Hyperdimension Neptunia "the Player" profile

[Ben_CleverName]

TLDR; the Neptunia Player deserves their own profile on the wiki with Low 1-C, possibly High 1-C rating, alongside Higher-Dimensional Existence, Spatial Manipulation & or Data Manipulation, and Time Manipulation

I've been looking through the Hyperdimension Neptunia profiles, and I've noticed that there seems to be no profile on the wiki for the player. This seems odd to me, given the player's continuous presence throughout the franchise, but I suspect part of the reason might be due to the lack of singularity (Neptunia often references multiple players rather than a singular entity). However, I don't think that's a good enough reason to excuse having a profile, as VIIR is literally a game all about the player.

Another potential reason might've been that there's an apparent lack of scaling for the player, given that the series most frequently focuses on the CPUs and other inhabitants of Gamindustri, however, I hope to prove with this thread that this is also an incorrect conclusion to make.

First, regarding their tiering, we already list several characters as "Low 2-C, possibly 1-C" due to characters being able to affect multiple "dimensions" (including the Hyper Dimension, with its 9D coordinates thingy), so we definitely have a baseline to work with. Looking through the various statements in the game, I believe we can make a clear and obvious case for R>F here. In addition to the obvious statements about the player "seeing everything as a video game", we're given additional context to the Player's overall status in the verse on VIIR's website.

In the past, as Gamindustri possessed the technology capable of dimensional interactions, the existence of parallel worlds had been confirmed via a shift in a massive amount of data acquired through dimensional observation. Having observed these worlds which possessed different realities than the current one, leading reserachers hypothesized a higher dimension had intervened. As a result, one scholar's thesis spread globally. It stated that the characteristics of the singularity created by the shift implied some sort of sapience behind the interference.

Afterwards, the people of Gamindustri likened the phenomenon to differing endings of a video game based on the person behind the controller. They deified this supposed person, granting names such as "The Player" or "The Guiding Hand." There were even some people who thanked "The Player" when catastrophic events were resolved seemingly by chance.

Meanwhile, Croire and Neptune, using their ability to travel between dimensions, get caught up in a large incident.
It is because of this that they stumbled into the VR Dimension, where for the first time in history, they are able to contact this person, "The Player," directly...

Usage of the word "deification" suggests that the Player is viewed as a sort of higher power in relation to Gamindustri, but what really solidifies it in my opinion is the fact that it's directly comparing the Player to a higher dimensional figure. This sort of blatant superiority isn't exactly inconsistent either, as in the same game, Croire states that the player's dimension exists on a "heavenly plane" that they can't even travel to. Histoire also says that between the two overlapping worlds creating the VR dimension, the player's world has a "much stronger" influence on it. As a bit of extra supporting evidence, if you go to the VIIR website and look at the "Glossary" section, you'll see that the VR Dimension is referred to as a "high-ranking dimension" created by Gamindustri and the Real World.

With that in mind, it seems clear that the Player should be given a "Low 1-C, possibly High 1-C" rating for their tier.

The VIIR website's text suggests that they have some form of spatial manipulation (or data manipulation) in addition to higher-dimensional existence, and we already know through Neptune's profile that they have some form of time manipulation, due to their ability to "skip a cutscene". They also have at least one reference towards being able to "reload saves" (I vaguely remember there being another instance of this being acknowledged but I don't know when or where.)

They could potentially have more abilities given that the games have references towards "DLC" and "mods" as well as various game mechanics being introduced, but the exact extent of what they can do and how many of the "game mechanics" are implied to have actual influence over the verse's story is somewhat unclear, so I would prefer saving any further arguments concerning their abilities for a later date. Though I suppose you could argue that they at least have some form of Plot Manipulation given the earlier text about "different endings of a video game" as well as the verse's acknowledgment of alternate endings.

 

[Guacamolefletcher]

Looks good to me, following

 

[TheKingStrategist13]

No comment

 

[thetechmaster36]

Huh, neat

I'll come back to this later, currently in class right now

 

[Ben_CleverName]

No comment

So then are you just commenting to follow the thread or something? I don't understand why you'd reply "No comment" on a thread that you weren't interested in nor called into.

 

[thetechmaster36]

Alright, so while a lot of this does make sense, I want to point out a few things.

In addition to the obvious statements about the player "seeing everything as a video game", we're given additional context to the Player's overall status in the verse on VIIR's website.

As of Sisters VS Sisters, this whole bit can essentially be considered partially retconned, as in SVS, it's explained that these "parallel worlds" are alternate timelines, and is shown not to be a result of the player, but rather this phenomenon. Gray Sister travels through time in multiple instances, spawning these timelines. This includes (but implicitly not limited to):

• A timeline where the Deity of Sin is initially felled by the four Goddesses and Gray Sister, but later came back from possessing Anri, going on to possess Rom, and plunging Gamindustri into an endless war.
• A timeline where Gray Sister fought in alignment with the Deity of Sin as to prevent anyone from being possessed.
• A timeline where Gray Sister cast aside both parties and sought to create a sealing device to seal away the DoS.
• A timeline where she did nothing but spend her days in depression, wondering if she should even continue going.
• And a timeline where Conquest 2.0 essentially happened.

Not done by player choice, but as a result of Gray Sister's time-jumps. That's not to say the statement isn't valid anymore, but it certainly doesn't hold as much weight in part thanks to SVS.

That said, the fact that they merely hypothesized that to be the case doesn't help either. The player can exist, but does that actually mean they are the ones to have created these parallel worlds?

Histoire also says that between the two overlapping worlds creating the VR dimension, the player's world has a "much stronger" influence on it. As a bit of extra supporting evidence, if you go to the VIIR website and look at the "Glossary" section, you'll see that the VR Dimension is referred to as a "high-ranking dimension" created by Gamindustri and the Real World.

Tackling this, one dimension having a greater influence over the other to create a world mixed by their attributes does not necessarily mean qualitative superiority. In fact, the statement of the player's world having influence on the HDN world seems to imply that the player's world actually exists within the same reality as Gamindustri / Hyper Dimension due to the way dimensional fusion and/or overlaps work (i.e. their coordinates must all be the same in order to become one), which evidently is happening to some degree here. And as far as I remember, lower-dimensional realms don't interact with higher-dimensional realms in this manner.

In addition, "High-ranking dimension" is pretty vague because, realistically, what exactly does "high-ranking" mean? Does it actually mean that the dimension is on a literal higher plane of existence, or does it mean something else?

Another potential reason might've been that there's an apparent lack of scaling for the player, given that the series most frequently focuses on the CPUs and other inhabitants of Gamindustri, however, I hope to prove with this thread that this is also an incorrect conclusion to make.

Lastly, this part, and this is why I disagree with creating a profile for the player, seeing how you yourself point this out.

The player is basically featless. They have zero feats whatsoever. The player is someone who is playing the HDN games, and that's it. No hax, no physical feats, no reality warping or whatever, just zero feats. And you might point to the text blurb you posted from VIIR's website, to which I direct you to the first point I made in regards to the "parallel worlds" / timelines; the canonical game that came out after VIIR already explained how these parallel worlds are born, and the way they go about this in the game itself is certainly not indicative of player choice. I could also bring up Sega Hard Girls, but at the moment, that's considered to be non-canon, so that can't be used.

And personally speaking, I feel like creating a player profile wouldn't really change a whole lot, and it would kinda consume time that a lot of us don't have right now. Not to mention it (likely) wouldn't be used in debates, it'd just kinda. . .be there, like a few other player profiles (Undertale's comes to mind) without much significance.

 

[thetechmaster36]

And personally speaking, I feel like creating a player profile wouldn't really change a whole lot, and it would kinda consume time that a lot of us don't have right now. Not to mention it (likely) wouldn't be used in debates, it'd just kinda. . .be there, like a few other player profiles (Undertale's comes to mind) without much significance.

Adding on to this, by the way, what actual purpose would a player profile for this series serve? The player, as an individual, provides nothing to the story whatsoever. Even in the game where they actually "matter", they are never mentioned by any of the characters in the proper story. They are just confined to the VR Dimension and that's it. They have zero impact on the plot, zero impact on the gameplay, and zero impact on the characters EXCEPT for possibly Neptune. But that in itself is a huge stretch considering she's already meta to the max to begin with.

Not to mention, the player only has one small showing of actual significance in a remake's virtual reality mode where it has no impact on the story. Yeah, Ultra Neptune coming to visit you in the midst of the story is a thing, but does it actually do anything to change the events of the game? Does it do anything to alter her character? Alter Croire's character? Literally anything with any semblance of meaning whatsoever?

No. Not at all. As such, I don't agree with making a profile for the player just because they're someone that "exists".

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Alright, so while a lot of this does make sense, I want to point out a few things.

As of Sisters VS Sisters, this whole bit can essentially be considered partially retconned, as in SVS, it's explained that these "parallel worlds" are alternate timelines, and is shown not to be a result of the player, but rather this phenomenon. Gray Sister travels through time in multiple instances, spawning these timelines. This includes (but implicitly not limited to):

• A timeline where the Deity of Sin is initially felled by the four Goddesses and Gray Sister, but later came back from possessing Anri, going on to possess Rom, and plunging Gamindustri into an endless war.
• A timeline where Gray Sister fought in alignment with the Deity of Sin as to prevent anyone from being possessed.
• A timeline where Gray Sister cast aside both parties and sought to create a sealing device to seal away the DoS.
• A timeline where she did nothing but spend her days in depression, wondering if she should even continue going.
• And a timeline where Conquest 2.0 essentially happened.

Not done by player choice, but as a result of Gray Sister's time-jumps. That's not to say the statement isn't valid anymore, but it certainly doesn't hold as much weight in part thanks to SVS.

That said, the fact that they merely hypothesized that to be the case doesn't help either. The player can exist, but does that actually mean they are the ones to have created these parallel worlds?

I'm well aware of SvS and the timeline shenanigans that take place in it, however, you're creating the assumption that the text on VIIR's website is specifically referring to the events caused by Gray Sister when it's never stated (or even implied, really) that this is the case. In the first place, I felt it was more likely that the "parallel worlds" are in reference to the other dimensions (like Heart Dimension) given how prominent the theme of Dimensional Travel is in that game. I also never said that the player created those parallel worlds, but now that it's been brought up, VIIR's opening statement is literally "This world was created by another world. There are as many worlds as there are games, and as many parallel worlds as there are players." so it's not out of the question that this was what the quote was referring to.

Tackling this, one dimension having a greater influence over the other to create a world mixed by their attributes does not necessarily mean qualitative superiority. In fact, the statement of the player's world having influence on the HDN world seems to imply that the player's world actually exists within the same reality as Gamindustri / Hyper Dimension due to the way dimensional fusion and/or overlaps work (i.e. their coordinates must all be the same in order to become one), which evidently is happening to some degree here. And as far as I remember, lower-dimensional realms don't interact with higher-dimensional realms in this manner.

In addition, "High-ranking dimension" is pretty vague because, realistically, what exactly does "high-ranking" mean? Does it actually mean that the dimension is on a literal higher plane of existence, or does it mean something else?

They are vague, yes, which is why I specifically stated that they were being used as supporting evidence, and drew the most attention towards them directly stating that a higher dimension was involved (or "hypothesizing", if you wanted to be pedantic about it). I'm not exactly sure what you mean by saying they're implied to take place in the same "reality" unless you're trying to say that their dimensionality is the same for some reason. The website, Histoire, and Croire all support the notion that the player's world is separated from theirs. Also, Croire does say that the player exists on a heavenly plane that she can't travel to. Obviously, that doesn't hold the same weight as it would if she'd just outright said "higher plane" but given the aforementioned context of viewing the series as a video game (to the point that even their direct presence in front of the characters is due to them playing said game) and being hypothesized to exist on a higher dimension, I don't exactly see the issue with assuming that this is an R>F transcendence.

The VR dimension also isn't the same as the fusion feat that was demonstrated by Kurome... that much is obvious by the fact that the VR Dimension exists as a separate space rather than being the fusion of two different worlds... and because "fusion" and "overlapping" are two different concepts entirely.

The player is basically featless. They have zero feats whatsoever. The player is someone who is playing the HDN games, and that's it. No hax, no physical feats, no reality warping or whatever, just zero feats. And you might point to the text blurb you posted from VIIR's website, to which I direct you to the first point I made in regards to the "parallel worlds" / timelines; the canonical game that came out after VIIR already explained how these parallel worlds are born, and the way they go about this in the game itself is certainly not indicative of player choice. I could also bring up Sega Hard Girls, but at the moment, that's considered to be non-canon, so that can't be used.

And personally speaking, I feel like creating a player profile wouldn't really change a whole lot, and it would kinda consume time that a lot of us don't have right now. Not to mention it (likely) wouldn't be used in debates, it'd just kinda. . .be there, like a few other player profiles (Undertale's comes to mind) without much significance.

They aren't featless though? I just cited some of their feats. Neptune's profile literally cites one of their feats on her profile as part of her "Breaking the Fourth Wall" stuff (the part about skipping cutscenes).

Also, Sega Hard Girls is considered non-canon because that's what it is. It's a crossover spin-off title which, even if applicable to the overall cosmology, wouldn't change the arguments being made here.

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Also, I'm just gonna say, I really wish I knew how to quote individual segments. I used to be able to do that on Fandom, but on here I've had to hit "Reply" each time and then erase the parts of the post I'm not responding to.

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Adding on to this, by the way, what actual purpose would a player profile for this series serve? The player, as an individual, provides nothing to the story whatsoever. Even in the game where they actually "matter", they are never mentioned by any of the characters in the proper story. They are just confined to the VR Dimension and that's it. They have zero impact on the plot, zero impact on the gameplay, and zero impact on the characters EXCEPT for possibly Neptune. But that in itself is a huge stretch considering she's already meta to the max to begin with.

Not to mention, the player only has one small showing of actual significance in a remake's virtual reality mode where it has no impact on the story. Yeah, Ultra Neptune coming to visit you in the midst of the story is a thing, but does it actually do anything to change the events of the game? Does it do anything to alter her character? Alter Croire's character? Literally anything with any semblance of meaning whatsoever?

No. Not at all. As such, I don't agree with making a profile for the player just because they're someone that "exists".

And because I only just saw this second post now, I'm responding to it a bit later.

The Player obviously has significance to the overall plot, again this is acknowledged on Neptune's profile where it talks about the "Thank You For Playing" corner. Croire literally says that it's the player who saved the dimensions in the past, whether they used Neptune and co. as a proxy isn't really relevant when it's directly credited to them. And no, the VR events don't hold much impact on the game, because VIIR is literally a sequel to VII. Histoire outright says that she prepared a historical record of the Player's past guidance to play with as a game, and that game houses the story from VII.

 

[thetechmaster36]

Also, I'm just gonna say, I really wish I knew how to quote individual segments.

Highlight the text you want to quote and then hit Reply

 

[GlaceonGamez471]

Also, I'm just gonna say, I really wish I knew how to quote individual segments.

Highlight the segment in particular and hit the reply that pops up.
Edit: ninja'd

 

[thetechmaster36]

sonic supporter was too slow, go figure

Also yeah, I definitely did misread some of the things said, but this:

They aren't featless though? I just cited some of their feats. Neptune's profile literally cites one of their feats on her profile as part of her "Breaking the Fourth Wall" stuff (the part about skipping cutscenes).

No, they absolutely are featless, Neptune begging them to skip a cutscene isn't much proof of anything, let alone Time Manip considering the cutscene happens regardless of skips or not. Besides that, what's to say it's actually Time Manipulation and not Neptune just. . .being meta? Like she always is?

All we know is that they play the HDN games. We're not given any more legitimate proof beyond a hypothesis cited from VIIR's website that isn't actually proven in-game. I made the SVS comparison for this reason; to bring actual proof of something related to this.

And no, the VR events don't hold much impact on the game, because VIIR is literally a sequel to VII.

False to the nth degree; VIIR is not, under any circumstances a sequel to VII. It's a remake of VII. It has the exact same story, with the exact same characters, and the exact same lines, one-to-one. In what way is VIIR a sequel to VII when nothing points to it being that? A sequel would be the continuation of VII, not just telling the exact same story again.

And my (personal) question still stands: what purpose does a player profile serve?

 

[Guacamolefletcher]

All we know is that they play the HDN games. We're not given any more legitimate proof beyond a hypothesis cited from VIIR's website that isn't actually proven in-game. I made the SVS comparison for this reason; to bring actual proof of something related to this.

The website is a primary source, so it woudln't be a hypothesis, it'd be proof too

 

[thetechmaster36]

The website is a primary source, so it woudln't be a hypothesis

The problem is that they outright say that it was a hypothesis, though:

leading researchers hypothesized a higher dimension had intervened.

 

[Guacamolefletcher]

The problem is that they outright say that it was a hypothesis, though:

leading researchers say this, and it's noted to be of importance enough that they echoed this in the website. Furthermore, it being internally consistent with the scaling makes sense and confirms it's validity.

Just to hammer the point more: leading researchers say this.

 

[TheKingStrategist13]

Ok but
Like Tech asked
What's the point

 

[thetechmaster36]

Let me read this over one more time, I feel like I'm just making misinterpretations now.

 

[thetechmaster36]

Read it over again. Yeah, I did definitely misinterpret a lot of things, so I apologize to Ben for that.

I definitely think the evidence is good. But I am still against creating a profile for the simple reason of "Why?"

I'm not asking this out of spite or out of malice or whatever. I'm just genuinely curious why we should make a profile for an entity that, realistically, doesn't have a whole lot going for them outside of their existence in the higher plane.

 

[Ben_CleverName]

False to the nth degree; VIIR is not, under any circumstances a sequel to VII. It's a remake of VII. It has the exact same story, with the exact same characters, and the exact same lines, one-to-one. In what way is VIIR a sequel to VII when nothing points to it being that? A sequel would be the continuation of VII, not just telling the exact same story again.

And my (personal) question still stands: what purpose does a player profile serve?

From an outside (as in, real-life) perspective, you are absolutely correct that VIIR is a remake. However, it is a sequel in the sense that the events of VIIR take place after VII.

The "main" story that we play through is verbatim the same as VII, but the VR cutscenes create the context that it's a sequel. The beginning cutscene has Croire telling the player to look around at the "very dimensions they saved in the past" while showing scenes from VII (I understand that it's a visual thing and they don't directly say that it's portraying VII, but the implication is clear). Additionally, the means by which we replay the events of VII is through a device that Histoire gave us, which she labels "a historical record of your past guidance."

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Read it over again. Yeah, I did definitely misinterpret a lot of things, so I apologize to Ben for that.

I definitely think the evidence is good. But I am still against creating a profile for the simple reason of "Why?"

I'm not asking this out of spite or out of malice or whatever. I'm just genuinely curious why we should make a profile for an entity that, realistically, doesn't have a whole lot going for them outside of their existence in the higher plane.

See, I'm of the opposite viewpoint in this regard: If a character exists, is shown to be relevant in some capacity, and has tiering/abilities which can be determined, why wouldn't we use it? It could also be useful to link to the player for context to certain abilities, such as the save-scumming stuff.

Also, this is out of order, but...

No, they absolutely are featless, Neptune begging them to skip a cutscene isn't much proof of anything, let alone Time Manip considering the cutscene happens regardless of skips or not. Besides that, what's to say it's actually Time Manipulation and not Neptune just. . .being meta? Like she always is?

Even if it still happens, the fact that Neptune is begging the Player to do something creates the implication that they could do what she asked them to do, and the "skip" function does exist as an actual game mechanic in the same game. You also haven't addressed the more blatant example of savefiles being brought up and acknowledged.

 

[GlaceonGamez471]

Bump

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Bump

 

[GlaceonGamez471]

Bump

 

[GlaceonGamez471]

Bump

 

[Rakih_Elyan]

2-C is warranted, while Low 1-C is a bit... IFfy.

 

[Ben_CleverName]

I repeatedly gave blatant R>F justification for the character in question. What exactly is "iffy" about it when they literally compare them to a higher-dimensional entity who sees the verse as fiction?

 

[TheKingStrategist13]

I agree that Low 1-C is IFfy


As well as this profile in general serving little to no real function imo

 

[Ben_CleverName]

And yet again I'm given no reasonings as to why (despite you participating in the thread previously). It's incredibly easy to attack any potential argument and say "This sounds iffy " but to not be given a reason as to why is itself kind of "iffy".

 

[Guacamolefletcher]

I agree that Low 1-C is IFfy

Ok, but why. Just popping in to say your conclusion doesn't add

 

[TheKingStrategist13]

Mfw the joke flies over people's head's:

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Mfw the joke flies over people's head's:

I caught onto your use of capitalization, but that alone doesn't tell me whether your entire comment was meant as a joke or not. I'm not trying to come off as overly defensive or anything but to be honest it's difficult to tell in these types of threads what exactly is being memed about.

 

[TheKingStrategist13]

In any case, IF jokes aside, I'll just be blunt and give my honest thoughts

Not only do I think having a profile for the Player is pointless but I'm also sure there are numerous other character's who should be on the list of profiles to make before the player. If the HDN Community here is going to work on something, I think there are better things to focus on than The Player, no offense,

 

[Ben_CleverName]

There's no reason not to include them on the list, given the aforementioned feats and scaling I provided them. If your only problem is "I don't want to make the profile myself", I could easily do it. I've made profiles before for other characters, it's not exactly a difficult task. It would take me like 15 minutes max, and that's assuming I want to add things like a gallery to it.

 

[BestMGQScalerEver]

I don't see a problem with a profile at all if someone is willing to make one.

 

[TheKingStrategist13]

It's less about how I don't want to create the page, It's more about how the Player is almost wholly irrelevant to the series and pretty unnecessary to index. Their only prominent - if you can call it that - appearance is in a dubiously canon mode in a remake that is essentially the exact same game being told again just with a few tweaks that aren't related to the story. Every other game that isn't VIIR either doesn't make mention of the player, or they just mention's them in a meta/fourth wall break moment that doesn't actually pertain to anything.
Besides that, thetechmaster36 has stated that they personally don't agree with the creation of a profile, and even though the other HDN Supporters haven't commented on the thread yet, they probably agree with him... Just FYI

Even if they were put on to a list, they ideally would be considerably low priority. Character's like the Unindexed Oracle's, Afimojas and Steamax, Warechu, and other's are much more relevant and would be better to index. It'd be weird to not have those kind's of character's have profile's here before a guy who barely show's up at all and is, frankly, less relevant than Dogoo's are to the story. This would be if, say, you were making the DC verse, and you made character's like Polka-dot Man before The Flash, or Cyborg, etc.

Tl;dr, Multiple Members have expressed that the Player serves no real purpose in being indexed atm, and I agree- I even think there are far more worthy character's to be indexed atm then the Player.

 

[Ben_CleverName]

It's less about how I don't want to create the page, It's more about how the Player is almost wholly irrelevant to the series and pretty unnecessary to index. Their only prominent - if you can call it that - appearance is in a dubiously canon mode in a remake that is essentially the exact same game being told again just with a few tweaks that aren't related to the story.

How are the "tweaks" not related to the story? VIIR recontextualizes events for VII. It's essentially the same as Doki Doki Literature Club+ and Doki Doki Literature Club, with the former having (once again) verbatim the same story as the latter, but with additional content that changes the meaning and the context behind the story.

Every other game that isn't VIIR either doesn't make mention of the player, or they just mention's them in a meta/fourth wall break moment that doesn't actually pertain to anything.

So they either don't mention the player or they do mention the player?

Besides that, thetechmaster36 has stated that they personally don't agree with the creation of a profile, and even though the other HDN Supporters haven't commented on the thread yet, they probably agree with him... Just FYI

OK, and? This thread isn't just for them, it's for the wiki... and being a supporter of a verse doesn't mean that your opinion is going to (or should be) prioritized over other peoples' opinions. All that it takes to become a supporter of a verse is to proclaim yourself as one.

Even if they were put on to a list, they ideally would be considerably low priority. Character's like the Unindexed Oracle's, Afimojas and Steamax, Warechu, and other's are much more relevant and would be better to index. It'd be weird to not have those kind's of character's have profile's here before a guy who barely show's up at all and is, frankly, less relevant than Dogoo's are to the story. This would be if, say, you were making the DC verse, and you made character's like Polka-dot Man before The Flash, or Cyborg, etc.

They literally show up in every game that has a "Thank You For Playing" corner. Again, this is already on Neptune's profile, and VIIR is not the only game that has such a scene. Histoire literally says that they've been aware of the player's presence "for some time" but that they were unable to communicate with them freely, which is why those "Thank You For Playing" corners even exist in the first place. There is absolutely nothing stopping you or anyone else from indexing those other characters you mentioned, and the addition of the player character would do nothing to halt progress in that regard either. This honestly comes off as just a non-issue to me and I don't understand why this is even being considered a potential problem.

 

[BestMGQScalerEver]

Does it really matter if a profile is inconsequential though? Shouldn't matter as long as they have actual abilities to index. We make profiles that can be deemed not useful or meaningful for verses all the time.

 

[KaiokenBlueGT]

Even if it still happens, the fact that Neptune is begging the Player to do something creates the implication that they could do what she asked them to do, and the "skip" function does exist as an actual game mechanic in the same game.

imo, you're reading too much into that, and connecting dots that aren't there.

Victory as a whole is notorious for having a far lighter tone than many other entries in the series (and not always to it's benefit but I won't get ahead of myself here), so a lot of the stuff like Neptune telling the player to skip the current cutscene, Noire demanding Neptune and Plutia to listen to her "plot-advancing lecture", Neptune casually stating that the Player can just reload their save if they mess up, and Nepgear getting different negative affinities (like the "emo affinity" - and yes, that is real) is all just stuff played up for jokes. All of this is not meant to be taken at face value like with what you're doing.
Hell, Neptune is notably far more selfish and careless than she usually is in this game specifically because of that intended direction for the game's story and tone.

The "Thank You For Playing" corner is also just recurring fluff in the series that also doesn't mean much other than, y'know, thanking the player for playing the game lol. It doesn't mean anything else other than to engage with the player on a more personal level and make them feel more rewarded for seeing the game through to the end.

I just don't think the Player has enough significance within the series beyond fluff and VIIR to warrant spending the time creating their profile. There are many, many other things within the series that would be far more productive and beneficial to work on and put out there than a featless profile for a ""character"" that is incredibly dissociated with the actual story beyond meta jokes and references.

Usage of the word "deification" suggests that the Player is viewed as a sort of higher power in relation to Gamindustri, but what really solidifies it in my opinion is the fact that it's directly comparing the Player to a higher dimensional figure. This sort of blatant superiority isn't exactly inconsistent either, as in the same game, Croire states that the player's dimension exists on a "heavenly plane" that they can't even travel to. Histoire also says that between the two overlapping worlds creating the VR dimension, the player's world has a "much stronger" influence on it. As a bit of extra supporting evidence, if you go to the VIIR website and look at the "Glossary" section, you'll see that the VR Dimension is referred to as a "high-ranking dimension" created by Gamindustri and the Real World.

Just because the Player is deified doesn't necessarily mean the Player is a higher power. Your comparison of the Player and the Real World doesn't have any link to it other than the Player existing there. Lower dimensional beings and objects can very well exist within higher dimensional space.

Your justification is coming from the world the Player originating from being on a heavenly plane, and whilst that is true - there's no correlation to the Player having a similar existence beyond Gamindustri's citizens literally hypothesising that they do. The original text you provided literally states this.

leading reserachers hypothesized a higher dimension had intervened. As a result, one scholar's thesis spread globally. It stated that the characteristics of the singularity created by the shift implied some sort of sapience behind the interference.

Afterwards, the people of Gamindustri likened the phenomenon to differing endings of a video game based on the person behind the controller. They deified this supposed person, granting names such as "The Player" or "The Guiding Hand." There were even some people who thanked "The Player" when catastrophic events were resolved seemingly by chance.

Again, a lot of your argument comes from the VR Dimension and the Real World having a higher dimensional existence without actually connecting it to the Player themselves.
If you're going to run with this point, I think more evidence is required. Otherwise, I don't think your case is strong enough to warrant going through with creating this profile.

 

[Ben_CleverName]

Victory as a whole is notorious for having a far lighter tone than many other entries in the series (and not always to it's benefit but I won't get ahead of myself here), so a lot of the stuff like Neptune telling the player to skip the current cutscene, Noire demanding Neptune and Plutia to listen to her "plot-advancing lecture", Neptune casually stating that the Player can just reload their save if they mess up, and Nepgear getting different negative affinities (like the "emo affinity" - and yes, that is real) is all just stuff played up for jokes. All of this is not meant to be taken at face value like with what you're doing.

I was waiting for the "It's just a joke" argument. The fact that it's a joke doesn't invalidate what's said or what's happening in any way unless you want to argue that the punchline is that they're essentially lying to people. I fail to see how Victory's "tone" discredits what's happening in any way, regardless. The "funny haha" fourth-wall breaks about plot-advancements isn't even unique to Victory anyway, they've been carrying that tone throughout the whole series. (And yes, I know the "emo affinity" bit is real, I didn't acknowledge it because it's not important to the discussion at hand.)

The "Thank You For Playing" corner is also just recurring fluff in the series that also doesn't mean much other than, y'know, thanking the player for playing the game lol. It doesn't mean anything else other than to engage with the player on a more personal level and make them feel more rewarded for seeing the game through to the end.

I mean, from a real-life perspective, sure, you can argue that's all that they're meant for... but my response to that would be: So? I'm looking at things from an in-universe perspective, and they literally give us the explanation for these things happening in-universe through VIIR, which I've repeatedly shown.

I just don't think the Player has enough significance within the series beyond fluff and VIIR to warrant spending the time creating their profile. There are many, many other things within the series that would be far more productive and beneficial to work on and put out there than a featless profile for a ""character"" that is incredibly dissociated with the actual story beyond meta jokes and references.

I'm getting kind of tired of repeating the same circular argument over the player's importance to the overall story. To suggest that they're not important to the story is to literally ignore what the story tells you, I've already given out relevant feats as well as the in-universe explanations and statements concerning the player's overall role in the franchise and the only arguments I'm given against them so far is "It's just the series being meta" as though that's somehow a debunk.

Just because the Player is deified doesn't necessarily mean the Player is a higher power. Your comparison of the Player and the Real World doesn't have any link to it other than the Player existing there. Lower dimensional beings and objects can very well exist within higher dimensional space.

Yes, that's an obvious fact, but given that the character in question follows the R>F criteria of seeing the verse as fiction while remaining separated from it and being consistently treated as a higher power, this isn't much of an issue.

Your justification is coming from the world the Player originating from being on a heavenly plane, and whilst that is true - there's no correlation to the Player having a similar existence beyond Gamindustri's citizens literally hypothesising that they do. The original text you provided literally states this.

So you're OK with the notion that the Real World is a higher dimension (or at least "greater" in some respect) but you don't think that the Player would scale to its qualities? At worst, usage of the term "hypothesizing" should be a "possibly so" rather than an "obviously not", but the context is sitting right in front of you here. In addition to existing on a heavenly plane, they are explicitly referenced as seeing the verse as fiction and are said to be higher-dimensional. Their only means of interacting with the characters is through "video games", even in the instance where characters are supposed to be meeting them up close and personal, it's through a game. Honestly, just the fact that they "hypothesize" that it's from a higher dimension which we know sees them as fiction should be a strong implication that there's qualitative superiority happening here... it's essentially the verse reaching the same conclusion on the relationship between R>F that we do, that being that it's qualitatively greater.