INTRODUCTING CHARACTERS: TOO SOON OR TOO LATE?

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In my game, there are several characters that slowly get added to the party over the course of playing. One of these characters is a black mage, the only one in the game. As things stand now with the story, she won't be joining the party until much later in the game than most of the cast.

Which begs the question: Should I wait such a long time to introduce her, thus depriving the player of a black mage for several hours of play time? Or would it be better to put her in much sooner at the risk of overwhelming the player with too many characters to choose from earlier on?

Seriously, when is the best time to bring in a new character?
The best time to bring a new character is when the story demands it. Well, what I mean is that if the character is meant to join at that point in the story, then make her join then.

Don't try to bend the story around stuff like that. I myself have characters that won't join until near the very end of the game. That's the way it was written, so I'm not worrying about it.
I feel the exact opposite way. It's extremely important that the characters important to the gameplay are introduced relatively early on; if you've got an extremely large cast of characters, you can introduce them as late as you want. But if you've only got four playable characters in the game, you've got to ease the player into using them before they become adept at handling every situation without that fourth character.

Likewise, if your characters have a lot of customisability, then it's important you add them early. With very few exceptions, players don't want to have to part with characters they've been building up all game, even if they get a better unit.

Give us a bit more background about the character (and other characters so I get a feel for how the others are introduced) and I can give better advice.
So far there's eight playable characters, so it's not like the player will feel like they're lacking something huge. And other characters can learn black magic, just not as well or as fast as she can. I guess it's just a question of timing, and whether or not the game can stand to hold off on her arrival for a few more hours of game play.

In contrast, the white mage comes into the game fairly early, and the mechanics surrounding her magic are the same: others can learn healing spells, but not as fast or as well. She isn't vital, but she is important. I feel the same way about the black mage, but I'm torn on whether or not to add her in early or wait.
There are lots of games where a skilled black mage joins later in the game, like breath of fire 1 or 2. If others can use black magic, just not as good, then I think it's not bad at all to add the skilled black mage later, so it's okay for me :)
I suppose. I mean, when I look at other RPGs, I do see this trend. Final Fantasy VII didn't introduce Cid or Yuffie until much later in the game. I suppose it depends on how balanced the story is, and how balanced game play is without them up until that point.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
In FF7, characters are all extremely similar, and any skills or magic you've worked on improving can be easily transferred to another character. As much as I hate using it as an example of doing anything right, FF4 is a better example here. You don't get Rosa until after the Tower of Zot, but she joins earlier for a brief temporary stint, and there's another white mage you get temporarily in Mt. Ordeals, plus you get several dual class white/black mages, a paladin, and a guy who can split potions. With the exception of the first dungeon and a couple story battles in Fabul, the game makes sure you're never without a white mage, black mage and fighter. It gives you what you need.

Some games start with a preconceived story and create gameplay to match it - others start with preconceived gameplay and create a story to match it. But neither method is an excuse for having bad story or bad gameplay. Figure out a way to make the game work. Maybe this means giving your other main characters weaker elemental magic; maybe it means introducing a temporary character earlier on who is a black mage; maybe it means designing the enemies and the other characters' skills so that the game's strategy and fun don't suffer for lack of a black mage.

As a side note, plain FF style black magic is a pretty boring skillset and doesn't actually add a lot of depth to the gameplay, especially if other characters have a few elemental skills. If all the character can cast are pure damage spells of various elements and maybe two or three status effects, you'll probably be okay. Just make sure the player has one or two other characters who heavily utilize the Wisdom stat, so that +Wisdom equipment isn't worthless for the first half of the game.
author=ubermax
So far there's eight playable characters, so it's not like the player will feel like they're lacking something huge. And other characters can learn black magic, just not as well or as fast as she can. I guess it's just a question of timing, and whether or not the game can stand to hold off on her arrival for a few more hours of game play.

In that case there should be no problem in introducing the black mage later.
Thiamor
I assure you I'm no where NEAR as STUPID as one might think.
63
I kind of like to mix in-between character gaining. Like the main ones you get, I'd have obtained based on a story progression level. But have a few characters that you can gain as a filler, so to speak. Ones that really don't fit into the story and wouldn't change the story (if much at all) if you had them or not. Just have them as powerhouses.
FFIV introduces all of its archetypes fairly early into the game. Later on, when players are switched up, they're usually fulfilling roles that have already been established with some exceptions. In addition, as previously mentioned, there isn't an incredible amount of depth involved with them.

I think having people able to learn black magic to a lesser extent is a great setup to getting this character later in the game. Player might actually say, "Wow, yes, finally." In games that have selectable parties, I'd also like having enough time with all of them throughout the course of a game. If I get a character too late in the game to be useful, I won't use them. If that character is TOO useful, then the experience of having brought up my other characters is cheapened because I now have to replace one. Simply put, I'd make sure there is plenty of game left after all the characters have at least been introduced.
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