Is it worth it to (purposefully) let determinant characters die?
I'm not talking about blind playthroughs where you're dealing with your outcomes, I mean like, going back and replaying and still choosing the options to let Nick and Alvin die.
Is it worth it? I feel like by doing this you're doing yourself a disservice and losing part of the story. With Nick's death you're losing a big chunk of character development, and with Alvin you're missing out on the dynamic between him and Carver. Even if you don't like these characters I still find it strange to willingly give up that part of the story.
That being said, doing it because "Nick is a liability" or "Sacrificing Alvin means Carver got shot" feels like a weak argument because let's be honest, no matter what choices you made here there's always going to be the same general outcome. For example, even if you dropped Ben from the bell tower, Kenny still disappears in a mob of zombies (and also always returns from the dead in S2, hosanna in the highest praise be to Kenny Christ).
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I do it on some playthroughs as I want to see the differences.
To see the differences, yes. Plus, the character you let die might be one you hate and one you don't want to deal with. Alvin really hasn't done much other than (possibly) get shot at this point, while half the time Nick is busy nearly putting holes in group members or other friendly survivors. I wouldn't let them die (unless playing to purposefully see the differences) but I can see why other people would want a certain character out of the story as soon as possible.
I saved both Nick & Alvin. Nick I know is a good guy despite the mistakes he's made, and I promised Pete I'd look after him. With Alvin I'm interested in seeing the outcome of him finding out the baby isn't his (if he lives that long in episode three), and I'm hoping his possible interactions with Carver, Clem, or someone else will shed more light on what happened in the camp before the group left (i.e. why Alvin killed Carver's friend & why Rebecca cheated). But, when I eventually do a second playthrough I'm definitely going to kill them off to see how the story is somewhat altered without their presence. I'm sure them not being there won't have a huge impact on the story like the example you mentioned with how Kenny gets lost to the herd regardless of how you deal with Ben, but seeing the minor changes in the story is still cool in my opinion.
I agree with you i love that part on episode 5 were Ben goes mad and shouts all that he thinks to Kenny that really develops his character and even makes you feel a little bad for him but a lot of people miss that causE they let him die on Crawford.
Maybe if Nicks alive in ep3 he'll be fucking blow everything up.
Sometimes. For me personally, a good emotional death can serve the story in its own way. And it adds replay value. The only time I've manipulated a character to die on purpose was Jacob in Mass Effect 2, because he was boring and I wanted the mission to be more dramatic.
Haha, poor Zaeed bought the farm or the exact same reason. Also, he was a bastard.
Sometimes. I roleplay my characters more often then not. So Lee/Clem's personality or relationship with the person in question is the determining factor.
I'm not sure how others feel, but I always try and keep determinant characters alive as long as possible. Even if they got on my nerves a little (Ben...).
I always feel that if I let someone die when they still have time, I'm losing out on parts of the story.
But he at least had some form of personality unlike Mr Jacob Taylor
Zaeed? But he was a big GODDAMN hero.
*Edit - I posted a stupid picture, kind of regret it now so I'm deleting it. Sorry. As a serious reply to the main post (and not to the person I've actually replied to, by bad), I came across a discussion in which one person mentioned specifically going back to get Nick (and I believe Alvin) killed, simply because if they were going to die anyways he just wanted to get it over with. Something to think about...
You assume a lot of things about these characters and what will happen to them/what they will do in episode 3. I'll wait until I play it to pass judgement.
Sometimes, having a character die earlier makes for more interesting moments with the remaining characters. For instance, Alvin's death and the group's reaction to it made the final scene much more powerful to me. It was really intense hearing Carlos, the cool-headed, calm leader freaking out and shouting "Oh my God. Oh my God" upon seeing Alvin get shot. And seeing Carver go up to a grieving, distraught Rebecca and cheerfully tell her that they would be heading back to his camp "as a family" was downright chilling. People who saved Alvin missed out on that.
Anyone who thinks Carver isn't the real villain needs to see the expression on his face when he tells Rebecca that.
Well, letting Nick die because you do think he's a liability in my opinion is reasonable. Look at everything Ben caused in season one. He was useless. He was literally a completely useless liability. So far Nick seems to be turning out like Ben. Maybe letting him die stops him from fucking things up more.
Some people might think Alvin who's character has not developed much is a worthy tradeoff for getting Carver shot, I guess.
Also consider letting Nick and Alvin die probably leads to more character development for Luke and Rebecca.
I personally want a playthrough where I make different choices, so I'll have a playthrough where they both die I guess. ;-;
That's where the replay value comes from: you pick the story you want to be the cannon story, then you go back and get an answer to What if?
Their deaths could change the dynamic of the group. How will those left behind deal with it? Will they blame Clem? Themselves? Would we find that Luke isn't as moved by his friends' death than we thought? Rebecca? And if so, what are the implications of that?
For the record, neither of them died in my first playthrough but damned if I'm not intrigued by the possible fallout from their deaths. And depending on how much either character gets explored in the future, their ep. 2 deaths may prove to be the more interesting route to take story wise, IMO.
yea in a different play through I usually purposely make them die for example I have one save where nick survives and alvin dies and another where nick dies and alvin survives or one where they both die looking forward to see what happens in ep 3
I always let alvin die cause i hate seeing clem get pistol whipped and/or having a gun to her head.
Yes.