Let's Play Fire Emblem: Awakening

[General Luigi]

As the title implies, I've decided to do a Let's Play of Fire Emblem: Awakening. Technically, the LP has yet to formally begin, but I wouldn't be posting this if there wasn't something I wanted seen. I intend to have the viewers vote on who marries whom, and I'm hoping to increase awareness of the LP (as well as voter turnout) by advertising it. If you're interested in the LP, I encourage you to vote in the pairing elections. Each week, there will be a new video on my channel pertaining to whichever pairings are being voted on that week. This video here contains detailed information on the voting system in addition to my general plans for the LP, but I've also included most of the information on voting in this post. Anyway, to sum up the voting system, there are just a few things to keep in mind:

• Please judge pairings by their support conversations only. Do not bring eugenics into the equation.
• Please only vote if you actually plan on watching the LP.
• I am playing the North American version, so please disregard support conversations from other versions when they differ from those of the North American version.
• If you wish to vote here instead of on YouTube, you must tell me the name of any and all of your YouTube accounts.
• Pairings are voted on by character. At present, Olivia's husband and Gerome's wife are being chosen. The pairings being voted on will change each monday.
• I have personally chosen two pairings without any input from viewers: Chrom × Sumia and Avatar × Cordelia. I gave my reasons in the linked-to video. I give one vote myself. In the event of a tie, I get a second vote.
• The following pairings have already been chosen: Cherche × Virion, Laurent × Lucina, Maribelle × Gaius, Owain × Cynthia, Lissa × Vaike, and Brady × Severa.

Given how long I expect the pairing elections to take, I currently expect the first actual gameplay video to be uploaded sometime in January of 2014. Also, since I intend to include everything in the LP save for such things as alternate pairings, I have chosen to do a Casual Mode run. Yeah, I know, "True Fire Emblem Fans" don't do Casual Mode. I've explained my reasoning in detail in the video, but to sum it up, I want to keep a consistent upload schedule, and I can't do that if someone keeps dying on a certain mission, forcing me to either reset or cancel my 100% completion effort. That said, I will reset in traditional Classic Mode fashion the first three times I lose someone on a mission; I'll only continue despite the loss if it happens a fourth time on said mission.

Since some people apparently are not willing to consult the video I linked to, here's the pertinent information on voting for their convenience:

This isn’t a “best pairing” contest; you’re only voting on what actions I may or may not take in my Let’s Play. Simply put, if you aren’t going to watch the Let’s Play, don’t vote.

To start, when going over the options, please don’t bring eugenics into the equation. This isn’t Crusader Kings II; I want these people to marry for love, not for the sake of passing on certain traits to their offspring. Before casting your vote, please make sure you have read the Support Conversations for all the pairings available to vote on. Base your vote on what you thought of the Support Conversations. “Do these two come off as a good couple?” “Can I picture these two spending the rest of their lives together?” These are the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself. We might be voting on it, but we’re dealing with someone’s future and happiness here; a child with Galeforce and Counter isn’t worth two unhappy parents.

As for how you vote, if you plan on voting through YouTube, you may post your vote in the relevant video’s comments section or send me a private message if you’d rather keep your vote a secret. Shipping can lead to some pretty nasty flame wars, so I can understand wanting to keep your preferences a secret. If you’re going to vote through a private message, though, please title the message “Awakening Vote” or something else that clearly tells me that this message contains a vote. Otherwise, just post your vote in the comments section. To keep feelings from getting hurt, though, I am going to have to insist that there be no flaming. If you flame someone over his or her preferred pairing or pairings, you forfeit your voting privileges in the associated poll and all future polls that I run on this channel. I’ll keep a list of offenders, so don’t think I’ll forget about your behavior two years from now when I’m letting people vote on something else. You are allowed to disagree with someone’s views, but that doesn’t make it okay for you to talk down to those you disagree with. If you plan on voting through Serenes Forest, you must tell me the name of any and all YouTube accounts you have.

Now, to add to that, while I am willing to listen to you, I’m still the person playing the game, so I’d rather not have to put up with a pairing that I don’t like. I can’t speak for the Japanese and European versions, but in the North American version, which I’m going to be Let’s Playing, some of the Support Conversations make certain pairings come off as forced or unstable. This is what I mean when I say “a pairing that I don’t like.” To make this less likely, I’ve made votes for certain pairings worth more than votes for other pairings. I’ve separated pairings into four classes based on how believable I consider them to be and how fond I am of them personally. A pairing’s class determines how much support it needs to be the one I go with in the LP. That said, please vote according to your preferences, not according to any sympathy for the underdog or belief that you should vote for whichever pairing you think will win. Oh, and please judge pairings based on their Support Conversations in the North American version. X and Y might be a cute couple in the Japanese version, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be one in the North American version. Anyway…

Class Zero pairings are ones that I am 100% against. Unless someone can make a solid case for me assigning the pairing in question to a different class, a vote for a Class Zero pairing will not earn it any points.

Class One pairings are ones that I would rather not do, but am willing to do if they get enough support. A vote for a Class One pairing earns it one point.

Class Two pairings are ones that I am okay with, but usually wouldn’t consider if it weren’t being put to a vote. A vote for a Class Two pairing earns it two points.

Class Three pairings are ones that I support. My vote will always go to one of the Class Three pairings I list. A vote for a Class Three pairing earns it three points.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s how voting’s going to work. I will upload a video every Monday to list the available pairings for a given first-generation woman and a given second-generation man. You will have until 12:00 PM Pacific Standard Time that Wednesday to convince me to reclassify any Class Zero pairings you think deserve a chance. On Thursday, I will update the classifications accordingly. You have until 12:00 PM Pacific Standard Time that Saturday to vote. On Sunday, the winner will be announced. After all of the pairings have been decided on, the Let’s Play itself will begin.

Also, two marriages will not be put to a vote. Sumia is going to be marrying Chrom in this Let’s Play. Chrom’s marriage is scripted, and while he’s not forced to marry Sumia, the game is programmed to give her priority over his other potential wives. In addition, she appears alongside Chrom in the opening cinematic. It’s not exactly decisive evidence, but it does support the idea that they’re a canon pairing. Cordelia will be marrying my character. Because there is a character in this game who is supposed to be me, I feel a strong personal connection to said character. I would rather not have people vote on “my” marriage. Married viewers can almost certainly understand my reasoning, even though it’s technically not me getting married in this case. With the other characters, it ultimately makes no difference whether I choose the pairings myself or let people vote on it, since they would all stay single if left to their own devices (well, save for Chrom, but only because his marriage is scripted).

Anyway, this week, as I pointed out, Lissa's husband and Brady's wife are being chosen. Here's a list of the available pairings and their respective classes:

Olivia × Frederick: 1

Olivia × Stahl: 3

Olivia × Kellam: 1

Olivia × Lon'qu: 2

Olivia × Ricken: 0

Olivia × Gregor: 0

Olivia × Libra: 0

Olivia × Henry: 2

Olivia × Donnel: 2

Gerome × Kjelle: 3

Gerome × Morgan: 0

Gerome × Noire: 3

Gerome × Nah: 0

Edited December 10, 2013 by General Luigi

[MRDRHAWK]

CordeliaxStahl

I know, I know, eugenics lol, but I can't think of a better support chain for her.

VirionxTharja too to make Archer!Noire canon and due to Virion being amazing.

oh, and YT account is KingfisherEXE.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Suzuka Gongen

[General Luigi]

I'm guessing you didn't watch the linked-to video. [sigh] Then again, that tells me I should edit my post to make sure this kind of misunderstanding doesn't happen again. Sorry, but Virion was promised to Cherche in last week's election, and I'd sooner do an LP of Tiberian Twilight than let a vote keep me and Cordelia apart.

Edited November 20, 2013 by General Luigi

[Soledai]

Your descriptions of character supports make them sound interesting, definately a better job than what I've seen

Anyways, I'm inclined to vote for Owain having a companion rather than a lover, probably more chemistry there

Maribelle... let me think, I like her goal of becoming magistrate... but, Ricken would probably get my vote here

[General Luigi]

I'm not entirely sure what to make of some aspects of the support system. I'm not exactly an expert programmer, so I don't know what the designers could and could not do, but something's been bothering me, and the situation with Owain and Cynthia is a good example of just what that something is. We know from the variable nature of some of the support conversations (Morgan's sibling supports, for example) that the designers did include something that checks one character's connection to another and changes the conversation accordingly. However, what bothers me is that even though they included such a function, it wasn't used in certain situations that I feel would be appropriate for its use. For example, if Cordelia is married, her feelings for Chrom will still be brought up in a number of her other support conversations. Likewise, the support conversations between Owain and Cynthia do not change at all if they are cousins. On the one hand, the latter oversight allows me to give a nice fig sign to the localization team for deciding cousin marriage is a no-no, but it's kind of annoying to have my character's wife still not over her feelings for Chrom two years after she married my character.

[Silver Lightning]

I find that its really just laziness on the part of the developers; there isn't much that can be done about that now, so I just choose to ignore that. Character wise, I really don't believe that Cordelia would continue mooning after Chrom when she already fell in love with and has a loving husband (Vaike, in my case) to be with. At this point, I just hand wave it. Hope they don't repeat that oversight the next time they make a game like that, however.

This sounds like a fresh new LP to watch after I've played this game to death dozens of times, so even though I don't have a YT account I'll check in here or there to watch it. If my vote still counts then, I'd like to vote for Gaius as Maribelle's husband; I adore their support conversation since for one it doesn't involve the usual sweets like in his other supports and it delves into his and her shared background that has to do with his dealings with her father and what he did to save her long ago. IMO the best support for both of them and one of the better supports in the game. Can't say much for Owain though, since my fave support for him is with Lucina, and it seems that she's taken...

[Soledai]

I'm not entirely sure what to make of some aspects of the support system. I'm not exactly an expert programmer, so I don't know what the designers could and could not do, but something's been bothering me, and the situation with Owain and Cynthia is a good example of just what that something is. We know from the variable nature of some of the support conversations (Morgan's sibling supports, for example) that the designers did include something that checks one character's connection to another and changes the conversation accordingly. However, what bothers me is that even though they included such a function, it wasn't used in certain situations that I feel would be appropriate for its use. For example, if Cordelia is married, her feelings for Chrom will still be brought up in a number of her other support conversations. Likewise, the support conversations between Owain and Cynthia do not change at all if they are cousins. On the one hand, the latter oversight allows me to give a nice fig sign to the localization team for deciding cousin marriage is a no-no, but it's kind of annoying to have my character's wife still not over her feelings for Chrom two years after she married my character.

I never really understood that, either, at least if she's married she could subtlely hint her unrequited love... or her urge to cheat

I find that its really just laziness on the part of the developers; there isn't much that can be done about that now, so I just choose to ignore that. Character wise, I really don't believe that Cordelia would continue mooning after Chrom when she already fell in love with and has a loving husband (Vaike, in my case) to be with. At this point, I just hand wave it. Hope they don't repeat that oversight the next time they make a game like that, however.

I can probably explain why this happened for you, although it doesn't help much if they were lazy, didn't care(plot relevance and all that), or could just afford the oversight

In Cordelia's case they could've done the approach where her supports are affected by her marriage, then they'd have to something like this:

(I'm gonna try and explain this part as best as I can, IIRC)

the "if" call; in programming, when you want to make the game recognize an event that happened you'll have to make an "if" call

For example: Cordelia is talking with whoever about her chrom-crush, and she's married, it would go like this:

Not Married: Man, I sure do love me some Chrom!

This is where the if call comes in

Married: Man, {if married to X} I remember the times I used to be in love with Chrom, but that time is gone now

Note, that you'd have to make an "if" call for all the characters, all the instances she mentions her love for Chrom, be it support or story or DLC or whatever, then you'd have to take into account the interactions relative to who she married, albeit that one's minor

Maybe IntSys has tools to make that easier, I don't know why they did it for just Morgan, maybe due to the other child being a sibling(all assuming) but let me tell you, from my time of typing novels, I only made a short novel that had 2 "if" calls and that was tiring so, I can kind of imagine, that being about... alot

[MRDRHAWK]

I'm guessing you didn't watch the linked-to video. [sigh] Then again, that tells me I should edit my post to make sure this kind of misunderstanding doesn't happen again. Sorry, but Virion was promised to Cherche in last week's election, and I'd sooner do an LP of Tiberian Twilight than let a vote keep me and Cordelia apart.

ain't got time for dat

in that case, StahlxTharja and VirionxMaribelle

YT is the same

[Interceptor]

Times New Roman is irritating.

I'm guessing you didn't watch the linked-to video. [sigh]

Videos are a notoriously poor way to convey information like this. The chance that I'm going to spend 21 minutes listening to someone go on about something in a format that can't be skimmed or searched, is infinitely close to zero. It's unreasonable to expect that of people.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of some aspects of the support system. I'm not exactly an expert programmer, so I don't know what the designers could and could not do [...]

It's not likely a programing problem. Awakening is very much a "kitchen sink" game, and this was probably an oversight and/or resource issue. There is a fair bit of half-realized or poorly-placed or inconsistent elements in this game. It's the nature of software development.

[General Luigi]

Times New Roman is irritating.

Fontist.

Videos are a notoriously poor way to convey information like this. The chance that I'm going to spend 21 minutes listening to someone go on about something in a format that can't be skimmed or searched, is infinitely close to zero. It's unreasonable to expect that of people.

Then I hope the information I added to the main post in response to your position will satisfy you.

It's not likely a programing problem. Awakening is very much a "kitchen sink" game, and this was probably an oversight and/or resource issue. There is a fair bit of half-realized or poorly-placed or inconsistent elements in this game. It's the nature of software development.

That's pretty much what my first conclusion was, but the possibility of programming limitations also occurred to me.

Edited November 20, 2013 by General Luigi

[Interceptor]

Fontist.

Son of a typesetter. Serifs are pretentious and more difficult to read. They serve no useful purpose in giant blocks of text.

Then I hope the information I added to the main post in response to your position will satisfy you.

It's an improvement. I just thought I'd point out exactly why it's not reasonable to ask someone to watch a 21-minute video as a prerequisite for responding to your thread. I saw the passive-aggressive [sigh], and figured that perhaps you didn't quite understand.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Interceptor

[General Luigi]

I've always found Times New Roman easier to read than the generic font used on this forum. That's the only reason I use it. I might get a good laugh out of playing the snob sometimes, but Times New Roman is a matter of convenience for me, not any sort of cruel joke I'm playing on other users or expression of a view that other fonts are "uncivilized" or any nonsense like that. Also, the "Fontist" remark was a joke--apparently not a very good one, judging by your reaction.

As for the sigh in my earlier comment, I hadn't considered that people might find the videos inconvenient, so thanks for pointing that out. My sigh was more so out of annoyance that Suzuka had simply posted his votes without checking to see if the pairings in question were available first. I would have preferred for him to tell me right off the bat that he found the videos inconvenient rather than just ignore procedure without saying why. Had he done so, I would have added the pertinent information then rather than after you posted.

Also, sorry about coming off as rude. I meant no disrespect.

Edited November 20, 2013 by General Luigi

[Skynstein]

I've always found Times New Roman easier to read than the generic font used on this forum. That's the only reason I use it. I might get a good laugh out of playing the snob sometimes, but Times New Roman is a matter of convenience for me, not any sort of cruel joke I'm playing on other users or expression of a view that other fonts are "uncivilized" or any nonsense like that. Also, the "Fontist" remark was a joke--apparently not a very good one, judging by your reaction.

As for the sigh in my earlier comment, I hadn't considered that people might find the videos inconvenient, so thanks for pointing that out. My sigh was more so out of annoyance that Suzuka had simply posted his votes without checking to see if the pairings in question were available first. I would have preferred for him to tell me right off the bat that he found the videos inconvenient rather than just ignore procedure without saying why. Had he done so, I would have added the pertinent information then rather than after you posted.

Also, sorry about coming off as rude. I meant no disrespect.

No offense, but Times New Roman is a little more difficult to read, yes, especially when it's the same size as other options.

I'd watch it, but really, I don't think you should ask for suggestions for what you should do. The videos are yours and you should do whatever the hell you want with pairings, etc. Granted, there's a slightly smaller chance I'd watch if you don't use Cordelia, but I respect your choices.