Choose what kind of ghost

[Neaituppi]

I was thinking it might be cool, if you could choose what kind of ghost you get for a mission. Not the type, like wraith or phantom or demon, that would subvert the mission of finding out. But the appearance of the ghost. The butcher, the old lady with the axe, the ring girl, the little girl, the naked dude, whatever. Then you could do like themed missions of hunting a particular ghost.

[The Laundromancer]

There's a beauty in not having control over everything. Finding out what the ghost looks like is part of the fun of the first hunt.

[SweetJealousy]

Originally posted by pillbinge:

There's a beauty in not having control over everything. Finding out what the ghost looks like is part of the fun of the first hunt.

Yes, I whole hearted agree with this. It's a great surprise. Though lately, I tend to run into the same ghosts, usually the female ones: Little girl, pajama girl, grandma, nightie girl. And occasionally the butcher thrown into the mix. I could just be unlucky with my ghost randomization.

[Evilsod]

It makes it that much creepier when you've not found the ghost room yet and it's starte hunting. So you're trying to figure out where the ghost is coming from but can't see it anywhere, then suddenly the crawling girl appears at the top of the staircase 3 feet away from you!

(so you freak out and back away into a bookcase...)

[Neaituppi]

I suggested it as an option, like choosing professional, intermediate and amateur, which it did not before. Before it chose what level based on your level. But sometimes I am playing with others or myself, and we/I decide to do amateur, for a certain reason, to chill, or because we don't have to worry about turning the disconnect on to use the thermometer. If some people don't like that, or have any use for that, they can pick random, like in Left4dead. But I like to make themed videos on one kind of ghost, which I have done, but I have to go through countless missions to wait until I can get some with that particular ghost. And that can also solve the problem where we get the same couple ghosts over and over again, when the game picks the ghost. I have played with people and we got the same ghost up to 5 times in a row. If it was the ghost I wanted to get content from, than it is good. But if not, then it gets boring.

[The Laundromancer]

Speaking for everyone: we get your suggestion. You'd like the ability to pick the ghost's appearance like you can pick the difficulty.

But we're asking - what's the fun in that? If you know what the ghost will look like then that takes away part of the surprise. Horror is almost nothing if not surprise. The difficult is just a technical aspect one should deal with before moving on strictly to professional missions, and it was addressed because otherwise players would just cycle through hosts by leaving to make sure they got a professional mission. It sort of forced their hand. The ghost's appearance doesn't affect gameplay but it affects the experience. Or rather, not knowing.

It feels like a really bad trade off just for the sake of someone making videos. I don't watch other people play games online but I'd be pretty sure that's not a very common thing, and it's not worth dramatically changing the game for.

[Neaituppi]

Originally posted by pillbinge:

Speaking for everyone: we get your suggestion. You'd like the ability to pick the ghost's appearance like you can pick the difficulty.

But we're asking - what's the fun in that? If you know what the ghost will look like then that takes away part of the surprise. Horror is almost nothing if not surprise. The difficult is just a technical aspect one should deal with before moving on strictly to professional missions, and it was addressed because otherwise players would just cycle through hosts by leaving to make sure they got a professional mission. It sort of forced their hand. The ghost's appearance doesn't affect gameplay but it affects the experience. Or rather, not knowing.

It feels like a really bad trade off just for the sake of someone making videos. I don't watch other people play games online but I'd be pretty sure that's not a very common thing, and it's not worth dramatically changing the game for.

Well, I am not sure if you can really speak for everyone. But if you think you are. I will reiterate that it, like choosing what level mission, would be optional.
Whether you yourself gets some enjoyment out of being surprised by what the appearance of the ghost is, I have to say, that the impression I get from most of the players I played with in public lobbies, is they could care less about what the ghost looks like. I often try to infuse excitement into that. "It's the old lady!! It's the butcher, It's the ring girl!!" And usually get no reply back on the comms.

Only once I casually mentioned a lady in a white dress, to a player while in the truck, and she was so excited, she risked going back in the high school to see the pajama girl, which she hadn't seen yet.

Because you personally don't watch game plays is not enough that it should be disregarded, because millions of people apparently do. Not mine, but they do.

But it doesn't really have to be about that, there are many things that go on in the game, that some people may not notice or care about, like the ghostly singing or how the ghosts will not always act the same. Or the ghostly image I saw on a blackboard once on the truck monitor at the high school, that disappeared after a bit. But those things are there, for those who do, regardless if others notice.

There is no real surprise for me when I found out what kind of ghost it is, unless it is one of the more interesting ones that are more varied in how they respond. There is only a few of them that will react differently each time. The rest just act like zombies or Jason in the Friday the 13 series.