So rather than simply make jokes about GG's situation without doing anything to remedy matters (aside from posting), I'm going to attempt a half assed effort to do something.
So here's an idea: How does one handle the main character in the game?
Seems like a simple enough topic, right? But here's the deal, people all seem to have their own preference on which they prefer. Some like the blank slate character that lacks any personality. A silent protagonist type character. Others prefer a character that has an established backstory/personality/whatever. The characterized protagonist.
While both have their places (IE: it's easy to say "Make the RPG protagonist silent, make the others talk"), there's plenty of gray areas and difficult realms to enter. I'm sure we can each think of certain arguments for and against both types, and we each have a certain game that featured one, the other, or both and we'd feel rather differently about it if one or more characters was either infused with his/her own personality as dictated by the writer or had a rather endearing personality stripped from them.
And then we get into complications where a previously silent protagonist begins to speak up. As far as I've been able to see, this ALWAYS divides the fanbase. Some welcome the change since having a character that can't say a single word makes them feel awkard and a bit unnatural in the game world. While others cry sacrilege at this "new character" not stacking up to their own personal interpretation of the character. If the series in question changed hands somewhere along the line, expect a torch bearing mob.
Building on this further, we've experienced hybrids of both types. The RPG genre has taken a bit of a liking to trying to combine the two types, creating a character that has some form of backstory, personality, and possibly even a voice, but otherwise left open to whatever the player decides the character should be, often this is executed by allowing the player to make choices using this character that can shape them to an extent. While this can work pretty well in concept, it can lead to unusual circumstances such as the big gruff warrior who has been through hell somehow winding up being an exceptionally nice guy. Or, alternatively, a seemingly pleasant character who turns into a raging psychopath once player control comes into the equation. However, it seems to fit a bit better since this way a character doesn't spontaneously congeal out of the mysts and it makes character interaction better "in theory".
Furthermore, there's plenty of annoyances involved with this whole ordeal. Videogames these days tend to have a strong emphasis on a storyline. Through that, they often feel the need to have the main character carry out certain actions. Unfortunately, this can cause them to put words into our supposed silent avatar's mouth. Or, perhaps more accurately, actions in our body. How many games have we completed only to have control wrestled from us at one point or another because the developers felt the need to tell more story? Or how about the black and white morality that plagues a lot of games? Maybe I was being evil because, hey, it gets stuff accomplished and I'm trying to save the fucking world over here. But once the ending rolls around, somehow my "extreme with a reason" character has turned into an evil humanity dooming asshole. On the flip side, maybe I go good because it's just a good idea to stay on people's good sides. Somehow that turns me into a saint? The hell?
Of course, protagonists with a personality don't exactly get off either. While it's a lot more natural for them to act/talk/whatever a certain way and carry out certain actions, there's plenty of opportunities to behave in ways that seem very unlike the character we see in the cutscenes. I can't be the only one who played through a sandbox vehicle stealing game where the main character is generally opposed to killing in cutscene, only to have him gleefully mow down entire families once control is returned to the player. And thanks to the way videogames work, this is never brought up by anybody. Even if you happened to be bringing a story related NPC along for several rounds of punt the pedestrian.
So before I ramble on any more than I already have (I'll try not to do it too much), what are your thoughts on this? Should the whole Silent Protagonist be viewed as a pointless relic of a simpler time and go the way of 2d gaming? Should we leave more things open to player interpretation at the possible detriment of the story? Should games move more towards trying to find a middle ground between the two extremes? Is there any game that you can think of that did one thing or the other "right", or perhaps holds up to a standard that more games should follow? Or is there a certain game/scene/whatever that strikes you as an outright betrayal to the concept of the main character?