given what we've seen of Gman's methods thus far. It seems as though Gman working through some agent to get Freeman back is a likely plotline. And who better to do that then Shep, the second best? The only one who comes close to Gordon in terms of raw asskickery?

GMan doesn't have to have a shred of anything to do with the character whatsoever.

What? Gman is the one who imprisoned Shep to begin with. I think Gman has plenty to do with Shep's character... especially if their interactions are fleshed out right. We have the potiential to learn so much about Gman indirectly through his actions, actions like bringing in Shep, and the like.

Yes it makes sense to use Shepherd over any old GMan-imprisoned nobody. But does it make sense to use any GMan prisoner over absolutely anything that Valve can come up with of the top of their head?

Yes. Because in my opinion it fits with Gman's mostly hands-off modus operendi better then simply whisking Gordon away as soon as he's free of the Vortigaunts. I suppose it's possible that Gman won't toss off the Vortigaunts keeping him from Freeman until the end... but that doesn't seem too likely. It'd be pretty cheap, actually, not hearing anything of Gman for two episodes except for a token appearance at the end to wrap up Freeman's loose end. Of course, it's really too early to speculate on what course Ep3's story will take, hell, it's probably too early to speculate on what course Ep2's story will take, except that it seems that Freeman hasn't been recaptured by Gman yet.

That could be an interesting way to explore the GMan mystery, but the Episodes are already promising to do that, so why not just have something else explained through some other character entirely?

Who's to say that the episodes aren't promising to explore Gman by bringing in another of his pawns?

But I'm not sure if we're arguing the same thing: I'm not talking about bringing in Shep as a playable character. I feel that role would be best filled with a Combine soldier, or failing that, a Resistance one. I'm talking about bringing in Shep as an NPC.

Edit: Yay! I'm no longer a Manhack! Now I am... a Headcrab! Watermelons of the world beware! Muhahahah!

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Shepherd = Teh Suck.
The storyline was Bland and dry... Whoever thinks its good should join the gearbox forums

 

[99.vikram]

Shepherd = Teh Suck.
The storyline was Bland and dry... Whoever thinks its good should join the gearbox forums

I am on the gearbox forums
But my name shall remain a mystery

 

[Black Op]

There's a far more effective way for G-Man to get Anticitizen One back without much potential bloodshed at all. Just have Freeman miraculously enounter Odessa Cubbage and his merry band of fighters, who take Freeman at gunpoint and bring him to G-Man. It's clear Col. Cubbage is possibly a sleeper agent of the G-Man, and plus the Resistance in EP1 already show disdain for Cubbage. Of course such a plan would have to be foiled in the end, but the possibility of having to deal with semi-turncoat Rebels would be quite an interesting dilemma.

Coming back to the old Corporal, there's still some problems with him being used as G-Man's backup agent. G-Man has a nasty habit of sending in operatives unarmed, which would have to happen here since I doubt Shephard's armory will reappear. Shephard would have to infiltrate the Resistance first before he'd even have a clue of what's happening, yet another bad habit of G-Man's. So that really only allows one chance for Shephard to backstab Freeman and fail at end. When his true colors are revealed, he can either escape to forever pester Freeman or get captured, forced to tell everything about G-Man, and become yet another HL2 cast addition. Somehow I think it's easier just to fall back on Cubbage as the traitor, along with using G-Man's other sleeper agents on Earth.

PS: the Vortigaunts should always remain cryptic. Otherwise they'd be less fun to talk with.

 

[kupocake]

But I'm not sure if we're arguing the same thing:

I'm pretty certain of that one

I'm not talking about bringing in Shep as a playable character. I feel that role would be best filled with a Combine soldier, or failing that, a Resistance one. I'm talking about bringing in Shep as an NPC.

Yeah, I was arguing that any character aside from Shepherd could be used as in an expansion pack rather than specifically about an NPC who is tracking Freeman throughout the episodes. My bad. But to enter into the arguement... well. I must say that whilst I find the idea of the GMan fighting back with Shepherd a logical one, I find Shepherd as an NPC far more nauseating than Shepherd as a PC . A lot of people around will tell you that they don't like the idea of an PC making switching to a NPC at some point in the continuity. I'm not sure why exactly, but I don't think people would like losing control of a character they invested time in playing as.

I'm not entirely sure I see it as necessary that the GMan employs an agent to get Freeman back either. His influence over Freeman thus far has been entirely about intervention, even though between the beginning and end of the game it's as a subtle guide. All that stands in his way right now surely are the Vortiguants who appear to be sealing him away, but they cannot remain undisturbed forever. We shall see, but I feel that it's likely that the Vortiguants in Episode 2 will likely have something to do with those who intervened at the Citadel, and it seems like they're in for some trouble in reality in Ep2. I believe the GMan will be freed, but maybe forced into a bargain with the Vortiguants to extend Freeman's contract...

edit: it's also kind of futile to speculate on this point because revelations about the GMan's true form and intentions will probably shortly come to the fore and turn upside down everything we know about him and his methods!

 

[esplin]

There's a far more effective way for G-Man to get Anticitizen One back without much potential bloodshed at all. fun to talk with.

Completely random question. Do they ever call Freeman Anticitizen One in Half Life 2? I've tried to find this in game, but I've only heard them call Freeman "Anticitzen Freeman."

 

[Asknoone]

They do, yes. If I'm remembering it correctly.

 

[esplin]

Do you remember where?

 

[Asknoone]

Nope.

 

[esplin]

fair enough

 

[The Hat]

I personally think that bringing Shephard back as an NPC would be great, but not as a playable character. I'd love to see Shepard try to hunt down Freeman as the G-Man's agent in Episode Two, and maybe they could fight to the death in Episode Three. I'm not sure if they could really interrogate Shephard... Well, they could, but he's more clueless than Freeman, espiecally regarding G-Man, so he'd be next to useless for info. I couldn't see G-Man just coming and taking back Gordon, even though he could... it just seems more likely he'd send someone after him. Anyway, I say that Shephard returning as an NPC would be really awesome.

 

[operative lm]

Nope.

The Overwatch announcer refers to Gordon as "Anticitizen One" at various random points starting around Water Hazard, I think.

 

[Asknoone]

Thanks, I was always hazy on that.

 

[Max35]

OKay, my 1 1/2 cents: I'm not saying I want Shephard back, but presuming he still retains control of Shephard, I could see him using Shep to get Gordon back, from a story POV, although I would want Valve to use another method. And if he doesn't retain Shep, then the marine wanders free to die a lonely death. Or maybe he meets his end in limbo, killing himself out of sheer boredom

However, what some people fail to realize is that Shephard is Gearboxes' IP (from what I remember). The character is theirs, they just put it in the BM setting. So, it is very unlikely that Valve will use him. As for his appearance in Ep.4, that is also a possibility, as it is being developed by a different company. I guess my curiousity is getting the better of me, because I would like to see Shephard in the HL story again, but I doubt it would be very good implementation, aside from an EP or whatever.

 

[kupocake]

However, what some people fail to realize is that Shephard is Gearboxes' IP (from what I remember). The character is theirs, they just put it in the BM setting.

I can't see this as a barrier, even if it is actually true (that's what some people say, but ever seen any proof? I would have thought that the character would have defaulted to Valve's ownership. I mean they flog the game over steam and Gearbox don't create a fuss. Plus Laidlaw colloborated on Opposing Force, so the IP may in fact be his). Gearbox are extremely unlikely to bar Valve from using the character if they do have it. Shepherd outside of Half-Life doesn't make a shred of sense, so what ground would they have for stopping Valve from using him? Sure they can kick up a fuss if Valve don't ask and the own the IP (thus burning all bridges they have back to a relationship with valve), but if Gabe drops in one day with a box of chocolates and asks if they can use the character, I can't see Gearbox giving two shits.

 

[Kingreaper]

Okay, so some people are having trouble seeing the gaping plotholes in Opposing Force, I will attempt to explain.

1. After a long day of fighting Adrian finds himself infront of a giant squid spewing teleporters. Adrian seems to have killed the beast, but it is also exploding. Just when it looks like the end Adrian is pulled out........and then told he knows too much and is locked away forever.
This would make sense except for the fact that EVERYONE during the time of Half Life 2 knows about the Black Mesa Incident. Dr. Kliener and Dr. Vance knew a lot more about the incident then Shephard did, yet they are allowed to tell the world while Adrian gets the boot.

Has anyone of them seen Race X? No? Well that'd be what the G-man wants covered up then.

2. The nuke. The government attempts to cover-up the incident by Nuking Black Mesa. The first problem with this is that Black Mesa should already be destroyed (see my previous post.) However, even ignoring this, their seems to be little or no reason to nuke the base. It would be a good cover up, except for the fact that the portal storms are still going on, and spreading. You think the government would try to stop the portal storms well before it tried to cover them up. Do they think that it will seal the portals? I'd love to see their scientific reasoning for this.

All the scientists who truly understand what's going on our currently out of reach. When you're dealing with something that far out of your league, you go with the best bet.

3. This one is debateable but I'll bring it up anyway. A large portion of the game takes place after Nihilanth is killed, yet we see Vortigaunts still wearing their collars.

You expect the collars to instantly fall off? Admittedly, they'd probably know through the Vortessence that Nihilanth was dead, but that's not certain, nor is it certain how they'd react. I mean, maybe the vortessence is limited to one dimension, so they had the earth vortessence and the Xen vortessence.

4. I already brought this up, but the air rade should have destroyed Black Mesa. I don't care if Black Mesa is three times the size of Texas (another thread, don't ask) it would only be a matter of hours before Black Mesa was nothing but rubble.

This I'll agree with, assuming of course the air raid was a successful operation, ie. not shot down by Manta Flyers.

So with all these plot contrivances what do we have left. The worst attempted cover up in history, Bomber pilots who couldn't find toilet paper in the bathroom, a hero locked away forever because no one likes him, and an alien race that is never explained, even in its own game.

Umm, the Xenians aren't explained in HL. You get a very basic idea of them, but really, how do Headcrabs live on Xen, etc.

 

[Max35]

I can't see this as a barrier, even if it is actually true (that's what some people say, but ever seen any proof? I would have thought that the character would have defaulted to Valve's ownership. I mean they flog the game over steam and Gearbox don't create a fuss. Plus Laidlaw colloborated on Opposing Force, so the IP may in fact be his). Gearbox are extremely unlikely to bar Valve from using the character if they do have it. Shepherd outside of Half-Life doesn't make a shred of sense, so what ground would they have for stopping Valve from using him? Sure they can kick up a fuss if Valve don't ask and the own the IP (thus burning all bridges they have back to a relationship with valve), but if Gabe drops in one day with a box of chocolates and asks if they can use the character, I can't see Gearbox giving two shits.

Why do you think I said my "1 1/2 cents", odds are I'm wrong. So yeah, if Valve wanted to use the character regardless of whether the IP thing is true or not I don't see why they couldn't. I dunno, I think having Shep back would be interesting, I just don't know how they could do it effectively. Except using him in EP4, whether as a POV or an NPC, which I could see Gearbox doing.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

However, what some people fail to realize is that Shephard is Gearboxes' IP (from what I remember). The character is theirs, they just put it in the BM setting. So, it is very unlikely that Valve will use him. As for his appearance in Ep.4, that is also a possibility, as it is being developed by a different company. I guess my curiousity is getting the better of me, because I would like to see Shephard in the HL story again, but I doubt it would be very good implementation, aside from an EP or whatever.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/Darkjakk/adrian.jpg

(Gabe answers this with such speed, well than again its only like 2 sentances, but still I think this picture is only more proof that Gabe isnt of this world. Another Theory, Another Day)

Well that ends that =/

 

[DeusExMachina]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/Darkjakk/adrian.jpg

(Gabe answers this with such speed, well than again its only like 2 sentances, but still I think this picture is only more proof that Gabe isnt of this world. Another Theory, Another Day)

Well that ends that =/

When you showed me that, I cried

Gabe is a fan of the Shep n_n.

PS: Don't make my birthday thread at PGNx, kthx bai.

 

[Max35]

Well, if Gabe has faith in the Shepard POV, then that is enough for me.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

PS: Don't make my birthday thread at PGNx, kthx bai.

You stfu when 12:00 hits its being made.

So..um yeah shep ftw.

 

[DeusExMachina]

You stfu when 12:00 hits its being made.

D:

 

[Roman Legion]

Shephard!!!!!!!!!

 

[Asknoone]

...........

 

[Ipwnthenoobs]

Shephard!!!!!!!!!

Sheps 4 life.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

Shephard!!!!!!!!!

sheps 4 life.

Now I know why I everyone hates shephard ;(

 

[99.vikram]

He is teh boooooring.

 

[kupocake]

Why do you think I said my "1 1/2 cents", odds are I'm wrong.

"My One and a Half Cents" isn't immunity from a reply. You're on a forum! Expect discussion on what you and others say!

 

[Rizzo]

I was acually pro Shepard. Well kind of. But now im starting get realy sick of him.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Sheppy FTS (For the suck)

 

[Deleted member 56031]

lol true

 

[Dalamari]

SHEPARD ISN'T ****ING COMING BACK! QUIT MAKING THE GOD DAMN THREADS ALREADY!

I HOPE THAT GOON GOT SKULL ****ED BY A VORTIGAUNT!l