[Light Spoilers] Option to NOT take the Kynseed?

So yeah, I know it's the game's namesake, and it's a major plot point, but I personally wish we could avoid ever taking Fairweather's deal.

I've always been twitchy about games that present something as if it's a choice, but then not-so-subtly railroad you into a certain option. The sequence where you're essentially forced into taking an option that, from the character's point of view, is an incredibly bad decision to make, feels like that to me. Yeah sure, I'll sell my soul and those of my descendants for some cool trinkets, that's a great bargain. I know our character is only 12 at the time, and children are notorious for making stupid choices, but you'd think a kid who is capable enough to help with farm chores and run around unsupervised would know that taking deals from rabbit-faced devilbeasts is a Bad Idea. And if they were stupid enough to take it, the ensuing loss of their father figure and bitter departure of their sibling will probably hammer it home that they screwed up, and stop them from actually planting the seed. And yes, I will freely admit that I can be ridiculously anal about game narrative, although it's basically what I want to base my lifelong career on, so I try to pay attention to this kind of thing. Nothing makes a narrative fall apart faster than characters being forced to hold the Idiot Ball.

Obviously, I wouldn't want it removed from the game entirely, because that would be stupid. Maybe, instead of forcing the player to take the deal the first time, they could decline, and every year on their birthday after that, Fairweather would return and offer again. To cover the three-year gap that takes place, there could simply be a timeskip in which the father passes away of natural causes and the sibling decides to go off to see the world, leaving under better circumstances. You'd get the same start, more or less.

There could even be a heavy temptation to take the deal woven in somehow. Even when the first character passes away, their descendants could still be haunted by Fairweather's offer. Maybe those gifts turn out to be extremely valuable, and make the game significantly easier. In that way, not taking the Kynseed could be a sort of challenge mode for those wanting such a thing.

I'd love to hear what other people think of that particular plot point and my alternative. And, if the team has their heart set on making the deal mandatory, then I'm asking, not accusingly, but developers to wannabe developer, what their narrative reason for it is.

At the moment, it would cause issues as you would return home and we would have to fill years with tasks / your childhood.
For the build, we wanted to show the impact of getting the Kynseed and let the player leave the Vale to experience some more loops.
Many, many games give you narratives you can't avoid...looking at you Far Cry 5!
Sadly I feel we have to....but at least you don't HAVE to plant the Kynseed ;-)

Perhaps Fairweather could offer to give the Player an addition of 3 years of life, but sneakily doesn't explain that those years would be added to your existence instantly rather than extending your lifespan as you expected. After all, who doesn't want to live longer?

Maybe you even plant the Kynseed before finding out the truth.

Personally though, I don't see a need for changing the narrative, and it sounds like a lot of additional work to split the story into an option to refuse the deal.

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Originally Posted by Charlie

At the moment, it would cause issues as you would return home and we would have to fill years with tasks / your childhood.
For the build, we wanted to show the impact of getting the Kynseed and let the player leave the Vale to experience some more loops.
Many, many games give you narratives you can't avoid...looking at you Far Cry 5!
Sadly I feel we have to....but at least you don't HAVE to plant the Kynseed ;-)

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Good lord do not get me started on Far Cry 5, my sheer salt could turn the Atlantic into a new Dead Sea.

I had a feeling it couldn't really be done, though I am curious. If you choose never to plant the seed, how will that affect gameplay and future generations? Since, according to his own contract, Fairweather only gets your soul if you plant it. Will he get pissy if the player just hangs on to it, maybe as a reminder never to make deals with Fae?

So this is obviously a very old thread but it addresses something i as a new player have a concern for..... the railroading feels v harsh to me... I hate "taking the idiot ball" as the poster stated. The obvious choice for me is that taking the deal is okay, but what the real blow is is how hateful your sibling is towards you. You're best friends to start out with, and then they're outright hateful because you got tricked into a deal. Maybe it would feel better if it felt more like you were actively involved in making that deal to begin with, or if your sibling had warned you off it.

What i'm hoping for mainly is just a buffing up of the story in general. Which i'm sure is in the works! I just hate being pushed into a decision and then made to feel guilty about it. (Fable 3 does this in the beginning, and it haunted me so badly, but at least I got to blame the antagonist for it and there's an option later in the game to make up for it).

I think you guys have a Great direction with this game, and i'm excited for all of the features planned.